Viva Loss Vegas

Oh, hey there? How are you? It's been a long time since I blogged, and I'm not really sure I remember how all this works. But as the weeks have gone by, my readership has dwindled pathetically and my ego won't have it. Let's see, maybe I should talk about technology or emotions or something.

Yesterday I went to a marketing conference in Las Vegas with Kip, my dad. I suppose you might say it was sort of a pointless thing to do, but it was fun nonetheless, despite the fact that I'm still not allowed to gamble. Here's the thing though, I think not letting 21 year olds gamble in Vegas has to be one of the most pointless laws of all time. Even if they let me, there's no way that I could afford to play at the $25 minimum black jack tables that are the norm there. Anyone under 21 who has amassed a fortune enough to wager 1000 dollars at will is probably as mature as the mass of elderly Asians that populate the Vegas tables.

Maybe they're worried about me playing slots. Well too late. In an act of uncharacteristic rebellion I played 1 dollar of video poker in the airport lobby. I got a pair of 2's which I think should count for something, but left me with a net earnings of 1 dollars for the trip.

Kip got it even worse. After a dinner with a bunch of business people, Kip and I walked over to the new Wynn casino which was supposed to be amazing, but was really just a bunch of palm trees and flowers. If I spend billions on a casino, I guarantee there will be waterslides everywhere. Anyway, I cajoled Kip into playing video poker, despite the bad luck I'd had earlier. A short 5 minutes later, Kip had lost 5 dollars, and we left dejected.

The actual conference started the next morning. It was a number of speeches on marketing, which is what you'd expect given the title of the event: "THE conference on Marketing". I made a hilarious powerpoint which is a gentle parody of the events that unfolded there, but I can't really figure out how to put a power point on a blog, so you will have to take my word for it that it was hilarious.

Kip gave a nice speech about how great eBay is, and afterwards he was swarmed by a large group of people. I thought it was nice that they were all congratulating him, which apparently some of them were, but apparently there were a number of people trying to sell eBay on their great marketing techniques. I was approached by one of these people later, who set in with a handshake and a "Mr. Knight..." It was my first time being called Mr. Knight.

For whatever reason the Venetian decided to upgrade our hotel room for the one night we stayed there, so we got to stay in an awesome sweet, which, because of the "frugal" nature of my parents will probably be the nicest hotel room of my first 30 or so years on earth. In order to make the following story work, let's say that we had paid for a 1 dollar room, and the hotel room they upgraded us to cost 2 dollars. Obviously this is not true, but I couldn't not write about this story.

Check in Lady: Hello welcome to the Venetian.
Kip: Hi, we're checking in, last name Knight.
C: Ok, great I'm going to give you a free upgrade, the room you're going to stay in tonight would normally cost 2 dollars.
K: Wait! How much does it cost.
C: Normally 2 dollars.
K (turning bright red): Now hold on a minute, we reserved a room for 1 dollar, it says so right here.
Tom: KIP NO! It's okay checkout lady, he's had a lot to drink.
C: Ok here are your keys to your 2 dollar room.
K: (passes out from rage)

I can't think of anything else to write about this event. I might have some pictures posted later, but then again I might not. The way things have been going with this blog lately, you should be grateful for anything at all.