Xanadu Las Vegas 2008 committee/volunteers schedule

If you would like to volunteer to help plan Xanadu Las Vegas, please send an email to xanaduplanning-subscribe@yahoogroups.com to join our committee e-mail list! Also, please forward this e-mail to anyone you think may be interested in helping.

Here is the schedule for the rest of 2008 for the Xanadu Las Vegas planning committee and volunteers:

Sunday, October 5, at noon: Marketing Meeting @ Scott’s home near Rainbow and Sahara (new location!). Plan Xanadu presence at the Renaissance Festival and other marketing activities.

October 10-12: Age of Chivalry Renaissance Festival @ Sunset Park. No booth, but please attend & talk up convention to people.

Sunday, October 19, at 4 PM (new time!): All-Committee Meeting @ Plaza

Sunday, October 26, at 4 PM (new time!): Marketing Meeting @ Scott’s home near Rainbow and Sahara (new location!). Plan Xanadu presence at NeonCon and other marketing activities.

October 30 – November 2: NeonCon @ Palace Station. We have a table and need volunteers to staff it.

Sunday, November 9, at 4 PM (new time!): Marketing Meeting @ Scott’s home near Rainbow and Sahara (new location!)e. Review pre-registration membership sales thus far and plan other marketing activities.

Sunday, November 16, at 4 PM (new time!): All-Committee Meeting @ Plaza.

Sunday, November 23, at 4 PM (new time!): Marketing Meeting @ Scott’s home near Rainbow and Sahara (new location!). Plan Xanadu presence at LosCon.

November 28-30: LosCon in Los Angeles. Table & room party, need volunteers who will be attending to help with both.

Sunday, December 7, at 4 PM (new time!): All-Committee Meeting @ Plaza.

Sunday, December 14, at 4 PM (new time!): Marketing Meeting @ Scott’s home near Rainbow and Sahara (new location!). Review pre-registration membership sales thus far and plan 2009 marketing activities.

Enjoy your holidays! 2009 meeting schedule will be announced later.

The Plaza Hotel and Casino is at 1 Main Street in Las Vegas, at the west end of the Fremont Street Experience. We meet in the central lobby area of the 3rd floor convention center. If that area is occupied by another event, we will meet in the dome in the sports bar on the 2nd floor.

For address and directions to Scott's home please e-mail director@xanadulasvegas.com.

Most meetings will be followed by a social gathering.

Thanks! See you there!

New Pages Available on Xanadu Las Vegas Website

Please check out our new pages at Xanadu Las Vegas. You can find them under the pull down menu under Events. These will be updated as we get more information from the department heads.

The first is the new Anime page. Xanadu Las Vegas is proud to announce the addition of Richard Stott to our Anime department. Richard is the owner of Anime Vegas which celebrated their 5 year here in Las Vegas. The department is also being run by our own Daniel Rego.

The second is the new Gaming Page. Xanadu Las Vegas is proud to announce that that The Little Shop of Magic and Neoncon gaming convention will be running the gaming at the convention.

Please check out both pages and let us know what you think.

Anime Volunteers Needed!

Richard Stott joins Xanadu Las Vegas Anime Celebration!

Xanadu Las Vegas, the Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Convention here in Las Vegas, April 17 through 19 of 2009 is coming to the Plaza Hotel and we need YOU! We're looking for enthusiastic Anime fans to assist with our programming and event related activities.

Our Anime activities include: a Masquerade, Movies, Panels Discussions, Musical Entertainment and more plus general conventioneering, but we need your help and experience to make this an event to remember!

Interested? We'd love to hear your thoughts and ideas during our Committee Meeting this Sunday September 28th, 2:00 pm at the Clark County Library 1401 E. Flamingo. Meet the Committee, find out more about Xanadu Las Vegas and join the fun!

The meeting will be held in the large conference room and there will be signs pointing the way.

Please visit our website HERE. I look forward to meeting all of you.

Scott Anderson
Director
Xanadu Las Vegas
http://www.xanadulasvegas.com
director@xanadulasvegas.com

USS Las Vegas Volunteers!!

At the 9/17/08 meeting of the USS Las Vegas, the club made a unanimous decision to support Xanadu Las Vegas (XLV). The vote came shortly after Scott gave an update and passed around a draft of the first XLV progress report. Alan passed out DVDs of Goodbye Star Trek Experience, his farewell video compiled from the hundreds of photos taken in the last couple months. Also, since the USS Las Vegas is the MOST active club in the southwest, it was chosen as the new home base for the International Federation of Trekkers (IFT). The USS Las Vegas will be responsible for processing of new memberships from around the globe. Paul said there will be a few bumps during the transition, but the club is very excited about having this honor.

Find out about Xanadu Convention

You may have heard about the Xanadu Science Fiction convention that Scott Anderson is planning that will be held April 2009 at the Plaza Hotel downtown Las Vegas
You may be wondering what it is, who will be there, what will be going on, what activities will happen, how much the cost is, and much more.

Find out on Sunday Sept. 28 from 2-4pm at the SNAFFU (Southern Nevada Area Fantasy & Fiction Union) meeting at the Clark County Library, Flamingo Ave. at Maryland Parkway, in the Large Conference Room.

Xanadu will be the main discussion topic, with a mini Xanadu planning meeting, along with general chitchat about SF, science, and fan news.
Please join us for the fun. Afterwards if there is interest we will go to a nearby eatery.

For more information on the SNAFFU SF club, contact LindaBushyager@aol.com

Xanadu Las Vegas new database software!

After trying and horribly failing on several attempts to find a good database software, I have decided on Microsoft Access 2007. Access 2007 is an excellent program for beginners and experts down the road. It did not take me too long to setup and use. I learned about tables and forms and all the neat bell and whistles. I am now at the point where I will be customizing the forms to look nice. I have decided to make several tables and cross reference them. The good news about this is that there will be a place for committee and staff to use the information for the convention. The plan for the future is either to have a server based setup or make the database online to access from other parts of the convention. I know that this will be needed in registration, art show, and the art auction areas. I am still in the long process of inputting all the data into the database. I feel confident that this will be the database program of choice for Xanadu Las Vegas.

I will be teaching the committee and staff on how to use the program at the next meeting. The next Xanadu Las Vegas meeting will be at the Clark County Library on September 28 at 2pm in the conference area. The address of the library is 1401 E. Flamingo Road. I hope to see many new faces!

Next Meeting of The Observation Lounge to be held on Saturday

LAS VEGAS – The Star Trek discussion group, “The Observation Lounge,” will be holding their September meeting on Saturday, September 6, 2008 at 10:30 AM at the Enterprise Library located on E. Shelbourne Avenue in Las Vegas. The group will watch a Voyager episode, “Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy” and then discuss the episode and relevant issues to today’s world. Anyone is welcome to attend the meeting.

The Observation Lounge meets on the first Saturday of each month at the Enterprise Library. Anyone interested in a lively discussion of Star Trek is welcome to attend. Contact Mike Cornwell at 702-448-0868 or visit the Yahoo Group "ObservationLounge" for more information.

Anime Vegas Party

Xanadu Party at Anime Vegas 9/30/08 9:00 p.m.

On the 14th floor of the Renaissance Hotel, Xanadu Las Vegas hosted a party for Anime Vegas. Early arrivals were Richard Stott, Chairman of Anime Vegas and Chaz Baden, Chairman of Anime LA http://www.animelosangeles.org/ala/ . Scott Anderson talked with them about Anime Vegas volunteers coming onboard to help with the anime room at Xanadu. Christian Mcquire, past Chairman of many LA conventions, and discussed the benefits of using the Internet and blogs when putting on a convention.

Once the opening ceremonies were over, the fans began to arrive en mass, many in costume. They chowed down, signed the email list, and with a bit of prodding, began to draw and write on "The Wall" ~ sheets of butcher paper taped onto the hotel room wall. It's a nice memento of the party with interesting comments, some very good anime art, and some silly stuff too.

Alan White, Xanadu paparazzo, took many photos of the partygoers. I can't wait to see the results. Later arrivals include Tushell Lieberman, aka The Corset Lady, wearing her corset (which she let me try on!). She is helping with FashionX and her corsets will definitely be some of the fashion there http://www.badattitude.com/ . Jacqueline Monahan and Judy Thorburn, "The Flick Chicks" http://www.theflickchicks.com/ are movie reviewers that have quite an Internet following. They came and gabbed a bit, then pursuaded Alan and I to wander down to the pool area and enjoy the breeze. The Renaissance is truly a beautiful hotel.

I had a great time! I was in charge food replenishment, which was no small task, as these fans were hungry. This allowed me the chance to talk with quite a few partygoers. They all seemed very interested in an all around convention like Xanadu. Although my anime experience is years old, Lupin, Laputa and Evangelion, to name a few, I had some conversations about the genre, too. I found that the young are not illiterate and the Las Vegas Valley is not a literary wasteland. Besides fun and silliness, we talked about favorite books, authors, movies and the rising interest in anime.

As a fan of 20 + years, it was nice to see the generation gap disappear when common interests are discussed.

Neoncon 2008 - Registration Now Open!

Fellow Gamers,

I am happy once again to welcome everyone to Neoncon; Las Vegas' biggest gaming convention. In 2007, we went from an average attendance of eighty in previous years to almost two-hundred and fifty last year, with around 350 individual gaming sessions running over three days. As of this writing, Neoncon is on track to see over 400 attendees in 2008, with that number being larger if a few things fall in place.

Despite our growth last year, Neoncon 2007 attendees had good things to say across the board. Some said it was the best RPGA event they had ever attended. We were truly humbled by the overwhelmingly positive response.

Doug Daulton

Never willing to rest on our laurels, Neoncon 2008 aims to be bigger and better; but not so much so that we lose our touch and our audience. While Circus Circus served us well last year, that choice of venue was our biggest complaint. Overall, folks thought the hotel did not provide much value for their dollar. So, this year we are happy to partner with Palace Station Hotel and Casino. Not only is our convention space now bigger and better, the rooms and rates provided to our attendees are the best overall value in Las Vegas. In particular, the Tower Rooms are stunning after a late 2007 remodel. Be sure to check out our rooms/rates and get the discounted booking code.

In addition, we have expanded to four days while moving to Halloween weekend. Our expanded schedule allows us to add even more games for you. We are still working to confirm all of the gaming groups and vendors who have expressed interest in being part of Neoncon 2008. So far, I can confirm that we will have full slate of Living Greyhawk, Living Forgotten Realms, Pathfinder Society, Warhammer & Warhammer 40K, D&D Miniatures and Star Fleet Battles on the schedule. Other games in the mix are World of Darkness LARPs, Magic: The Gathering and several variations of Cthulhu games. And, we are working on a few big surprises that we cannot announce yet.

Convention registration is now open. This year, we have added single-day badges, so if you can only make one or two days, you do not have to pay full price. Still, the 4 Day Badge offers the best overall value for your dollar. Right now, we are offering special early bird pricing. Early bird pricing and ends on September 19th at Midnight and is limited to 200 one day badges ($25) and 50 four day badges ($45). On September 20th, standard pre-registration pricing takes effect through October 17th at midnight. After that, on-site pricing is in effect. So, do yourself a favor and register now.

As a favor to our friends at Xanadu, we have set up a special discount code which will run until the show opens. When prompted for a discount code at checkout , enter "XANADU" and take another $5.00 off of your order. At $10/day for an jam-packed schedule, that is one smoking deal!

In closing, I would be remiss if we neglected to thank all the volunteers who donate their time and effort on behalf of Neoncon; now and in the past. You know who you are. Those who spent hours play testing games, reviewing stat blocks, making phone calls, stuffing bags, running games, manning desks, entering data, traveling cross country, sacrificing hotel room and air fare, driving hours on end, and doing a ton of other self-sacrificing stuff, we thank you!

I look forward to spending Halloween with everyone, playing games, making friends and, of course, defeating evil!

See you October 30th!



Doug Daulton
Owner/Producer
Neoncon 2008
Kansha Media

Xanadu Las Vegas Meeting!

The next meeting of Staff and volunteers will be this Sunday, September 7th at 12PM. We will be meeting on the third floor convention area of the Plaza Hotel. Topics of discussion will be:

1) We will be sharing our adventures at AnimeVegas over the holiday weekend.
2) We will discuss the process of keeping a database that the staff can use to keep everything in order with Xanadu.
3) What is new with Xanadu Las Vegas..?
4) How can we make this a grand event..?

Please join us to find out how you can help.

USS LAS VEGAS VOLUNTEERS WITH DECOMMISSIONING CEREMONY OF STTE

LAS VEGAS – STAR TREK: THE EXPERIENCE – Volunteers from the crew of the USS Las Vegas were recruited by Chad Boutte, Operations and Marketing Director for STTE, to assist in the Decommissioning Ceremony for Star Trek: The Experience on Monday evening, September 1, 2008.

Boutte contacted the captain of the Vegas, Paul Walker, and asked for assistance so that the staff of STTE could be honored with a ceremony and acknowledgement of the hard work and dedication they all have put forth over the last 11 years. Fourteen members of the Vegas crew were happy to donate their time and effort for such a worthwhile event.

Suzie Plakson, who played several roles on the various series, served as the Master of Ceremonies for the evening and called each staff member’s name. Each staff member then walked the red carpet to the podium and received a gift bag from the Experience. The crowd honored each staff member with applause and thanks.




After the entire staff had received their gift, they all came back out for a final curtain call and bowed to the audience. With that final gesture, the curtain was released on each side of the entrance, which marked the official closure of the event. The staff spent some time behind the curtain visiting and consoling each other and then proceeded to the Captain’s Lounge for a VIP Party that lasted well into the night.


The ceremony marked the end of an 11 year run for Star Trek: The Experience. Over the years thousands of fans have made the pilgrimage to STTE to be immersed in Star Trek and enjoy the fantasy of flying through space and almost being assimilated by the Borg.


Many of the fans have expressed sorrow and are hopeful that some incarnation of STTE will be created again in the future, although neither CBS, nor Paramount, nor Cedar Fair has announced any official plans as of yet.

Today: LAST DAY OF STAR TREK: THE EXPERIENCE!!!, last day of Anime Vegas, Star Wars miniatures tournament

Happening today, Monday, September 1st:

• Today is the LAST DAY EVER that Star Trek: the Experience will be open at the Las Vegas Hilton. There will be a Decommissioning Ceremony at 10 PM tonight.
• The last day of the Anime Vegas convention at the Renaissance Hotel at 3400 Paradise Road in Las Vegas.
• Every Monday evening there is a Star Wars Miniatures tournament at the Little Shop of Magic at 5:30 PM.
  

See all upcoming meetings and events in the Las Vegas Fandom Calendar.