“This is your captain speaking….”
I’m currently cruising at an altitude of 27,000 feet en route from Toronto to Las Vegas. The sun is pouring through the window to my right and the forced air from the cabin head above is keeping me relatively cool in anticipation of the 102 degree Fahrenheit welcome wagon that awaits in ‘Sin City’. Appropriate little nickname this desert town acquired. It stems from the dubious reputation associated with ‘The Rat Pack’, the mob, bodies buried beyond city limits, gambling, booze and hookers. Nice to know city officials and the local tourism board wanted to recapture that endearing image by recently coining the vice-inducing slogan “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas!” In other words, we won’t tell if you don’t….just come back again and drop more of your cash.
The thing is…I’m not staying in Vegas long enough for anything to really happen…that I might regret or be arrested for that is! Yes, it’s another business tour of duty which has me jetting off to be a live event host. Hosting live events is essential for me to stay sharp, keep my ‘edge’ and stay in touch with real people. Working in a voiceover studio and doing film & television acting can sometimes create a bit of a disconnect with what’s really going on out there (Vegas a true representation of reality? baa haa)
This next live event hosting gig has a quick turnaround. I land at 3pm this aft (Friday) and leave early Sunday morning. It’s also a full dance card between now and then! I am Master of Ceremonies for the gala dinner tonight followed by MC duties again for a full-day seminar tomorrow. (Alright, perhaps a hand or two of Black Jack somewhere along the way 
However, before checking into my hotel in the next couple of hours I have to find a place to buy a dress shirt. That’s right. I remembered everything except one piece of vital attire. I packed my tux, my suit, my laptop and even my manicure kit - which was promptly confiscated at customs (cuticles are always the ones that suffer!) I’m presently wondering what sort of threat those tiny scissors represent as I notice the big, burly man wearing mirrored sunglasses sitting in 16F flip through his latest issue of ‘Guns & Ammo’. I happen to be sitting in 17F. He’s reclining his seat as I speak. Where the heck do I go?! Aircraft full. No parachute.
I have obviously finished my prep work with confidence if I have time to submit this entry on the laptop whilst sifting through the odd cloud.. I’m counting on a hassle-free production though. This is the same client that contracted me to host their live event last April in Panama. That went seamlessly and it was the company’s first event of that nature with attendees flying in from around the world.
There will be approximately 300 people in attendance for this event with a series of guest speakers from all over the U.S. I’ll be on stage acting more or less as traffic cop – introducing speakers with bios, getting speakers on and off stage while keeping things running as smoothly as possible…and on time. I’m looking forward to being back at the podium again. I’ll drop you a line on the flight home and let you know how it went.
Back to the missing shirt dilemma: I could wear my tux once again for the daytime seminar following the previous night’s gala dinner…but that would indicate I only brought the tux to wear…or that something did, in fact, happen in Vegas! I’ll buy a shirt. Lord knows I’ll probably end up just losing it at Black Jack anyway.