Internext Checklist - What You Need For Vegas

With less than 10 days to go until many adult webmasters are going to be leaving for the Vegas Internext Expo and Gay Webmaster Bash events in Vegas i figured it would be a good idea to post a quick reminder for everyone to make sure that they have everything they need for the show.

With that said here is the checklist of items you SHOULD bring with you to the show.

Clothing

Ideally you will need to ensure you have a three changes of clothes as an absolute minimum. These should include pants, sweaters (Vegas gets cold at night), t-shirts, a formal shirt or blouse (with collar) and footwear. With the footwear make sure you bring comfortable shoes to wear, either sneakers or sandals as you will be doing a LOT of walking around the hotel itself and also the showroom floor. In any case, make sure your clothing is of a casual but not 'scruffy' nature. Make a good impression on the people you are going to meet :thumbsup:

Business Cards

If you are looking to get some business done at the show and to make new contacts make sure you bring a supply of business cards. They dont have to be anything special so long as they contain your sites name, url, your email address and any other contact information you want to put on it. It is also a good idea to have a space on the cards if you are still waiting to have them printed so that people can jot notes down on the back of them.

Pen + Paper

Make sure you bring a couple of pens and some notepaper with you. There will inevitably be some pens handed out at the show by AVN during the seminar topics but also most likely by some of the sponsors at their booths. You wouldnt beleive the amount of people who always seem not to have pens or paper with them at the shows even though they need to write stuff down at almost every show. Save yourself the embarrasement of not having to ask that potential business client for a pen and keep one with you at all times.

Cigarettes + Lighters

Specifically for the smokers amongst us, the prices of smokes at the hotel and surrounding stores are extortionate in Vegas if you know you will want to smoke make sure you bring at least 5 packs or more, especially if you are going to be hanging around with other smokers as you will get asked for smokes by other people and the chances are if you have a single lighter, you will lose / have it stolen it within 30 minutes so bring extras.

Water + Snacks

This is only a suggestion but if you plan on spending your time hydrated bring a bottle or two of water with you. Again as with the prices of smokes, the water costs at the hotel are extortionate.. be prepared to spend upwards of $5 for a half liter bottle of water at the hotel / showroom floor.

Showroom Floor Map

Make sure you spend a couple of minutes to visit the Internext Expo website and print out a hardcopy of the showroom floorplan. Once you have printed this out be sure to make a note of the companies you wish to visit during the show as well as their booth number (mark this clearly on the showroom floor map).

Itinerary

If you have arranged to meet certain individuals / companies at the convention make sure you dont forget to pack your itinerary. Keeping potential clients waiting because you have forgotten you were supposed to be somewhere isnt good, trust me on this one ;)

Also be sure you know the times of any of the events you plan on attending, for example, the 3 suites for the Gay Webmaster Bash events.

Watch

If you dont usually wear a watch make sure you have one for the show. Often you will only hear about certain meetings / events at the last minute and, where you dont hear of these at the last minute you will be told a certain time to be somewhere, You will be extremely lucky to see a clock anywhere in Vegas.

Photo Identification

You will need this to collect your show pass from the registration booth. I have seen people having to pay for another pass because they never had any I.D with them when they went to collect their show passes and, the prices of the tickets are higher at the show than if you had ordered them online. In addition, many of the parties being held in Vegas will require you to be able to prove your age, and i know for a fact that the after hour suites as part of the Gay Webmaster Bash events will require you to prove your age before being admitted - 18 is the magic number here unless you want to drink in which case it is 21, hotel security will be checking id at the GWB events as per our request ;)

Travel Itinerary

Make sure you have 2 copies of your itinerary so far as travel and hotel reservations go. Keep one ALWAYS in your hand luggage and one ALWAYS in your suitcase.

Advil

Better safe than sorry :) If you arent used to Vegas and / or excessive late nights and drinking then make sure you have a couple of Advils available. If not for you then for a friend. Also make sure you have some anti-bacterial hand sanitizer or wipes.. Vegas is full of scummy people, especially at Internext, you dont know what, who or more importantly, where other people have been touching.

Camera

You might want to take some pictures of the show. A lot of people bring cameras with them for this purpose.

Laptop

If you are going to bring a laptop with you make sure you bring a telephone wire with it. Also make sure that if you are out of your hotel room the laptop is NEVER left unattended or in plain sight. Put it away in a drawer or under a pillow on your bed.

Gum And / Or Mints

Avoid the feeling of camels mouth after a night of indulgence ;)

Thats pretty much it however i am sure there will be things that you will all need on an individual basis. If there is only 1 thing you can do to make sure you are prepared for the show ensure you write a list of the items that you will need to take with you. Keep this list on the top of your suitcase right up until your bags go in the trunk of your transport. Everytime you put something in to the suitcase / handluggage mark it off / on the list. Before you close your baggage check the list one final time.

Finally, sometime in the next week or so we will post our cell phone numbers so that if you need to contact any of us during the show you will be able to. If all else fails you will at least know there will be three of us you can call on incase you need any help with finding your way around the hotel or of course, if you just want to get drunk at the bar with us :thumbsup:

Hopefully everyone attending the show is going to have a great time and i know that both Gary, Chris and I are looking forward to meeting those GWW'ers that we havent yet had the pleasure of meeting :thumbsup:

See you all in Vegas :)

Regards,

Lee

Feel free to swing by the CorbinFisher.com booth #326 on the showroom floor. We'll have free refreshments. Save yourself some money on those crazy bottled water costs. ;)

And don't bring lighters with ya unless you want to lose them at the airport security checkpoint, Mr. ShoeBomber!!!

Bring a book of safety matches with you for your flight (so you can smoke your cigs in transit from home to airport and airport to hotel) and then snag yourself an overpriced Bic lighter once you're at your hotel. And then guard that lighter with your life. Or hope some sponsor's giving away free ones at the show/parties!

Just a hint, if you're planning to leave the Strip, make sure you have a cell phone with you and the phone number of a couple of cab companies. Last year on the first day, I got stranded at a Walmart that was only a five-minute drive from the Strip. With three conferences happening on the Strip, cab drivers didn't want to leave it to go to a Walmart. And in Vegas, they'll drive right by you if you try hailing a cab on the street.

Cheers
Michael

I think there will be a couple booths at the show giving away lighters, and as they are no longer allowed on US flights [but sharp pointed objects under 4" ARE allowed ] you may have any in your carry-on OR checked luggage confiscated.

Advil and/and or motrin are a necessity--but don't bring tylenol. The ingredient in tylenol can really fuck with your liver if you are dehydrated, so stick with the other pain relievers.

Sunglasses are a good idea too. Its unlikely we will have snow two years in a row--the weather here in Phoenix has been fabulous the past 2 weeks with no end to the warm sunny days in sight. Be prepared for bright sunshine!

All good ideas posted here. One thing also to make sure you don't leave behind--
COMMON SENSE.
It can be a long hard 4 days and the lure of complimentary booze and drugs and easy sex can really push a body to the limit.
I stick with caffeine and cigarettes~

Chad and I have a date at the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf in the Venetian Canal Shops. We're gonna get blitzed on chai and nicotine. All others welcome! BYOCBFBRPC (bring your own coffee bean frequent buyers rewards punch card)

I can't remember .. was it hot on the show floor? I got that oldladyitis thing where the slightest breeze from the ventilation calls for a sweater.

:penny:
Thanks Lee for the reminder about printing out the floor map, it allows me to make notes before I get there. Won't mean I won't wander around lost, but it may help me find the Java.

Also another little-known tip for those who are either budget conscious or don't like getting ripped off... all the Vegas hotel "business centers" charge an exhorbitant rate for the privilege of moving a box addressed to you from the UPS handcart to their floor.

In our case, they wanted $25 PER BOX to receive a 40 pound box... $15 more than it cost to ship it from San Francisco to Vegas!! So, instead, we're shipping to the Mailboxes Plus down the street, which charges 3 bucks a box.

I totally hate the way they gouge you, but when I complained to the "customer relations" office, their only response was "Well, everyone else does it..."

I pointed out that the Motel 6 down the street charges $250 less per room, $2 less per local phonecall (calls are free) free receiving of boxes... and yet still makes a profit on $50 a night. This, of course, didn't go over very well. Oh well.