Smart Meetings

Among all the attention-grabbing casinos and hotels fronted by pulsating signs along The Strip, there are moments of high art and also moments where the striving to express an authentic vision matches the best anywhere in the world. It’s exactly this alluring  duality that separates Las Vegas from all other gaming destinations.

Along The Strip, you’ll experience the artistry of a great painting or an intriguing sculpture. You can walk through manicured gardens with 100,000 blooming flowers arranged in swaths of harmonious color. You’ll soon be seeing a cluster of extraordinarily forward-looking buildings in a precisely planned new community that’s unlike any in the world.

The art is also in the lake of dancing fountains, precisely choreographed to a jazz classic, or in a moment when a single performer in shimmering white mesmerizes thousands in a theater simply by twisting overhead against a star-lit ceiling as Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds plays. It’s in the presentation of a heavenly artichoke and black truffle soup at a Five-Diamond restaurant straight from Paris. It’s all there waiting for your group.

THE ALLURE OF FINE ART
From now through mid-January, you’ll be able to see a rare exhibition that was five years in the making. The Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art is hosting In the Master’s Hands: Picasso’s Ceramics, Treasures from the Estate of Pablo Picasso, of totally unique ceramic objects by the artist as he reinvented the medium in the South of France over a period of two decades after World War II.

Stroll over to the Wynn to see of paintings by Cézanne, Gauguin, Van Gogh, Manet, Matisse, Picasso and Warhol from Steve Wynn’s collection. These are displayed throughout the hotel. The collection’s star is Picasso’s Le Rêve, (The Dream), featuring the 50-year-old artist’s 22-year-old mistress.

Although they replicate the sculptures of another continent and another millennium, the female figures that are integral parts of the extraordinary halls of The Forum Shops at Caesars go a long way toward making up an interior that’s unique for its total panache.

A FOUNTAIN AND OTHER WATERY DELIGHTS t
Arguably the most memorable fountain in North America fronts the Bellagio. Not only was there genius in the conception, but also in each program’s execution of the perfect melding of light, sound and movement that unquestionably lightens the spirit. The play-list runs the gamut of classics like Aaron Copeland’s wonderful Hoe-Down from Rodeo, to the more contemporary. How better to experience Elvis singing the city’s anthem, Viva Las Vegas?

Another hydro-genius brought six-foot-high waves (when they’re turned up that high) sweeping up onto the sandy beach of the extraordinary Mandalay Bay Beach pool, set 200 miles from the Pacific surf.

Of course, the enchanting seasonal display of thousands of flowers under the 50-foot-high glass ceiling of the Conservatory and Botanical Gardens at Bellagio Las Vegas have no peer.

THE ACTIVE ARTS
In June, The Beatles LOVE, by Cirque du Soleil celebrated its first anniversary. The event at the Mirage coincided with the 40th anniversary of that breakthrough Beatles album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band on which it is based. Through graceful and playful balletic movements, both in the air and on the stage, the Mod-costumed performers truly capture the off-the-wall spirit of the era. Yet there’s great care and sensitivity expressed here in interpreting the once-revolutionary material; it was born out of the friendship of Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberté and the late George
Harrison.

Still drawing crowds after 40 years and 30,000 shows, Wayne Newton has prevailed. His art is to continuously find a way to  keep it fresh at Harrah’s Las Vegas, both for himself and for his legions of delighted fans.

It takes not only great knowledge but also extraordinary skill to create and maintain an environment where creatures from the wild feel at home so much that they will reproduce. At The Mirage Dolphin Habitat there’s now a two-month-old bottlenose dolphin calf happily thriving during the critical first year of life with its mother, Duchess, the result of this accredited institution’s successful breeding program.

For sheer thrills in Las Vegas (other than making a killing at the tables), it’s impossible to experience anything equal to the Stratosphere Las Vegas’ Insanity the Ride or X-Scream. Both push the boundaries of your fear, leaving you to hang out, so to speak, and bounce around with nothing between you and The Strip 866 feet below. Perched atop the 104-floor Stratosphere Tower, part of the 2,544-room hotel complex, are six meeting and banquet rooms where your group could retire for a repast after the rides.

The summa bonum (that’s fancy Latin for “the highest good”) for sports fanatics and nongaming gamers is the ESPN Zone, which is tucked into the front façade of New York, New York Hotel & Casino. The Screening Room is the ultimate place to watch sports. It’s got a dozen monitors, plus two 12-foot video screens. Some tables and booths in the room are equipped with direct audio controls. Then there are the leather “Zone Thrones” recliners—which maybe you can allocate to the most deserving as a mini-incentive? Finally, you do not want to know how many games are awaiting your group in the Zone’s Sports Arena.

THE LEGACY OF GREAT ARCHITECTURE    
Dazzling in its conception and execution as a new urban core for Las Vegas is MGM MIRAGE’s new CityCenter development. Going up on 76 acres in the heart of The Strip, the mixed-use community will showcase buildings created by some of the world’s premier architectural firms, not only redefining the city’s skyline, but also its identity. Look for designs from such renowned names as Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects and Gensler, as well as the talents of Jelmut Jahn, who designed the European Union’s headquarters in Brussels, and Studio Daniel Libeskind, the World Trade Center Master Plan Competition winner. Slated to open in November 2009, art is at the core of its concept. The CityCenter will feature a multimillion-dollar curated public art program amid the restaurants, entertainment venues, public spaces, retail district, hotels and residences. The CityCenter’s 4,000-room resort casino will be the centerpiece of this audacious new locale.

THE ARTISTRY OF PLEASING AMBIENCE
The man who originally brought us the Bellagio had refined his idea of a legendary hotel even further when he built the hotel that bears his name. Today the Tower Suites at the Wynn Las Vegas are the recipients of the only Mobil Five-Star rating ever awarded to a hotel in Las Vegas, in addition to the AAA Five-Diamond award. The décor reflects the playful sophistication of the Hollywood Regency style, melding the movie glamour of the 1930s and the pop palette of the 1970s and is an unexpected jolt of fun in such a grand hotel.Creating a fantasy interior is an art, as it’s so easy to get it really, really wrong.

No one can match the Palms Casino Resort for imagination, however, in the creation of its Fantasy Tower luxury suites. Among these are the 10,000-square-foot Harwood Suite with its own half-basketball court with scoreboard; the King Pin Suite, with its own bowling alley; and the Crib Suite with DJ booth, pool table, hydraulic bed and an expanded bathroom and dressing area with a saltwater fish tank—any one of which would make an amazing hospitality suite.

The Westin Casuarina Las Vegas Hotel Casino & Spa takes ambience to a more ethereal level, namely with an appeal to the senses. Flickering candles and fresh, custom-designed botanical arrangements are placed throughout the hotel to delight the guests. Further, the hotel dispenses the brand’s signature blend White Tea scent in the public areas. You can take some of that ambience home; the fragrance candles are available in the hotel’s store and online at westin-hotelsathome.com.

THE CULINARY ARTS
The refinements of haute cuisine await your group along The Strip. Currently “starring” as the voice of the lead character Ratatouille in the French version of Pixar’s new animated film, Parisian chef Guy Savoy has only added to the considerable renown he enjoys as one of the world’s top three or four chefs. Savoy brought his superb menu of signature dishes and high-style décor to its sole American outpost, Restaurant Guy Savoy at Caesars Palace. It was one of only six restaurants nominated for the James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant for 2006 and the only one in Las Vegas so honored.

Joël Robuchon at MGM Grand was the recipient of the Five-Star rating from the Mobil Travel Guide, one of only 16 restaurants in the U.S. to receive this honor. Like Savoy, this was Paris-based Robuchon’s first foray into this country when he opened in 2005. The restaurant also received the AAA Five-Diamond rating in 2007.

Bellagio has the distinction of having two AAA Five-Diamond rated restaurants, Julian Serrano’s Picasso and Le Cirque.  Picasso, with its exceptional Mediterranean cuisine and art by the 20th-century master, has received this recognition for six consecutive years. So, if you’re not planning a meeting in Paris anytime soon, voilà!

THE ART OF THE DEAL
While The Strip’s marquee properties enjoy very high demand, especially on weekends, especially from the fall into the spring, there are still ways to save if you can be flexible.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority can assist you with your needs. However, for smaller groups, the Hampton Inn Las Vegas offers advantageous rates with a 100-percent guarantee that will make you look like an artist. 

NO BALANCING WORK AND PLAY

Las Vegas is all about fun, so how best can meeting planners balance work and play in their program?

“Las Vegas offers a dynamic array of options for entertainment, activity and fun. Take advantage and keep your attendees interested by incorporating some of those options into your agenda. Start by holding a meeting in a unique venue. At our properties, we offer everything from the grand 4,000-seat, $95-million Colosseum at Caesars Palace to the intimate Improv Theater at Harrah’s. Or, take your group outside for a reception that makes the most of the 360 days of sun Las Vegas enjoys at the Ipanema Beach at Rio.”
Michael Massari
Vice President of Meeting Sales & Operations-
Las Vegas Meetings by Harrah’s Entertainment

“Fun (and compelling content, of course) drives attendance, morale and productivity. Don’t fight it, but rather work it into your program. Your attendees will thank you.”
Richard Harper
Vice President of Convention Sales and
Marketing at Mandalay Bay

“Meeting planners need to understand that Vegas is a destination where the fun takes place at night. They shouldn’t fear lower meeting attendence. We don’t experience that at MGM Grand. We see a 10–20-percent increase in registration and almost an equal lift in attendance at the sessions. Also, they need to make the program or sessions as relevant, interesting and fun as possible. They should try to introduce elements of Las Vegas into the sessions. Finally, if they’re going to allow the attendees to stay out late, don’t start the morning sessions at 7:30 a.m. Let them come in a bit later and end the day a bit later.”
Louis Lamar
Vice President Hotel Sales, MGM Grand

“The sights and sounds of Las Vegas are a feast for the senses. Meeting organizers shouldn’t see this as a distraction, but should instead use this to their advantage by integrating work and play, creating events that are both stimulating and memorable to hold interest and maximize retention of key messages.”
Bill Kairis
Director of Sales, Palms Casino Resort


NEWS

• The Las Vegas Monorail begins construction of an extension from the MGM Grand to McCarran Airport in early 2008. The extension will have stops at the site of the planned “W” Resort Hotel, at the Hard Rock Hotel and on Swenson near the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, providing easy access to events at the Thomas & Mack Center. Two stations will be built at McCarran, one near the planned Terminal 3 and another at Terminal 1, near the baggage claim area. The projected completion date is 2011.
  
  
• In 2008, The Mirage will begin a $100-million renovation of its 3,044 guest rooms and suites. Earlier, the mega-resort completely redid its public spaces, including restaurants, nightlife venues and attractions.
  
  
• The Signature at MGM Grand — a hotel-within-a-hotel — officially opened its third and final 576-suite tower in July.
  
  
• Las Vegas Convention Center has an approved $890-million budget to begin a major enhancement program. Renovations on the main building will begin next year, and meeting room upgrades are set to start by 2011. Changes include:
  - a new grand lobby connecting three halls off the convention center
  - construction of a new meeting-room concourse
  - improvements to the building’s technological and electrical infrastructures
  - aesthetic upgrades to create a pleasing, more uniform appearance to meeting space and public areas
  
  
• Rio Suites Hotel and Casino now offers The Wine Cellar, a floor below the casino. With one of the most impressive public wine collections in the U.S., the Wine Cellar has roughly 50,000 bottles valued at more than $10 million. With a capacity of 200 people (reception-style), the entire space is available for a buyout, including the private Barrel Room inside the Cellar.

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Getting There

Getting to Las Vegas is easy: McCarran International Airport is served by more than 40 airlines, including Southwest and JetBlue.

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