Viva Las Vegas

What a long strange trip it was. It started out great with an 11:00 am flight out of Sarasota. Not too early. No drive up to Tampa. I booked my flight to Las Vegas through Atlanta using Delta Sky Miles converted from American Express points so I was riding in first class the whole way.

We pushed back from gate B4 and quickly came to a stop. In typical fashion the pilot announces over the PA, “Well folks, we have good news and bad news…”

Someone from the ground crew noticed a nail in the front tire. Apparently that can be a bad thing during takeoff and/or landing but the pilot described it as the good news. The bad news was the fact that we would be returning to the gate, getting off the plane, and everyone would have to be rebooked. I guess those MD-88’s don’t carry a spare.

Besides the bigger seats, the free booze, and the occasional meal on longer flights, yet another great thing about sitting in first class is the ability to get off the plane before the unwashed masses. This is particularly beneficial when you have to see the gate agent to find out how you’re going to get to your final destination.

So there I was standing in front of what was quickly becoming an angry mob when I was informed of the next good news-bad news scenario. “I can still get you to Las Vegas today but it’s not pretty,” she says. A few minutes later she handed me new boarding passes, and I headed for the bar.

Instead of going to Atlanta as planned, I was rerouted through Detroit. Instead of departing at 11:00 am as planned, I wasn’t leaving Sarasota until 3:40 pm. Instead of arriving in Las Vegas around mid-afternoon, I didn’t get in until midnight. At least I still had first class seats.

Other than snow in Detroit the rest of the trip was unremarkable, and despite the delay I was feeling pretty good when I arrived in Las Vegas. The bag I had checked back in Sarasota arrived ahead of me and was patiently waiting for me at the Delta baggage office in McCarran Airport. Then I went to get my rental car…

Partly because I arrived eight hours late and partly because car rental reservations have nothing to with actually reserving cars for the people who reserve them the people at Budget no longer had a full size vehicle waiting for me. Who remembers that scene from Planes, Trains and Automobiles? I love Steve Martin!

The car rental place was pretty quiet, but of course there were people standing in front of the only two agents at the counter. After waiting for a few minutes and realizing that the two agents were moving like sloths, I remembered that I am a Budget Fast Break member and headed for the garage.

When I got down there I found the lot agent checking in a return. I waited patiently for him to finish with his customer. I informed him that I am a Fast Break customer to which he replied, “It’s too late. You have to check in upstairs.”

Various responses went through my head. I said, “Thank you,” and turned around.

When I got back upstairs the same people were suffering with the same sloths. Fortunately no one else had lined up behind them. One of the agents finished with her customer and promptly disappeared to the back room never to be seen again.

A few minutes later the second agent finished with his customer. I continued to wait as he fumbled around a while longer. At this point a line was forming behind me. He finally called me to the counter and asked if I was a Fast Break customer. I said, “Yes,” and handed him my driver’s license.

The agent pulled up my reservation on his computer and said, “You were supposed to be here this afternoon.” I shared a brief version of the nail story hoping for some sympathy. He stared at his computer with a concerned look on his face and then walked to the back room.

He came back out. He stopped halfway to his computer, turned around, and went back to the room. He did this again. While his apparent indecision was frustrating, at least he was moving more quickly at this point as the line behind me was getting longer and louder.

When he came back the third time he informed me that he could “get me out of here” if I was willing to take an economy car. He mumbled something about another option, gestured to another counter, and said it would probably take a while, blah, blah, blah.

For a moment I considered having a conversation with the agent about customer service and what it really means to be a Fast Break customer. Instead I took the economy car and decided to look forward to checking into my suite at Mandalay Bay, my favorite hotel on the Strip.

I booked the larger room months ago shortly after I decided to attend the World of Concrete. The idea was to host a hospitality suite for a few prospective clients and my old Quest buddies. Just like the old days – tunes jamming, booze flowing – my plan was to recreate the good times with a few friends and show some prospects how we roll.

I scheduled three nights in Las Vegas figuring I would party with pals on Tuesday, take a breather on Wednesday, and go hog wild on Thursday. Since I arrived late Tuesday night was shot, but I was happy to be in town and looking forward to being at the show as an attendee.

I got to sleep in late, eat a nice breakfast, and had plenty of time to drive over to the convention center and walk the trade show floor. Back in December I mailed letters to all the technology exhibitors. In January I followed up the letters with phone calls. I was excited to finally see all those people in person and drum up some business.

The first day was more difficult than I thought. Over the last few months I honed my pitch for the local market. However, talking to construction software vendors on my old stomping grounds turned out to be a very different conversation. Key points in the Quest-Maxwell-Milestone timeline seemed more relevant to this audience. It took all day before I was comfortable with the new dialogue.

Visiting the Maxwell booth also turned out to be more stressful than I anticipated. Of course I thought it would be a little weird. I designed and produced that trade show booth for a dozen years at Quest. After we sold the company, transitioning our successful trade show format was perhaps my most significant contribution.

It’s not like I expected it to fall apart without me, but I felt a sense of loss. Maybe it was just a blow to my ego, but it seemed like I was experiencing a form of empty nest syndrome. Even worse, I started to feel like a hanger-on. It was awful.

Of course this was all in my head. When I spoke to everyone at the Maxwell booth they all appeared eager to see me and happy to hear about the new business.

That night I was hoping to have dinner with a couple of old Quest friends. When the entire Maxwell team decided to stay at their hotel and go to the seafood buffet, I was disappointed. I was already starting to regret my decision to attend the show. The first night was screwed up because of the flight, and now the second night was falling apart.

When my friend called and twisted my arm, I reluctantly agreed to join them for dinner. It was terrible. Not only do I hate Vegas buffet food, but I already felt like I was glomming onto my old employer at the show and didn’t want to put myself in the same position after hours.

As expected the meal was comparable to Carnival cruise food. Standing in line with the Maxwell crew was awkward to say the least. Sitting away from the group with a couple of old Quest buddies allowed us to catch up, but it made the situation even more uncomfortable.

When the group reconvened at a hotel bar after dinner I couldn’t take it any longer. I was feeling miserable and left out so I went back to my hotel suite where I had a few lonely cocktails and wondered what the hell I was doing in Las Vegas.

The next morning I was still depressed. Despite having tentative lunch plans with one business colleague and firm dinner plans with another, I called Delta to see if I could catch an earlier flight home. I figured I was wasting my time at the show, and I would be better off getting back to Sarasota and focusing on my new business rather than hanging around with a bunch of people from my past.

More Sky Miles and a hundred dollar change fee changed my mind so I picked myself up, showered, shaved, dressed up a notch, and headed back to the show. There were five or six exhibitors that I didn’t get to the day before because they were busy every time I tried to say hello. Conversations that day went much better. My pitch had settled into a groove, and I felt much more confident.

By the end of the day I had more than a dozen leads to follow up and at least 2 or 3 warm prospects that expressed some interest in Milestone Marketing Associates. That afternoon I caught up with my lunch date over drinks. We sat at a bar in Aria, a new hotel located in City Center, the ten billion dollar development that recently opened in Las Vegas. I was hoping to shore up my relationship with someone who I thought might be a good referral source. As it turns out they need marketing help, and the conversation turned into my hottest lead of the week.

Afterwards I rushed back to Mandalay Bay for my dinner date. I met with another business colleague at one of the nicer restaurants at my hotel. Again I was merely hoping to maintain my network, and again I was pleasantly surprised. The food was mediocre, but the conversation went on for more than three hours. We talked about business and family and politics and more business and more family.

It was wonderful. Towards the end of our meeting I was getting interrupted with text messages and phone calls from Jimmy Raybon, one of my former partners. He was on his way over to my hotel. Jimmy knew that I stocked my suite with booze and beers just like the old days, and I was hoping that he would come over with a few of my Quest buddies after dinner. I tried calling him back, but I couldn’t hear him on the phone. I sent a text message saying I would meet him up at the suite. When I got off the elevator and turned to walk down the hall, I saw a crowd of people assembling in front of my door. I couldn’t believe it. Smiling and shaking my head I started walking towards the group. Someone turned around and saw me coming. He yelled my name. They all turned around and starting screaming. I was speechless.

For the next hour there were at least 20 people partying in my room. The music was cranked. When the booze ran out we all went up to the Foundation Room where Alan Drum, a friend from Maxwell, hooked up the entire group with bottle service. We drank and danced all night long enjoying fantastic views of the Strip.

Until next week,
Matthew Anderson, President
Milestone Marketing Associates, Inc.