Now in Las Vegas for CommVEx v9
Posted: Wed Jul 24, 2013 8:24 pm
Hello, CommVEx friends,
I arrived in Las Vegas late last night and am booked at El Cortez Hotel. I am in room 2222, phone number (702) 385-5200.
Today, Kelly of the Plaza Hotel and I went over the details. She confirmed that due to the Las Vegas Club Hotel rebuild, Left Field Room was unavailable; in fact, there was no power to any of the LVC Hotel floors, and only the casino remained running. She doubted that LVC Hotel will be rebuilt in time for CommVEx v10 next year.
She showed me Jockey Room 1, and except for the new paint job and carpeting, it was the same as in past CommVExes. However, this time the air-conditioning was much better and so was the Wi-fi signal. I picked up 4 bars out of 5 on my smartphone, and the Wi-fi access was free. Speaking of free, I asked if we would have free parking for CommVEx attendees if we mentioned CommVEx to the parking attendant; that's what we got last year at the LVC Hotel. She said she would look into it.
When I asked about floor space, she said that Jockey Room 1 had over a 1,000 square feet, the same as Ballroom 8, the room we were supposed to get when we couldn't get into Left Field Room at the LVC Hotel. When I asked about a floor space comparison between Jockey Room 1 and Left Field Room, she didn't know the specifics of the latter room.
One thing that hasn't changed is the number of electrical outlets of Jockey Room 1. In past years, we had an adequate number of outlets for CommVEx. However, this year she emphasized that we shouldn't plug in everything into those for fear of blowing circuit breakers (heh, the Plaza Hotel was supposed to be refurbished, but they didn't take care of this). For no extra cost (thank goodness), she will have an engineer come in put down electrical "spider" boxes, and we could hook our electrical lines into those.
It's a good thing I met with her and the person who prepped the room. The tables were laid out in a U shape, classroom-style. However, I told them that we wanted an inverted-U with the tables closer to the walls and the chairs on the inside of the U, not on the outside. So right there, she, the room person, and I rearranged the tables, the table skirts, and chairs. I also felt that eight 8-foot tables was not enough, and the room person brought in two more tables, those going into the corners closest to the door.
She agreed to put up 2 signs for us, one at the bottom of the garage ramps and another nearer to the main hallway, so that people can more easily find CommVEx.
Set-up time is confirmed for 4 p.m. on Friday, and she will be there to open the room for us. I also said that I will be there on Saturday morning at 7 a.m. to continue show prepping, and she would let security know to open Jockey Room 1 door for us.
All-in-all, I'm impressed with her accommodating our needs.
I have called Al Jackson of the Clark County Commodore Computer Club (of Las Vegas), and we talked about CommVEx. I meet with him tomorrow, and on Friday morning, I plan to pick up his hardware for the Friday afternoon set-up (help moving things from his place to the Plaza Hotel is greatly appreciated).
Because I can only get free Internet access here at the coffee house (The Beat Coffeehouse), it may take me a day to reply to any e-mails. For a more immediate response, my hotel phone number is at the top of this post.
Go CommVEx!
I arrived in Las Vegas late last night and am booked at El Cortez Hotel. I am in room 2222, phone number (702) 385-5200.
Today, Kelly of the Plaza Hotel and I went over the details. She confirmed that due to the Las Vegas Club Hotel rebuild, Left Field Room was unavailable; in fact, there was no power to any of the LVC Hotel floors, and only the casino remained running. She doubted that LVC Hotel will be rebuilt in time for CommVEx v10 next year.
She showed me Jockey Room 1, and except for the new paint job and carpeting, it was the same as in past CommVExes. However, this time the air-conditioning was much better and so was the Wi-fi signal. I picked up 4 bars out of 5 on my smartphone, and the Wi-fi access was free. Speaking of free, I asked if we would have free parking for CommVEx attendees if we mentioned CommVEx to the parking attendant; that's what we got last year at the LVC Hotel. She said she would look into it.
When I asked about floor space, she said that Jockey Room 1 had over a 1,000 square feet, the same as Ballroom 8, the room we were supposed to get when we couldn't get into Left Field Room at the LVC Hotel. When I asked about a floor space comparison between Jockey Room 1 and Left Field Room, she didn't know the specifics of the latter room.
One thing that hasn't changed is the number of electrical outlets of Jockey Room 1. In past years, we had an adequate number of outlets for CommVEx. However, this year she emphasized that we shouldn't plug in everything into those for fear of blowing circuit breakers (heh, the Plaza Hotel was supposed to be refurbished, but they didn't take care of this). For no extra cost (thank goodness), she will have an engineer come in put down electrical "spider" boxes, and we could hook our electrical lines into those.
It's a good thing I met with her and the person who prepped the room. The tables were laid out in a U shape, classroom-style. However, I told them that we wanted an inverted-U with the tables closer to the walls and the chairs on the inside of the U, not on the outside. So right there, she, the room person, and I rearranged the tables, the table skirts, and chairs. I also felt that eight 8-foot tables was not enough, and the room person brought in two more tables, those going into the corners closest to the door.
She agreed to put up 2 signs for us, one at the bottom of the garage ramps and another nearer to the main hallway, so that people can more easily find CommVEx.
Set-up time is confirmed for 4 p.m. on Friday, and she will be there to open the room for us. I also said that I will be there on Saturday morning at 7 a.m. to continue show prepping, and she would let security know to open Jockey Room 1 door for us.
All-in-all, I'm impressed with her accommodating our needs.
I have called Al Jackson of the Clark County Commodore Computer Club (of Las Vegas), and we talked about CommVEx. I meet with him tomorrow, and on Friday morning, I plan to pick up his hardware for the Friday afternoon set-up (help moving things from his place to the Plaza Hotel is greatly appreciated).
Because I can only get free Internet access here at the coffee house (The Beat Coffeehouse), it may take me a day to reply to any e-mails. For a more immediate response, my hotel phone number is at the top of this post.
Go CommVEx!