While vacationing in Vegas, I thought a bit about conferences and conventions. Do we really need to attend them anymore?

The answer lies in one’s reason for attending the conference. If you go for the face to face networking, hands-on interaction with the vendors, client meetings, or breakout sessions, then you should probably still go.

However, if you go to find out the latest releases of products, company news, to watch keynotes, etc, then maybe you do not need to go. As most major conferences, there is at least one or two bloggers in attendance and they will post multiple times daily about the happenings and news. Some of the conferences are also making keynotes viewable in real time from the web as well as posting the slides and video from key breakout sessions.

While writing this article, I’m flipping back and forth between my Omea offline newsreader and SharpMT (used to write my posts). Inside Omea, I’ve subscribed to Microsoft Watch. There is a person at the conference blogging about the Microsoft MIX ‘06 conference. If you visit the Mix 06 site, you’ll see some files and conference notes. Even though I was in Vegas, I did not need to go to the conference.

For the best coverage of any event I’ve seen, check out the Engadget coverage of the 2005 Consumer Electronics Show. They built a whole web site around the conference and posted many times a day about announcements, new products, and rumors. I think their coverage was good enough for most people who attended the conference.

Before you book your next flight, search the web to find out if anyone will be blogging about it while there. Maybe you do not need to go.

Achieving World Class Performance
This isn’t really news, but I feel compelled to post it since some of the readers of this blog are managers of people. The post “Why is Innovation Such a Hot Topic? Two Sides of a Coin” by Irving Wladawsky-Berger mentions his attendance at IBM’s annual partner conference. IBM hosted Bert Rutan (of SpaceShipOne fame). Irving’s post mentioned Rutan’s comments:

He made two points about innovation that particularly resonated with me. The first is that if you want teams of people to perform at an extraordinary level, you need to challenge them with problems that really inspire them. People love to work on and solve problems that seem impossible to everyone else, and if you can tap into that emotional energy, you have a really charged-up, motivated team. But his second point was that people will rarely perform at such levels when they are relaxed and happy. In order to reach inside yourself and find that something extra needed for true innovation, you have to feel the stress that comes when you know that it is absolutely crucial to come up with a solution to the problem.

This felt so true to me, because I am convinced that the combination of “seemingly unlimited possibilities” and “necessity as the mother of innovation” is responsible for the current interest in — and importance of — innovation.

I completely agree with Rutan and Irving’s thoughts. What about you?

My wife and I are in Las Vegas right now and have learned a few things about an industry leader trying to fit into a niche market.

We’re staying at the Westin — we love Starwood hotels — since we like the experience and wanted to try a place off the strip. I confess that I didn’t do a lot of research until a few days prior to the trip. A few web sites later and I learned that the a few people complained that their rooms were not made up until late in the day. No biggie…

I’ve been to Vegas 4-5 times now. Each time, I stayed at a “Vegas hotel” like the MGM, Rio, etc… These hotels are the pinnacle of cleanliness and order. No dust, no trash, everything is neat. The Las Vegas Westin is not like these hotels. Now, that’s not to say its bad — far from it. But, its not going to be a major property in Vegas.

We’ve found that the hotel has a few problems with plumbing, cleanliness, and staff friendliness, professionalism, and attentiveness. So, instead of a 4 or 5 star hotel like most Westins, this is a 3.

When Starwood planned to enter Vegas, did it choose not to be a major player on purpose? I imagine that it did. They chose to renovate an old hotel and create a Westin with a spa.

The Hilton and the Ritz-Carlton both have resorts in Vegas. Starwood, as a chain, has resort properties, too. What would cause them to choose not to enter Vegas? I do not know.

The business issue must have been studied by some astute planners at Starwood. They must have considered many factors when they decided to enter the city. The only thing I wish they would have done was choose to enter it with the style as their other properties.

When business people choose to enter an established market (like the Westin did in Vegas hotel/casino/resort world capital), they must consider the implications of profit and loss in spreadsheets. I encourage them to also think of the profit and loss of their brand. My wife and I expected more and we’ll not stay here again. It’s not worth the investment of our time and money. The Westin has a dent in its reputation.

Maybe we’ll go to another one in another city to make it up!