In this mailing:
Org List
Final gathering options
Observations and opinions
Venue, capacity, minimum
Family Style
Political correctness
Single venue
Rio
Hard Rock
Buca di Beppo
Working schedule
Administrivia
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Org List:
This is the DLV 2016 Organizational Mailing List (dlvorg_at_geekbabe.com)
Replies to this message will be forwarded to the DLVORG list and not
the DLV-Announce or DLV-Discuss list.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Final gathering options:
This is another mid-cycle ORG mailing having to do only with the final
major gathering.
Thanks to all who provided input. What we got is exactly what we need.
We can use more of it. Please continue. Particularly those who have not
commented so far! :)
As of this writing, The options for the "final" evening currently open
for discussion include:
1. Rio Hotel & Casino
2. Margaritaville
3. Yardhouse
4. Carlos & Charlies (Flamingo)
5. Buca di Beppo
6. Hard Rock Casino
7. The Venue downtown
Although we're not under the gun as of this day, hour, minute, and
second, the clock is ticking and we do need to move forward with a
plan.
Please look over this mailing and continue to discuss and brainstorm.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Observations and opinions:
Annie writes:
I wish to see an evening which captures as many of our in-town attendees
as possible and which results in the greatest degree of enjoyment and
satisfaction.
We've seen weaker than desired endings at our 2015 and 2014 events and I
think we should do all we can do break this mini-trend! A strong ending
requires a good turnout at an activity that the attendees truly enjoy.
. . . . .
First let's discuss the two weekday evenings being considered for our
final gathering, Thursday evening and Friday evening.
Thursday evening on the plus side:
The big plus side to Thursday evening for our second major gathering is
that we still have all of our people, minus just a few, as potential
participants.
Counting currently registered primary attendees and SOs, we have 15, or
just about 15% of our total contingent, who plan to depart on Friday,
thus making them absent from any Friday evening activities.
Thursday evening also gives us more options, as it's a slower night in
Las Vegas and the venues will be more eager to serve us and offer us
better deals and better terms.
. . . . .
Thursday evening on the minus side:
It's two days before the actual close of our event. Having something
titled "Farewell" (or any of various similar terms) on Thursday may
imply to some (particularly the "low information" attendees) that
there's not much happening on Friday or Saturday!
. . . . .
Friday evening on the plus side:
It's closer to the actual close of our event than Thursday.
. . . . .
Friday evening on the minus side:
Fall-out of roughly 15% of our contingent.
Some venues not available. Venues, in general, not as eager to serve.
Overall, crowds in Las Vegas are thicker on Friday than on Thursday.
. . . . .
IMAO, the plus side clearly tilts toward Thursday, if the goal is to
have a gathering that will be well-attended and well-enjoyed.
Our challenge of having the final major gathering on Thursday will be
convincing the attendee base that there's a lot to stick around for and
participate in on Friday and Saturday.
. . . . . . . . . .
Now let's look at the various venues being discussed and their
respective strong and weak points:
Rio on the plus side:
Many, many dining options. Even the most picky of our picky eaters will
certainly find something to enjoy at a price they like. This, in and of
itself, is a very strong positive!
Some activity options as well.
. . . . .
Rio on the minus side:
Will require driving or a taxi ride for most of our people.
Facility for the common social part of the evening uncertain.
. . . . . . . . . .
Margaritaville on the plus side:
Conveniently located in the vicinity of many of our attendees.
. . . . .
Margaritaville on the minus side:
Mixed track record WRT previous DLV activities held there.
Most likely a limited menu situation for a larger group.
Management unwilling to accommodate the wishes of our people.
. . . . . . . . . .
Yardhouse on the plus side:
Conveniently located in the vicinity of many of our attendees.
Wide and varied menu.
Able to accommodate those not dining, with many, many other dining
options in the immediate vicinity.
Management is offering fairly reasonable terms.
. . . . .
Yardhouse on the minus side:
Not available Friday.
. . . . . . . . . .
Carlos & Charlies on the plus side:
Conveniently located in the vicinity of many of our attendees.
. . . . .
Carlos & Charlies on the minus side:
No contact has been made. Terms and availability uncertain as of this
time.
. . . . . . . . . .
Buca di Beppo on the plus side:
Eager to serve us.
Available Friday.
. . . . .
Buca di Beppo on the minus side:
Only offers family-style dining and a limited menu situation for larger
groups.
Accommodation of non-dining attendees uncertain.
Will require driving or a taxi ride for the vast majority of our people.
. . . . . . . . . .
Hard Rock Casino on the plus side:
Many dining options. A picky eater's dream come true. :)
Eager to serve us. "Love all, serve all" is their motto. (Or is it their
slogan?) :)
. . . . .
Hard Rock Casino on the minus side:
Tends to be high in price.
Very steep minimum, volunteer Coordinator on the hook for such!
Will require driving or taxi ride for most of our attendees.
. . . . . . . . . .
The Venue downtown on the plus side:
Downtown has its fans.
. . . . .
The Venue downtown on the minus side:
Facility for the common social part of the evening uncertain.
Will require driving or a taxi ride for the vast majority of our people.
No specifics available as of this writing.
. . . . . . . . . .
We need to listen to our people and we need to remember (and practice)
the lessons learned from our previous events and activities.
I'm hearing concerns about "Family Style" dining, specifically three
voiced concerns within the past two list cycles. Carmine's was not
enjoyed as much as other recent final venues. Even though the
information on the dining style was made available to the attendees,
many chose not to make use of it!
Let's also review the situation we had last year and the relative
favored preferences WRT the check-splitting issue.
41 Assist with the dividing of checks.
34 Offer a fixed-price party menu with a few entree choices.
24 Offer a fixed-price self-service buffet.
15 Forget it! I'll just eat on my own.
4 Offer fixed-price single-entree dinner. (Rubber Chicken Banquet)
Our people do desire and appreciate separate checks. However, it's not
the deal-breaker that it was thought to be prior to the survey. The
availability of split checks is a strong plus but is one of many factors
to be considered.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Venue, capacity, minimum:
Cami writes:
Based on the information I have put together, I think Thursday night at
the Yardhouse is a strong option.
I also think Friday night at Buca di Beppo is another strong option.
Yard House might turn out to be more expensive per person as they have a
$3,500 minimum which means if we do 100 people its $35 per person.
Can we count on 100 people?
We know at Buca we're looking at $34 per person with tax and tip but
that does not include drinking.
I like Dions idea of a formal, but everyone pretty well dresses up
anyway.I also see Delaney's point that we may hurt the next two days if
we have the party on Thursday night.
I would vote on Friday night and take the chance that the Family style
dining will not impact the attendance. Maybe we can have a theme that
night? I am willing to lead or help out in anyway.
. . . . . . . . . .
Annie responds:
Sanity check first, please here Cami ...
In re-reading your recent items, it's my impression that Yardhouse can
accommodate groups of 40 or more in their semi-private rooms and has a
$35 per person minimum, not a $3500 flat minimum. Am I correct or am I
incorrect here?
Here's the paragraph I'm citing:
+Our upstairs space is currently available on Thursday, March 31st.
+Our upstairs space seats over 150pp does require a $35 per person
+minimum food and beverages spend to reserve for groups over 30. We
+would staff specifically for your group and base the $35 per person
+on your estimated guest count.
IIRC the $3500 "nut" is with Hard Rock.
Can we get 100 people?
If you mean 100 people through the door, it's within striking distance
but far more likely to occur at our first major gathering and not the
second. In recent years we've typically seen 60-80-ish heads through the
door for our final gathering. We've been doing 100-ish at our first
major gathering since 2009, IIRC.
If you mean can we count on 100 people to go all in and pay for dinner
and linger and have several cocktails, highly unlikely.
60 would be a good number to use for a conservative headcount for
planning purposes, and we won't have any closer figure for some time.
Family style dining may not impact attendance (as in bodies through the
door) that much, but I'm very sure it will greatly impact the number of
meals sold. See more on this below.
Comments on these points, please. :)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Family Style:
Sherry writes:
I'm not thrilled with "Family style" served food. We had that last year
and it amounted to a lot of wasted food and over payment as a result.
And, one bill split 80 ways? OMG! Or, is that one bill per table? That's
do able. That being said, if that's the best venue for our non-final,
"final dinner"? Ok, do it!
On the final nite matter, I suspect the increase on Fridays in room
rates in Vegas is one reason why folks bale on Fridays. If Thursday is
chosen for the "final", maybe Friday's evening event can be something
special? That folks may want to hang around for? Like the limo tour or
similar event. Bound to be a lot more vanilla folks around that nite
than on Thursday. Which would make a rad, "get out there amongst them",
evening, even more special!
. . . . . . . . . .
Annie responds:
You bring up two important points.
First is the "family style" dining.
Over the past 10 years or so, our final gathering has very consistently
scored in the 4.4-ish to 4.7-ish range on the enjoyment scale with one
exception. There are some ups and downs, but this range has been very
consistent over the past decade.
The final dinner at Carmine's in 2014 scored 4.18 on the enjoyment scale
and was a very clear outlier. Comments on the survey (and those heard in
person) indicate dislike of and confusion over the "family style"
dining.
For that reason, I don't think that Buca di Beppo is our best option for
our final evening in 2016.
Yeah, some may consider us to be sisters (and brothers), but we've
learned the hard way that there's a lot of sibling rivalry present in
the menu selections and payments!
Your second point is also well taken. We could make Thursday evening our
"final" major gathering, but plan something special on Friday. You cited
the Limo Tour, which could work, and I also think that the EHM activity
would be a very good fit on Friday and even encourage some of our people
to stay over Friday for it. (Probably more so than our usual closing
dinner and social activity.)
Comments, gang? :)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Political correctness:
Vera writes:
Are we becoming so PC that we can't call something what it actually is.
I see nothing, absolutely nothing, wrong with calling our Friday (or
whichever night it's held) our final event The Farewell Dinner.
There is nothing horrid about calling the last formal night we might for
that particular DLV a Farewell Dinner.
It signifies a closing {event's} conclusion to a another fabulous week,
and for many of us a last chance to see and talk to our DLV sisters in
person until the following year.
Let's drop the idea of star coating this event and just call it the
Farewell Dinner.
. . . . . . . . . .
Annie responds:
I can see both sides of this issue. To use terms such as "closing" and
"farewell" implies a stop, as in there will be nothing of significance
following.
I would ask all to please focus on the substance of the evening and
please not get distracted or derailed by semantics.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Single venue:
Vera writes:
I like the single venue idea for the closing idea.
I also like Dionne's idea of location for the single track closing event
- The Rio Hotel.. With all those culinary choices available to us it
does then become a multiple track event all in one place.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Rio:
Dionne writes:
RE: RIO Hotel & Casino-Dining Options
One of the difficulties in planning our dinner arrangements is the size
of the large group.Can we consider splitting up in the same location and
giving everyone some choices, such as;
option #1: BUFFET CARNIVAL WORLD & SEAFOOD BUFFET Satisfy every craving
with over 300 selections daily at the Carnival World & Seafood Buffet.
option #2: CASUAL ALL-AMERICAN BAR AND GRILLE This casual dining Las
Vegas restaurant serves in-house Rio Dry Aged steaks and seafood cooked
over a mesquite grille, plus salads and sandwiches.
option #3: CASUAL GUY FIERI'S EL BURRO BORRACHO - COMING SOON Rio Hotel
& Casino is pleased to announce Guy Fieri's El Burro Borracho. Coming in
2016. (Should be open by February, if not, we have the other two
places.)
Everyone likes choices.
. . . . . . . . . .
Annie responds:
Yes, our people love choices!
This could work well for a "forked" (think of a fork laid horizontally
with the tines facing to the left) :) single-track evening.
The Big Burning Question is along the line of where, specifically, would
that single social portion of the evening (the "handle of the fork")
occur?
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Hard Rock:
Dionne writes:
> with a food+& beverage minimum of $3500.00
Putting aside their presumptuous reply that we already have chosen Hard
Rock, the $3500 minimum is too much to expect a volunteer to be on the
hook for.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Buca di Beppo:
Dionne writes:
> Buca di Beppo has good food, but I'm not keen on the
> family style service.
We tried family style at Carmine's and we should revisit that feedback.
As I recall, it was not preferred to share food like that. Family style
does not account for food allergies (myself) and other dietary needs,
such as vegan & etc. I will try out some of the restaurant options when
I visit Vegas in February.
PS - wouldn't sorority sisters be considered as related?
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Working schedule:
Diva Las Vegas 2016 schedule
Tentative and subject to change
All times Pacific Daylight Time
PLEASE DO NOT USE THIS AS THE FINAL
AND ACCURATE DIVA LAS VEGAS SCHEDULE.
Monday, March 28:
8:00am: Katie's Koffee Korner (Flamingo - Club Cappucino) - ms
12:00n: Lunch With Ginger (tba) - ms
5:00pm: New Attendee Welcome and Orientation (Bahama Breeze) - ms
6:00pm: Happy Hour (Bahama Breeze) - ms
7:00pm: Dinner (Bahama Breeze) - ms
8:30pm: Welcome Celebration (Bahama Breeze) - ms
9:00pm: Official Group Photo (Bahama Breeze) - ms
10:00pm: Late Night Dancing (Paris) - ms
Tuesday, March 29:
8:00am: Katie's Koffee Korner (Flamingo - Club Cappucino) - ms
9:00am: Diva Las Vegas Invitational Golf (Wildhorse Golf Club) - ms
12:00n: Lunch With Ginger (tba) - ms
6:00pm: Happy Hour options (various) - nd
6:00pm: Delaney's choice (tbd)
6:00pm: Beverly's choice (tbd)
6:00pm: Cami's choice (tbd)
7:00pm: Eating Out Night (various)
7:00pm: Beverly's choice (tbd)
7:00pm: Delaney's choice (tbd)
7:00pm: Cami's choice (tbd)
8:30pm: Evening activity options (various)
10:00pm: Late Night Dancing (tba) - ms
Wednesday, March 30:
8:00am: Katie's Koffee Korner (Flamingo - Club Cappucino) - ms
9:00am: Side trip - Shiloh Horse Rescue (Meet at Flamingo) - ms
12:00n: Lunch With Ginger (tba) - ms
2:00pm: Art Tour (Bellagio) - ms
5:00pm: Happy Hour (PF Chang Planet Hollywood) - ms
6:00pm: Dinner (PF Chang Planet Hollywood) - ms
10:00pm: Late Night Dancing (tba) - ms
Thursday, March 31:
8:00am: Katie's Koffee Korner (Flamingo - Club Cappucino) - ms
9:00am: Pistol and rifle shooting (tba) - ms
12:00n: Lunch With Ginger (tba) - ms
10:00pm: Late Night Dancing (tba) - ms
11:00pm: Flamboyance Drag Show (Flex) - sv
Friday, April 1:
8:00am: Katie's Koffee Korner (Flamingo - Club Cappucino) - ms
12:00n: Lunch With Ginger (tba) - ms
10:00pm: Late Night Dancing (tba) - ms
Saturday, April 2:
8:00am: Katie's Koffee Korner (Flamingo - Club Cappucino) - ms
12:00n: Lunch With Ginger (tba) - ms
10:00pm: Late Night Dancing (tba) - ms
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Administrivia:
This is the Diva Las Vegas 2016 organizational list.
One address for all items regarding this list, additions, removals,
changes, submissions, questions, etc.:
dlvorg_at_divalas.vegas <--- NOTE: New address, all lower case
Diva Las Vegas 2016
Mon, March 28 - Sat, April 2
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Archives of this list appear on the web at:
http://www.geekbabe.com/annie/org16arc/
To unsubscribe: Simply reply to this message with the word UNSUBSCRIBE
in either the Subject: field or the first line of an OTHERWISE BLANK
message body. The word "unsubscribe" (case is insignificant) should be
the only item in the subject field or the first line of the message,
justified to the left.
To send material to this list: Send submission as regular e-mail to
the address: dlvorg_at_divalas.vegas
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Received on Sat Jan 16 2016 - 15:02:16 CST
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.2.0 : Wed May 11 2016 - 05:54:23 CDT