Want to know what’s wrong with this scene? Just about everything! Too many people chaotically all trying to check in simultaneously. Notice there are no bellmen or hotel staff trying to assist anyone? Yeah, we did, too!
I’ve just returned from a working trip to Las Vegas, and sometimes when I say that to people they look at me funny like, “Seriously? What kind of work do you expect me to believe that you actually do in Las Vegas?” And then I remember that not everyone understands the world of meeting planning which is basically about, well hello!, planning and managing meetings. But I get that this is not your average job, and even though I’ve been doing it for some la-la-la number of years now I still never take it for granted that I’m fortunate to have chosen such an interesting career that gives me these opportunities to travel.
So for this post I’m going to share a few pictures snapped during the Las Vegas trip, and while none of them actually show me working (I was, I really was!), they were all taken during my time spent running in and around Caesar’s Palace, which is where the conference was being held.
For starters, I took this one of the long and confusing lines at hotel check-in, which is one aspect of what meeting planners try to manage for their guests. In this case, well, see for yourself why we gave up trying to organize this chaos:
Eventually, all 350 of our guests somehow made it through this process and then managed to find their way back to our conference registration area to check in with us and get their schedules, name tags, etc. By then, at least a dozen or so had already forgotten about that frustrating check in situation, but it’s safe to say that the other 338 people made sure to mention it to us. Or was I imagining that? No, I don’t think I was! Oh the stories we hear. . .
Moving on. . .here is a scene inside one of the pods we rented for group use on the Las Vegas High Roller, which is their version of the large Ferris wheel attraction that circles high in the sky. We had private use of enough of the pods to accommodate our group (not everyone was invited to this activity) and were actually able to place roll-in bars with full set-ups and bartenders in each pod so that our guests could actually, um, ‘get high’ while they were already soaring high above Las Vegas!
This photo was taken while inside the pod, which was almost at it’s highest point on the rotation. You can see a bit of the city lights in the background. That bar was well stocked and well patronized!
Cool view, right? I was not only able to get some of the other hotels but also a view of the pod right behind ours which was also filled with our gang.
And, I love this photo I took of a few of our reserved tables at a restaurant called Chayo where our group dined right after leaving the High Roller. It had a Mexican theme and built in entertainment with a mechanical bull in the center of the room and yes, that got plenty of use from our gang!
Sure it looks neat and organized now, but just wait a few minutes until my group arrives! We also had personalized menus printed and placed at each setting. Nice touch, don’t you agree?
El Toro – sure he looks all cute and cuddly now. . .
And here is a great photo I took one morning from my hotel room while watching the sun rise after a, gulp, 5AM call time.
Where else but in Las Vegas do you also get a view of the Eiffel Tower?
I did take lots more fun pictures on this trip but some I’ll save for later stories. To end this post, I want to share a scene often encountered by myself and plenty of other planners when things start winding down at the end of most conference activities. Keep in mind that normally the planners have been working non-stop since their arrival on the scene with very little sleep and a whole lot of physical activity, so many times this is what we end up looking like:
Yep, that’s me on a bell cart catching a few – and I do mean a FEW zzz’s while waiting for a bellman to pick up my boxes. Hey, it’s not always as glamorous as you think!
So that’s my little here’s-me-working-in Las Vegas story. I left out the parts about seeing Elvis (yes, he lives!), walking miles each day while taking care of conference business all within the confines of the sprawling Caesar’s Palace complex, hosting a really cool dinner party at Caesar’s world famous pool, renting out a famous Italian restaurant exclusively for our group one night, enjoying the Donnie and Marie Osmond show (squeee!) in the Flamingo Hotel showroom, making two trips via taxi to an office supply store for things we needed to support getting the job done, and so much more that happens while working on site to manage a program like this. I’d give you more details but I’m already packing to leave on another working excursion, and no doubt there will be even more stories to tell after that one, so stay tuned and keep reading!
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I get such a laugh out of your writing! Besides now I know what you do with your time and energy!
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Thanks for reading, and so glad that you appreciate my humor! I’m reminded of a quote by Hemingway, “When you stop doing things for fun you might as well be dead.” To that I would only add “even better when you get PAID to do FUN things!”
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INTERESTING ASIDES FROM OUR DEAR NIECE. U HAVE A BACKGROUND AND FUTUREFOR TRAVELING THE WORLD. YOUR AUNT LEE AND I HAD THE OPPORTUNITY ALSO TO SEE THE WORLD AS IT TRULY PRESENTS ITSELF. WHEN U COME OUR WAY COME SEE US AND YOUR CUZ SCOTT
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