Usually, when I'm on the receiving end of some "how-to" book about best business practices, it's some buzzword-laden, drearily packaged tome that can't get to the bookshelf fast enough. That will not be the case with Conrad on Casino Marketing, which arrived in today's mail.

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaay back in the days when I was laboring on Casino Executive Magazine (we're talking Clinton Administration here, folks), there was always at least once piece of copy that we looked forward to reading every month. It was "Conrad's Corner," written by industry veteran and Raving Consulting President Dennis Conrad (whose considerable repertory of experience includes teaching table games to newbies under the nautical moniker of "Captain Casino").

One reason that Dennis' column was always read with alacrity and pleasure was that he writes just as he speaks -- excellently, memorably and personably. The same Dennis Conrad you meet in the flesh is the one who materializes on the page. He's unpretentious, self-deprecating and a gold mine of anecdotage. (Knowing Dennis, he'd say it's not anecdotes, just dotage.)

True to form, he accompanies preview copies of Conrad on Casino Marketing with a cover letter that reads, in part, "A lot of work went into this latest effort, particularly in touching up my photos. It's hard to look like an interesting person who might be worth reading." No, not hard at all when you write like Dennis.

And one way to do that is to write not like an industry insider but like a customer. Because, for all his varied experience, Dennis is an executive who thinks and reacts like a consumer or a player. Which is a rare commodity in this industry ... except at Raving, where a braintrust of like-minded veterans has been mustered. The core of Raving's philosophy is the seemingly radical notion (at least in casinos) to apply simple common sense. Or, to use the old Cactus Jack's business model: "Find out what your customers want. Give it to them."

Just from skimming the new book, I'd say most of the pieces -- many of which ran in Casino Journal or Native American Casino -- are in the 600/1,000-word range. Dennis is a skilled communicator, always getting to the point speedily, memorably and with an enviable economy of words. (A skill I have never mastered.) Just read any of his periodic iterations of "I Am Your Customer" and you'll see what I mean.

The current collection (Dennis' second anthology) reflects the 2004-2008 period. If it goes to a second printing, perhaps footnotes or dates of publication could accompany certain chapters, when relevant. For instance, the very first chapter "I'll take Isle" was obviously written during ex-CEO Bernard Goldstein's tenure at Isle of Capri Casinos, before his business plan ran aground and he abandoned ship. This disjuncture, coming right at the start, induces a momentary "time-warp" sensation. (A couple of chapters on Harrah's Entertainment -- whose Total Rewards was voted both the best and worst "Comp Club" program in the recent "Vegas Trippies" -- should spark healthy debate.)

Minor quibbles aside, Conrad on Casino Marketing promises to be a valuable and necessary counterpoint to (LVA's own, I must admit) Casino-ology by Bill Zender, with its rigorously empirical approach. (Don't take my word for about Zender; ask UNLV's David G. Schwartz.)

One might say Zender writes from the perspective of the eye in the sky, Conrad from that of the consumer on the floor. Each complements the other and regular doses of Conradian common sense are not only illuminating for the layman. They're captain's orders for any casino executive who's losing touch with what it's like to be a customer.