Readers Speak: The First Time I Saw Vegas
Staff -- Tradeshow Week, 5/16/2005
Practically everyone in the tradeshow business has been to Las Vegas at one time or another, many for extended periods over a number of years. Some have even said, "What the heck?" and moved there. But what took them there the first time? Was it a tradeshow, a college road trip, a family vacation or a "What happens in you-know-where ..." experience? Tradeshow Week Contributing Editor Gary Tufel asked a number of people in the industry to recall their first visit.
"My first trip was for the 1982 Intl. CES. After that show, where we used a basketball court for exhibit space, we had the idea of expanding the convention center, so we approached three other shows, including COMDEX's owners, about creating a new building adjacent to the convention center. Sheldon Adelson, who owned COMDEX, agreed to partner with us to build a 120,000 square foot building.
"We struck a deal with Las Vegas and each other in August, and we actually built a building in time for the November COMDEX. The building lasted several years and our $1.5 million investment was paid back several times. The building has now been replaced by South Hall."
Gary Shapiro, President and CEO, Consumer Electronics Assn./Intl. CES
"My first trip to Vegas was a typical road trip from Los Angeles, where I was a senior at UCLA in 1979. We left on a Friday in the early afternoon and arrived as the sun was setting over Las Vegas and the lights were coming up. I didn't know (or care) what an exhibition was, and I didn't get much sleep.
"Now that I live here, whenever we drive back home from California and I see the lights of Las Vegas as we come over the horizon from Sloan, I remember that first thrill — and am glad I'm close to home."
Susan Schwartz, President, ConvExx, Executive director, Exhibition Services & Contractors Assn.
"I first saw Las Vegas when I was working on WESTEC. I came for an NAEM (Natl. Assn. of Exposition Managers)meeting, in the 1970s or early '80s. Las Vegas had just begun looking at the convention center as an all-purpose building, and had just begun to realize that the tradeshow industry existed. First one show exploded there and then another — NAB, COMDEX. It was very cold in Las Vegas on that visit."
Don Walter, Former president, NAEM (Intl. Assn. for Exhibition Management)
"Being raised in California, I had several visits to Las Vegas in my young years. My first was in 1955, when I was 14. We stayed at the Flamingo, which at that time was in the middle of the desert. The Strip was then the highway from the airport to downtown. I remember the Frontier and the Desert Inn, because we went to the shows there. (My parents) actually took me to see Lilly St. Cyr, the most famous stripper of the time — much akin to Gypsy Rose Lee.
"Of course, I couldn't go into the casinos, so I spent a lot of time at the swimming pool. When we went downtown, I walked up and down Fremont Street while my family gambled. I remember seeing (George) Gabby Hayes wandering around. (This was Roy Rogers' sidekick, for you young whippersnappers.) I walked into the Horseshoe to see the million dollars that were exhibited and was quickly shooed out, but I still saw the money."
Patti Shock, Professor, University of Nevada Las Vegas — College of Hotel Administration
"I came to Las Vegas as a kid in 1940; there were 8,000 people here then. It was a pretty small town. This wasn't long after the building of the Boulder (Hoover) Dam.
"In 1931, the Nevada governor signed two bills that changed Las Vegas forever. One was the six-week divorce rule, and the other legalized casino gambling. They were signed into law the same day. In 1941, El Rancho Vegas hotel was built, but not much happened during World War II except for a gunnery school, which is now Nellis Air Force Base. The Flamingo opened in 1946, built by Billy Wilkerson, who owned the Hollywood Reporter and a few restaurants. But he was a gambler who lost a lot of money, and Bugsy Siegel stole the Flamingo from him and opened it.
"As manager of the Las Vegas News Bureau, the city's publicity arm, I haunted the hotels for photos of tourists having a good time, and then sent them to their small hometown papers."
Don Payne, Manager, 1965–92, Las Vegas News Bureau
"I think the first time was in the early '90s. I was working at the Capital Hilton Hotel (in Washington, D.C.) and I went to the West Coast with my mom and a co-worker. We spent a week in California driving down the coast and when we got to L.A., I thought we should go and check out Las Vegas. We stayed at the Flamingo Hilton, as in those days you got comped rooms if you worked in a hotel
"What do I remember? No clocks in the rooms, major blackout curtains on the windows, cheap buffets — it was pretty much your only option then. Really cheap drinks, being in awe of all the lights, going to a water park right there on the Strip ... and deciding this was one city I would definitely be returning to."
Lenay Gore, Director of national accounts, San Diego Convention Center
"I went to Las Vegas the first time in 1987 to visit COMDEX. At that time, I had a major computer show in Mexico, and COMDEX asked me to be their representative in Mexico. It was really difficult to get a hotel room, and I stayed way out in the boonies (of that time) at the Tropicana. I had a room with a round bed and mirrors on the ceiling.
"There was nothing there. Taxis were the most difficult to find and entertainment was very different. It was not yet the family place it is today."
Patricia Farias Barlow, President and CEO, Farias Expos SA de CV
"We came here when I retired from the Army in 1993. I was stationed in Alaska with the 501st Airborne, and we drove down the West Coast with my wife and two daughters. We were intending to end up in Phoenix, but we decided to have a look at Las Vegas. When we got here, we just stayed.
"We were driving a (Jeep) Cherokee and an RV, and at first we stayed in a campground, because I had to go back to Alaska for a short while. I didn't care where we ended up, but my wife and daughters liked it here."
Milan Dobrijevich, Business agent, Teamsters Local 631
"In college, a buddy of mine moved to California, and I went out over Christmas break to visit him. I was 17. We decided to drive to Las Vegas, which seemed like a very long drive. Back then, Interstate 15 dumped right onto the Strip. We stayed at the Desert Island motel, which had a pink elephant in front and is still there.
"We went to the Riviera to see Bobby Vinton's show. My aunt in Boston had some connections and got us on the 'invited guests' list. We were challenged when we got on that line, but my name was on there, and they said, 'Right this way, Mr. Heller,' and we got in. Our reservation had been made by Frank Sinatra's attorney, who my aunt knew.
"We were too young to drink or gamble, but I remember leaving Las Vegas thinking, 'What a great place.'"
Richard Heller, President and general manager, Sands Expo & Convention Center
"I was like a little kid. I landed in Las Vegas and immediately smelled Cinnabons. I had never heard of Cinnabons before, so that began my love affair with the city. I was hooked."
Elyse Kroll, President, ENK Intl.
"My first trip to Las Vegas was in 1968 for the American Mining Congress show. I was probably also there that year for the Fall Joint Computer Conferences, and the traffic density at these two shows was very good. I guess I was in Las Vegas at least once every year after that.
"The shows were held in the original convention center, which was not that large, but both shows filled the center, and the Mining Congress even had outdoor exhibits.
"Many of the hotels that were in vogue then are now gone, such as the Frontier, Desert Inn, Silver Slipper, Tropicana and the Landmark. I usually stayed at the Stardust. There was no Hilton at that time."
Dick Swandby, Founder, Exhibit Surveys
"My first trip to Las Vegas was while I was a freshman at the University of Denver. My roommate was from Los Angeles and his father was a high roller of sorts. We met his parents at the Riviera and, because of his VIP status, everything was comped. Of course, we had the big suite, first row-seats for the Steve and Eydie show and the brunch at Circus Circus.
"It was like a complete fantasy for this impressionable hotel and restaurant management major from Boston. I had never been exposed to anything like it."
Richard B. Green, Vice president, association sales and industry relations, Marriott Intl.
"My first trip was in 1974 or '75, and I wasn't that impressed. I came in the summer for an IACVB (Intl. Assn. of Convention & Visitor Bureaus) meeting. They said it was a dry heat. Well, so's an oven!"
Frank Sain, Executive director, 1981–'91, Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority, Las Vegas Convention Center
"I moved to Las Vegas when I was a year old. My father was working in food and beverage and opened the Talley Ho, which is now the Aladdin, and my mother had a job at the front desk of the Thunderbird. The town was booming, and they needed employment with a lower cost of living from their then-residence, L.A.
"I remember such hotels as the Castaways, the Last Frontier and the Silver Slipper. Everyone had to dress up to go to the showrooms — women wore dresses, hats and gloves, and men wore suits with ties. My family has been in Las Vegas for 41 years, and we have seen it all."
Michelle Mor, National sales manager, Freeman
"In the '60s, I made trips with my family, by junket and always to the old Dunes Hotel — no longer there; it was replaced by the Mirage. We'd go out from New York to Vegas, where the airport was nothing but a tiny regional airfield. In 1969, I actually saw Elvis perform at the Hilton Hotel, one of his last performances. This was also the time I learned to play blackjack — although I was underage at the time."
Meg Ellacott, Managing director, Major American Trade Show Organizers
"In 1982, I was a tour guide, on a 16-day tour through the Southwest. The tour originated in L.A. and continued via San Diego, Tucson, Bisbee, Scottsdale, the Grand Canyon, Bryce (Canyon), Zion, then Las Vegas. From there through Death Valley over the Tioga Pass to Yosemite. Then, on to San Francisco, down through Carmel and the 17-mile drive, Solvang and back into L.A.
"I went to the library and learned about every single town along the way in order to be able to provide history and anecdotes to the very educated Germans on board. This was all in German, and about many places I had never been before. I had to outsmart them, since they always read up on everywhere they go before they travel anywhere. I remember conducting cactus candy, chocolate chip cookie, pop rock candy and California wine tastings on board (to name a few) to introduce them to things I knew they didn't have in Germany.
"I was responsible for all city tours and all optional tours, including shows in Las Vegas. It was a tremendous responsibility for me and I only earned $65 a day (which included my language skills)."
Alynne Hanford, Global sales manager, group and meeting travel, American Airlines
"I first came to Las Vegas in the 1970s. The town was very different then, as everyone knows. There was an Old World glamour to the town then. That Old World glamour may be gone now, but the excitement and diversity of fun and entertaining things to do have only gotten better.
"I had been coming back for some 20 years off and on and finally decided to move here in 1992. There were so many opportunities in the city. The ongoing growth and business expansion was just irresistible. I sold my business in Palm Springs and moved to Las Vegas that year. Since then the town continues to flourish, and I find myself now running a locally based international independent tradeshow company for the last 10 years. We would never even think to hold any of our national shows anywhere but in Las Vegas."
Shane O'Sheeran, Director of expositions, Bentley Intl. Group
"My first visit to Las Vegas was in 1993. I was initially concerned that attendees would miss visiting exhibitor booths and participating in tradeshow activities because they'd become distracted by gaming, golf and entertainment. But over the past 10 years, the Las Vegas tradeshow community has done an excellent job in increasing the focus on the business of tradeshows. For show organizers, Las Vegas creates a winning combination of well-attended shows and happy buyers and exhibitors, due in large part to the attractive destination."
Howard Friedman, Group show director, VNU Expo
