Vegas Internet Mafia
Started by level42 on Friday, 13th January 2012 9:13 pm
A discussion in a chat room got me wondering...how did everyone discover their favorite Vegas sites (VT, Two Way Hard Three, Five Hundy, etc...)?
In my case, the band Tears for Fears is responsible.
I grew up going to Vegas with my dad...usually staying at The Sands...and started going on my own after I turned 21. Around 2005 I kinda got bored with the town and frustrated by most of my favorite hangouts closing. When they announced the closing of the Stardust, I was done with the town. I quit visiting and quit caring.
Move forward to 2009, I was stricken with a desire to see one of my favorite bands, Tears for Fears. That summer they were only playing west coast dates and I decided to go see them in Vegas at Green Valley Ranch. I booked my flight via my good friends at Delta and a high-floor strip-facing room at Stratosphere. About 2 weeks prior to my trip I decided to do some research and see what had changed in my former second home. After some Google searches, I filtered through the usual static (LasVegasAdvisor and such) and stumbled on Two Way Hard Three. From there I found Vegas Tripping, VegasRex, Five Hundy, and Vegas Gang. In one marathon all-nite computing session, I listened to a Vegas Gang episode, two episodes of Five Hundy, read through half of the posts on Two Way Hard Three, probably 20 pages of VegasRex, and a few months worth of Vegas Tripping posts. Discovering the Vegas Internet Mafia was like finding a group of long-lost friends. I feel like I'm very lucky to have found an entire subculture built around one of my favorite things on the planet.
Chuckmonster, Hunter, Dr. Dave, Five Hundy, 360, Jeff Simpson (R.I.P), Misnomer, Eric, John H, Mike E, BigHoss, Vespajet, Dribbleglass, Mitzula, Steve and Miles, etc...thanks for building a great community!! Viva Las Vegas!
-chall
@dustinofholland
RateVegas responded on Friday, 13th January 2012
Well first, thanks for the kind words.
As for my own experiences, I wish I had better memories of my initial discoveries because these people and their work is all very important to me.
I started the RV ratings site on a whim. I had a burgeoning interest in Las Vegas, loved the idea of building a Web app and found that ratevegas.com was available. That early 2000.
The blog didn't appear until about 2005. My original thought was that if I had a place where I had to write regularly, I'd become a better writer. Whether I've achieved that goal is debatable but I think I can say that I've gained a whole new appreciation for the effort that truly great writing requires.
The name 'Two Way Hard Three' came from a friend. We were playing craps at Harrah's in Vegas ; he'd never played before. He shouted out that bet... and of course, it doesn't exist. The dealers and stick all laughed at him - but in a friendly way, it wasn't mean spirited. He laughed along and the term stuck with me.
The first time I met Chuck in person was at our first Podcast-a-palooza. Of course at that point we'd exchanged countless emails, shared a couple dozen podcasts, we'd both commented on each other's Web sites quite a bit and had a few hot-and-heavy iChat sessions (okay, maybe not that hot and heavy but we were definitely friends). Since then, I've been lucky to cement that and other friendships even more deeply. Those choices I made in 2000 and 2005 have had a profoundly positive impact on my life and I couldn't be more grateful.
I could reminisce forever... there are a lot of stories. Probably for me the over-arching theme and the thing I'll never forget is the discovery of this community. I say discovery instead of creation on purpose - it's all been a common effort across several Web sites, multiple podcasts and a hell of a lot of hard work from everyone involved. It's sorta like uncovering a lost artifact that had always been there (though not at all like the original Luxor commercial from '93 - yikes).
Thank you all.
hail2skins responded on Saturday, 14th January 2012
Back in '98 is when I got Internet connectivity at home and that was around the time of the ramp-up to Bellagio. Discovered the Las Vegas Talk discussion board which was pretty good for a number of years. Also around that time went onto the Mirage stock message board on Yahoo, which was entertaining in its own right (detroit1051, who you'll see around here on occasion, was there).
When Wynn LV was being built I was always searching for construction updates and I happened onto Hunter's site. Hunter did a damn good job of consolidating information around the opening (as he and Chuck have for other opening s, and from his site I discovered this one.
detroit1051 responded on Saturday, 14th January 2012
Hunter, where can I find the Luxor commercial? The only thing I saw on the Google was this one for MGM Grand: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JphYFIlp8t0
Hail2skins, the MIR Yahoo Board was a lot of fun; then we migrated to the AZR Board. I'm still friends with some of the posters like Hclasvegas, Americannleaguer and RFB_ROH. Sadly, Brigam_98 died three years ago. Wonder what happened to lasvegasresearcher? Some fun (and sometimes tense) times. Thanks for the memories.
RateVegas replied on Saturday, 14th January 2012
I can't find the video... basically it implied that the Luxor had 'always been there' and was discovered by archaeologists looking for a good time (and reasonable prices on filet mignon).
BigHoss responded on Saturday, 14th January 2012
For me, I just always pretty much enjoyed making turd jokes for appreciative audiences.
BigHoss responded on Saturday, 14th January 2012
No, seriously, the turd jokes thing is pretty much it.
BigHoss responded on Saturday, 14th January 2012
OK, OK, OK. I love the city. Like many of you, I start planning my next trip before I've finished the current one.
I guess the first site I found was LVA maybe around 2004. I got a little email alert with the Question of the Day. I started following the business end of gaming and casinos and read David McKee pretty regularly. Then, I started noticing Jeff Simpson's writing elsewhere because I was interested in the industry as an investor.
At some point, I started checking in on VT pretty regularly. Then TWHT. Then The Die Is Cast. Then Vegas Gang. Then Five Hundy.
I also was an early and almost exclusive reader of and commenter on Misnomer's now-defunct Vegas Verses blog.
Over the years, it has been great to get to know some of you in person. This is such a smart, interesting community.
Dave702 and I have talked about it on several occasions. If Vegas weren't our common interest, I think we'd all still be friends.
Friends with turd jokes.
donnymac66 responded on Saturday, 14th January 2012
Late night drunken surfing the internets for Vegas info when I found VT (Chuck had just started the boards and was developing the myVegas thingy), What Brian Thinks About Las Vegas, rate Vegas, Five Hundy, Vegas Today and Tomorrow, Vegas Rex and Las Vegas Talk. It was apparent pretty quick that my humour and Vegas style was most closely suited to VT, FHBM, TWHT and VR.
I have enjoyed some beverages in Vegas with a few of the mafia and look forward to meeting more of you in the future
Spyder replied on Wednesday, 18th January 2012
it's all DMac's fault. he took me on my first trip and got me into all the boards, and sites etc. Since then have met a few people and tweet etc with many more.... now I'm hooked... Damn you DonnyMac, damn you...
sandyastrogl1de responded on Saturday, 14th January 2012
I was looking for Vegas Stripping. I left off an "s".
vespajet responded on Sunday, 15th January 2012
After my first trip Las Vegas in April 2004, I became interested in Vegas history and had stumbled across the Las Vegas Casino Death Watch website about the time that Chuck had done his first piece with Nick, the guy behind said site. Started looking around VT and quickly found the place to be to my liking (somewhere a fellow Vegas Freak can let their freak flag fly without upsetting the neighbors) and have stuck around ever since (I'm like part of the furniture around here.).
I haven't got a chance to meet too many of the VIM in person(something I really need to rectify), but those I have hung out with are some of the coolest folks you'll ever meet. The last few years I've ended up meeting up with Donnymac & Spyder (along with some of their crazy friends) once a year and a good time always ensues. Chuck made it out to Vegas one of those times and made the trip even more worth it. We're all passionate about Las Vegas like many participants on the various Vegas-related forums, but we're all pretty much a different breed from them. We're all kind of like the group of folks in high school that hung out in the parking lot smoking and blasting AC/DC......
Chuckmonster responded on Sunday, 15th January 2012
thanks for the lovely post!
viva la mafia!
MFP01 responded on Sunday, 15th January 2012
During the construction boom of the mid 2000’s I was searching for construction pictures and came across VegasTodayandTomorrow.com. Visited that site for a few years due to the fact that the content was never ending, and one day I started randomly looking at the links on the “links” tab. Vegas Tripping changed my life…so reassuring to find other people who are just obsessed with visiting the city and what is going on in the city as I am. Also, Vegas Tripping serves as proof to my wife that I’m not the only Vegas fanatic.
JohnD responded on Wednesday, 18th January 2012
I moved to Las Vegas in 2006. My girlfriend at the time worked at Bellagio, but we rarely, if ever, ventured to the Strip. In December of that year, we stayed in the Spa Tower for her birthday, but for whatever reason I wasn't intrigued by hotels or food or any of that stuff. A few days later her staff holiday party took place at Maggiano's and I happened to notice a building going up next to Wynn (which I'd never been inside of at this point).
Intrigued I went home and did a little searching on the Google and came across Vegas Today And Tomorrow and RateVegas. I enjoyed looking at construction photos, reading analysis of layout and design, and the progression of a resort from inception to reality. Parallel to this CityCenter's foundations were being poured and it was going up pretty quick.
I followed along on both sites until December of 2008 when I finally stayed at WTS to celebrate my girlfriend's birthday and graduation from UNLV. It was amazing. The 'resort experience' happened for us. From the cake the hotel sent up for her birthday, the spa day, breakfast in Tableau - it was a phenomenal stay.
At this point, I was hooked. I followed along on the EncoreOpening site during Encore's opening a few days later. I loved the ramp up to opening, the buzz in town, the traffic snarl - it was nuts.
Through 2009 I started checking VT and RateVegas on a daily basis. I was pretty much ravenous for information on Fountainebleau, CityCenter, Cosmo. In particular I was floored by CityCenter, which probably had something to do with seeing documents on the art and architecture my lady would bring home.
In July of 2009, I was staying at ETS to celebrate my own birthday. I was staying in one of the two-bedroom apartments and they (apparently) take longer for housekeeping to tidy up. Anyway, we had lunch at the Country Club and returned to a room that still wasn't good to go. So, I went downstairs and waited in the lobby and my girlfriend went to The Salon. I sat around and three people (I think) sat across from me in the ETS lobby. One of those three people was MikeE whom I did not know at this point. A few days later he posted on RateVegas about an enormous parade of burkanized women with designer handbags and all in Manolos. It was insane. Mike tells the story better than I do, but I commented that I was there in the lobby when that happened.
Long story short, Mike stalked me on Facebook and he friend requested me. We were supposed to meet next time he came to Vegas. I flaked on going to Podcast-a-palooza that year because I'm a pussy, but eventually I said I'd meet him in December. Mike was staying in a Duplex at Encore and I wanted to see it (who wouldn't) and Aria had just opened.
CityCenter's opening was a big deal for me. I'd seen this thing grow up since the day I arrived in town and now it was open. We met Mike at Encore and we tooled around his room for a while and then I wanted to finally see Aria. Mike and I talked and hung out for a long time that night and we're basically best friends now. The more I became friends with the guy, the more I commented here on VT and RateVegas, the more I felt comfortable meeting others in the mafia.
Somewhere in there I started liking food a lot, too. Sorry for the rambling on and on.
jinx73 responded on Thursday, 19th January 2012
My vegas internet fascination started after my 2nd trip to Vegas, which was 10 years after my first. My first trip, I really didn't care for Vegas. The next trip came when the wife had time off and had a cruise with her cousin and grandparents for 2 weeks, so my brother, a friend, and I decided to go to Vegas. It was 2001, a couple months after 9/11.
We had a better time, the wife and I then decided to go during her work break (spring break 2002) and in preparation for it, I decided to start researching and just browsing sites. I stumbled upon Vegastripping sometime after all I remember is it was about the time Chuck was blogging about about his Google interviews and process. I don't even remember if you could sign up at the time to comment on posts, but I continued following the site and as Chuck expanded content, I tried to contribute thoughts on it more and more.
Back during those early years of Vegas internet, I used to just bookmark sites and since there weren't regular updates on many of them, i'd just revisit them over time and work them into the rotation.