Many of the participants in the conference more than 450 of them from 18 countries raved about the event s quality and organization, which is a credit to the UNR program director Bill Eadington, assistant Judy Cornelius and others who make the program a leader in its field. The resulting impact on Nevada, especially northern Nevada, could be significant. In a lighthearted departure from his serious academic nature, Eadington showed a 1998 slide of the modest Jackson, Calif., Rancheria tribal casino in the Sierra foothills, followed by a photo that superimposed the massive Rio hotel-casino in Las Vegas into the location to show what the Jackson casino will look like in 2006. His message got laughs and got its message across that the Indians will pose formidable competition. One California official jokingly suggested to me that it s time for people in Reno to sell their homes.
Time is of the essence.
I won t speak for God, but Las Vegas does hum with an electric feel whether it is Monday or Saturday. And first-timers at the conference last week who I spoke with, even those who are outdoors people unexcited by gambling, found it awesome. But even during what could be considered a thriving time for Las Vegas, when tourism is booming, its leaders are looking years ahead. They realize that they cannot relax because no new mega-resorts are scheduled to open after the Aladdin in August and because California Indian gaming is revving up. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority is unveiling a new marketing campaign in August that is designed to keep the latest momentum going that was generated by the Bellagio, Mandalay Bay, Venetian and Paris openings.