As I wrenched myself out of bed, I met Lauren at the bathroom sink and we locked eyes, knowingly. “This is the face of a defeated publicist,” I said as we simultaneously burst into laughter.
Hey, Las Vegas is a city that can chew you up and spit you out in a matter of 24 hours, and we lasted 3 nights and 4 days! A pat on the back? Don’t mind if I do! It was 9 a.m. on Wednesday and we’d been in Las Vegas for work since Sunday night. Lauren and I had 6 hours left and were exhausted to the core, yet still having so much fun!
Re-wind to Sunday.
As lifestyle and hospitality publicists, much of what we do in the public eye is seen as glamorous. Case in point, heading to Las Vegas for the annual Nightclub & Bar trade show. Nightclub & Bar (NCB) is a convergence of the who’s who of the nation’s nightlife industry leaders showcasing the next big thing in a business infamous for “one-upmanship,” as Lauren has appropriately dubbed it. However, it is important to note that with amazing professional opportunities such as these comes the territory of wearing many, often unexpected, hats, and doing far more than our media relations job description. Sometimes, we’re more like fireman, putting out fires and keeping a hawk eye on hot spots, all the while keeping a cool, calm and collected front.
So, there Lauren and I were in Vegas: the City of Sin, a city known for partying hard and now, for us, the city of wearing many professional hats by day (and into the wee hours of the morning). Here are the highlights of our hat tricks on The Strip:
Client scheduled to fly in to Vegas Monday morning to speak on the NCB Top 100 Panel at 2:15pm as a keynote speaker. Predictably, said flight is delayed. On a wing and a prayer, we made a mad dash to the convention center to get our client checked in, acquire the necessary credentials, check in at speaker headquarters, and review speaking points in case, as a last resort, one of us must pinch-hit and present to the audience of 300 in his place. At 2:00 on the dot, he pulls up in front and we usher him in, as if nothing had ever happened. And he rocked it.
Following a leisurely dinner, at approximately 9:30 pm, a different client announces, “We have a little challenge on our hands,” and explains that the fundamentals of the trade show booth are stuck in customs at the Mexican border and wont make it in time for the show, which starts in 14.5 hours. So, we had to find a way to recreate our client’s entire booth by noon the next day, in a new city, with seemingly no pre-existing contacts. And we did. And it looked awesome. “Better than what we had planned,” according to the client.
Tuesday night found Lauren & I happily bouncing from industry party to industry party with our clients, networking with the NCB crowd. It was a success, having made our marks at the likes of Haze in the new Aria Hotel, the Mandarin Oriental’s bar, XS at the Encore, among others. Official bedtime: 4am. Ouch. Taking one for the JPR team.
Wednesday marked the completion of our Vegas trip, but not before a full day at the convention center- on 4 hours of sleep. Planting smiles on our faces and dolling out words of encouragement, we rallied the troops as we worked the convention floor for the next several hours one last time.
Las Vegas was certainly a successful trip for several of our clients and many obstacles were overcome in the trek to success. However, it was also a great example of just how many hats publicists can wear on any given day and that our job is anything but 9-5.
In fact, I think that one of the defining characteristics of anyone looking to “break into the biz” needs to be flexibility, because trust me, no two days are the same in the life of a PR person. But, at the end of the day, I’m sure none of us would have it any other way.
Happy hat wearing! And, as always, think pink!
