Hello,
I thought I would send out an update with some reminders for you tenured convention goers and some information for new attendees to help guide everyone through the weekend.
Registration. The first thing you want to do is check in and pick up your registration packet. Bring your ID when picking up your packet. You must pick up your packet in person. No one is allowed to pick up a packet for anyone else. Sorry, we've had problems with this in the past.
When you pick up your registration packet, if you pre-purchased upgrades, I strongly recommend you count the number of upgrade tickets to make sure you have everything you ordered. Inside your packet will be copies of your receipts so you can compare the receipt to the number of tickets. Each envelope was counted at least twice, if not three or four times, however, mistakes happen. If there is an issue with the tickets, I can fix that as long as you speak up right away. Once you walk away from the table, if there's an issue, that's too bad. When you walk away from the table with your registration packet, that is your acknowledgement that you received the correct number of tickets you ordered. Corrections will not be made after you walk away from the table.
Inside the packet you will also find the convention program. I have enclosed a copy of the convention program in the email. The attachments are the same. One is in Word, one is a .pdf. It's always a good idea to preview it ahead of time so you are in the know. Don't feel the need to print it. As I mentioned, you will receive a copy in your registration packet. It contains important information about your tickets and what you can and can't do to make sure you are not disqualified. In addition it also contains the list of Pick-A-Prizes I really don't anticipate the list changing, but you never know. Please note, I reserve the right to change, alter, add, edit or delete anything at my discretion.
Make sure you keep track of all your tickets. If they are lost, they can not be replaced. You will notice the main session tickets are bar coded. Winning names are scanned and displayed on the screens. It is not only important to listen for your name, so we know where to bring your prize, but some of you need to look at the name displayed. We have two ladies with the same last name (Reichard), but one registered as Sue and the other as Susan. Not too bad, but we also have two ladies with the same first name and one last name is Stevens and the other is Stephens. Yikes!!! Just make sure you watch the screen if this applies to you. :)
There was a little extra money left over from the banquet guest only meals, so it only seemed fair to have a small drawing for banquet guests. If you have a banquet only guest, inside your packet you will find their banquet table place holder, name card and drawing ticket. There will be a separate drop box for the banquet guest prize. Do not put their entry in the drum with the regular attendee session tickets. You will see a black, blingy raffle box just for them.
Vendor Room. Here you will deposit your upgrade tickets into the appropriate boxes. All the upgrades will be drawn at the banquet, so make sure your tickets are deposited BEFORE Saturday afternoon session. When the vendor room closes at 1, the boxes will be sealed, if you don't have your tickets in there, that's too bad. I can not stress enough that every year someone comes to us with a handful of tickets that they were waiting till the last minute to drop in, but then they forgot and now it's too late. Yes, it's too late, don't come to me with tickets in hand. You should not have waited until the last minute. You can also purchase upgrades in the vendor room. When purchasing online, you could purchase over time. For example, 1 Cash Upgrade today, 3 Cash upgrades tomorrow. This is no longer an option. Any upgrades purchased in the vendor room, can only be done once per upgrade. For example, if you purchased 3 Cash upgrades online, you are able to purchase 7 more in the Vendor Room. When you go to purchase them, you can not purchase 3 Cash Upgrades during one session and 4 more later on. You have one opportunity to purchase up to 7 Cash Upgrades. You can purchase all your Cash Upgrades in one session, then your Post Card stamps in another, and the High Roller in a third, that's okay. But once you are in line for one type of upgrade, get the full amount you plan to get, because you can't buy them again later.
As a reminder, the Post Office will be on site to sell First Class Stamps, Post Card Stamps and Stamped Postal Cards. They will have a table outside the convention hall on Friday when we break for lunch as well as after the session ends. On Saturday, they will sell 1 hour before the morning session, during lunch and 1/2 hour after we begin the afternoon session. They will have cash and credit card sales. Not only can you purchase stamps for the upgrades, but it's also a great opportunity to beef up your own personal supply. They will be bringing assorted commemorative stamps in addition to the standard rolls.
Remember to pre-register for the Tuscany's Players Card if you want. It will greatly speed up the registration process when you go to pick up your card. Anyone can pre-register, you do not have to be a registered attendee. The link will stay open until Thursday, when I will send the final list to the Tuscany. Thank you to those who have already pre-registered. The link is below if you want to take advantage this.
http://www.annualsweepstakesconvention.com/tuscany-players-card-pre-registration.html
Food. The Tuscany has gone out of their way to make sure that not only does everyone get fed, but that we get fed quickly. Here are your options.
Breakfast - If you want to sit down and wake up slowly over hot breakfast, go to Marilyn's Cafe. If you want to grab a muffin on the way into the morning session, the Tuscany will have a food cart set up outside the convention room for grab and go items.
Served 7:30 AM - 11 AM
Breakfast Sandwich $4.50
Danish/Muffin/Donut $3.00
Banana $1.50
Yogurt $3.00
Soft Drink $3.00
Bottled Water $3.00
Juice $3.50
Coffee $3.00
If you want a morning halfcalfcappafrappa whatever, go to Cafe Bottega. If you want a cup of coffee with maybe cream and sugar, go to the food cart.
Lunch - If you want to sit down in a restaurant while you eat, Marilyn's Cafe will have a limit menu for us to get us fed and back to winning prizes.
Grilled Chicken Sandwich $8.99
Cheese Burger $8.49
Chicken Finger $8.99
Ham or Turkey w/ Cheese Hoagie (sorry, they didn't put a price down for this one)
Choice of chips fries or coleslaw included.
Chef Salad $8.29
If you are okay with a grab and go lunch, below are the food cart items.
Served 11 AM - 2 PM
Hotdog $4.00
Burger $5.00
Personal Pizza $7.00
Nachos Supreme $8.00
Chicken Caesar Salad $8.00
Hoagie $6.00
Chips $1.50
Cookie $2.00
Brownie $2.50
Soft Drink $3.00
Bottled Water $3.00
Juice $3.50
Coffee $3.00
Dinner - Nothing special.
The Breakfast/Lunch food cart will start on Friday and if it's popular, they will continue through Saturday.
If the above options aren't what you are looking for, when you walk outside the hotel, the strip is on the left, restaurant row is on the right and the liquor store is straight ahead. :)
A few general suggestions. Leave room in your suitcase. EVERY convention there are always a handful of people who can't fit their souvenirs/prizes in their bags. They either have to pay to ship it back home, leave it in the hotel room or try to offload it during the buy/sell/trade session Sunday Afternoon. Those of us who are driving love you guys, because we can get great stuff dirt cheap because we know you don't have a choice. You have to get rid of it. Is that wrong? Maybe. Yeah, probably. Leave room in your suitcase.
Things happen. Mistakes are made. Issues arise. If there is a problem, calmly and politely let me know about it and I'll do what I can to make it right. Unless it is a problem with the hotel. Then calmly and politely tell the hotel staff so they can make it right.
Use common sense. It's unfortunate, but there is always an issue where something goes missing. Do not leave your purses/upgrade tickets or anything of value unattended on a table for even a minute. It only takes a few seconds for something to go missing and unfortunately this happens at every convention too. Just be careful. Watch your belongings.
There were still well over 200 people left on the wait list when I stopped taking registrations. Not to mention several people who had to cancel last minute. From someone who has been in that position before, I know how eagerly I awaited seeing pictures of everyone and everything that was going on. When you post pictures and updates online, please tag the posts with #StoriesFromVegas so that those who weren't able to attend and even those who are there can easily find the posts.
I look forward to seeing everyone next week.
Travel Safe. See you soon.
Donna
I thought I would send out an update with some reminders for you tenured convention goers and some information for new attendees to help guide everyone through the weekend.
Registration. The first thing you want to do is check in and pick up your registration packet. Bring your ID when picking up your packet. You must pick up your packet in person. No one is allowed to pick up a packet for anyone else. Sorry, we've had problems with this in the past.
When you pick up your registration packet, if you pre-purchased upgrades, I strongly recommend you count the number of upgrade tickets to make sure you have everything you ordered. Inside your packet will be copies of your receipts so you can compare the receipt to the number of tickets. Each envelope was counted at least twice, if not three or four times, however, mistakes happen. If there is an issue with the tickets, I can fix that as long as you speak up right away. Once you walk away from the table, if there's an issue, that's too bad. When you walk away from the table with your registration packet, that is your acknowledgement that you received the correct number of tickets you ordered. Corrections will not be made after you walk away from the table.
Inside the packet you will also find the convention program. I have enclosed a copy of the convention program in the email. The attachments are the same. One is in Word, one is a .pdf. It's always a good idea to preview it ahead of time so you are in the know. Don't feel the need to print it. As I mentioned, you will receive a copy in your registration packet. It contains important information about your tickets and what you can and can't do to make sure you are not disqualified. In addition it also contains the list of Pick-A-Prizes I really don't anticipate the list changing, but you never know. Please note, I reserve the right to change, alter, add, edit or delete anything at my discretion.
Make sure you keep track of all your tickets. If they are lost, they can not be replaced. You will notice the main session tickets are bar coded. Winning names are scanned and displayed on the screens. It is not only important to listen for your name, so we know where to bring your prize, but some of you need to look at the name displayed. We have two ladies with the same last name (Reichard), but one registered as Sue and the other as Susan. Not too bad, but we also have two ladies with the same first name and one last name is Stevens and the other is Stephens. Yikes!!! Just make sure you watch the screen if this applies to you. :)
There was a little extra money left over from the banquet guest only meals, so it only seemed fair to have a small drawing for banquet guests. If you have a banquet only guest, inside your packet you will find their banquet table place holder, name card and drawing ticket. There will be a separate drop box for the banquet guest prize. Do not put their entry in the drum with the regular attendee session tickets. You will see a black, blingy raffle box just for them.
Vendor Room. Here you will deposit your upgrade tickets into the appropriate boxes. All the upgrades will be drawn at the banquet, so make sure your tickets are deposited BEFORE Saturday afternoon session. When the vendor room closes at 1, the boxes will be sealed, if you don't have your tickets in there, that's too bad. I can not stress enough that every year someone comes to us with a handful of tickets that they were waiting till the last minute to drop in, but then they forgot and now it's too late. Yes, it's too late, don't come to me with tickets in hand. You should not have waited until the last minute. You can also purchase upgrades in the vendor room. When purchasing online, you could purchase over time. For example, 1 Cash Upgrade today, 3 Cash upgrades tomorrow. This is no longer an option. Any upgrades purchased in the vendor room, can only be done once per upgrade. For example, if you purchased 3 Cash upgrades online, you are able to purchase 7 more in the Vendor Room. When you go to purchase them, you can not purchase 3 Cash Upgrades during one session and 4 more later on. You have one opportunity to purchase up to 7 Cash Upgrades. You can purchase all your Cash Upgrades in one session, then your Post Card stamps in another, and the High Roller in a third, that's okay. But once you are in line for one type of upgrade, get the full amount you plan to get, because you can't buy them again later.
As a reminder, the Post Office will be on site to sell First Class Stamps, Post Card Stamps and Stamped Postal Cards. They will have a table outside the convention hall on Friday when we break for lunch as well as after the session ends. On Saturday, they will sell 1 hour before the morning session, during lunch and 1/2 hour after we begin the afternoon session. They will have cash and credit card sales. Not only can you purchase stamps for the upgrades, but it's also a great opportunity to beef up your own personal supply. They will be bringing assorted commemorative stamps in addition to the standard rolls.
Remember to pre-register for the Tuscany's Players Card if you want. It will greatly speed up the registration process when you go to pick up your card. Anyone can pre-register, you do not have to be a registered attendee. The link will stay open until Thursday, when I will send the final list to the Tuscany. Thank you to those who have already pre-registered. The link is below if you want to take advantage this.
http://www.annualsweepstakesconvention.com/tuscany-players-card-pre-registration.html
Food. The Tuscany has gone out of their way to make sure that not only does everyone get fed, but that we get fed quickly. Here are your options.
Breakfast - If you want to sit down and wake up slowly over hot breakfast, go to Marilyn's Cafe. If you want to grab a muffin on the way into the morning session, the Tuscany will have a food cart set up outside the convention room for grab and go items.
Served 7:30 AM - 11 AM
Breakfast Sandwich $4.50
Danish/Muffin/Donut $3.00
Banana $1.50
Yogurt $3.00
Soft Drink $3.00
Bottled Water $3.00
Juice $3.50
Coffee $3.00
If you want a morning halfcalfcappafrappa whatever, go to Cafe Bottega. If you want a cup of coffee with maybe cream and sugar, go to the food cart.
Lunch - If you want to sit down in a restaurant while you eat, Marilyn's Cafe will have a limit menu for us to get us fed and back to winning prizes.
Grilled Chicken Sandwich $8.99
Cheese Burger $8.49
Chicken Finger $8.99
Ham or Turkey w/ Cheese Hoagie (sorry, they didn't put a price down for this one)
Choice of chips fries or coleslaw included.
Chef Salad $8.29
If you are okay with a grab and go lunch, below are the food cart items.
Served 11 AM - 2 PM
Hotdog $4.00
Burger $5.00
Personal Pizza $7.00
Nachos Supreme $8.00
Chicken Caesar Salad $8.00
Hoagie $6.00
Chips $1.50
Cookie $2.00
Brownie $2.50
Soft Drink $3.00
Bottled Water $3.00
Juice $3.50
Coffee $3.00
Dinner - Nothing special.
The Breakfast/Lunch food cart will start on Friday and if it's popular, they will continue through Saturday.
If the above options aren't what you are looking for, when you walk outside the hotel, the strip is on the left, restaurant row is on the right and the liquor store is straight ahead. :)
A few general suggestions. Leave room in your suitcase. EVERY convention there are always a handful of people who can't fit their souvenirs/prizes in their bags. They either have to pay to ship it back home, leave it in the hotel room or try to offload it during the buy/sell/trade session Sunday Afternoon. Those of us who are driving love you guys, because we can get great stuff dirt cheap because we know you don't have a choice. You have to get rid of it. Is that wrong? Maybe. Yeah, probably. Leave room in your suitcase.
Things happen. Mistakes are made. Issues arise. If there is a problem, calmly and politely let me know about it and I'll do what I can to make it right. Unless it is a problem with the hotel. Then calmly and politely tell the hotel staff so they can make it right.
Use common sense. It's unfortunate, but there is always an issue where something goes missing. Do not leave your purses/upgrade tickets or anything of value unattended on a table for even a minute. It only takes a few seconds for something to go missing and unfortunately this happens at every convention too. Just be careful. Watch your belongings.
There were still well over 200 people left on the wait list when I stopped taking registrations. Not to mention several people who had to cancel last minute. From someone who has been in that position before, I know how eagerly I awaited seeing pictures of everyone and everything that was going on. When you post pictures and updates online, please tag the posts with #StoriesFromVegas so that those who weren't able to attend and even those who are there can easily find the posts.
I look forward to seeing everyone next week.
Travel Safe. See you soon.
Donna
| final_program.pdf |
