Mix08 Vegas – Strip Report Part 1.

So I’m here in Vegas for the Microsoft Mix08 Conference, which starts on Wednesday. The web is on the edge of its next iteration and I wanted to be here to get the vibe. I’ve been working with Silverlight 2.0 for a while now (under NDA) and it’s going to be a good conference – when things get announced.

After almost 11 hours on the plane, I have arrived in Las Vegas. Yes, the flight is long. I watched 3 movies, The Bourne (something or other – 3^rd one), A Ben Stiller film, where he gets married and regrets it and StarDust – an all-star cast film, which seemed to be an excuse to have an all-star cast film. I also managed to spend 2 hours of development on the laptop, before the battery started to fade away. I didn’t have a power lead long enough to stretch from premium-economy all the way back to economy. I met John Allwright (who works for Microsoft), at the airport and we shared a cab to the hotel. Incidentally Vegas airport terminal is about the same size as Coventry terminal, which is interesting because the airfield is, the same size as Coventry itself.

So we arrived at the Venetian, boy is this place over the top. If you listen carefully, beyond the slots and gaming tables you can hear the money draining away from you credit card. “Would you like to pay $45 per night extra – to have a view of the pool?” – “err No!”.  A less subtle example is The ATM machines in the Casino’s. They charge $7.99 for a $20 withdrawal.

John and Andres (who we also met at the airport), couldn’t check In as their rooms were not ready, so they came to drop their stuff off in my room.

When we finally found my room (a problem I have every time I leave it). I pushed the keycard in the door and said “I love it how American’s call these room’s suites, when all they are, are a bed...” With that the door opened and a huge room appeared before me. The room is two-level, with two double beds and a plasma TV on the top level and a seating/office area, with plasma TV and Fax machine, on the lower level. The room has seats for 15 people (why, is that, when the maximum room occupancy is 4?), or 16 including the toilet, but no internet connection [UPDATE: There is wired internet access (fast too) for $9.95 per 24 hours], , so I’ll be off to find the free wireless in the lobby later.

The bathroom is huge, the bath is as deep as the Suez Canal, and the taps can fill the bath in about a minute, or the bathroom in 75 seconds.

We then hit the strip for a couple of hours, had a few beers, and a ‘half yard – Margarita’ – which makes finding the room a LOT harder. We visited the Bellagio, and Cesears Palace (all of which look the same inside), and gave our critique review on many of the specialist boutiques “Gems and Ruby’s of Africa” – don’t think that will be replacing the local cost-cutter in Nuneaton.

I find it interesting how all the escalators into the Casinos are working, but all the ones going out of the Casino are ‘being maintained’.

The gaming tables have minimum and maximum limits, typically $35 to $5000. So I won’t be visiting them then, not because I’m a high roller, but because $35 is a lot for the spin of the wheel or turn of two cards, and besides that’s the same cost as two lap-dances (so I’m told). It says the typical payout on the slots is 92% - well I put $6 in machine and didn’t get a dime – I asked the woman, walking past, where my $5.52 was – but she didn’t seem to understand!

Tomorrow is time to explore...

Should i put my money on Red or Black?