Discussion: 18 comments so far...

1. By DrBotkin

   12/25/08 at 8:49 a.m.

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   Excess always leads to disaster. Just look around. Economic excess=deep recession or worse. Spending excess (public and private)=public and private calamity. What happens in the other 48 doesn't doesn't stop at the borders of the state that puts up with the inept and heretical Harry Reid.

2. By neiman1

   12/25/08 at 9:40 a.m.

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   harry Reid takes orders from Pelosi and they are in a religious frenzy in the way the destroy the energy infrastructure of this country. It's no coincidence the economy fell apart as gasoline hit $5.00 a gallon and can't recover from the tailspin it caused. Merry Christmas harry, your the real Grinch that stole from everyone.

3. By BorisR

   12/25/08 at 11:04 a.m.

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   My money says that the downtown casinos stand a good chance to take advantage of that turmoil...if they take the chance and offer super cheap rooms and such. As people love Vegas like before, it's only a matter of having less money available. Therefore, expenses need to be cut. And that's when cheap hotel rooms and affordable food comes in consideration. Greetings from Switzerland.

4. By Johnathan_Abbinett

   12/25/08 at 11:34 a.m.

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   "neiman 1" you're showing your stupidity again!

   Harry Reid is the U. S. Senate Majority Leader - and he takes orders from no one!

   Nancy Pelosi, as the Speaker of the U. S. House simply passes on the best ideas that 435 Congressmen and Congresswomen come up with - and it's the U. S. Senate that has the greatest power in the Legislative Branch of our Government!

   Basic Civics!

   Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas and have a Kickin' Kwanzaa to ALL!

5. By johnevegas

   12/25/08 at 12:35 p.m.

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   Johnathan, neiman likes to speak about the civics he learns from Rush Limbaugh and the like. And it wont matter if you correct him, he'll just keep doing it as if you never said a word, or as if you were spouting an obvious lie.

   Merry Christmas to my Christian friends.

6. By Gregory

   12/25/08 at 1:15 p.m.

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   PART FIVE

   Make no mistake, most industry leaders knew the bubble would burst, and certainly that the market for new construction for billion dollar casinos and condo towers was maturing, even already overbuilt for condo units. But, they proved that given the opportunity to do the wrong thing to cash in, they will. Like Texas, I have seen greed twice in my lifetime on a grand scale, with a "few" making big bank while "many" suffer later with loss of jobs, homes and moving children to new schools and neighborhoods.

   Now, there is no Wall Street with friends to bail them out, no white knight. Labor suffers. Leaders have no where to turn but back to the people they turned their back on for eight years, the employees. They have to learn to be operators, to grind out all the little victories day to day, not just do big deals. Executives and even owners come and go, but long term employees are the MAGIC of the Strip Corridor.

   Maybe some Officers will come out of the ivory towers and learn the core business, beyond reading emails and glued to quarterly financial statements. Vegas is a handshake business, it's much more than bean counting.

   So, what have we learned? Texas learned in the 1980s that Texas business investment and decision making are best left to Texans, not people from other markets. Las Vegas should take this lesson to heart too. Second, Southern Nevada needs "some" economic diversity, beyond the condo industry. Third, the hospitality business is a fluid, ever changing business model that is best served by those who have worked their way up through the ranks, who have a feel for the casino floor, the main cage, the back of a restaurant on a busy night, hotel operations and sales. Las Vegas is not a place where people just come in and look around and choose "this and that" without respecting and appreciating all employees, company and labor culture, and the unique and wonderful place that is Las Vegas.

   This is my Christmas Day message to Senior Officers and Executives in Las Vegas. There is more substance in this message than the diploma on your wall. I have two of those too. In the hospitality industry, they don't mean as much as a warm hand, good smile, and a comfortable pair of shoes to beat the carpets. That's why Obama won, by the way, not Harvard Law, but the South Chicago shoe leather. He is engaged with people.

   Vegas will come back. It's not going anywhere Hopefully, today's lessons will mature industry leadership in some corporations and take those companies to higher places.

7. By Gregory

   12/25/08 at 1:21 p.m.

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   PART FOUR

   Many of these corporate executives making these decisions either did not grow up in Vegas, or did not reside in Vegas, or were pretty new to the industry and the community. Most had never served a drink from a tray, or dealt a card. Some, not all, probably started life on third base. They thought and operated "top down", and did not listen to their employees, who desire a job culture where top management is there to listen and support them in providing the best hospitality experiences in the world.

   Most dire, customer service declined, no fault of the professionalism of long time Strip Corridor workers who held their heads up and did the best they could, while new Supervision followed them around conducting time and motion studies to see about further cutting. Note to Senior Executives and Officers: "IT'S THE EMPLOYEE WHO KEEPS THE CUSTOMER COMING BACK".

8. By Gregory

   12/25/08 at 1:30 p.m.

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   PART THREE

   Vegas is different because there is one industry in Southern NV that feeds all others, gaming and hospitality.

   There has obviously been little federal lending oversight under the Bush Administration during a period of very cheap costs of capital. What is very sad, and unforgiving, is during a sustained period of record revenues and profits in Las Vegas during this growth period, some corporate executives chose to short staff departments, cut benefits, or raise their costs, or contracted out services and jobs year to year, while manufacuturing profits to meet very lucrative stock options and bonuses. Healthcare plans and worker's comp issues were strategically managed as an expense, not a good employee in need of help.

   The goal of some gaming companies became getting bigger and bigger, even overseas, to build more properties so they could create, I guess, more short staffed departments that hired mostly young people with online applications. Young people are easy to manage too, when you are looking for someone to show up and look good. Experienced talent and people loyalties in Vegas became diluted with each new resort opening. But, that's all ok because bigger companies with mroe properties are a justification for more corporate level compensation packages and perks.

9. By Gregory

   12/25/08 at 1:37 p.m.

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   PART TWO

   Las Vegas, in another kind of way, is going through something similar, in some ways, to Texas from 1986 to late 1988. Investors rammed massive amounts of money into S and L loans in a booming Texas economy made possible by Reagan's ACRS tax package, very high oil prices, and energy credits. Texas was hotter than Vegas has been recently, and lenders back then would even pay large sums of cash to complete strangers who walked into their lobby knowing about an available piece of commercial land to develop in the big cities. Then, within six months in 1986, it all died. The bottom fell out of oil as Aramco acted, passive loss was dropped by Congress, and MACRS tax changes were put in place. Texas commercial real estate values fell, on average, 40 percent fo all property types across the board. Some lenders had been lending at 90-100 percent LTV ratios, expecting property appreciation and flip sales to go on forever.

   For about three years after the boom, there was a bust where few had cash, only paper that would grow in appreciation when things recovered. It was tough all over, nobody had liquidity to pay bills. Sound familiar?

10. By Gregory

    12/25/08 at 1:49 p.m.

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    PART ONE

    Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all Las Vegas gaming and resort officers and executives. I am taking the time from my Christmas Day to write this blog for you, in five parts, reverse order because I thought, wrongly, that they would post first-last, in that order.

    Many of your former employees are out of work this season, some going through foreclosure, others preparing their children for new places to live and new schools as they have "moved down" out of necessity, even those with jobs.

    The past 17-18 years have been periods of phenomenal growth in Southern Nevada, growth incurred because the Valley has cheap land located next to a huge population base in Southern California looking for something just like that. Many have propered. A few have gotten pretty darn rich, and there is nothing wrong with seeing and grasping opportunities in this country.

    But, ownership and steering of a large company is a position of trust, a trustee position. You will have your time, and others will follow in the future, as those who came before. Your mark, your legacy, will be how you are remembered on the streets of Las Vegas, not Wall Street, not LA, or Miami or NYC. Value and treasure your employees, because many are the few, and few are the many. Some will walk in your shoes some day, most will not. But, they are all people, with feelings and needs desiring a meaningful life. Please look at your stewardship with the wisdom of Benny Binion, who had more horse sense than a mule. Please read my postings, embrace your employees in 2009 and beyond, and have a good holiday weekend.

    Thank You.

11. By thecomingdepression

    12/25/08 at 2:19 p.m.

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    Read this blog you will see that 2009 will be the worst year since 1929 and possibly WORSE. Riots, starvation,bank collapses, mall collapses, retail closures, restaurants closing. Las Vegas will be a GHOST TOWN!
    http://www.thecomingdepression.blogspot....

12. By jfnance32

    12/25/08 at 3:31 p.m.

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    Somebody is being very cheerful........

13. By mikeg

    12/25/08 at 5:58 p.m.

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    Oh it will all be fine, when worry warts begin to cry, I just smile and say "Let them eat cake!"

14. By doogie

    12/25/08 at 8:43 p.m.

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    Gregory, go back to Texas. I was forced to work there in the '80's, and met numerous know-it-all dopes like you. The only reason Texas exists is that the people are too stupid to realize that drilling causes dreadful pollution, both on land and in the ocean. Ever hear of sea fleas?

15. By Babyboomer

    12/26/08 at 7:22 a.m.

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    Las Vegas thought it would "never" happen to them....well it has.They couldn't be that naive.This is a wakeup call...even for Las Vegas. I hope they learn from it and take every action necessary to put the safe guards back in place. Never say never...that doesn't exist anymore.

16. By Roseanne

    12/26/08 at 3 p.m.

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    Notorious union buster Brent Yessin arrested.
    google it.............

17. By Gregory

    12/26/08 at 5:44 p.m.

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    Reply:

    Dear Doogie:

    I appreciate your reply because of it's passion, which is good.

    Texas is more than happy to find, drill and produce energy for all Americans on Texas land. Texans understand that areas such as Florida coastal waters and California beaches are more eco-sensitive places that are also more beautiful than Texas, frankly speaking, and pristine and should be preserved.

    I have relatives who work for Exxon Mobil and Halliburton, and my father used to do a lot of work for Mobil Oil. They are good people doing a tough job, competing in a competitive, international economy for declining resources against other large foreign companies, some of which are nationalized and do not have to answer to shareholders on profit. That's why Exxon Mobil is set up to go out of business, in about 20 years. It's an everchanging world we live in. Whether change comes fast or slow, there should be a reasonable degree of fairness to people and labor.

    Best to you.

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