[dlvorg] Continuing the 2018 follow-up ... from Diva Las Vegas organizers on 2018-05-10 (org18arc)

From: Diva Las Vegas organizers <dlvorg_at_divalas.vegas>
Date: Thu, 10 May 2018 07:43:01 -0500 (CDT)

MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
In this mailing:

Org List
Following up
Numbers
Some overall comments
Activity wrap-ups, continued
Issues and incidents
Final go-round on this one
Administrivia
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Org List:

This is the DLV 2018 Organizational Mailing List (dlvorg_at_divalas.vegas)
Replies to this message will be forwarded to the DLVORG list and not
the DLV-Announce or DLV-Discuss list.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Following up:

Here's a brief summary of some of the things we'll be taking care of
over the next few weeks and months:

1. Final summarizing of the 2018 event. High points, Lessons learned,
etc. We'll start that now. See below.

2. Activity reports. In progress. More of them appear below.

3. Reviewing of the DLV 2018 survey results. (Closes May 25.) If you
attended and have not yet taken the survey, please do so. Surf here:

http://divalas.vegas/2018survey.html

4. Annual "Vote Of Confidence" (or of no-confidence) of those holding
the named leadership positions. This will happen shortly.

5. Election of the "Even Year" Administrative Committee member. This
will occur in June or July.

6. Addition of the DLV 2018-2019 volunteers. This will occur shortly.

7. Preparing the DLV 2018-2019 electorate (voting status) list.

8. Preparing the DLV 2018 follow-up web pages. The staging area is now
open and photos are rolling in.

9. Beginning the planning of the 2019 event!

If there are any other items which need our attention in the immediate
future, please don't be silent. :)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Numbers:

Annie writes:

As of Wednesday evening, we've accounted for 136 individuals who did
participate in person in one way or another ("Participation, however
slight.") :)

The headcount number has historically increased by a few when some
report that they did not get their link to the photo staging area. :)

I also believe that the total is undercounted to a degree which we will
probably never know. I do not believe that all who have not answered
requests to verify attendance are total no shows. I also know (more
below) that we had a certain number of unregistered drop-ins and
tag-alongs who were not counted.

Our previous three years' totals are as follows:

2015: 133
2016: 140
2017: 142

Assuming the total above stands, yes, we're down a bit from the past two
years, but still within the ballpark.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Some overall comments:

Annie writes:

Here are a number of general comments regarding the event as a whole
and of particular activities and functions. Responses and comments
(rebuttals?) are most welcome.
. . . . .

Prior to the event, the organizing was the smoothest that I can remember
from recent history! Thanks to all who made it so. No major issues, and
most volunteers were eager to take things on and followed through quite
well!

We did have a few weak spots in our schedule, and I do think that we did
hit a saturation point among our active volunteers. Wednesday and Friday
were weaker than they should have been! We did have a few volunteers who
were previously very active who chose not to join us this year. I believe
that volunteer burnout (taking on more, enjoying it less, rinse, repeat)
was responsible for at least some of this.

I think we need to groom and encourage some "new blood" in our volunteer
force and get the number of "voluntary volunteers" up to a higher level.
. . . . .

Hotels:

Cami's hotel block at the Flamingo was sold out! Thanks again to Cami
for host(ess)ing this. I personally heard several comments regarding the
nice-ness of the rooms booked under the block and very few, if any
gripes about resort fees and parking fees and such.

It seems like most of our people either booked the Flamingo or else one
of their favorites elsewhere. I only spoke to one who booked at the Four
Queens and none who reported Bally's or Paris. We'll see how many hits
we get for these two on the survey.
. . . . .

Check-in and name tags:

As all of you know, we tried something new this year. We totally
scrapped the pre-printed name tags and gave the people two options, one
being printing them out at home and bringing them with, and the other
being having them printed on site.

I heard only one report of someone having difficulty printing out a name
tag at home.

We had one technical issue with the printing of tags on Sunday (more
below) but we were able to print them beginning Monday. In addition, I
printed a number of tags in the room and brought them along to some
activities where tags were not offered, and about half of those ended up
being claimed.

I think the check-in process is one of our weak spots! I know we're not
catching everyone! Manual headcounts at Bahama Breeze came to 97 and 102
individuals present, but as of Tuesday morning we only had 60-some who
had checked in.

This is the second year that we've done totally paperless check-in and
for this year, I was the only one actually checking people in.

I would like to see more volunteers, particularly those who are
host(ess)ing activities, step forward and agree to act as check-in
agents. It can be done on any smart phone and takes only a few seconds
per attendee.

This year I had far more individuals check in at the Flamingo on Sunday,
Monday, and Tuesday. I think three days is about the optimum for this
function.

I had hoped that the schlepping around of a portable "purse size" (yeah,
right!) printer would be more convenient than the schlepping around of a
check-in kit containing printed tags, tag holders, etc. In reality, it
was about the same, bulk wise. The big advantage is that we did not have
the wastage of discarded unclaimed tags. I also learned that the bulk
can be decreased in future years by limiting the number of such things
as tag holders, printer paper refills, spare printer batteries, etc., to
the number actually required.
. . . . .

Orientation:

I think we're converging on what works to make the newbees feel welcome
and what meets our needs.

Yes, about half of those who participated were "fashionably late" and I
really don't think there's much we can do about that.

This year I quite assertively limited the session to newbees (and
first year returnees and Big Sisters) only, and I think that's quite
appropriate. There's really no reason returnees need to be there.

I did try designating the final 1/4 hour as "New Attendee Meet and
Greet", where we invited the returnees, those who were present, anyway,
to stop back and introduce themselves. This worked well except it was
somewhat of a challenge to get the returnees (see "cats, herding of") to
belay the chatting with their BFFs and take a few minutes to greet the
newcomers. This was, actually, not unexpected. :)
. . . . .

We did have two very appropriate and appreciated added touches to our
opening festivities.

One was a cake provided by Delaney (OK everybody, in unison now, "Thanks
Delaney!") which was delicious and received very well. I had expected
that quite a bit would be left over and suggested to Delaney that she
give it to Transcending for the social on Wednesday, but IIRC, there was
none left. That is a Good Thing, actually. :)

The other was the DLV logo backdrop donated by Vivian (again, everyone,
in unison with four-part harmony and feeling ... "Thanks Vivian!") which
was set up at both the opener and the closer (others???) and I observed
quite a few people pose and take photos against it, individually and in
groups.
. . . . .

The group photo worked as well, I guess, as it could. If anyone has any
ideas on how to do this better, please don't be silent!
. . . . .

Late night dancing and socializing:

Prior to this year's event, we had a request, and a few responses, to
the effect that a non-loud social venue should be designated as an
alternative to the nightly "Dancing At Paris", which I admit is in a
venue too loud to permit easy conversation.

I had suggested Gustav's Bar as said alternative and it was posted on
the schedules. I made a point of wandering from the Cabaret to Gustav's
from time to time, and the DLVers I saw there on any given evening could
be counted on one hand. In most cases I mentioned that the gang was over
at the Cabaret and to please come and join.

Any ideas along the line of a better non-loud standing venue for
gathering after hours would be welcome.
. . . . .

Demand for activities:

I admit that I was totally astonished that two of our long-standing and
most popular activities in our history had significantly low sign-up
numbers this year.

The first is Golf, which has been one of our shining stars from the year
2000! Cassandra reported low sign-up, but did eventually request that
sign-ups be closed as they were full, so it appears that Golf is
probably not on the Endangered Activities List.

The second is High Tea, which was eventually cancelled due to very low
sign-ups. As I think more about this one, I think the day of the
activity, Friday, which was a departure day for many, was not the best
day to hold this. I think we need to give this one another year, with
another day of the week, prior to any talk of retirement.
. . . . .

Length of the event:

We had two very weak evenings, Wednesday and Friday. I'm going to be
opening up discussion regarding the length of the event, and the
strength of our volunteer force and the ability to comfortably plan and
execute a six-day event. We've had (at least) two cases of volunteer
burn-out in recent years, and that's two (or more) too many!
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Activity wrap-ups, continued:

Thanks to all who have sent these in. Please continue.
. . . . .

Dionne writes:

Wed. BB Lunch w/ D&J

BB served us well with great food, as always. 13 attended and we huddled
after eating to listen to Jane. Many years ago DLV was concerned about
bathroom incidents. The NV laws changed to All Gender and we don't worry
about this anymore. We have Jane's activism to thank for this and many
more legal protections for our 'hobby'. She's a passionate speaker and
hope to have her and her group join us next time.
. . . . .

LOVE'D IT!

We had great front row seats to watch the Magical Technical tour of the
Beatles' LOVE show by Cirque du soleil. A married couple from Columbia
joined us, impromptu with a small 3 yr. old girl who wanted to run onto
the stage.

The articulated stage and sound system were impressive. The show samples
made us want to go to the ticket window, afterwards. They gave us
special discount coupons for more encouragement.

We took pix and shopped their gift store. Do I really need this Blue
Meanie mug?

{headcount=6}
. . . . . . . . . .

Cami writes:

I wanted to get you my event recap:

Carnival Ct. Sunday- great time- 12 in attendance Lunch with Wendi and
Michelle- negative was seating and noise level, need proper venue- total
people 21

Carmine's- went great, people loved it.- total people 16

Top Golf- 2 hour plus wait, so golf was not played, but 16 came for lunch.
Not sure about next year, but bowling could be substituted

Carnival Ct. Thursday- great time- 15ish in attendance

Farewell Party- great food, billing issue is ridiculous and ruins the
event for all, need a new venue or plan- total 64

Carnival Ct. Friday-great time-14 in attendance

I think that's it for me.

I do have other thoughts and comments that I will write up and get to
you. Once again, you did an amazing job. Thanks for your efforts.
. . . . . . . . . .

Sherry writes:

I hosted the EHM nite. Attendance 20.

All seemed please with the tour. Most stayed for the discussion with Dr.
V. afterwards. We delved into the subject of trans sex. Personally, I
Iearned a lot. Especially from the point of view of the 2 GG partners
there. They not only contributed, their open and frank honesty was
refreshing and informative. Since that is Dr. V. specialty, her comments
were equally as inciteful.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Issues and incidents:

Annie writes:

Let's review some of the issues and sore spots, mainly as lessons learned
and starting points for solutions.

Comments and responses are welcome.

Technical issues:

1. Printer issues. I had bad tag images loaded on the memory card on
Sunday. This was easy to fix, but impossible on site at the Flamingo.
Lesson learned: Do at least one live print to QA prior!

2. Group text. This was the first real mass rollout of Group Text and
for the most part it worked well. We had 40-some subscribe to the
service, which is close to about 1/3 of those present.

We did have two carriers (Google Voice and one obscure cell provider)
which rejected our messages, so some were, unfortunately left out. I'm
afraid we may have to live with things like that.

We also had one carrier (T-Mobile, which we've had issues with in the
past) format their incoming texts in a way that we rejected them. This
will be fixed in time for Pinkfest. (**HINT!**) :)

I need to add the "barnacle scraper" to the tool chain that processes
the messages! This will make the messages more concise and easier to
read. This was particularly confusing when sent-by numbers from previous
texts were echoed in subsequent messages.

There was one case which I'm still looking into, where an attendee had
two cell phones on the same carrier, one of which worked fine, and the
other which the API kept returning a "runt" value in carrier lookup.

I think we do need to emphasize that sending or replying blindly to a
group text "explodes" the text to everyone subscribed to the service,
and to please text the sender directly unless the response would be of
interest to all.
. . . . .

Photo issues:

{sigh!}

I got into quite a heated discussion at Off The Strip with one attendee
who became rather irate when I said I could not absolutely guarantee
that they (a couple) would not be photographed. I was trying to explain
how we staged the photos for all to reject prior to posting them on the
web, but my assurances either went in one ear and out the other, or else
did not alleviate the concern.

This individual later came up and apologized to me, but this does point
out that we still have a few people who are quite adamant about not
being photographed.

Another comment received during the year was a heads-up that some of the
photos in last year's staging areas had "leaked" onto social media prior
to the roll-out of the final pages. (In all fairness, these could have
been the poster's own photos, over which we have no control.)

There have been a couple of tweaks to the staging area this year to
discourage the reposting of the staged photos prior to the final pages
being rolled out. These should not affect the purpose of the staging
area.
. . . . .

Overbooked dining activity:

This particular one has turned into a she-said, she-said, she-said type
of thing, and rather than hash and re-hash, I think we need to move
forward and try to prevent issues such as this in the future.

In particular I think we need to pay more attention to the type of
sign-up for limited-capacity activities (for headcount, requested,
required, etc.), the necessity of signing up, and such details as
exactly when is "late", and maybe, if applicable, noting that those
late may not be seated.
. . . . .

Refused service at Paris:

We had one complaint by one attendee who was refused a (courtesy,
unpaid) glass of water at the bar adjacent to the Cabaret Lounge.

I said I would look into this and in the heat of battle, the next night
I was there, the only one I could flag down was a barback who told me
that the bar adjacent to the Cabaret is considered to be part of the
lounge, and that there is a two (paid) drink minimum. He added that
(paid) bottled water did count as a drink to meet the minimum.

This is the first I've heard of any possible issues at Paris. I do admit
that drink service can be slow and spotty at the Cabaret, and slow at
the adjacent bar at peak times, but I've never felt ignored and never
felt that my bar patronage was not valued. I've always found the bar
staff at the Paris to be friendly and as attentive as they could be at
times of increased workload.

I really think this is a case of "equal opportunity refusal of service"
rather than discrimination due to the nature of our group or of any
individual.
. . . . .

Shared checks and cash/cards:

{sigh!} :(

This reared its ugly head again, in the form of incredibly awkward
payment arrangements at Off The Strip. The food there is great, but I am
beginning to think that OTS may be a better fit for smaller group dining
than for our major gatherings.

One thing I keep forgetting to ask them is exactly how large a group
they would be willing to serve without the formality.

In any case, the Yardhouse was suggested as a possible replacement for
OTS for our second major gathering. I've been told they are under the
same ownership as Bahama Breeze.
. . . . .

Unregistered individuals:

Ladies (gentlemen), I'm sorry but this is getting out of control!

Twice I was approached by individuals having fairly routine questions,
only to find out that they were told (by those who definitely know
better!) that they were welcome to tag along and did not need to
register.

Unfortunately, we do need a certain degree of formality to make our
event work, and we need everyone's cooperation, particularly those who
are multi-year attendees and volunteers to make it work.

One thing we may look into to alleviate some of this is extending
registrations to allow parties of more than two.

This, of course, brings up the necessity of having each person on record
agreeing to the Waiver Of Liability among other things. Some of you may
scoff at this, but those of us who are "most exposed" in this informal
association take this seriously, as advised by counsel and other
professionals.

It would be relatively easy to extend registration and activity sign-up
to support parties of more than two.

We can discuss this in detail moving forward.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Final go-round on this one:

Please reply and let us know if you know that any of the below
individuals or couples were indeed present for any DLV activities.
("Participation, however slight.") :)

This is the Diva Las Vegas 2018 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 2018
Dates to be determined
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Archives of this list appear on the web at:

http://www.geekbabe.com/annie/org18arc/

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 Thu May 10 2018 - 07:43:02 CDT

This archive was generated by hypermail 2.2.0 : Thu May 10 2018 - 08:07:42 CDT