Once again, I find myself in Las Vegas, Sin City itself…but for work. And I’m not sinning at all really but rather getting up at the crack of dawn to attend a seemingly neverending stream of keynotes and breakout sessions, marinated in a flowing stream of free alcohol and swag items. (Soooooo many fidget spinners this year…)
In the past five years, I’ve come to Las Vegas no less than 10 times for work-related purposes. And while laymen might see Vegas as the land of parties and showgirls, getting through a business conference here requires a different mindset. Here are my top five tips I’ve learned to help get you through it.
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Definitely sign up for the Rewards program
If you’re going to be coming to Las Vegas frequently, then it’s definitely worth it to sign up for one of the Casino loyalty programs. Because even if you don’t plan on gambling, the loyalty programs reward you for ALL the spending you do at their affiliated resorts, including the cost of your room, your meals, etc.
Generally speaking, large conferences in Las Vegas happen at either Mandalay Bay/MGM (both part of the MLife Loyalty Program, which is also affiliated with Hyatt and Royal Caribbean), the Venetian (whose Grazie program is affiliated with IHG), and The Cosmopolitan (whose Identity loyalty program is affiliated with Marriott).
Anytime you pay for something, make sure you hand over your loyalty card, and you might soon find yourself leveling up with free on-site perks as well as earning points into your favorite hotel programs. As I’ve earned Platinum status with the MLife program, for example, I’m able to skip-the-line for cabs and hotel check in, which has frequently saved me a LOT of time.
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Bring your own toilet paper. Really.
Las Vegas has some really nice hotels. The suites I’ve stayed in here rival some of the best resorts in the world. But for whatever reason, they seem to always stock these luxury properties with the scratchiest single-ply nonsense toilet paper I’ve ever encountered.
After suffering through this unpleasantness many times, I’ve started just bringing my own from home. It may seem weird, but after your 2nd day of mass-produced conference food, you’ll be happy you did. Pro-tip though: you may have to hide your good stuff from the housekeeping staff, lest they replace your roll with the scratchy substitute.
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Determine how much you’re willing to sell your soul (and your contact info) to salespeople in advance
Depending on your title/company and how many buying decisions you’re involved in for your company, you may be a very lucrative prospect for the sea of shark-like salespeople that fund all these conferences in Las Vegas. And they’re happy to make your Vegas experience an even more pleasant one (plus pick up the tab associated with it) if you’re willing to give them your contact info, attend meetings and demos with them, and generally indulge them by considering their sales pitch.
What kind of stuff are we talking? Free dinners at the best restaurants. Seats to Cirque Du Soleil shows. Open bar afterparties. Bottle service at clubs. You can have it all, for free, if you’re willing to make the trade. Just know that this can leave you feeling a little icky. So determine in advance exactly how much you’re willing to sell access to yourself for, and then stick to your guns.
Oh, and btw? There’s a supremely high chance that once you give ANY of these salesfolks your information, they’ll be selling it to others as well. Just fyi.
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Drink TONS of water. Buckets of water. Oceans of water.
Las Vegas is in the middle of a desert, with a hot and super-dry climate. And Las Vegas casinos/resorts are some of the most over-air-conditioned places on the planet. Part of the reason is to keep these massive buildings cool in said desert, but additionally, as smoking is still allowed in most Las Vegas casinos, they also are constantly sucking out all the air in the building, filtering it, and pumping it back through, at a really high rate.
This climate, combined with air travel to get there and lots of alcohol once you arrive, and you could very well find yourself turning into a prune. You have to drink water basically every chance you get in order to combat this.
Bring a water bottle with you during the day, drink a big glass when you first get up and before bed, and always order water alongside any other beverage at a restaurant. Otherwise, you’ll definitely end up paying for it with hangovers, dry skin, and a much higher chance of getting sick.
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ABC = Always Be Charging.
Your cell phone battery is life at a conference in Las Vegas, but as big as the resorts and conference centers are in Vegas, you likely won’t have many opportunities to pop back by your room for a quick re-charge.
As such, the answer is to always be charging. Anytime you’re parked in one location for an extended period of time, scan the area for outlets. Bring an external battery pack. Or, if you don’t have an external battery pack, swing by the trade show portion of the conference — a lot of companies give away power packs as a swag item.
Keeping your mobile device alive and able to connect with the people you meet and/or scan social media for the conference hashtag to see what’s happening will make sure you make the most of your conference experience.
So that’s it, my top five tips for surviving a business conference in Las Vegas. And remember, if all else fails, maybe you’ll find time to strike it rich at the tables, and then you won’t need to go to any more conferences in the future!
