A Las Vegas Survival Guide - Adventures at Laserfiche's Empower Conference
By William Peyton. (C) 2024 IP Digital, Inc.
Back in the day when Shelley Adelson was creating generational wealth with his COMDEX shows, we used to head out to Las Vegas a few times a year for COMDEX, Network World, Interop and the like.
It had been a long time since I was there, but that’s where Laserfiche moved my favorite conference of the year. Finally! We got a chance to all get together and catch up face to face.
For those needing a reminder. One of the consequences might be the half finished, abandoned construction project in the foreground.
First and foremost: Vegas gets the hospitality thing right.
Empower 2024 was held at the Manday Bay, at the remote (for now) South end of the strip.
Everyone I encountered was super friendly, super nice, super helpful. I get that the town runs on hospitality, so what is amazing is that all seemed to be very genuine. Next level nice. Kudos to the Mandalay staff. Literally everyone I encountered there made you feel entirely welcome. That also extended to places outside of the hotel.
Welcome to good marketing. Ignore the nightmare carpet.
The Mandalay rooms are amazing.
This is your standard, book any time room:
With a fancy bath and WC:
Those LED mirrors are not cheap!
The view of Mandalay Bay Beach from the 15th floor (out of 63 floors):
That green tint is a coating that keeps the sun from roasting you alive.
Assume Everything Costs: Overt Techniques
On the flip side of the coin, assume EVERYTHING will cost you, sometimes dearly.
You walk into that nice room and see all kinds of goodies:
Tasty, until you see the price.
But read that fine print. Yep, you touch it and you have bought it:
At rates that would make a loan shark blush.
Coffee at $15/cup, water for $14. Just for touching unless you complain. Now imagine the family that checks in, here come the kids and they are all over that stuff before you can say “I’ll need a loan for this!”
No problem, you say, I’ll just stick my own stuff in the mini bar. Not so fast! That will cost you $50. No, that mini bar is theirs, not yours. Now imagine stumbling in after one too many. Those nuts might start looking pretty good. But you will regret it.
There is only answer - out of sight, out of mind.
Not to pick on the Mandalay Bay – this seems to be the standard practice everywhere. It’s like Volkswagens and oil leaks: “They all do that.” Be advised.
No touchy, no buy
Assume Everything Costs: Less Overt Techniques
Implied consent: On top of the obvious, the hotels employ a wide range of sophisticated psychological techniques. Let’s start with implied consent.
Mandalay Beach is a very popular attraction, where you will find real sand, a wave machine, a warm tub (104 degrees – we can’t having anyone passing out on our watch), pools and a lazy river ride.
And you can just walk in with your room key, only to find out later that the visit cost you a $45 resort fee, plus $6 tax. Maybe there was a sign somewhere, but it was not obvious. When I saw that I called the front desk to ask – is that for the whole visit or just one day? Oh, that’s just one day. They were super nice about it however.
Now imagine a family with two kids – that’s $225 for the day, just like that. And that Lazy River? Ride it all you want, after you buy an inner tube for $30. Add $120 + Tax. I can’t imagine how families can afford a day of that, much less a week. It’s add-on after add-on after add-on.
And yet, that’s what I saw – the big change in Vegas is that they have become much more of a vacation spot with less emphasis on gambling. At this hotel there were families all over the place.
Paying to sit: The Conference Center is a full ½ mile from the hotel, taking you past the casino, restaurants, and through beautiful, bright, spacious corridors. But after a while, you realize something is missing: Chairs, benches, tables, and other places to sit and get together. There is a simple answer – they only want you sitting in a place where it will cost you, and that means the casino and all those restaurants.
Cold Rooms and Spaces: In my next life, I want to run an HVAC company in Las Vegas. I mean, this is industrial scale gear! It typically hit 90-95 degrees during the day, but you would never know it inside. The thermostats all read 72 degrees, but it was the coldest 72 degrees I ever experienced. One person thought the purpose was to keep you alert, the way rumor has it they pump oxygen into the casinos. If you have a theory, I’d love to hear it.
A rare toll-free meeting place.
World Class Meals
With places like Bobby Flay, Hells Kitchen, Wolfgang Puck, and many other lesser known but equally exceptional restaurants, the range of high-end choices feels endless. Of course they are expensive, but that should not be a surprise. The real problem is that the “ordinary” restaurants are also pricey, often for very ordinary meals.
What to do? Because the Mandalay Bay is not in the packed end of the strip, there are actually some normal stores right across the street. If you look closely, you will see that this little strip mall has most of the essentials of life: McDonalds for early morning coffee ($1.97 for a large, with refills), a bakery, a package store, and to the left out of the frame is a pot kiosk for those so inclined. The Shell station to the far the right has a well-stocked mart for jugs of water and energy drinks, all at typical convenience store prices.
But the star of the show is that little place with a blue sign next to McDonalds named Sayulitas. (About Us - Sayulitas Mexican Food (sayulitaseats.com) They bill themselves as Mexican/Philippine, and make burritos to die for.
They cost about $20 each, and any one of them is a meal for an entire day. Their signature burrito is the Sayulitas Burrito, and it is packed with shrimp, bacon, very little filler, and all goodness. And dense, you could use these for a workout. I found them perfect for an off day, or for your travel day back home.
Most of the major food groups can be found here.
Punches well above its weight.
TSA found that heavy, fat, foil wrapped, foot+ long object in my carry on to be worthy of special attention.
Not to Miss
Traffic aside, you have to get up to the strip – it’s crowded, fun, lively, electric. There is a bus line called the Deuce that goes back and forth, and is a nice way to travel. $8 for a 24 hour pass, although it might take you an hour to get to the airport that way. (Ride share would have been a better, ask me how I know) See: https://www.rtcsnv.com/ways-to-travel/how-to-ride/
Don’t miss:
The Sphere is everything they say – amazing.
Vegas or London, take your pick.
The Bellagio Fountains, from the Deuce Bus. Window glare N/C.
Even the traffic jams are world class. This block took 15 minutes, due to re-paving.
Conclusions
All in all, I enjoyed the re-visit to Las Vegas. It has transformed itself from a relatively seedy location dependent on gambling to an industrial scale entertainment complex. The range of shows, live performances, restaurants and attractions is certainly unique in the US, and probably only matched in a few other places.
With luck this will help you out, and feel free to comment. Empower will be there next year, so expect a Chapter II.