DLV 2008 survey report, part 2 first section comments ...

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This posting is from: Diva Las Vegas
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This is the second of three reports. These are the comments
received which pertain to activites and general comments.

Comments which pertain to behavior, dress, and restrooms
will appear in the third report.

Very little editing except for clarity.

Roughly in order received.

And now -- the comments ...
. . . . . . . . . .

Allow a way for late commers to send in money before arriving to
pay for events.
. . . . .

We need a shooting match!
. . . . .

If possible to have a formal event with a banquet style meal and
entertainment.
. . . . .

The name tags would be better if they had an elastic string that
goes around your neck like they had at IFGE. The clip on is a PITA.
. . . . .

Yes, more variety of drinks in the limo's.
. . . . .

I spent TOO Much time and money shopping but LOVED every minute of
it. I figure I would have gambled it away and now I have something
to show for it!
. . . . .

It would be nice to have an expression meeting on the better
understanding of the different TG cultures.
. . . . .

I would like to see one or two activities where we all could be at
the same venue, so we could see everybody who attended DLV.
. . . . .

I had more fun dancing at a mainstream venue this year than I can
remember in a long time. Please include mainstream (non-alternative,
non-gay) after hours venues as options if they've proven to be
accepting in the past.
. . . . .

l. Do not use the Wynn as a pickup point for the Limo tour!

2. Tighten up the schedule for the Lomo tour. We wasted too much
time for booze at the Sahara!
. . . . .

We were upset that someone could not have picked us up at Sahara
Hotel for Blue Ox. My wife had to use a wheelchair and there was
confusing instructions and directions to the Blue Ox-especially
when I have never been there. Even if someone could not have
picked us up, a DLV member should have been friendlier and
welcomed us. We almost gave up on attending any venue of DLV,
but we had a great breakfast and a great boat ride at Lake Mead.
. . . . .

I would like to see something like a list of where all the DLVer's
will be staying with E-mail so we can get to know each other when
staying at the same hotel. it would help with ride sharing, going
to same events, or just hanging out.
. . . . .

Probably need a bit more coordination of the Limo Tours...no
specific area to meet/drop off/pick up...drivers confused...great
time on the tour and maybe should extend to 4 hours. OUr driver
Danny was great and we even hired him to take us clubbing on
Saturday night.
. . . . .

Keep up the good work, great week.
. . . . .

How about a Cirque show?

Also, with all the Biggest Loser talk, how about a daily aerobic
exercise program? There's got to be a local gymn that will do
this for us.
. . . . .

A DLV Fashion Show perhaps sponsored by some major department
store with proceeds going to some local charity. I think this
would be fun and meaningful but I wouldn't know how to organize
it.
. . . . .

I enjoyed haveing this setup.
. . . . .

Bring back air tours.
. . . . .

the hard work of the organizers is greatly appreciated Estimated
time of survey is 10 minutes
. . . . .

The limo tour was poorly coordinted and planned. The people who
were coordinating the tour had no schedule or idea of where we
were supposed to be or when. so we were ealry for some things
and late for others...the limos seemed to leave and arrive
without regard to any schedule so we were early and didn't
know how long we were supposed to be in any location adn when
we should leave.
. . . . .

Burlesque nite,
. . . . .

How about some more shopping events and perhaps a night at the
movies. What about Magic shows?, there were none on the DLV
list this year.
. . . . .

dress is more and more everyday each year, even for the big events.
how about a big dress-up ball, let everyone glam it up a bit.
. . . . .

At Doves, let more participate in the games, watching was not that
much fun.
. . . . .

Very poor information, could not find some venues but tried..gave
up and simply left town on Thursday.. no orginization or listing
of "events" available and no given phone to REALLLY find out what
was going on and where? The entire "do" is simply group gatherings
as various clubs at times specific for lunch (which I guess is OK)
but zero group meet for discussion of items of interest.

See above. No advance scheduole. No detailed contacts. No firm
address or how to get to things the map furnished not good... the
two years I've tied it was very unsatisfactory and fact I tried a
second year and blew $500 plus is rather sad .. too much
assumptions made which is like the little dog you assume won't
bite... too much assumptions made

My opinion was it a BIG waste of time and money and very minimul
social opportunities of attendees except for locals who already
know each other.

The total lack of printed schedule available in advance was a big
issue.
. . . . .

Did not get a schedule and addresses given by phone were wrong and
found it to be a royal pain to find out by daily call "where are
we eating (lunch) today? and total absence of a daily printed
schedule day by day. There was a confusing pile of stuff on your
geek list but mostly unusuable. I bagged it mentally on Wed and
Thur packed up and left town which is pretty well what I did last
year too - major lack of advising what little there was at wrong
times and locations. (driving around town at 1100 hr to addresses
wrongly given by phone was not acceptable. Sigh...

I appreciate the work done but appeared to not be a sense of what
a stranger needed as to schedules at a common meet point when got my
name badge for example or on the internet where I daily checked and
found nothing. I mean I didn't come to town to look at my laptop -
I came to meet and socalize with others who I've never met - and
sure, taking in some events with others are fine but - who in hell
are the "others" if we have not had an opportunity to meet in the
first place? Bah! Humbug!!
. . . . .

This comment applies to the various lunches:

There is a "time" scheduled for each, but I gather this is nominal.
I discovered that DLV attendees frequently would just go in and
find each other and sit down prior to the scheduled "time".
Unaware of this habit, I showed up at the Paris lunch "on time"
and waited for a half hour, outside. Nobody showed, so I left.
Turned out they were all inside, early.

I suggest a note be included in the DLV postings for next year
to the effect that: "If you don't see other DLV folks
congregating outside the lunch room, go on in and look around."
. . . . .

It is a great event and I have attended for five years and would
not miss it unless I was on my "death bed".

Hugs and Thanks to all.
. . . . .

Because of the possibility of not being able to attend all or some
of DLV' I did not sign up to be a Big Sister this year but look
forward to having the opportunity next year.
. . . . .

Even though there were many people contributing to this year's DLV,
it was obvious that it was a lot of work. Sure, some things slipped
through the cracks and there is always room for improvement, but no
one should complain. You should be proud of what you have been able
to accomplish.
. . . . .

This was a wonderful week. Only suggestion I make is to set up some
kind of c clearing house so you can pay for all, Tea, Limo, Show,
with one check. Also, try to get show tickets together.
. . . . .

Many thanks to the organizers. Great week. Saw many old friends.
Met many new friends. I enjoyed the larger get togethers. Monday at
Blue Ox. Thursday Pity Party. Friday Zodies Jam. Saturday at Bahama
Breeze and Club Bliss. Perfect settings for a social butterfly.
See you next year.
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As I've said, this is the best girl time anyone could ever want.
. . . . .

Out of 160 attendees - I only saw about 60 and less than 10 that I
saw more than once. I would like more group functions (happy hours)
but I understand. I did notice that we attracted more attention in
groups than I ever did alone. I really became much more confident
and only saw a couple of strange looks. I think I passed much
better than I expected but then again - it was Vegas! I hope
scheduling allows me to attend often. Thanks for your efforts.
. . . . .

I think it's great. My only real issue this year is that I thought
the Limo Ride was disorganized, especially compared to last year.
It seemed to be like herding cats. I don't know why - last year
the group at least more or less stayed as a group. What happened?
. . . . .

We had a nice time! Thank you for all your hard work...
. . . . .

Next year we plan to be around for six days. Had to leave early
because of going to college to get my major. So this shortened the
trip this year.
. . . . .

some of the addresses to the venues were not accurate.
. . . . .

* I was put off by several attendees asking if I was "just" a
cross-dresser or if I intended to transition. This kind of
condescending attitude has no place in a group that should be
about acceptance of any socially respectful alternative gender
presentation.

* The address listed for the Blue Ox (3111) was incorrect. I
can't remember the correct address, but it was something like 3065.

* The directions to the Lake Mead meeting place listed cross streets
for the interstate as including "Sahara/Boulder Highway" which may
make sense if you live there, but out-of-towners read this as
expecting Sahara to cross I515 which it does not unless you turn
on Boulder highway first.

* The unstructured nature of paying for events you'd signed up for
was a little bizarre. I was glad people around me were paying
enough attention to point out when I needed to find someone to pay
them for an event in advance. It would be really helpful if I
could have paid everything when I got my badge rather than a lot
of one-off payments to different people (this might not be
realistic due to the volunteer nature of things, I know.)

* While I didn't need a big sister for the usual reasons, I did
ask for one and would have appreciated someone looking out for me
with regards to the above (paying for events.) Honestly, I'm not
sure who my big sister was.

* I was shocked that virtually nobody showed up for the shopping
trip. Given our collective love of shopping I'd be curious why this
would be.
. . . . .

This year, the food was excellent!

In particular ...

Monday at Blue Ox was an eclectic mix with no theme, but it worked,
and it was very good.

Blyss is the find of the year! I had an excellent steak, tender,
tasty, and on par with the finer steak houses at a fraction of the
price. My tab, with drinks, was $20-something. I hope they get
enough business to stay in business!

I had a great meal at Bahama Breeze, definitely a diet-buster!
Very reasonable in cost too.

My thanks to Mindy and Nora for arranging these places. :)
. . . . .

Everything was fine! So good to see old friends and meet new ones!
. . . . .

Hi, I'm local and some of the questions just didn't seem to apply,
like about hotels. So I didn't answer these. Maybe you should add
I'm local to some of your questions. Just a thought...
. . . . .

This was my first Diva and it was the MOST PERFECT WEEK OF MY
LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!

There are so many thing I did that I only dreamed of, like playing
the slots, eating in the resturant and ording from the menu, taking
a cab wherever I went, and also, using a public bathroom.

I HAVE NEVER SEEN SUCH A FRIENDLY BUNCH!!!!!!!!!

I got more comfortable as the week went by. On;y uneasy parts were
on the limo ride downtown, I was scared of loosing the group and
forgot the phone numbers back at the Sahara. Also, when the guy at
the bar started hitting on girls, I just wanted to get out of
there fast.

I WILL BE BACK NEXT YEAR WITH BELLS ON!!!!!!!!!!
. . . . .

The Limo Tour was very disorganized. There did not appear to be
any leadership in the Limos or anywhere else, for that matter. When
we arrived at the Four Qweens, we stayed there for an excessive
amount of time with nothing to do. There did not appear to be any
plan at the time. The tour was limited to just two other Casinos,.

I do have to say that the time at Bellagio was spent well.

There seemed to be some issues with the Wynn security people and the
DLV crowd. I di not experience any confrontations personally.
. . . . .

good mix of types of events so that people can dress in a variety
of different ways, can choose level of what she can afford to spend,
and generally a good selection of options
. . . . .

Vegas is a great town for this event...great ffod, shopping and
shows and thank you all for the organizational skills that you showed
and help you provided. I wish I lived closer so that I could help
with the event.
. . . . .

It would have been nice to meet ALL the girls who attended DLV,
the 150 or so. Not sure how this can be done, perhaps a Glamour Ball
for one of the nights that all can attend????
. . . . .

Re: meeting other participants at various venues- when the
registration confirmation is sent out, could the names of the
other participants be included for the events signed up for.
It would be helpful to know who to look for. Just a thought...
. . . . .

For newbies and those that have attended less than three years,
DLV is perfect for them and all the events are very exciting to them.
For those that attend more than three years, I hear and see these people
saying its the same ole event with no changes, or they just don't attend
and do their own thing. We need to modify or cycle the activity within
the perpetual events to keep the interest of all attendees.

NSD is a good example of changes in the event to keep people going
or interested in attending.

We also need the newer attendees to be placed with the older more
senior organizers of events to help organize a event, and to allow
newer people to take over the event at some later date. This can
give the older organizer a chance to organize new events, or take
a needed break from organizing event(s). It can also give fresh
ideas to those events from the new people.

Since volunteering doesn't draw that many people, is there a way
to push the new people a bit more to volunteer or is there a way
of assigning them to a organizer? The organizer will then take
the new attendee/volunteer under their wing and teach them how
to do the event.

DLV should have events for beginners, and that is how I started;
and also events for the more experienced. There seems to be a
strong push for only mainstream events and away from the safer
venues like gay bars and restaurants, having the newbies go to
other starter type conferences.

The gay bars and restaurants are still needed for the newbies
and are safe public locations where they can start or begin
their public appearance outside of the closet. Those venues
should also be supported and visited by DLV attendees as
individuals or as a event to help keep them in business.

This year was the first year we had no dress problems with the
attendees, so the BDR is working and I feel the attendees know
where they are as far as experience and dress, and will attend
events that they can handle in both dress and behavior.

DLV should have events for both beginner and experienced, but it
should not be easy for the beginner to attend mainstream until
they are really ready in both behavior and dress. This may
demand more volunteers, to have the two full tracks of events.
BUT are doing it pretty much now.

The more experienced will demand more mainstream which is
understandable as their experience improves. BUT we shouldn't
forget the beginners and we should NOT change DLV to only
mainstream. I feel DLV can and is already handling these
demands.

This year I saw new people organizing new events. This is a
good thing to see! Please keep up the good work you are doing
for the trans gendered society!
. . . . .

DLV rocks!!! I'll be back!!!
. . . . .

I had to leave early because of business.
. . . . .

I was on my way to DLV 2008 and had to return home prior to arrival
at function. That is 2 years in a row I was hoping to attend and was
forced to miss because of personal reasons. One of these days I hope
to return. I feel that the DLV event is fantastic. Keep up the good
work.
. . . . .

Registration was extremly easy. I caught an air conditioning cold
on my first night in Vegas. I'm sure that lessened my enjoyment. My
wife also came to Vegas with me and I changed my plans a for couple
of days to spend more time with her, otherwise I would have attended
more events.
. . . . .

I was in boymode for DLV and had a a great time. I had no idea
what it was when I registered, and was nervous. Everyone made me
feel comfortable. My wife didn't know I was there but I felt so
good about DLV I told her all about it. We'd like to attend next
year together.
. . . . .

I think this is a really good event that needs a better sense of
what you want and how you want it to happen. I am not really big
on a schedule but I thought those things where a schedule was
expected did not come off...the limo tour...lunch at the
different buffets...

I think you folks have got something really good and need to decide
whether you want no organization or enough organization to make
sense of things.

(This particular set of comments continued in part 3.)
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Diva has been my finest hour each year. This is one in a million.
Please keep up the good work and thanks so much.
. . . . .

I was extremely uncomfortable during the Limo tour when we made
our stops. I am a private person and did not enjoy being stared at
and made fun of. It seemed to me, that we were being put on display
for the benefit of the tourists.
. . . . .

It is the best week of the year!

Thanks
. . . . .

Great time, can't wait for next year.
. . . . .

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(This posting was entered by Diva Las Vegas, an external user of MyDLV.)

[External Poster]

This posting is from: Susan
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Those of you who want more mainstream activities, take it from a local.

You can go anywhere in Vegas. Just meet with some friends and go. I
enjoy the bigger attended functions.

For me the best thing about DLV is the chance to meet other people in
our community.

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(This posting was entered by Susan, an external user of MyDLV.)