Incorrect info leads to major stress

December 30, 2008 · Filed Under Ranting, wordcamp · Comments 

One of the requirements for running WordCamp is a temporary event license. I needed to get this from the businesses license department of Las Vegas. I went to their website and downloaded the form and was quickly overwhelmed. For some strange reason, instead of tackling the issue, I set it aside and let time roll on by.

I made a call to the business license a few days later and explained what I was doing and asked what all I needed. They pointed me back to the website to the form I already had in front of me and said to follow the instructions. Oh boy, this was not going to be easy. The instructions list several different permits I had to get that included getting inspections for waste removal. HUH? What have I got myself in to? Overwhelmed once again, I set the papers aside and let more time roll on by.

Yesterday I got a call from a very nice lady at the business license office here in Las Vegas. She was following up because she knew my event date was coming up and needed to get my paperwork in. I could put it off no longer, I was forced to get this done. NOW! On my lunch break I made several calls to find out what I needed to do and who I needed to pay. Some of these permits were fairly pricey. This was going to hurt. Thanks to my brilliant timing of waiting until the last minute, which just so happens to be in the middle of the holiday season, I have even less time than I normally would. So, in a panic I fill out some forms, leave work early and head home to pick up the checkbook.

On my way home I decided to call my contact at Palace Station to see if she can provide some guidance. I know it’s my fault that I’ve waited so long, but hopefully I’m not overly screwed. As I’m explaining the hoops I’m getting ready to jump through, she stops me and says, “You don’t need to do all that.” Palace Station has all the permits for 95% of what’s on the list. The only thing I need is the temporary event license, sans all the permits. Excellent, this is a good start. I high-tail it over to the business license office and submit my paperwork. As it turns out, there is one permit I do need to attain. It’s a tax permit that is required because I’m charging attendees for the conference. Still, they let me submit the forms with the promise that I’ll get the tax permit and fax it the following morning. We pay our bill and hit the door.

I check our navigation system and it says that the tax building is .7 miles from the business license building. 10 minutes later (thanks to some fun one-way street issues) we are in their parking lot. We find the right room, put our name on the list and find that we are in for a 1 hour wait. During that hour it became clear that every person working in the tax office was overly nice. They were cheery and helpful and got people in and out of there quickly. The experience was not what I was expecting, I’ll tell you that right now! When it was my turn, I sat down at the desk and found that the lady helping me was training 2 people at the same time. She had a big smile, great attitude and had me in and out of there in under 10 minutes paperwork in hand. It could not have gone any smoother.

If I could make one suggestion it would be that the city of Las Vegas create different forms for the different type of event permits or at least provide a set of instructions that can help you figure out what parts are or aren’t required. Running events is not my normal job so I would have no idea that I could skip portions of that form. It would have made for a way less stressful day. Thankfully, I ran in to 3 ladies today that helped me out, set me straight and got me back on track.

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WordCamp:Las Vegas is only $20 for 2 days!

December 29, 2008 · Filed Under blogging, wordcamp, wordpress · Comments 

I know I’ve talked about it before and my long time readers have probably heard about it a bunch, but, I have a few hundred new followers on Twitter who may be hearing this for the first time, so please pardon me if you’ve read this before.

If you are interested in learning more about WordPress, blogging, monetization, personal branding, or building up interest for your personal or business blog/website, I invite you to join us for WordCamp:Las Vegas.

You can find all the details about who’s speaking at the event, the agenda, who’s sponsoring and everything else there is to know about it at LasVegasWordCamp.com, but here are the basics:

When: January 10-11, 2009 (8am-5pm, both days)
Where: Palace Station Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, NV
Cost: $20.00
Where to Register: EventBrite.com

For your $20 you’ll get a t-shirt plus 2 full days of learning and networking. You’ll have a hard time finding a better deal!

See you there.

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Building a Las Vegas posse

December 26, 2008 · Filed Under Social Networking, wordcamp · Comments 

There are so many great tools for social networking these days. Who isn’t on Twitter and Facebook by now, right? While both of these are great for virtual meetings, I’m looking to expand that to actual face-to-face meetings. In order to do that, I need to find people in my basic area who are also interested in building their own social web.

For the past few weeks I have been focusing on building up the number of people I’m interacting with on Twitter from the Las Vegas area. To do this, I have been using twitterlocal.net to find tweeters in and around Las Vegas. I have a fairly basic rule set that I use as a guideline when it comes to who I do or don’t follow. For example, I usually don’t follow somebody if I’m going to be one of their first 5 followers. I also don’t follow people that look like they might be less than 21. This is mainly because if we schedule a meetup at a bar, I’d hate to exclude somebody I’ve gone out of my way to try and network with.

So what’s the benefit in all of this? Unless you are independently wealthy, we all have some sort of business or service that we offer. There is no better way to advertiser yourself than by going out and meeting a bunch of people who share common interests. Your first meetup may not turn up any new clients. Your second, third and fourth might not either. But, by keeping your name and face fresh in peoples minds, when it comes time that they or somebody they know need a service that you provide, your name should be on the top of their list.

I currently organize 3 groups on meetup.com. Each group has been having meetings on a monthly basis. We have some cross pollination going on with the groups, and that’s a good thing. People are getting introduced to different views on social media, blogging, self branding and promotion. My goal now is to introduce the 200 plus people I’ve found on Twitter from Las Vegas to our meetup groups.

If you are interested, here are the 3 meetup groups to join:
- Las Vegas WordPress Meetup Group
- Vegas Tweetup
- Las Vegas Social Media Club

On Saturday, January 10th at 5:30 PM, just after the end of Day 1 of WordCamp:Las Vegas, we’ll be having a meetup with all 3 groups invited. Join any of the groups above to get all the details. We’d love to see you out there!

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Time for the ducks to line up

December 16, 2008 · Filed Under Ranting, wordcamp · Comments 

I’m only about 3.5 weeks away from the start of WordCamp. Wow, let me say that again… I’m only 3.5 weeks away from the start of WordCamp. I need to get my shit together!

OK, truthfully, things are all going pretty well. But, that’s been thanks to some things falling in to place quite nicely. Some of that has just been hard work & manual labor, while other parts have been great recommendations by others.

I’m using EventBrite.com for handling the registrations. This turned out to be a stroke of genius. They handle the order taking, they collect all the important information securely, they let you ask additional questions if needed (shirt size, URL, etc…) and they deliver the cash directly to your paypal account. It couldn’t be easier.

After some searching on Google, I found a great deal on lanyards and badge holders at NameTag.com. They shipped my order the following day and it should arrive tomorrow. Sweet.

For the badges themselves, I’m actually still waiting on a piece of artwork from my designer. But, as soon as it arrives, I’m using a printer who I found through Twitter, of all places. Their website is VerticalPrinting.com and you can find Laura on Twitter @VPG_Printing.

Much of the hard work has been made a lot easier by the team over at Palace Station. They’ve really been helpful along the way. Getting the room organized, discount codes and all the extras that come up along the way. Big thanks to Page and Gina!

And finally, lots of help from friends. Doug hooked me up with the contacts for the conference space, Todd is on board to shoot photos and live blog the event, Jeff is in charge of the video and live stream, Brent is taking care of the internet access, my dad is driving in from California to do sound, my sister is coming in from California to help with registration/packet pickup and Dave was kind enough to loan me a projector. I think that’s everybody so far. I’m sure there will be more before the day arrives, but this has already been a great outpouring of assistance and I’m thrilled to have friends and family so eager to help! I hope they realize this is NOT a paying gig. ;)

I currently have a list of “last minute things” to get done that is on my iPhone and I look at it daily. I’ve been plucking items off the list and I’m feeling pretty good that everything is going to click in to place like a well tuned machine.

If I can get the shirts ordered by Friday, the printing ordered by the middle of next week, I’m going to be in the clear. I think those are the only things outside of my control that are outstanding. Everything else can be done locally. The weekend following Christmas is gonna be a busy one.

See you all there. Right?!?

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Get one thing done

December 12, 2008 · Filed Under Ranting, iphone apps, wordcamp · Comments 

As you may already know, I’m in the process of organizing a conference called WordCamp:Las Vegas. It’s less than a month away now so it’s really starting to become Crunch Time! All those things I knew I had to get done before the show didn’t seem like that big of a deal a few months ago when I started this journey. However, as the event draws near, it’s time to do like the jolly guy from the North Pole is doing right now; make a list and check it twice!

Last night while I had some down time, I started brainstorming. I wanted to work on a list of items I’m going to need for the conference that aren’t the big obvious things (like chairs, a stage, a microphone, etc…). I decided that the best way to do this was going to be on the iPhone using an app called Toodledo. Each time I would think of a new item I needed to get, I’d create a new task for it. By the time I was done I realized I have some work to do. And some of it I need to get done soon!

This morning I opened up Toodledo to double-check the list. When I first saw all the tasks staring back at me with their due dates and importance level (most say HIGH), it was a little overwhelming. I quickly closed the app and went back in to my shell of denial and headed off to work. Luckily, on my lunch break I came to my senses. I opened up the app again and took a quick look and found exactly what I was looking for. A simple task on the list that could be done with minimal effort. I quickly hit the Internet, did a search on Google, found 3 stores selling the product I needed. I found the store that had the item that best fit my needs and had the best price and I placed the order. I opened up Toodledo again and checked the item off the list. With that check mark went a sizable amount of stress.

When staring at the entire list of things to do, it can be overwhelming. When looking at any of the tasks on the list, none are to challenging and likely need only a few minutes attention each. Getting just one thing done of my list helped reinforce that fact.

I feel better already.

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