I’m not entirely sure how it happened, but somewhere along the line, I caught something and I’ve been home sick for the last two days. I do not get sick very often, so needless to say this doesn’t please me in the least bit, but there’s nothing I can really do about it. However, it’s given me a little bit of extra time to catch up on processing some of the photos I took while out in Vegas, as well as some time to do some writing.
It’s been like two years since I was in Vegas last, and it’s safe to say that there have been quite some numerous changes since then. One of the conversations had during the trip was about how Vegas was obviously one of the larger casualties of the last economic massacre, and it’s in little things that I think I notice that such an assessment is true. A few years ago, casinos were extremely generous with coupon books boasting all sorts of match-play tickets, buy-one-get-one tickets, and other offers to stimulate parting money from your hand to the hands of the casinos. Typically, these were given upon check in to hotels, or upon registering with a different player’s reward program.
Two years of inactivity and returning to Vegas used to warrant some sort of offers to help make up for money of mine they haven’t been getting but neither redeeming new cards, or checking into the hotel prompted any sort of offers of sort. To me, it’s not a big deal, since I hardly used anything other than BOGO drinks, but the lack of offers wasn’t lost on me either.
One other thing I noticed was that sitting down at a table, and flashing a player’s club card was accepted at just about every single table, no matter the minimum. There were times in the past where hotels would literally tell me that they wouldn’t bother tracking my spending unless I was making at least a $15 minimum bet per hand of blackjack or spin of roulette. Comp consideration wouldn’t even be fathomable until a player was dropping somewhere along $25 per bet.
But during this trip, not only does the minimum warrant proper tracking, it’s encouraged by dealers to submit your player’s card upon buying into any particular game. I can’t imagine free rooms and massive comps are necessarily given as easily as they once were in the past, but given the amount of gambling I did and as much money as I had risked during my trip, that at least some generous offers would be in the works in the future.
Something I want to bring up after this trip is that the Strip is pretty much kind of insufferable now, in terms of trying to walk from casino to casino. I remember a time when walking from MGM Grand to the Aladdin was literally a straight line on a city sidewalk, or the corresponding route across the street going from the New York-New York to the Bellagio. Now, it’s this congested corridor of going up an escalator, crossing a bridge, cutting through a mall, crossing another bridge, and going down another escalator. It’s almost more difficult to find out how to actually set foot on actual pavement than it is to traverse from point A to point B.
Needless to say, Las Vegas is somewhat drastically different than what I remember seeing the last time I was there. It doesn’t mean that I don’t enjoy going there any less, but it’s notable enough for me to want to write about it. When the trip was over, I still accomplished a lot of what I wanted to do while I was out there, which was gamble a good bit, and eat a lot of lavish foods.
However, this was no ordinary Vegas trip; the impetus for going to Vegas never has to be really that enticing for me to want to go because it is Vegas, but it was mostly in part to support the endeavors of several of my collective friends who started up Otakon Vegas.
I’ll be honest by saying that I didn’t spend a tremendous amount of time indulging in what the convention itself had to offer; frankly, I’m kind of old and out of the scene to be enticed by stuff such as particular guests or world premieres of a particular anime, especially when there are single-deck tables dealt by sexy dealers clad in lingerie just down an escalator from the heart of the convention. But I was present enough to be able to make what I obviously think are some fair critiques of the event as a whole.
From what I saw, the convention ran very smoothly. And that shouldn’t be much of a surprise considering many of my friends are the senior members of the staff, and they bring a lot of experience to the table, and have the leadership abilities to delegate and manage less experienced staffers to their optimal productivity. One rumbling I heard was the slightly understaffed nature of the convention, but everyone seemed to be willing to pick up slack and help one another out, so I can’t imagine it seemed like it was that arduous to the regular convention goer.
The average attendance was younger than what I would have expected, considering it was an event inside Las Vegas, where pretty much you have to be 21+ to even be allowed to walk unsupervised on the casino floors, much less gamble. But one moment pretty much defined why such was the case, when I saw a man inquire with one of my staffer friends where registration was, and quickly exclaimed his intention of “leaving his kids here” while he and mom would presumably go drink and gamble their asses off elsewhere. In a way, this isn’t the least bit surprising, but I guess I thought there would be a few more “older” geeks who actually came for the event, as well as some extracurricular Vegas-y activities on the side.
In a way, it felt like a separate world inside of another world, because once inside the doors of the conference center, where the meat of convention events were taking place, it felt like pretty much any other small, early-year convention, just trying to get its feet wet and accumulate experience. But once outside of the doors, and down the escalator, it’s pretty much the typical infinite night-life of the Vegas experience, with drunks and smoke and degenerate gamblers whooping and hollering amidst the beeps and bells and whistles of machines all over the place.
One thing I’d like to commend, and it’s not just because it was my loser brother who came up with the idea, but I do think that the guys running Otakon and Otakons past have always seemed more willing to think outside the box than other conventions (eg. Simon Yam). But personally, my favorite part of Otakon Vegas was the inclusion of the live sumo wrestling exhibition. Having never seen real live sumo wrestling before, it was a treat to see two high-ranking sumo wrestlers go at it, and explain the general nature of their craft afterward. The wrestlers themselves were also both classy gentleman who appear to be fine ambassadors of their sport, and were accessible and easy to chat with when I had the opportunities.
As a convention itself, I was pleased with Otakon Vegas. As I’ve said, I’m growing old and crusty, so anime conventions themselves are kind of lost on me, but my friends run this convention, and I’m always in support of friends. I’d go again, because it’d be supporting friends, and it’s an excuse to go to Las Vegas.
But I sure as shit wouldn’t be staying at the Planet Hollywood hotel again. Yeah, fuck that place. Seriously, out of all the places I’ve ever stayed in at in Las Vegas, the PH might have been the worst. From the parking garage, quality of room, to the room’s servicing, it was pretty much the worst hotel I’ve ever stayed at in Las Vegas; and that’s comparing it to stiffs like Imperial Palace and the Ellis Island Sleazy 8.
