Articles
Las Vegas Meetings by Harrah's Entertainment
Jan. 19-22, 2006, Las Vegas
Judy Colbert
Meetings West, March 2006
Imagine having a choice of six major Las Vegas properties, allowing your group to stay at one hotel, dine at another and meet at a third, with the total bill based on a package cost that factors in individual prices at each venue—with one contact person, one contract and one bill at the end.
That's what Jordan Clark, director of sales, Las Vegas Meetings by Harrah's Entertainment, promises following his company's purchase and merger with Caesars Entertainment.
The 2005 mega deal, which came in at just under $10 billion, brought Caesars Palace, Paris Las Vegas, Rio, Bally's, Harrah's, and Flamingo Las Vegas under one huge umbrella, making Harrah's the world's largest gaming empire.
Together, the six properties offer more than 17,700 guest rooms and suites and more than 800,000 square feet of meeting and exhibit space, from 25,000 square feet at Harrah's to 240,000 square feet at Caesars, and more than 300,000 square feet by combining the adjacent and connected Paris and Bally's properties. Of particular interest is the new Caesars Palace Augustus wing, with 949 guest rooms and suites and the beneficiary of a recent $376 million expansion/renovation that centered on an 80,000-square-foot expansion of its meeting space.
Planners can also book transportation (through Harrah's Passport Travel), speakers, entertainment, and off-site activities, and it's all done with one contract and one contact person at the beginning, and one bill at the end.
Clark notes that Harrah's has combined the two companies' sales and operations departments, so there's no more "the sales department may have told you that, but this is the real story. Everyone is on the same page."
Another benefit of Las Vegas Meetings by Harrah's Entertainment is that planners receive a food and beverage minimum they can leverage across all of the properties by consolidating their business within a single contract to meet a single minimum. Planners also are not obligated to finalize all of their F&B choices at the time of the contract signing, allowing flexibility to mix and match menu choices, specific venues and even locations closer to the time of the event.
The Plan in Action
Harrah's recently brought in more than five dozen meeting planners to experience the various properties, accommodations and what could be done by combining the various meeting venues.
The soiree began with a welcome reception at the historic—at least by Las Vegas standards—Flamingo. The next day started with breakfast and a motivational speech by Dan Clark; a compressed presentation of a new-employee orientation; a welcome message from Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman; entertainment by the Water Coolers; a chocolate tasting from Vosges Haut-Chocolat; a relationship-strategies seminar by Tony Alessandra; and a dinner at the Rio Pavilion with entertainment by the various performers available throughout the Harrah's Entertainment Las Vegas properties.
The third day opened with a breakfast at Paris Las Vegas, and then an afternoon's choice of a kitchen tour, cooking demonstration and lunch by Bradley Ogden (at his famed namesake restaurant in Caesars); a Hummer tour of Lake Mead's north shore; an off-road ATV ride in the Valley of Fire; a backstage tour of Bally's and a mini city tour; horseback riding in the 66,000-acre Red Rock Canyon National Park; a Las Vegas Strip limo rally; and a try at a World Series of Poker tournament.
Saturday evening ended with a '20s themed event for which everyone was outfitted in an appropriate costume, ranging from flapper dresses to pin-stripped "gangster" suits. Photos taken by Open Window Productions in the speakeasy surroundings were posted on the Internet—so much for "What happens here stays here!"—and prints were made available at no cost to attendees.
By working with a number of suppliers, including Destinations by Design (a DMC), Alan Waxler Group (a destination/ transportation/corporate events and meeting management company), Vosges' Chocolates, Rebel Adventure Tours (which operates guided, custom-designed adventure outings), Las Vegas Meetings by Harrah's Entertainment showed the planners how seamless meetings can be under its new program.
Las Vegas Meetings by Harrah's Entertainment
Toll Free: 888.669.3840
Web site: www.lvmeetingsbyharrahs.com