I'm not responding to all comments, just those on which I (think I)
have some relevant thoughts. Let's talk about restrooms first, since that's one of the topics that often gets a lot of attention ...
I heard of no significant restroom issues or incidents this year, and it's now been quite a few years since we've had any dramatic or traumatic restroom incidents! Big thanks to all for helping out with this! (clap-clap-clap {whistle!})
+ I used the ladies room at Trevi and while I was in my stall I
+ heard the sound of a small child talking to her mother. Even
+ though there was a bit of a backlog in the restroom I stayed
+ put until they had finished and left before I left to rejoin
+ the group. No incident, but an issue I hope I handled properly.
Yes, most definitely, this was a very appropriate way of handling this situation.
If you were any way uneasy with the mother/child seeing you in the restroom, then yes, you handled it quite well. I do know of others reporting that they waited for others to exit before leaving the stall, so you're most definitely not alone.
I commend you on your decision-making!
Thanks for exercising discretion in this matter.
. . . . .
+ I know this sounds silly, but I'm more nervous going OUT of a
+ ladies bathroom than going in.
In our history, yes, we've had reports from some who said they were confronted by management or security either immediately as they were leaving the restroom, or shortly after.
+ I always expect to walk out and see this BIG Security Guard
+ standing there with a gun pointed at me ready to arrest me or
+ throw me out.
Unfortunately, we did receive a report a few years back about a restroom incident at a local hotel (Gold Coast) which happened to a DLVer, but not during DLV, where there was a very heavy-handed show-of-force type of response to another customer's complaint.
. . . . .
+ What happened to the list of safe bathrooms?
Human error, my oversight, sorry.
This year we tried placing most of the Large Final Mailing copy on the web, and this was simply overlooked. Due to the survey responses, we'll most likely be doing the LFM via e-mail next year so I will be sure it's included.
. . . . . . . . . .
One recurring theme in the comments this year had to do with the way various restaurants handled (or rather failed to handle well) medium to large groups of our people.
+ I think group dinners are fine, but restaurants can't handle
+ one huge order, and do the paperwork for a check.
and
+ The service at the Artisan was very bad as was the service at
+ the Luna Rossa dinner.
and
+ And the Artisan.... ... and the exceedingly slow service this
and
+ The refusal of the Trevi to make out individual bills and to
+ seat us as they did in the past was a major negative!
and
+ The Artisan has lousy service in the bar, there is no service
+ in the Resturant,
and
+ Artisan food is very tasty, but the service is sooooooooo
+ sloooooowwwwww. Nice place otherwise.
and
+ the food at Luna was really quite poor and one poor guy to handle
+ 50 to 60 not us was crazy. ... We then waited 2 1/2 hour to get
and a related comment and suggestion ...
+ How about we try to stagger meal serving times. When everyone
+ tries to order all at once it overwhelms the kitchen.
Now, at the risk of appearing to play Devil's Advocate, let me go over some history and reflect on why some of this may be.
Most restaurants like to handle larger groups, even groups of 20 or so, with such things as limited menus and one-price-fits-all pricing.
This allows them to be more efficient in the kitchen and takes quite a bit of the workload off of the service staff and yes, allows them to handle the group with fewer servers.
Yes, over our years we've had one-price-fits-all and limited menu meals at such places as Hard Rock and Carluccio's. Such menus elicited grumbling during the fact and complaints after the fact.
"Party menus suck!" was the one comment I remember well. We had issues with those on some dietary restrictions and we also had some issues along the line of wanting just a salad but the only option was paying for a full-course meal.
It was very obvious to me that our people did not want a "catered" meal or a "banquet", but wanted a nice meal in a nice restaurant in the company of other DLVers.
Some restaurants have been willing to work with us, and can deal with our picky desires. Bahama Breeze, Trevi, Firefly, and the Artisan have (even if grudgingly) honored our wishes to have the full regular menu available to our group.
It's a two-way street. Yes, there are some practical limits as to how many meals a restaurant can prepare and serve in a given span of time. Restaurateurs depend on the randomness of customers' orders to run a smooth operation. (Yes, for the geeks among us, some formal models of queueing theory can be applied here.)
In order to "have our way" with menu selection there are some trade off items that we will have to accept, such as:
1. Slower service.
2. Conditions such as one check per table.
3. Mandatory included gratuity.
Let's open this one up for discussion. Which would you rather have for the medium to large group meals at DLV?
1. Full menu available, slower service, one check per table.
or
2. Limited "party" menu, one-price-fits-all pricing.
Comments?
. . . . .
A couple related comments about the layout at Trevi:
+ Trevi's is MUCH NICER with the 4-tops instead of the long banquet
+ tables. Kudo's to whoever thought of that.
and
+ How about groups of 4 or 6, no more, all together, served by a
+ wait staff in the normal way anyone at the restaurant would?
The layout of tables was kind of a surprise to me. Until we arrived, I was under the impression that the entire upper level had been booked by another party and that we would be seated on the main level, but surprise-surprise, upstairs we went. I don't know if the table arrangement was coordinated by Laura or not, but it did appear to work.
The group I was to be eating with was expecting a longer table, so we just took it upon ourselves to do some re-arranging.
. . . . .
One other comment about Trevi:
+ I got the felling that the Trevi is no longer comfrtable with
+ our being there.
I sure did not feel that way. I certainly did not get any vibes from the wait staff, the bar staff, or the hostess and such that they in any way did not value our patronage as much as they would any other group!
I would like to ask the person who wrote this to please write in with some more detail on this, confidentiality assured if desired. If there's something we don't know that we should know, please clue us in!
. . . . .
Might as well segue' into this one ...
+ i was uncomfortable when we exited Trevi en mass. Too many TG's
+ in one place draws a crowd of paparazzi. I ran from the scene.
and a related note ...
+ I was uncomfortable sometimes with the attention a large group
+ draws.
If you are self-conscious or uneasy in a large group which has attracted the attention of the normals, simply stay back away from the bolus. TGs do have the propensity to congregate in groups and to walk in groups. It's very easy to avoid the temptation to join a large group which has formed, and to stay back as the large group travels from point A to point B. If you do this, you'll also overhear some very eye-opening comments from the onlookers!
. . . . .
Circling back to dining, this theme was common in the comments ...
+ Cheaper dining venus
and
+ Can we keep the lunch prices down to under $20 dollars please.
and
+ Too many lunches were at expensive buffets, why?
and
+ Our only complaint is not towards dlv but the prices of the food.
and
+ the food /restaurants were a rip off.
and
+ Please go back to listing prices, even if only ball-park, on
+ the schedule. Things like 'dinner on your own' don't help much
+ in budgeting.
and
+ Although the food prices was up this year, ...
We hear you, loud and clear, on this one!
. . . . .
Dining suggestion:
+ I love a great steak, but you never have any steak houses on the
+ menu. Please add one.
IIRC, the last time a higher-end steak house was on the schedule, the turnout was abysmal.
However, all that needs to happen for a steak house to be an option for a DLV dining evening is that somebody volunteers to host(ess) it!
. . . . .
Time crunch! A few remarks along this line ...
+ Better event timing to allow time to participate and get to other
+ events.
and
+ The only suggestion that I have is to strive for a time window
+ between consecutive but non-colocated events, I felt rushed at
+ times and did end up missing one commitment.
and
+ Make sure we plan enough time if we plan to eat at the Artisan.
+ The delay probably negatively effected the attendance at the
+ Bellagio Art Tour.
and
+ Some events were too rushed.
and
+ The volunteer dinner was very enjoyable and I did have a great
+ time, but it should have been started a little earlier. I missed
+ the art tour because it ran over so long.
This year, on the objective part of the survey, the majority either reported occasional or frequent time crunches causing them to miss activities. This is up significantly for this year.
I can say that the ORG group does consider timing of activities and does adjust things when they can. However, many goings-on in Las Vegas occur at fixed times, such as shows, tours, etc.
Although it did not seem as troublesome as in previous years, when one activity runs "long", a chain-reaction can occur causing any subsequent activity to slip in time as well. A good (??) example of this occurred when the Volunteer Recognition Luncheon food service was slow, causing several, including the Coordinator, to be late for the Bellagio Art Tour! Things like this are very difficult to forecast and are often unknown until they occur.
. . . . .
Although not everyone who took the survey answered the question, very few reported difficulty getting a ride this year.
Of those who reported difficulty, about half were newcomers, but some had attended before so this cannot be written off as simply not being aware of how things work at DLV.
+ Needs a way to get several together to share a ride.
+ Other suggestion, more co-located events. Seems like we were
+ spending more time moving from event to event this year.
+ do share a ride program. have a place for all to meet to go
+ places.
Half of those reporting difficulty getting a ride stayed at the IP, our most popular hotel. We can most likely infer that the issue was more along the line of meeting and hooking up with someone who had a vehicle.
We had a more formal ride-share program until DLV 2010. In the early years of DLV it worked very well. For a few years we went as far as to have standard pick-up locations and designated pick-up times.
As our numbers began to increase, and as we started more multi-tracking of activities with multiple things happening at one time in different locations, things did not work as well. We begin to be overwhelmed with complaints, both from volunteer drivers and from those who needed rides.
Another chronic issue was those who phoned the DLV contact people (almost always approaching the last minute) asking for a ride and were miffed when they were told that a ride was not available.
The only solution that was acceptable to the ORG group members was to state that everyone is responsible for their own local transportation to and from activities. A motion was made to drop the ride share program and it passed, unopposed.
We do, however, encourage individual Coordinators, if they desire to do so, to organize car pools to their activities, and we also encourage our attendees to, on their own, make arrangements to share rides, either in private vehicles or in taxis.
Under the current state of things, there are many challenges to trying any formal coordination of rides. We're very spread out across the city. Although we do suggest hotels, only about half of those who took the survey indicated staying in our suggested hotels, and we can assume this extrapolates in proportion. In recent years, not everyone will be going to the same destination except for a few larger affairs.
While we're on the topic of getting around, this year we did our activity map using Google Maps, instead of a hand-drawn map.
+ Include the venue address and/or instructions on how to get
+ there by auto. Example: ... Enter parking garage via Fred Way
and
+ Map is much improved, to many options on schedules. Confusing.
and
+ Map was MUCH better this yer. Thanks.
One comment made to me in person by one group was that we need to emphasize that people should print out BOTH the map and the main schedule. Some had maps only, which gave locations and a few brief notes, some had printed the schedules only, which did have such things as street addresses and parking hints, but was not enough for someone unfamiliar with Las Vegas streets to find things.
. . . . .
+ The Galiano Challenge
+ Indoor skydiving
+ Am I still anonymous?
Yeah, you might as well have signed that one, Captain F.!
. . . . .
Mixed opinions on Drink And Drag:
+ I did not like Drink and Drag a all, It was dreadful! I suggest that
and
+ Drink&Drag is a fun place! I hope they make it. The club previous in
and
+ Having the opening in a bar called drink and drag was really not a
+ very classy venue. Personally I'm not a huge fan of bars to begin
and
+ Drinks were quite strong at Drink/Drag. Got a good buzz off 1
+ rum&coke.
and
+ Downtown is a fun place, and Drink/Drag is kind of off the beaten
+ path but fun.
and
+ IMO Drink and Drag was a poor choice for the welcome event. The
On a somewhat related note ...
+ Personally, I would rather have both the opening and closing
+ celebrations at the Bahama Breeze.
We won't know until later this year or even next year what the plans for the DLV 2013 Welcome Celebration will be. Since the WC at D&D did score in the mid 4s for both enjoyment and comfort, we can't just summarily exclude D&D from consideration for some large gathering, should it still be around. There will be other options, and it will be up to those who take the initiative to propose and plan such an affair to set the venue.
As for the Bahama Breeze suggestion, there's nothing that says that it can't happen that way, but we've always considered it to be other than best practice to use one venue for more than one large gathering each year.
. . . . .
Artisan seemed to garner the derogs this year. We've already covered the food service issue (or rather lack of such), but there were some hotel issues as well.
+ I was planning to stay for just 2 nights but left after one. The
+ Artisan was great in terms of comfort level and acceptance, but the
+ noise from traffic in the night was awful and I did not sleep at
+ all. That was why I left early
and
+ I found the Artisan Friday band playing until 5am made it impossible
+ to sleep.
Interestingly, after this year's vendor ratings were tabulated, the Artisan dropped off of the "9/9 Club" on our Big List!
. . . . .
+ Friday was great. Rest of the week sucked.
Not sure what to say on that one, but I find it to be an interesting comment. We did note that all of Friday's activities except for one placed 4.5 or above on the enjoyment scale.
. . . . .
We really-truly try to do what we can to help make the newcomers feel welcome and feel included. I know we do. It's a very common topic among the volunteers and we've discussed all kinds of things we can do to help out.
However, we always seem to get gigged on this, and this year was no exception!
+ First, you need something more formal or structured to introduce
+ new girls to the group. It took me 3-4 days just to get in the
+ swing of things and meet others.
+ You need some more organization to the opening mixer. There wasn't
+ any real mixing going on, just people talking with who they knew
+ allready.
+ I heard from another first
+ time attender that she was disappointed because she did not feel
+ included and felt like an outsider.
We've tried having Beginner Open House sessions, and I think we are converging on something that can work well. We're not there yet, however.
+ It seems we still have our work cut
+ out for us as far as creating a welcoming, friendly environment is
+ concerned.
Yes, I have to agree with this comment! We'll most definitely be discussing this again in ORG, and we can expect quite a bit of attention will be paid to this over the next year!
A related comment ...
+ This was my first time at DLV, I had a big sister but recieved
+ no help from her at all.
Please let our Big Sister Coordinator (Nora) know the details.
E-mail: bigsister@geekbabe.com in confidence, please.
Related note:
+ My little sister did come to Las Vegas but only attended one
+ event. She was terrified. She got cold feet and bailed out even
+ though her spouse was with her and supported her attendance.
+ I think their expectations were for something else.
Any additional feedback would be appreciated.
DLV is not for everyone. DLV is the most "exposed" of any of the major TG events and yes, some are not ready for it.
. . . . .
+ I will submit my suggestions later
I shiver with antici ... ...
. . . . .
+ The Diva leaders need to co-ordinate things with the Wildside
+ leaders and come up with a common week for both events.
This one is probably this year's least-likely-to-happen suggestion.
It may indeed happen again by coincidence, and they are of course free to plan their event around ours if they want, but the issues in getting our volunteers to agree upon and support one set of dates are so many that the chance of getting two sets of volunteers from two different events to agree upon a common timeframe is very low.
. . . . .
All of the other major TG events have some kind of a common area in which attendees can meet, gather, get information on what is happening, do some informal socializing, and get to know each other.
Many who attend DLV are surprised to see that we don't have such a facility, and it's a recurring topic in feedback.
+ for my first time attending, and only on a limited basis, I found
+ the hardest part in attending was the lack of a Single spot, where
+ everything works out of.
+ To that end, I would like to offer the concept of useing a hotel
+ room, such as the Ramamda on Flamingo, as a central point.
In order for a common area such as an "office", "drop-in center", "hospitality suite", etc., to be reality, two things need to happen.
1. Somebody has to pay for it. Such a room would run well into three figures for the week. Lacking a very generous sugar-mommy, funding for such would not be possible without a radical change to the model of our event.
2. Somebody has to staff it. This means that at least one volunteer would have to be there every minute it is to be open. This means volunteers have to give up time from their vacation to stand watch (for lack of a better term) at the site. The more volunteer "bandwidth" we consume with staffing a common facility, the less there is for making the activities happen.
Another issue is location. For a common area to work, it needs to be very convenient for the majority of our attendees. Since we are spread all over town, selecting an ideal location would be a challenge.
We realize that almost every other TG event does have some kind of "common area" such as this. Over the years we've also discussed variations on this theme to provide some kind of a touch-base type of location or activity.
The closest we've actually come was the series of daily "hotel get-togethers" we had one year. These were one-hour sessions in our suggested hotels. Although these were reasonably well attended and rated, they were dropped the next year simply due to the load they placed on the volunteer staff.
Yes, we do have the recurring Lunch With Ginger/Alanna/Mary Beth.
For one year the ownership of a certain club volunteered to be our un-official "headquarters", but that never happened due to a personnel shake-up shortly before our event.
Last year (2011) one of the proprietors of a local shop hinted to me that their facility would be willing to be kind of a "headquarters" for DLV, "to hand out maps and such ..." but I don't know just how practical that is. I can also name two other vendors who would most likely JUMP at the chance to be named "DLV Headquarters", but the fact is that none of these places are really convenient to where DLVers stay, and probably would not work as a "hospitality suite" along the lines of what those who have attended other TG events have learned to expect.
. . . . .
"Safety in numbers" suggestions occur over the years ...
+ I enjoy playing blackjack and was hesitant about playing and
+ confronting non understanding tourist at the tables, so I just
+ played the slots. Maybe next year you could have one night of
+ table games at say the Paris, so we could play together.
and
+ Also the dance bar at Bally's. I was
+ afraid to go in alone but with a group I would be comfortable.
I would suggest to anyone who wants to see things like this happen to please volunteer to make them happen. These are almost trivial to do. Just name a place and agree to be there. Simple!
. . . . .
Our best-attended functions are usually in the evening, but there is a demand for daytime things as well, and we've had them ever since the earliest years of DLV.
+ More morning/daytime gatherings and activities. This could
+ include morning walks/exercise activity, trips to area parks
+ (Valley of Fire, Hoover Dam), shopping trips.
+ I wasn't interested in the High Tea or make-overs so I found
+ Wednesday, Thursday and Friday daytime limited in choices.
I will admit that the "outdoorsy" activities were few and far between for a few years. Last year we had the Shiloh Horse Ranch outing and this year we had Red Rock hiking, which will most likely be repeated or expanded for 2013.
We've done Hoover Dam, many times, but not recently. We've also done Valley Of Fire multiple times, but not recently.
All it takes is {broken-record stuck-CD} ...
+ Loer the hike to Red Rock. I would like to see more low cost
+ outdoors healthy living kind of events that don't just focus
+ on drinking and partying.
Just do it, seriously.
The more the better, and there will most always be daytime timeslots available.. . . . .
+ It would b nice if there were some options for TS's. I go with
+ a cross dresser friend but don't wish to participate with most
+ of the group as I don't wish to draw attention to myself. I
+ certainly get it if I fall into too small of a sub-group to
+ accommodate.
Quite honestly, we don't plan our activities with any particular subgroup of our attendees in mind.
Our survey responses indicate that about 1/4 of our folks self-identify somewhere on the TS spectrum, and that makes up a significant portion of our attendee base.
If you don't want to be an object of the public's attention, there are a few things you can do to minimize it, the easiest being to simply back off when groups form and start attracting the attention of onlookers.
Related note ...
+ It seems you
+ have two kinds of gurls attending, those who want to dress t the
+ 9's and those in ordinary tourist clothes. Very contrasty.
Yes, we have a very diverse group. As you observed, some view DLV as an opportunity to dress and dress they do, in abundance.
Others, as you observed, dress down (am I allowed to use that term again now?) either because they don't feel the need to dress up or because they wish to blend in with the Great Unwashed Masses.
Despite the difference, our people have common interests and common concerns and for the most part do enjoy each other's company.
And ...
+ This group was hard to understand and Im not sure I fit in. I
+ expected more regular cross dressers. It looks like everyone
+ either glammed up all the way or went casual, stealth I assume
+ for.
This observation was shared by multiple people. I'm assuming that this was unexpected.
. . . . .
+ Yes, let's have one big formal dress-up glam-out evening. Even
+ the casual girls can get dressed up once!
The topic of a formal affair (prom theme, general formal theme) is a frequently-occurring suggestion in feedback. It's come close to reality a couple of times, but never actually happened.
One proposal was rejected due to pricing and logistics, and another never happened due to a very unfortunate incident involving the contact person for the planned venue.
If you (or anyone) wants to see such a formal activity happen, please work with our volunteer group to make it happen. As long as your plans are realistic in nature, such an affair can most definitely be on the 2013 schedule.
. . . . .
+ Bring back the boat trip.
+ Bring back the garden party.
+ Mini golf
+ more shows
All it takes is {broken-record stuck-CD} ...
. . . . .
+ Mr B's for the newcomers looked good as long as we limit the
+ volume of the music so we can have QST.
+ Mr. Bills {sic} was good. Pre-DLV
I do think that Mr. B's does have the potential of hosting something more for us than just a Pre-DLV warm-up activity. I know that it will be mentioned in ORG as a possibility for one of our larger affairs.
. . . . .
+ I and 2 others went to Battisti's Italian place behind the IP,
+ but it was not that good. Prego or Ragu sauce out of a jar.
Battista's Hole In The Wall is a recurring topic on the various Las Vegas chat boards. People either tend to love it or hate it.
I've been there several times over the years and have yet to have a bad meal there. However, I'm not everyone.
We've discussed using it for a DLV dining activity off and on but it just hasn't happened. No particular reason.
. . . . .
+ Margaritaville was great last year and dumped on us this year.
That was a total MESS! I'm glad (and surprised) that it worked out as well as it did! Quite unfortunate. However, I think we did make the best of it that we could.
+ The Neon Museum had many no shows (seemed to be more this year
+ than last).
My impression is that several signed up for this, not realizing that the only option for payment was via credit card, and that the reservation needed to be in the name of the cardholder. I'm very sure they simply abandoned the on-line reservation when this became obvious, and never bothered to go back and cancel the DLV sign-up.
This was reflected in the following comment:
+ I really wanted to attend the neon event but the online registration
+ at their site and the early payment made it impossible for me. If we
+ are to do this in the future something needs to be done to make it
+ easier. I was not about to go through all of the hassel to do this
+ event.
The only way I can see to make this easier is for one volunteer to book a group of reservations with his/her card and have those who want to attend pay him/her. I don't know if anyone will be willing to do this.
+ But during the tour, the guide asked everyone to follow that
+ gentleman referring to one of our members. I sent them a nicely
+ worded email after explaining the faux pas and haven't received
+ a response.
Please let us know if you receive a response. (I'm not holding my breath.) I would hope this was a simple case of ignorance of the proper and expected gender-specific terminology and not an intentional affront.
. . . . .
+ I found, somewhat to my surprise, that I really preferred the
+ alternative venues far more than the mainstream ones, which I
+ found rather uncomfortable.
I'm gonna speak very freely here, as if I never do.
Admitting that you enjoy, let alone prefer, the alternative venues has not been a very popular opinion amongst our people in recent years. I have heard individuals being put down for expressing just what you said.We've had one recurring question on the survey for many years:
+Would you prefer more activities be in mainstream venues, or
+more in discreet or secluded or alternative venues?
+I would prefer more secluded venues.: 12
+I would prefer more mainstream venues.: 17
+I think the balance was about right.: 61
Although those who would prefer (more) alternative venues is in the minority, the number of our attendees holding this viewpoint has always been significant, especially on an anonymous survey.
I might also point out that those who would prefer (more) mainstream venues is also in the minority, and this year not that far in front of the "alternative" minority.
Majority has always said that our balance is right, between the mainstream and alternative.
+ The mob museum in particular felt really uncomfortable with lots
+ of "regular" people and even some families. It's totally my own
+ issue about my comfort level and being seen while being dressed
+ but was an interesting insight for me.
It's a personal growth thing. You'll find that the more experience you have in mainstream public, the more comfortable you will be.
. . . . .
{sigh!}
+ I was also disgusted by the person wearing the mask. It made us
+ look like a freakshow and that is not the image I want our people
+ to portray.
and
+ And that mask. What the hell is that about? Don't hide yourself,
+ girl!
and
+ What's the deal with the mask? Is that allowed?
Is that allowed? Yes and no, depending on the activity.
Officially, the primary Coordinator of the activity sets the dress guidelines and is the person primarily responsible for any action to be taken when said guidelines are not followed.
This year, Coordinators specifically requested "no costumes" for the dress notes on the final schedule for five activities and specifically mentioned "mainstream dress please" for ten activities. Such things would certainly not be allowed at those activities.
At something like the Erotic Heritage Museum, yes, costumes, within reason, were allowed.
If someone's dress or behavior is negatively affecting your enjoyment of a DLV activity, the thing to do is to bring it to the attention of the primary Coordinator of that activity at the time of occurrence.
. . . . .
A couple related comments on finding the group.
+ SuggestionL When you have a big group somewhere, give us the group
+ name which it will be booked under. I went to Margaville and said I
+ was with the big group but they didn't know anything. They told me
+ to look around but I couldn't see anyone.
and
+ Also, when you are supposed to meet somewhere, have a girl out
+ there waiting to meet the others. I absolutely hate having to
+ go to the restaurant hostess desk and ask if there is a group of
+ crossdressers in there.
Here are a few suggestions regarding finding and meeting the group in a restaurant setting, such as Margaritaville.
1. Be on time. The group will almost always be obvious shortly before the posted start time.
2. Note the "Where to meet" instructions on the final schedule.
3. Look in the bar area. Meals are often combined with a Happy Hour.
4. If you can't find the group and are uncomfortable asking the staff, phone the primary Coordinator if the number is listed. If not, phone any of the DLV contact people. If you get no answer or get stuck in Voice Mail Jail, keep trying. Cell phones often don't work very well in some Las Vegas buildings, and even normal everyday casino or restaurant racket can make a ringing phone difficult to hear. Keep trying and phone the alternates if necessary.
I know that for Margaritaville, Sabrina was kind of continuously circulating between the fragments of the group and the main desk, so she should have been visible to anyone who stuck around at least a few minutes.
As for publishing the name of the party, it may or may not be practical, as some places do (still) take names, others just hand you a beeper, and others go by number.
. . . . .
+ Also 3 of us showed up at Goodtimes for the Pub Crawl & it was
+ locked up. We called Nikki & she didn't know why. We then went
+ to Buffalos, met Nikki there & nno one else showed up.
This was very unfortunate, and probably could not have been easily foreseen, as Goodtimes and most LV bars are usually 24 x 7. I think it was handled as well as could be.
Phoning the Coordinator is the correct thing to do in cases like this.
. . . . .
+ I think a venue where the girls can really dress up HOT would
+ be great! Maybe a costume event? Somewhere they can dress a bit
+ slutty/risky without offending any Muggles?
We've talked about costume parties, even a "slut party", and all it takes is ...
. . . . .
+ You need more plans to keep the group together. There were just
+ to many things that didn't appeal to me or to those I hung around
+ with.
Please, suggest things you would like to do.
Better yet, please volunteer to help make them happen.
. . . . .
+ Also, I can't find any information about the Pink Festival this
+ Fall. Looked on line and didn't find it.
I'm assuming you mean Pinkfest. Just send e-mail to pinkfest@pinkmyst.com to get on the list. Plans will be coming out shortly.
. . . . .
+ What a week! I'm still not recovered.
Do you really want to recover?
. . . . .
+ I was comfortable at most all events, but the clicking got to
+ be tiring.
LOL, it took me a while to figure out what you meant. Yes, that's a lot of mouse clicks. Feel free to leave anything that does not apply to you or anything that you don't want to answer blank.
. . . . .
+ You need to ask how many pairs of shoes the gurls take to Vegas.,
Uh, we do?
. . . . .
+ Suggestion for question: Would be interesting to see how many are
+ truly Straight and how many are gay or bi.
Do we have a need to track the sexual preference of our attendees? I don't know, I'm asking. I really don't see a need.
Besides, when we're dealing with the TG community, the classification of such things can become quite complex.
. . . . .
+ I would like to see some stronger language concerning people of
+ our group trying to get sexual contacts. I know of one couple who
+ was approach by an individiual, that person did not want to take
+ repeated NO's for an answer. I urged them to report it but they
+ did not want to cause waves.
I would hope that "All attendees are expected to behave as a lady or gentleman, ..." in our Conditions Of Participation would get the point across that unwanted sexual advances at DLV are very much uncool! We may just have to add a sentence or two to get the point across to those who don't understand that "NO!" does not mean maybe! We do have that language in our Admirers Guide, and perhaps we need to move it over to the general COP as well.
As I mentioned previously, I was grabbed right on the boob by another attendee, and I did not appreciate it at all! Perhaps some clarification of what is not welcome needs to be added, unfortunately.
. . . . .
Last but not least by any means, the primary overriding theme in the comments is reflected in the following items:
+ Great job pulling this together. Thanks to everyone who was
+ involved. There was so much talent that went into setting up the
+ computer, the venues, etc. Hats off to everyone! (a pretty
+ feminine one at that)
. . .
+ I find that the work done by DLV leaders to be excellent and it is
+ well appreciated.
. . .
+ Thanks for all the hard work
. . .
+ I would like to personally thank Annie. She was very helpful to me
+ and it was obvious that she was quite integral to the overall success
+ of DLV.
. . .
+ We had a great time and felt that the dlv organizers did a great job.
. . .
+ Thanks for the opportunity to dress, socialize, party, learn from
+ others and the friendship!
. . .
+ As I keep saying time after time. This is the best girl time one can
+ ever hope for. Thanks again to the staff. I'll be back next year with
+ bells on.
. . .
+ Thanks to all of you volunteers for putting this event on. I had fun
+ in a fun town.
. . .
+ Thanks to everyone.
. . .
+ It was another wonderful DLV, thanks all around.
. . .
+ Let's see, first of all thanks for another wonderful week. ...
. . .
+ Thanks again.
. . .
+ My sincere thanks to all of the staff for a super and well organized
+ affair. You really know how to put on a party.
. . .
+ Thanks so much to Jane, Annie, Wally, Robin, Dale, Ginger, Candy, who
+ were so nice to me and really helped me grow this year. This was my
+ second year, and the others were far friendlier this year.
+
+ Hugs to all.
. . .
+ We are very grateful for the hard work of the organizers and
+ volunteers that make this all possible.
Comments such as this are read and truly appreciated, every last one of them! Feedback such as this tells us that we are doing something right and that our efforts are making a difference in the lives of many.
Thanks again, gang!
