Girl + Conference: Liquid Refresments, Las Vegas Style

I don't know what your conferences are like, but apparently when you have one for meeting industry professionals, there will be alcohol EVERYWHERE.

I'm not complaining. I just wonder if this is true for everyone else.

Last week I regaled you with stories of eating my way through Las Vegas. Part two is all about the accompanying libations.

At our first stop at the Paris Hotel, we were greeted by tuxedoed waiters offering two types of wine and something blue. I've learned that I can't drink anything that is sweet because I will end up very sick. And that's not how one comports themselves while trying to network. The blue drink was VERY sweet.

I don't know what was in it, but it was red on the bottom. Pretty, but suffice to say it screamed danger to me, so I stuck to the white wine.

The next night our local friends treated us to the "local experience": the Double Down Saloon. 10 years ago it was called The Junkyard and we had taken a party bus from LA to Vegas to see my friend's band play in it. It's still a terribly awesome dive bar, but now there's a half-full vending machine in it.

Their two signature drinks are the Bacon Martini and Ass Juice. Yes, you read that correctly:

The martini is nothing more than a typical vodka martini with smokey bacon flavoring added. It's not horrible, but you don't need more than one. The ass juice shot is served with a Twinkie.  Twinkies have a shelf life of about one million years, and I loved them as a kid. But as an adult, one bite and I can't imagine what I ever found appetizing about them. As for the "juice," it's super sweet. No idea what's in it, but I stuck to beer lest I end up needing the puke insurance they sell at the bar.

No joke. I mean, look at the sign behind the pool table. Insurance is $20.


Back on the tradeshow floor, there was free alcohol everywhere. Every third booth had champagne. And then the floor receptions! The photo at the top of this booth was from the tequila tasting in Mexico's booth.

At the end of one day, the Japanese tourism group gave us sake, then whisked us off to a Japanese restaurant with more champagne. And beer. And wine.

The next party took us to the Hard Rock Cafe, where I stuck my cake pop in my beer. And then there was dancing. Because that's what you do when men in afro wigs are playing funk music for you. You dance!

And eat cake pops.

After the big closing night party at a hip nightclub...

...we returned to the Double Down on the last night of our stay. Apparently we felt the need to go from high brow to very, very low brow for the after-party. Inside we found a few wayward Australians (different than the ones from the first night) that were also in town for the conference. Who knows how they wandered so far off the strip, but they'd never had Twinkies so they ordered one of these shots...and immediately regretted the Twinkie offering. It was pretty hilarious.

I love Australians.

I have three conferences in Las Vegas in 2013. I imagine I'll be seeing the Double Down a few more times, if my friends have any say. Though I'll probably avoid the Twinkies.

Girl + Conference: The Eats, Las Vegas Style

One of the best things about being an event planner is attending an event for which you are in NO WAY responsible. This is especially true when you've just come off an 11-month stint of planning and executing a 3-day event for 2000 people. Some might even call this a vacation, if such a thing existed for event planners. (They don't. You're always planning, whether it's your next 3 events or your next blog post.)

IMEX America is an amazing tradeshow in Las Vegas, which was, up until last week, one of my least favorite places. But spending time with some LV natives, off the Strip, taught me I might actually like Vegas.

And while I was able to do excellent networking and connect with industry friends, the parties are really what  this post is about. Because we ate (and drank) our way up and down Las Vegas Blvd (and off it) over the course of 5 days.

It was exactly what I needed. First up, the food. Next time, the drinks.

Note, when I remembered to shoot a picture of food (or drink), it wasn't with a real camera in perfectly lit conditions. It was with a crappy iPhone under mood lighting, because Las Vegas is very mood-oriented (read: dark).

We arrived at 3:45 pm on Sunday, which gave us just enough time to check-in to our hotel and hustle over to the Venetian | Palazzo, before being escorted to the Paris Hotel to be wined, dined and then whisked downstairs to see Jersey Boys. Bucking the standard, the Eiffel Tower Restaurant has delicious food. Also, floor to ceiling windows and beautiful sunset lighting (and a great view of the Bellagio Hotel seen above)!

Lox with cream cheese, fried cheese, and prosciutto with figs. Next time I'll show you what they offered to drink. Mmm.

This is what you eat at a classy evening reception. What you eat at 2 am after several hours of dancing, flirting with Australians, and drinking nothing but whisky at Gilley's over at Treasure Island isn't quite as beautiful. But damn if it ain't filling:

Nachos are good anytime. Especially at 2 am in Las Vegas.

Monday was a low-key day. We only had one reception before exploring the Vegas low-spots, like the ultimate dive bar Double Down Saloon that I had actually been to 10 years earlier. More on that next time.

Canyon Ranch SpaClub at the Venetian | Palazzo has excellent massage therapists. Also, delightful food, like cheesy bacon-stuffed jalapeño and mini cheesecake. We ate far too many of these finger foods.

Tuesday was filled with vendor meetings all day followed by back-to-back receptions. They started on the tradeshow floor at 4 pm (sushi and sake at the Japan booth, tequila tasting at the Mexico booth, countless others) and continued off-site at various locations. We opted for tidbits at Shibuya, followed by drinks at the Hard Rock, capped off by dancing at eyecandy.

On top: tuna on a slice of avocado topped with caviar. Bottom: pickled cucumber (similar to ajad) and tempura rock shrimp. 

The Hard Rock had great little cake pops. I popped one into my beer (for picture-taking purposes only, of course). You aren't choosy at the open bar spots.

There was very little elegant eating after this. A quick tea latte in the morning, a bar sandwich after dancing till  2 am. You know, the usual.

There was delicious Korean BBQ at 3 am somewhere...but you know what you're not doing at 3 am while eating Korean BBQ? Remembering to take pictures under fluorescent lights, that's what.

Next time we'll focus on the liquid aspect of this event. Las Vegas is, after all, a desert. You have to keep hydrated.

On gin & tonics. Or whatever they're serving at the open bar.