Vegas Part Duex - the working side

So after our pretty tame weekend, I had to go to work on Monday morning. After having breakfast at Marino's restaurant (I personally think he'd be horrified if he knew how bad it was), I grabbed a cab and went to the Renaissance Hotel where our Dealer Meeting was being held. Getting there a little earlier than I intended, I immediately saw a couple of our dealers, so I chatted with them for a few minutes. Then Debra, an SS from the Chicago District found me and we grabbed coffee and chatted for a bit until Sue, Cindy and Kristi got to the hotel. After everyone got their luggage put away (we couldn't check in until after 1pm), we grabbed a bus and went to the Wynn hotel, which was actually a stone's throw away - but it was windy, and with that wind came some COLD air.

This was my first time in Wynn's (as was for everyone else). What a luxurious hotel! We walked in from a side enterance, into the casino - it is all very open with super high ceilings. We walked down the corridor and found a restaurant called Tableau. Wow, what a great lunch, with a fabulous view of the pool area. Oh, I should mention that they have no "real grass" there, but have some pretty authentic looking synthetic type of grass. We all chatted, where I decided to ask questions about the SA position. I know it brought up some questions with Sue, who is my counterpart in Salt Lake, as well as a mentor. I'm thinking she was a little iffy with the idea. Anyway, I came back with some positive feedback, so started to mull over the possibility of taking on that SA position.

When we got back to the hotel, it was time to start preparing things for the meetings. We had to put together name badges, double check rooming lists, etc. This is where all of the tough stuff happens - as long as no one on the outside knows what is going on, then we know all is good.

That night, Skip and I decided to take some guys to dinner. We took 9 people, all Premier Dealers, to a restaurant at Caeser's Palace called Joe's Stone Crab and Steakhouse. It was a great dinner, awesome company and a HUGE bill - over $1300 for 11 people. If Skip hadn't kept plying everyone with wine, I could have kept that down quite a bit. By the time we were finishing up, Gino was getting pretty schnozed. He had us laughing so hard before we left . . . once we got back to the hotel, it just kept on going. JD, another one of our dealers, who seems like a pretty reserved older gentleman, is actually pretty fun. He doesn't get excited about anything, but around 11pm, had brought several of us together for a game of "Quarters" on the lobby floor of the Renassaince. We picked a line (all was in marble) and would slide our quarters across the floor - the one closest to the line got all of the left over quarters. By this point, I had drank 2 glasses of wine and 2 white russians. Then my boss, Todd, got involved and the guys kept getting me more drinks - whether I wanted it or not. Oh, and then there is the VP of Residential operations, Rob. Not the typical executive who is stuffy or even shy. He talks to everyone and partied pretty hard himself. He was having thumb wars with Deb and hugging all of the other SS's that were there - telling us we are what makes the company go round. . .I know he meant it, but sometimes I'm not sure how much the company really values us. Anway, I escaped at 12:30, feeling VERY light-headed myself. Tuesday morning brought on a pretty good headache. Oh, and my gut hurt from laughing at Gino pretty much the entire time.

The next two days were pretty smooth, with a couple of "hiccups" along the way. I met the President of our company, Todd Bluedorn which is huge for any employee - we have well over 3000 people working worldwide, but I hear he does remember people he meets.

Our last day was a "hurray!" day. . . it was over! Waiting for cabs to get us to the airport, some of the guys (variety of our customers) were near the front of the line and invited me to join them on the ride to the airport - so we took a limo (cost $60 for a 10 min ride, go figure). While at the airport, I spoke with Skip about me taking the SA job. We "walked and talked" for quite a bit. He thinks I would do well in the position. I felt that his opinion would be key to me thinking more about the possibility of taking on the new job. As we walked through the airport, we found a place to sit for awhile and have lunch with customers (we were about 3 hours early for our flight). So, I bought beverages (beers and sodas) for them and Skip actually picked up the tab for the food - he got off really cheap on that one.

So my 5 days in Vegas came to an end. The girls and I talked about making this a yearly trip, and taking it around April/May when it is much warmer, but not too hot yet. We'll stay at a different hotel each time and try to see 1-2 shows while we are there. Heck - just the people watching is enough to keep you busy!