Poll : 11 August - 24 August 2010

Analysis

Thanks to everyone who took part in this poll. As we build out our Member Rewards program and engage with new affiliates, we're investigating what the best methods are to communicate with our members, especially when it comes to special offers and short-term deals, so this survey yielded some invaluable information. Here's some of your specific feedback.

• "To supplement your poll question: I bring my laptop when I’m on the road, whether for business or pleasure. If my hotel doesn’t offer wi-fi, or offers it at an outrageous daily fee, I scout out the nearest Starbucks location where they provide free wi-fi for their customers. In Las Vegas, it means going to a full-service Starbucks, not those faux coffee bars inside the casinos that have a limited menu and inflated prices. I’ll have my breakfast at Starbucks – a venti black coffee and a breakfast sandwich or a fruit and yogurt parfait – and spend an hour or so online checking my e-mail and keeping up on the day’s headlines. It leaves me refreshed, informed, energized, and in touch with what’s going on in the world."
  
• "I keep my cell phone on at all times, but I definitely screen my calls. The ones from home get answered right away, the ones from work go to voicemail. Most of my co-workers and clients know not to call - so if the message is "it can wait" - it waits. If the boss calls and doesn't want to wait - well, what do you think?"
  
• "I carry my cell phone with me at all times mainly to connect with the rest of our traveling party or to locate one or two when we lose them in the casino - which happens quite often."
  
• "War, pestilence, tsunamis, murders, finance frauds, the Queen abdicates? Who cares? When we fly in from London to Vegas the rest of the planet ceases to exist. If you want real and relevant news then just log on to www.lasvegasadvisor.com." [Ed: Thanks! Glad to be of service.]
  
• We bring a netbook (small and light to carry) and use LVA's free WiFi list to find places to connect for free. Generally check email 2-3 times during the week we are in Vegas. We'll check in while sitting at McCarran to pass the time awaiting our flight departure. Also keep our cell phone on during the visit as the only folks who have the numbers wouldn't call unless there was an emergency. Never surf the Internet while in Vegas unless it's to look something up on LVA, no time to be buying things off eBay while we are on vacation :)"
  
• I do bring my laptop, mostly because I’m expected to be available 24/7 for my job. I only check e-mails in the morning when I get up, if action needs to be taken, I do so. My last two trips (Thursday-Sunday) I ended up working half of Friday out of my room. [Ed: Sorry: We know that feeling – the Advisor never sleeps LOL.] What I do not do is read the paper, watch the news, the market, or anything. I do that at home every day. This is vacation and play time.
  
• "I check my email and Facebook once a day. There's nothing quite like sitting in a nice room with a Strip or mountain view, sipping coffee and scrolling through my emails or checking up on the family through Facebook. It's a pleasant way to start the day and when I'm done I feel like I can 'log out' and enjoy the rest of the day." [Ed: There you go!}
  
• "I bring a cell phone and leave it on – period. Who knows when an emergency will arise at home?"
  
• "Other: I (we) have cell phones on but are retired and we don’t get many calls. Don’t feel bad for us. Before retirement I left the phone on and every call I got was first thing in the a.m. (New York time)."
  
• "I have cell phone, nly to txt or call buddies that did not make the trip to tell them how much fun I’m having. No e-mail on the phone. Never have enable that. Stupid. Get a work e-mail, half-loaded or whole-loaded (not only Vegas but at home as well) some evening and I’m dumb enough to reply what I really feel and think. Bad career move!" [Ed: LOL, LOLoaded haha! Yep, been there, done that : )]
  
• I read the Las Vegas Review-Journal every day."
  
• "I always have my cell phone - I use it to try to find my husband when he wanders away. Although to be really honest, he claims he never hears it so I'm not sure why a I actually DO carry mine around with me. (Do you think he really doesn't hear it or is he just ignoring me? LOL!)." [Ed: You already know the answer to that one LOL.]
  
• "I answered that I have a smartphone (no iPhone or Blackberry, just a Sanyo) where I can check emails, etc. Just to go further, I'm a self-employed CPA with no employees, so I must keep my phone on all the time because I feel it's my duty to be available to my clients all the time. (It can be a problem when they call me at 9 am Chicago time and it's 7 am Vegas time and I just went to bed!) They can get a hold of me and I also check my messages at my office. Plus, I check my personal and business email accounts on my phone and can respond if need be. It's never a true vacation, but I feel it's the way it has to be. I come to Vegas 1-3 times a year and [technology] gives me the mental freedom to do so."
  
• "I carry a Las Vegas prepaid cell phone, and my Canadian smartphone. I also check my email every day or two at a Harrah's Diamond Lounge."
  
• "I will have my iPhone and a laptop with me, but NOT for communication outside LV. The phone allows me to call my husband in a casino when I can't find him and the laptop is used for DVD watching during down time and on the plane. I usually ignore incoming phone calls unless it's family....who already know not to call unless it's an emergency."
  
• I don't. The hell with the outside world. Enough people know how to get hold of me in an emergency, so all I worry about is having a good time. I'm on vacation. If I need to break away from all the fun and excitement (if duty calls), I will, but my staff of crack people can usually get along fine without me. Does that mean I'm expendable? No, just means that I have a well-trained staff of conscientious people. I'll get caught up on the news-of-the-world when I get back. Too many people are slaves to technology and just can't break away. Not me!" [Ed: Check out this interesting piece from NPR's "Fresh Air" show this week. Skeptical scientists investigating the effects of non-stop technology and the benefits of vacations.]
• "When I'm in Vegas there is no 'outside world'. I might text my family to let them know I landed OK or that I won something, but other than that, Vegas is all that exists when I'm there."