Centennial slogan may do it ‘Our Way’

Sito Negron

Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2003 | 9:12 a.m.

Seeking a slogan that would embody the spirit of Las Vegas as it celebrates 100 years, members of the Centennial Executive Committee turned to a standard, but they'll have to wait until the next meeting to do it their way.

They deferred until Sept. 22 a decision on using "We Did It Our Way!" as the slogan for the Las Vegas Centennial, a mega-production in the works for 2005.

Most committee members liked the slogan, but decided to hold off because they wanted to hear more suggestions, as well as make sure there would be no legal problems from using the take-off of the Paul Anka song that Frank Sinatra made famous.

Other slogans presented to the committee were "100 Years and Still Fabulous," "100 Fabulous Years," "Open All Night for the Last 100 Years" and "Still Fabulous after All These Years."

The committee also chose to postpone a decision on contracting with media giant Clear Channel until Sept. 22. The executive committee will recommend action on the items, which then must be ratified by the Las Vegas Centennial Celebration Committee, a larger body with representatives from across the valley.

The centennial marks 100 years since the 1905 land auction that set the stage for development of Las Vegas and the valley.

The Clear Channel proposal calls for the company to seek national level corporate sponsorship from such advertisers as beer, auto and soft drink companies. In exchange for finding such sponsorship, Clear Channel would take 20 percent of the gross, give 20 percent to the Commission for the Las Vegas Centennial and use the rest to produce events.

In addition to a percentage of the sponsorship revenue, Clear Channel also would receive 25 percent of the gross receipts from merchandise sales as well as fees for such work as production television programming and events.

However, a lawyer for the city who specializes in entertainment is checking the contract, and discussions still remain over merchandising percentages and how to distribute production subcontracts.

"I thought we were an inch away, but we're probably a foot away," event coordinator Stacy Allsbrook said.

Clear Channel owns billboards, television and radio stations and has corporate relationships and production experience with such large events as the Super Bowl halftime show. City officials say its vast reach would help bring money and publicity.

The discussion took place at the meeting of the executive committee, which met just prior to a meeting of the broader Centennial Celebration Committee.

At both meetings members were briefed on how much money has been raised through the license plate renewal/replacement program, which allows drivers to choose a special license plate for a fee that goes to the centennial. As of June the fee sent $209,000 to the centennial .

Allsbrook said it could total as much as $1.8 million by December 2005 if it keeps selling at the current rate.