Industry consolidation approved during historic summit

Last week, a meeting was held by Las Vegas’ most influential internet entities, and the result is a merger of all formats into one umbrella user-friendly organization. Known as the “Society for the Vegas Obsessed That Enjoy Experiencing Las Vegas Using Various Vegas Internet Sites, Blogs, and Podcasts to Enhance That Enjoyment” (SVOTEELVUVVISBPETE for short).

SVOTEELVUVVISBPETE’s aim is simple: One stop shopping for all Las Vegas-related content. Las Vegas podcaster Adam Bauer has been named Founding Chief Operating Officer and will soon assemble a staff that will direct editorial policy for the content generators.

Prior to the summit (individually and through small group meetings), it was realized that MGM Resorts is on to something with the Profit Growth Plan. The more it was discussed, the more it became obvious that revenues could be driven and increased for all if industry consolidation occurred.

From the early days of the interwebs, Las Vegas was an E-place of interest. Early newsgroups discussed the rise of the Stratosphere and the fall of the Dunes. Videos were shared of the Bellagio’s fountain show, and users sent Yahoo messages to each other when the Stardust announced its closing.

Websites like Vegas Today and Tomorrow, Cheapo Vegas and Las Vegas Casino Death Watch started and offered updates on new projects, reviews of existing properties and concerns about struggling properties. As the internet became more ubiquitous, more websites came and went, like Two Way Hard Three and Vegas Chatter. Many others like the Las Vegas Advisor, Vital Vegas, and our own Vegas Bright still survive today with between 14 and one zillion sets of eyeballs checking in each month for daily news and feature articles.

Message boards, too, grew from the web. The gold standard appears to be the Vegas Message Board. However, LasVegas4ever has a popular board as well. Trip Advisor and Yelp are also used for not only discussions, but to leave a comment about a property or a meal.

Before long, Tim Dressen started the Five Hundy by Midnight podcast, and others followed like Steve Friess’s Strip Podcast and Mike and Dr. Mark’s You Can Bet on That. Podcasting has gotten so easy that anyone can do it.  Those in the community have also written books on Las Vegas, like Dr. Dave Schwartz’s Roll the Bones, Grandissimo, and others.

But with all of the above, fragmentation continued as an ongoing concern. There was no cohesive group. For better or worse, there were cliques in some circles, and others couldn’t get any traction. Everyone that has been to Las Vegas appears to want to get into the action, and it’s become hard to digest all the content without feeling that you might be missing something good because you spent time on something that just doesn’t hit you right. Meanwhile, each website owner and podcaster struggled to generate revenue.

SVOTEELVUVVISBPETE appears to be the solution to the problem. COO Bauer said “The solidarity of our members and the unity of our message is key for the future of Las Vegas on the internet.  ‘One Voice. One Vision’ is not just our mission statement.  It is what needs to occur for the revenue generation of our members”.

With a cohesive message, concern about Battista’s Hole in the Wall being wonderful or horrible will be alleviated. Users of the new group’s content will not have to wonder if Guy Fieri’s El Burro Borracho will be better or worse than his Vegas Kitchen and Bar. Hopefully, the biggest controversy of the current Las Vegas era will be settled, too, as Bauer’s staff deliver their white paper on the topic of whether Britney Spears lip-syncing parts of her show are acceptable for vocal consistency while dancing or if it is a true sign of the apocalypse.

Another development is that SVOTEELVUVVISBPETE will not charge any user fees during the consolidation phase. Bauer hopes the duration of that phase is brief, as the users are demanding fees to download the podcasts or read the articles and he is anxious to give the user what she or he wants.  “The formerly independent Vegas web and podcast personalities were very focused on the consumer of their product,” said Bauer, “and SVOTEELVUVVISBPETE wants nothing more to continue that honorable focus.  If our consumers demand user fees, well, I’ve got to institute them for the good of not only the users, but the members as well”.

I can only speak for myself, however, as I welcome the industry overlords, and I am honored to be one of their minions.

Editor’s note: This article was posted on April 1st, we’re just…making it a point to specify that.

Michael James

Michael James is a true Vegas Nerd. First falling in love after hearing details of an aunt’s visit in the ’70s, and nurtured when the gambling bug hit as casinos started opening on every street corner across the country in the ’90s. When not reading Vegas blogs and message boards, he’s a metals buyer by day and a competitive bowler by night in Milwaukee.