----------
A few comments on the comments this year ...
The top two issues this year had a common theme of items that made the
event less than enjoyable for multiple individuals.
The number one issue, by far, was the splitting of checks, or rather the
lack of such, with 7 complaints and comments:
+ Please!!! only use restaurants that give separate checks!!!! Group
+ checks were the most negative thing of DLV!!!
. . . . .
+ Restaurants issuing only group or table checks cause confusion and
+ frustration. We should start weeding them off of our schedule. In
{deletia}
. . . . .
+ It was inconvenient for restaurants to combine the table purchases in
+ one bill. Though I understand why they do this, some restaurants were
{bobbitt}
. . . . .
+ The problems that happened at the final dinner with paymentwas very
+ bad. I would say that next year it must be stressed that seperate
{munch}
. . . . .
+ We would really prefer dinner activities that accept separate checks.
+ Too confusing to figure out with drinks food etc.
. . . . .
+ hey, FOR dividing up checks z, get a volunteer whose good at math
+ to go around table to table with a calculator and help them do it.
+ Better yet set up a volunteer table where they can come and have
+ someone figure out how much for each and have them all pay there
. . . . .
+ Don't know which is worse, the dividing of checks or listening to a
+ couple of people p*ss and moan about it all night. They would not
+ let it drop.
One thing I certainly do not understand about this issue is that why it
reared its ugly head after being mostly silent for 18 annual events, and
the degree to which the issue became "radioactive" this year!
I know we've had one-check-per-table countless times in previous years.
Now I will say this. Difficulty and frustration with such things as
splitting of checks need to be resolved without a drama scene! Reporting
issues to the volunteer Coordinators should be the first line of action.
Feedback in the survey will get noticed. Everyone can be assured that
the check splitting issue will be very visible in the ORG group as plans
are made for DLV 2016 and other future events.
However, such things as throwing a tantrum in public and cursing at
restaurant management does absolutely nothing to help! It embarrasses
the group and gives a very poor impression of us, the DLV group
specifically, and the TG community in general!
It also stresses out our volunteers, who are unpaid and in too many
cases unthanked for their efforts!
Nobody wins when things like this happen!
This kind of stuff sets thegroup back!
Now, for those of you who don't like splitting checks, please help us
out here and help find us some dining venues which are willing to serve
larger groups using separate checks.
You don't have to commit to organizing anything, or explain the nature
of our group to anyone, or even give your name. Just get us some leads,
please!
You can use the "food" listing on our Big List as a starting point:
http://www.geekbabe.com/dlv/vendors/#Food
More thoughts on this under "affordability" below.
. . . . . . . . . .
Number two issue was cigar smoking, with four complaints and comments:
+ Please take that cigar outside. Better yet to the next county. Or
+ the next planet.
. . . . .
+ Nasty stinky el ropo cigars need to be BANNED! !!!! Very
+ un-ladylike! !! Looks and smells like hell
. . . . .
+ That cigar was gross. I moved away and let HIM (emphasis) sit alone
. . . . .
+ The problem with so many new non-smoking laws is that at the places
+ they still allow smoking, it's all concentrated and much worse. And
+ cigar smoke is 100 times worse than cigarette smoke. Hard to have a
+ pleasant time when your eyes burn and your all stuffed up. Don't
+ people who smoke cigars know that they are bothering the hell out
+ of many people?
I fielded a complaint about this at one of the Paris sessions. I asked
the complaining party if she wanted me to say something to the smoker
and she said that she wanted the issue to be known to us but did not
want any confrontation. I said I would note it and pass it on to the ORG
group at the appropriate time, which I have done.
I think that the answer here is for everyone to be aware that things
such as smoking cigars do annoy others, and that many are just too nice
or too shy to say anything about it.
. . . . . . . . . .
Restroom comments:
It first appeared that we had an annual event totally free of restroom
issues until the following came in on the survey. It appears to me that
the two similar reports are the same report stated twice:
+ sunday night at the fremont experience, I went into the store that
+ sells moccicins and indian jewelry and asked if they had a rest room
+ I could use and I was told that could not use there restroom because
+ the way I was dressed. so I want across the street to the casino,
+ went to the woman restroom and I was told that I could not use the
+ woman restroom because I was a man. I was told this by one of the
+ woman employees
I am assuming that the shop cited was El Portal, and that the casino
cited was The D.
Both El Portal and The D MAY be in violation of NRS chapter 651.
I emphasize "may" because (IANAL) there do not appear to be any
authoritative opinions from the Bench and/or Bar regarding exactly how
the 2011 revisions to the chapter specifically affect access to
gender-designated restrooms in Nevada.
There's a lot of opinion and hearsay on it, but there do not appear to
be any binding clarifications.
These opinions include a hearsay "is not intended to apply to casual
crossdressers" quoted report by the LVRJ, a widely-held belief that said
statute is a "free pass" to the restroom of one's choice, and the belief
of some property managers that if they make some facilities, any
facilities, available to all, that they are within the letter of the
law.
If you wrote this item and want to pursue things, you can file a
complaint with the Nevada Equal Rights Commission, as outlined in the
statute.
I don't think that this will be entirely settled until there is some
kind of a court opinion, Commission directive, etc.
. . . . .
Two comments along the same line:
+ I always use the Ladies room alone so I don't attract attention to
+ the group.
and ...
+ Don't stay there and shoot the sh*t in a public bathroom please girls!
The former reflects good practice. The latter seems to imply that there
was at least one incident of lingering and socializing in a restroom,
which is demonstrated poor practice.
. . . . . . . . . .
There were a few comments regarding the appropriateness of dress under
various circumstances:
+ is there a polite way to mention that someone's attire is not
+ appropriate for the venue?
If it's negatively affecting your enjoyment of the activity, the
"correct" way (said with DLV organizer's hat on) to deal with this or
with anything else that is putting a damper on your enjoyment of any DLV
activity is to bring the situation to the attention of the volunteer
Coordinator of that activity.
If you simply want to make the wearer aware, you might phrase it
as a constructive suggestion. This is awkward, under the best of
circumstances, I know.
Related is:
+ you need a way to let people register complaints without making a
+ scene
See above.
. . . . .
+ The get acquainted dinner that I attended (late) was the first event
+ I went to. Since I dress enfemme frequently, I tend to dress for
+ comfort and realized immediately upon entering Bahama Breeze that I
+ was grossly underdressed. Everyone was dressed to the nines and I was
+ dressed to the twos. In the future, it might be helpful to kind of
+ let folks know the proper attire for the opening events.
For something like the opening gathering at Bahama Breeze, it is very
much intended that you can dress casually if you like (to the twos) or
dress up a bit or quite a bit (to the nines) if you wish.
Here are the notes from the detailed schedule: "This is a mainstream
activity. ... Nice casual to (mainstream) formal dress is appropriate.
No costumes, clubwear, face masks, or slutty/fetish attire at this
activity please."
It's our intent that nobody feel out of place at our major gathering
whether dressed to the twos or the nines.
. . . . .
A few related comments about how some are perceived in some of the
very exposed public places.
+ Some of the ladies looked downright silly, 4 inch heels on a 6'4"
+ person, and clown blush at breakfast, or on Freemont street.
+ I wasn't comfortable with the attention they were getting, and
+ frankly, I think they give us a bad reputation.
and
+ Need to break up groups on Fremont and caesars much to obvious
and
+ I am full time RLE, 100% passable, BTW. I went to walk Freemont
+ with another TS and this silly looking person asked to join, and
+ the other TS said sure. I would have said no. She got hassled,
+ which means we got hassled, and things almost got ugly until this
+ big black dude told them to knock it off.
+ Please include heel and makeup advice, and tell those who need
+ help to ASK for it.
+ Also tell people who have trouble passing to stay in the safe
+ venues. I will never let a near zero passable person accompany
+ me in mainstream Vegas again. I will tell them, "Honey, you just
+ aren't ready for prime time, and it isn't safe." If it offends,
+ too da!n bad, better than getting beaten up or ridiculed.
I admit that I don't have any answers here.
IMAO there are some learning curves in play here. The first is that of
learning what is appropriate dress and presentation for various public
venues and the learning of how to select garments and "do the face" to
provide that appropriate look.
The second is the learning curve of becoming comfortable in the company
of those who do not pass as well as you think they should.
Another factor in play is groups, groups attract attention, and in our
community there is a propensity to hang around in groups. If you are
more comfortable when attention is not directed your way, when groups
form, stay back away from them. If you're in a group an feeling too
self-conscious, please excuse yourself.
. . . . .
+ I repeatedly found myself in conversation with someone when
+ someone they knew came up and began talking as though I wasn't
+ there. After this happened 4 times I quite simply left. ...
This is one scene which I would like to see buried in the landfill!
I would really like to see more inclusiveness practiced in our
community, and this is not just with DLV, this goes on throughout the
TG community as whole, and I daresay it's more common than it is in the
mainstream community.
. . . . .
Another one which I don't have an answer to ...
+ We stayed an extra day and went dancing at the paris again. Crowd
+ in the Paris on Saturday in the halls was crude, ugly and we were
+ offended, touched and verbally assaulted multiple times. We left
+ after one dance set. It was night and day difference from Thursday
+ when we had a lot of fun.
The weekend crowd in Las Vegas can be a bit rough. There's an influx
of the wannabe-hipster 20-something party animal types, and yes, these
people can be crude and rude.
Unfortunately one fact of life is that there will always be more equine
derrierres than there are equines! If you're assaulted or threatened,
notify security. Paris is avowedly LGBT-friendly. Security personnel are
there to help out in cases such as this.
. . . . . . . . . .
Some comments regarding the affordability of DLV ...
+ Hotel rates were way to high, Had I not shared a room with
+ someone I would not have come.
.. and ...
+ iwas just too poor for dlv this year
I can assure you and everyone that the overall topic of affordability
and specific ideas for controlling the cost of the various expenses will
be discussed by the ORG group over the coming several months.
We were very lucky this year for getting the discount rate at the
Flamingo, which did offer true savings. Those who took advantage of this
deal saved, on average, about $32 per night over the average per night
reported cost for lodging.
We are well aware of increasing costs for other items as well, such as
food (yes, our dining activities skewed toward the high end this year),
local transportation, and, of course, beverages.
I believe that all of the attention given to splitting checks this year
comes from the overall cost crunch. Those complaining obviously felt
that they were getting the short end of the stick.
Another item that, IMAO, is related to the cost issue in a way ...
+ I had a great time. But was hoping to meet some girls my own age.
+ I was diffently on the younger side. Not a big problem. But would
+ be nice to be with my own age group.
The topic of age, specifically why our under-40 population has been so
low in recent years, is a current ORG group topic.
The question of "why don't we have more younger folks?" has been asked
at every single TG event I can ever remember! The answer always seems to
come down to two items. First is money. Those who are middle-aged or of
retirement age tend to have far more disposable income than do those who
are younger.
Yes, we have some younger people who can afford DLV and plenty of those
of our average age who have difficulty budgeting for DLV, but overall,
as age goes up, the ability to afford such things as TG events becomes
more common.
Another factor is time. Those who have attained seniority in business
tend to get more vacation time. Retirees have quite a bit of time. Not
so for those who are just entering the workforce and/or raising a family
with infants, toddlers, school-age kids, or even adolescents.
Speaking from an organizational standpoint, we don't specifically have
any particular age group (other than 21 or over) in mind when we plan
the DLV activities. In fact, over the last few years we've seen quite a
few newer activities such as pole dancing, clubbing, etc., which do have
an appeal to younger attendees.
. . . . .
+ Not sure how you would accomplish this, but it'd be nice to
+ beforehand know which gals want to drink/drink/drink and "party on"
+ and don't care that the public sees them as crazy-silly "trannies",
+ and which gals want to practice being seen and treated as women
{chomp}
The obvious thing to do might be to post on the Discussion Forum such
things as where you are on the "Church Lady to Party Animal" scale and
encourage others to do so as well.
. . . . .
A couple of comments regarding orientation:
+ New Attendee Orientation was nice to have!
.. and ...
+ You need more structure and information at the orientation group.
+ Nothing really was said.
Orientation is an evolving concept, and I do think we're converging on
what will work. Over the past several years we've moved from a "newcomer
open house" to more of a formal presentation, and what I'm hearing is a
desire for more structure here. We do have the intent to move this in
such a direction.
As to "nothing really was said", what I'm hearing is that there were
some questions or concerns that were unanswered. If this is the case,
the concerns should have been brought up at that session. It's a two
way street, and the attendees do have the ability to bring up topics
that they want to be addressed.
. . . . .
Even though we had an excellent turnout for the Monday evening opening
celebration, there were some issues. The one that most impacted the
group was the staffing level, which was most definitely inadequate.
+ My only complaint would be Monday night at Bahama Breeze. The room
+ we were in had a bar but no bartender... Drink service was slow and
+ much faster and easier to go to the main bar.
.. and ...
+ We needed a bartender far more than we needed a drag hostess Monday
+ nite.
As I was making a trip to the "necessary room", I noticed a few of our
people sitting at the main bar. I asked them why they were there and not
in the room with the gang and they replied that the drink service was so
bad that they decided to go to the main bar just to be served.
The lack of bar staff in the Gazebo Room was definitely felt by us, and
also I'm sure by their bottom line.
As for the "hostess", prior to DLV I was approached by one of the other
volunteers and I was asked if I thought there would be any objection to
having a "CD type" as one of the "servers" on Monday night. I said that
it probably would be well received.
On Monday, I was then told by another volunteer that our "Hostess" was
indeed there and on the clock and was "working the room" instead of
actually working. A subsequent report, again hearsay, implied that said
person was not on the clock.
I don't know what the real story was.
+ Girls, you need more announcments and notices about what is going
+ on. I could not hear you at all at Bahama Breez. You need to let
+ us know what's going on all week.
One problem with the Bahama Breeze this year is that we did not have a
working microphone. The staff gave it a good shot but for some reason
could not get it to work through the main sound system.
We (Beverly and I) found a powered speaker but unfortunately it did not
have the coverage we needed.
+ You also need to introduce the hosesses that will be sponsoring
+ the events so we know who they are and who to look for.
+ More structure on hotel set up with a central location... more
+ structure on kick off meeting and final dinner with creativity...
+ If possable it woulh be great to have the person or persons who
+ is hosting the event give a short talk.
+ You need some kind of central location where you can register and
+ pay for Diva events etc. and hand out schedule s.
Yes, and as above, I'm hearing the desire for more structure and more of
a "program" at our opening gathering. Given an adequate sound system, we
can certainly do things like activity intros.
As far as a "central location", meaning some kind of an "office", or
common area such as a hospitality room, two things are standing in the
way. First is cost. Such a facility would cost real money. Another is
volunteer capacity. Any kind of a central facility will need to be
staffed and that means that at least one volunteer needs to be present
when such a facility is open.
. . . . .
We sure missed the boat on this next one, for the second year in a row!
+ I noticed that the meeting place for "PF Chang Happy Half-hour"
+ was wrong again this year. The schedule said to meet in the
+ "Main bar area", just like last year, when it should read
+ "Upstairs bar area".
. . . . .
+ Farewell event disorganized:
+ No group pictures taken during my stay. (6-10 PM)
We decided to skip this. The main reason is that some began to take off
before others were finished with dinner.
+ No appreciation of volunteers during my stay (6-10 PM).
How we recognize volunteers will again be a topic in ORG. Again, I am
hearing a need for structure and more of a "program" at our major
gatherings.
. . . . .
Since the early days I've joked that some consider DLV to be mainly a
golf match with other activities thrown in. All kidding aside, golf is
a very popular pastime at DLV.
+ Perhaps more golf outings.
and
+ I a long with several others played golf 3 days.
If there's a demand for more than one "official" day of golf, then it can
happen assuming we have the volunteers to make it happen. This will most
definitely be brought up in ORG this coming year. (LOL, do we hold one of
our major gatherings in the clubhouse?)
. . . . .
+ Need to come up with new day-time activities to keep things
+ fresh. I would like more dance lessons, voice lessons, etc.
and
+ Voice lessons. Voice lessons. Voice lessons. Voice lessons
Dance-related activities will happen. We have an enthusiastic volunteer
who wants to oversee this.
There was talk about bringing in a voice coach, but it just did not
happen this year. I don't remember any specific reason for it not
happening.
We'll definitely bring this up in ORG again this year.
. . . . .
+ let's find other places to dance than Paris every time.
There's talk in ORG of rotating this (Dancing At Paris) among venues on
various evenings. You can expect this to happen although the final venue
selection will be up to those volunteering to coordinate the various
sessions.
. . . . .
Speaking of which ...
+ Need to have separated evaluations for all dance nights. Monday great
+ Tuesday sucked
Yes, this was combined to reduce the fatigue of answering. It probably
should have been broken out by day.
. . . . .
+ Also cut the vendors out they are taking over the time we used
+ to spend going out.
I think there is a misunderstanding, a perception that the recent
commercial activities are "pushing out" such things as recreational and
social activities. I can assure all that there's no movement to allow
commercial firms to dominate our event.
JoAnn has proposed a standard of no more than 20% of our activities
being commercial in nature. If you do peg counts on schedule line items
over the past two years, you'll see that we're very close to this.
The only reason we don't have more recreational, cultural,
participatory, and social activities is that we schedule what our
volunteers take the effort to plan. If you want to see more
noncommercial activities, please volunteer to help coordinate them.
If we look at the enjoyment scores of those activities which were
strictly commercial in nature ...
+Bare Escentuals Makeovers all sessions: 5.0 (11 responses)
+Nordstrom Makeovers, all sessions, Nordstrom's: 5.0 (6 responses)
+Creative Wigs Seminar, Spotlight: 4.58 (17 responses) (2 no-shows)
+2bShapely Workshop and lunch, Blue Ox: 4.45 (11 responses)
+Looking Glass Open House, Flex Lounge, Thursday: 4.33 (3 responses)
+Makeovers by Stephanie, Flex Lounge, Thursday: 4.33 (3 responses)
+Just You Open House, Wednesday: 3.50 (8 responses)
Only one commercial activity scored less than 4.0 and none of them
scored to the left of center. This shows that those who attended those
activities enjoyed them and appreciated them being on the schedule.
. . . . .
A couple of comments indicating a lack of information ...
+ better desscri0ption of whaat happens or what kind of event it is.
Did you read the web site? If you did and still did not have a good idea
of what kind of event we have and what happens during the event, I want to
know, specifically, what items you think are missing.
+ the sites of the activies need to be shown so that peolpe could
+ know where the activie is taking place. This would have been a
+ great help to me. I wanted to attend some of them but had no idea
+ where it was happening.
One of our volunteers (who incidentally was unable to attend) put a lot
of effort into making our 2015 activity venue map! It listed everything
that had a line item on the schedule. Were you unable to find or use
this?
. . . . .
There is definitely a desire to resurrect some of the previously-popular
activities.
+ Bag the fantasy ball for a more inclusive party or bring back old
+ standards like NOSD and the limo tour.
and
+ Bring back the boat trip.
+ Bring back the limo tour.
+ Bring back soiled doves.
and
+ A return trip to Jill Curtis' Shiloh Horse Rescue Ranch.
All of these, and others, will be brought before ORG this coming year.
. . . . .
+ I think the wig seminar should be moved somewhere closer, like the
+ hotel. That was a $22+tip cab ride away.
and ...
+ Have the wig girls set up shop at the hotel or at the Bahamas. Hard
+ to try on at ft the bar.
We can bring this up, should Creative Wigs want to visit us again, but
things like this may not be practical. A facility in a hotel will cost
real money and they (Creative Wigs) may not want to spend it when they
can get other facilities free. We've had a very good turnout for this
activity for two years in a row at the Spotlight.
A place such as Bahama Breeze may be willing to let us use a room in
exchange for the bar business (as did Spotlight Lounge) but that's not
certain.
. . . . .
+ Carbon copy works for me. Thanks Y'all
Say What?
. . . . .
+ Better time planining to allow time to get from one activity to
+ another without conflict
We try to avoid major time crunches, but we can't promise that they will
not occur. For some activities we have little or no say as to when they
start and stop, in particular the stop time. When something runs long,
yes, it can hurt subsequent activities.
One misunderstanding we still have is that in many cases on our
schedule, there's no intended flow from one activity to the next. We
emphasized this on the newcomer sign-up screens this year, but this
issue has been a recurring concern off and on over the years.
. . . . .
+ Set up donations for people to make for DLV to have money to make
+ it grow and advertise to bring in more attendees.
I really question whether paid advertising would be in our best
interest.
. . . . .
+ Activities are great. But you need to keep the current activities
+ "fresh" and create new ones. This is a challenge.... keep
+ encouraging volunteers doing new things.
+ Find ways to bring in new volunteers with ideas!
We are doing just this! We want to keep the recurring favorites fresh
and relevant, and we want to keep introducing new activities.
. . . . .
The following again comes under the umbrella of a desire for more
structure.
+ At the welcome dinner it would be great to have an area that shows
+ what is happening and where it is to happen.
If we have a volunteer who wants to create such a "display" to be shown
at our major activities, this can definitely happen.
. . . . .
+ It also must be stressed that the more one is involved the more
+ one gets out of it.
This is an excellent point! It's been very clear throughout our history
that those who more fully participate (and volunteer)
tend toenjoy our event more.
. . . . .
+ do what we need to do to get back to margaritaville as it was and
+ still is a great place to go
We actually had Margaritaville set up for our final evening, but new
management refused to let those who were not dining into our area to
socialize and imbibe. They lost big on this one!
. . . . .
I hear you on this next one!
+ This yipping, yallering, yiping, and bitching about things
+ that aren't just perfect gets old, girls. It takes a lot of
+ dedication and work to put on a major event. Instead of
+ bitching you should step up and try it yourself. See if you
+ can do better.
+ Same thing about bitching about parking, hotel maid, elevator,
+ no something-sauce on the table. Gets old, girls.
One important fact that gets forgotten rather easily is that our event
is put on by volunteers and not by professional event promoters.
These volunteers are unpaid, and in too many cases unthanked for their
efforts and contributions!
It's unrealistic to expect everything to be "just so" and exactly to
your liking.
I think all of us need to go with the flow a bit more, and show a bit
more "love" for our volunteers, without whom DLV would not happen!
. . . . .
+ Quite a few of the pictures are sideways
I assume you mean the photos in the staging area. Yes, depending on
exactly how you time things, it's quite possible to see a staging area
before such things as rotated images are corrected. It's all done with
an automated batch and occasionally there's some manual intervention
that's required.
. . . . . . . . . .
Yes, the annual survey lets us know what's wrong. That's one of the
purposes of it. If something is wrong and we don't know it, there's
no way we can take care of it.
I know most of the volunteers fairly well, and I have yet to see one who
does not want to do all she (or he) can do to make our activities better
and more enjoyable for those who are attending.
The survey also shows us what's right, as well as what is wrong.
One particular comment stands out this year:
+ The Diva Week is an experience beyond simple explanation. It
+ should be.... it is unique!
+ It is a week that the participant has the opportunity to make
+ it a fulfilling venture.
. . . . .
All of the positive comments are read and appreciated, every last one
of them, and they never get old! It's nice to know that we're doing
something right! Thanks all!
+ Nice balance, many thanks to the co-ordinators.
+ Great time thanks
+ Al DLV planners did an excellent job. I thank them all
+ As a whole the meeting was a great thing to attend. I meet some
+ wonderful people and had a great time.
+ Great time this year. Thanks
+ A Thank You is so small for so much prep and dedication to a
+ special venue that DIVA's is Thanks so very much
+ Diva is the absolute best girl time there ever was. Thanks again
+ so much.
+ Very good time thanks
+ Thanks and keep up the good work.
+ I appreciate all the hard work each and everyone puts into this
+ Vacation. I look forward to hosting an event next year.
Thanks again, gang!
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(This posting was entered by annie, an external user of MyDLV.)
