Trade Show Tip Thursday: 10 Women to Avoid in Vegas

Since we are in the height of trade show season with SEMA looming upon us shortly, we are sharing a post from Vegas Chatter Blog:

We’ve told you the things Not to Do in Vegas but sometimes a trip isn’t classified by what you did, it’s who you did. And if you do…er meet the wrong people, that exciting weekend in Sin City can go south real fast.

So if you want to avoid being the butt of your friends jokes for years to come and having your first name be substituted for a noun referring to an embarrassing act (“You just pulled a Dave”) –read this before you go to Vegas — our list of 10 Girls to Avoid in Las Vegas.

1. Vegas Cougars
You want the cougar? You can’t handle the Vegas Cougar. She is more than likely late thirties to late fourties, may or may not look like she is in the middle of a skydive thanks to her wind tunnel look from too much plastic surgery, and she will definitely buy you dinner and a drink.

Wed Night is Cougar Night

Wait, free dinner and a drink so what is the issue? Vegas Cougars travel in packs, may or may not be divorced and will be ultra aggressive with younger men. The real issue is the Vegas Cougar is the queen of the follow up text, call, email, facebook friending — so if you want to spend the next five years hearing about her marital issues, by all means join her for dinner and a drink, otherwise, walk away.

2. Hot Girls Looking Lonely & Lurking Around Casino Floors at 4 AM
Dude, she is not *that* into you. She looks way to good and way to put together for 4 AM — why? Quite possibly because she is just starting her night, and her job. She is probably looking for a drunk guy counting his winnings and looking for someone to go upstairs with.

Where can you find these natural looking and acting girls? Well, every casino floor really, leave it to Kid Rock to point out one of their favorite hang outs — Mandalay Bay.

We said it before and we’ll say it again, prostitution is illegal in Clark County. If you need help, study the women on this list before you go.

3. The Smoking Granny at the Slots.
We don’t mean the smoking Granny as in cougar. We mean the smoking Granny as in smoking butts until she hits jackpot on the penny slot machines. Granny will sit there for hours and hours all the while smoking some old brand of cigarettes that she stocked up on at BJ’s Warehouse before it was discontinued due to its direct link with lung cancer. Spend five minutes near Granny and you will be sick the next day with smoke inhalation injuries.

4. Bachelorettes
Some dudes probably seek out bachelorettes because they are easy targets and you can’t blame them for that. These are girls walking around in special “I’m the Bride” outfits and weighted down with penis paraphernalia, shotglass necklaces and always-overfilled drinks. They’re also sizing up the guys on the dance floor saying to themselves, “He could be the last man I ever have sex with/make out with/bump and grind with.”

Hangover for Girls

But dude, have you seen the amount of alcohol that the bachelorette has been knocking back? Chances are, once you get that bride-to-be back to your hotel room, she’ll be too drunk to “hang out.” You also risk a sloppy, drunk sobfest over the near act of cheating on her fiancee. A night full of deep meaningful relationship talk with a stranger — is that what you want out of your trip to Sin City?

5. The Cooler Woman
Yes, coolers can come in the male variety too but we’ve often found that women coolers are the cruelest. Once you start hitting it big, the ever-vigilant pit boss will let you win a few more hands just to let you think you are invincible. Then he’ll bring in a severe-looking woman to slow your roll. Even if it’s 4:30am, she’s still sharp as a tack, ready to do her job which is to make you lose.

She will either remain completely silent or feign that she doesn’t understand English — cause you know, idle chatter equals winning hands for the players. Every once in a while, in between her relentless run of Aces and Jacks, she will throw you a wry smile, acting like maybe if you stick around long enough you will win your money back.

Wrong, before you know it you will be curled up in the fetal position crying in your room. Ditch her and the pit boss she rode in on.

6. The Not-a-Woman Woman
Like any night out in the big city, you have to be careful about who’s got the real goods and who’s got the cleverly hidden goods.

Seen at Drink & Drag (Clue!)

Hell these days even Lady GaGa is subject to web rumors about her private parts. That means it isn’t always easy to tell, especially under club lighting and the influence of booze. If you are questioning the femininity of any club goer it is best to just move along instead of declaring, “It’s a man baby!”

7. Hitler’s Woman
Avoid this crazy woman who yelled “Heil Hitler” at a Jewish man during one of those fiery Town Hall meetings over health care. Members of the Aryan nation need not heed our warning.

8. The Thief
Anytime some beautiful girl starts talking to you when there is a “Sexiest Man Alive” celeb sitting nearby (Pitt, Clooney, DiCaprio, Pattinson, maybe Efron), it is too good to be true. It’s not because you’re in Vegas and you must be feeling lucky. Don’t fool yourself. It’s because you’re sitting in the high roller section at Encore and she noticed your new Panerai watch. And you’re blessedly bodyguard-free.

This woman is also thinking that you might have some other goodies in your suite upstairs and wouldn’t it be fun if you brought her up there and ordered some champagne and caviar before she dropped a roofie in your drink and made off with all your expensive possessions? Do your best to shoo her away unless you want to leave Vegas thousands of dollars poorer. Hmm…that will probably happen anyways. So really, it’s up to you.

9. The Sex at Rehab Woman
If you meet a girl at Rehab, the Hard Rock’s raunchy pool party, and she wants to have sex with you, you should first consider this: This girl is pretty crazy to want to have sex with you in public. Still, that’s not so bad. After all it’s Vegas and that’s what a few drinks in 100+ degree weather will do to anyone. What’s worse is that this girl wants to have sex with you at Rehab where several other folks have already had sex in the very same water you’ve been swimming in. Condoms don’t work in water, do they?

10. Elvis Cross-Dressers
That’s just some kinky stuff we are not ready for yet.

Trade Show Tip Thursday: Before you go

Trade shows are usually 2-4 days of non-stop action. Whether you are an attendee or an exhibitor, you need to plan in advance. I’m not talking about mapping your route or lining up appointments but self-care.

When my team blitzes a trade show we meet either the day before or for an early breakfast. We make sure we are all on the same page, have our target booths mapped out but more importantly I pass out their survival kits. We are all equipped with a messenger bag to store our personal effects in and keep our hands free. About a year ago I purchased 5 of these insulated lunch bags from Etsy Seller Urban Harmonie Design. This enables our team members to bring their own lunch. Usually they pack a sandwich, bottle of water and some type of yogurt or fruit. These lunch bags are 8″ wide & 9″ tall, and fit perfectly inside our bags. BTW we also bought our messenger bags from another etsy seller Zoes Bag Boutique Her messenger bags offer ample size to fit an iPad and wide welted straps so its comfortable wearing for several hours.

Some of TeamVegas stop at places like Jason’s Deli so they can get a sandwich, drink & side for about 8.99. Either way, bringing your own lunch solves 2 problems: Saves time as there is no standing in massive lines to either grab some over priced convention center food and you can just pull out your nifty lunch bag wherever you can find an empty seat or bench. Saves Money: unless the food trucks are at the show, the typical lunch averages 12-14 dollars. Bringing lunch is a considerable savings and much healthier choices.

If you are traveling, its worth the effort to find a deli or grocery store either on the way from the airport or in the area around your hotel. We’ve actually had Jason’s Deli deliver to us so we can go to the show prepped, prepared and energized for the afternoon when our fellow attendees are burned out.

A TeamVegas custom Backpack

Trade Show Tip Thursday: 2nd Quarter Strategies

Sometime beginning the end of May beginning of June, upper management starts to evaluate the current budgets looking towards the rush in Sept/October for the following year. Trade show & event planning is always a target because upper management rarely goes to shows or events unless they are held at HQ. In order to not be shocked when you are called in right before the July 4th holiday, gather your sales, marketing and event team together.

Evaluate what you’ve accomplished so far this year and where your budget is currently at, sales wise.

Find your target market then expand from there. If your market is say, flexible farm buildings like portable barns and you’ve been working only agricultural trade shows, think about who else could use them like construction sites, state fairs, and outdoor flea markets. Have your creative team put together a generic piece that you can use at your next trade show.

Make sure you are armed with your plan for the last half of 2012 and 1Q2013 going into the “we need to cut your budget” meeting. Also remind them that this is an election year and business are reluctant to spend money before knowing the outcome.

Make yourself a personal plan of action so that going in you have answers to whatever is thrown at you and you are not blindsided. if they come at you with downward trending sales figures, show where you’ve made cuts in your budget to make up for the short fall and where your team is focusing for the remainder of 2012. Also, once businesses set their budget for the following year, usually Sept-Oct, make sure you have a plan to get them to include you in the budget for the following year. AND don’t count out trying to retrieve some of those extra unspent dollars at the end of the year. Most companies base their budget on what was spent for the previous year so that if they have extra operating cash, they want to spend, make sure they spend it on your product.

Relax. 30 minutes before you meeting take some time for yourself. Breathe. Use the bathroom. Drink some water. Whatever it takes to be on your A game.

At least THIS isn't your budget debate

Be the Rock Star you know you are after all WWGSD (What Would Gene Simmons Do?)

Trade Show Tip Thursday: Baggage Claim

Tagged

If you are attending a trade show or exhibiting at one that is out of town, then you have to pack a bag. Unless of course you are a hipster and wish to wear the same outfit for 3 days in a row, something I’m not recommending for shows in Las Vegas or Phoenix.

If you plan on attending for say 3 days you probably will need a bigger bag than carry on which means your wait at the carousel will be longer than 15 minutes. Make sure your suitcase is in good shape. If you don’t have a handled wheel one yet and using your grandmother’s hand me down Samsonite, invest in a new one. Get one you like and functions well for what you need. if you only travel a couple of times a year for both business and vacation, then you probably don’t need more than one good wheelie one. Make it stand out by getting a cute luggage tag that reflects you. It will make it much easier to identify coming around the carousel. As we are committed to shop local as much as possible, I ordered my tags from The Rabbit Hole on Etsy. Good mix of both masculine & feminine.

Trade Show Tip Thursday: New Feature for Beyond-the-Booth

After and extensive staff meeting last week where the topic was trade show survival after a brutal week of trade shows in 17 different cities covered by 8 people. As I was reviewing the notes and feedback from this very casual discussion I noticed there was lots of good information that would be good to share with anyone who actually exhibits or attends trade shows. So for the sake of the alliteration that I so love, we’ve dubbed this feature Tip Thursday. Stay tuned. Tips start next Thursday right after we survive National Hardware in Chicago.