Today started off with Tom and I waking up earlier than the day before, which technically wasn’t all that early if you count in the time-change. But if you consider the fact that I didn’t sleep very well at all, it was an early morning. This was to be the longest conference day, so being alert was pretty much a necessity. However, I had amazing friends and family praying for me as I was there, so I wasn’t all too worried about remembering all that I needed to. I knew God wanted me at this email marketing conference for a reason, so I was determined to give it my all so I can best serve Him when I’m back at GFA.
The walk over to the conference was pretty much the same as the day before, not much else to share there, so I’ll just skip straight to the conference itself. Moved to a bigger room, with way more chairs and tables, due to the vast difference in the amount of people attending, we found some seats towards the back of the table section. I’d also like to mention that I was at about 70% of health, and was just sniffling and coughing a little bit. But I was able to talk without having to constantly clear my throat, so that was a major improvement. Especially when being asked what I do, and where I came from.
After about 2o minutes of the first session, a guy named Marcus sat next to me in the empty seat that previously resided there. He was really nice, and when I shared about Gospel for Asia (which was a very common occurrence, since people were all trying to get to know the other marketers in the conference and what they might be able to gleam from their experiences to use in their marketing tactics.) he commented that he’s glad we’re working over in Asia because “they need the Gospel very much”. I was happy to see that he was totally understanding. After a few sessions, someone else came over to talk to him and mentioned that he knew that Marcus would do great when he taught his session the next day because of when he heard him speaking in church once. So Marcus knew the Truth! I’m not 100% sure he is a believer, but this is the first time I’ve heard mentioned anything about the church since arriving in Las Vegas. Other than from Tom and myself that is…
Now, the conference kept going on, and on… and on. All the while we were consistently being flooded by a water hose of information about emails, value propositions, clarity trumping persuasion, etc. So I was very glad when lunch was announced and we got an hour break to gather up as much energy as we could with food, in preparation for the next 6-7 hours. As we finished getting our food (chicken, salad, and tater tots), there was no more sitting room at the tables. So we stood to eat our food at a standing table with a few other people. Made for some quick eating. But it was great food.
The next sessions were break out sessions, where there were two different sessions going on at the same time, in different rooms. So Tom and I split up so we could get all the information possible, from both sessions. I was praying the whole time, that maaaybe I’d be able to retain the information I heard. The first guy wasn’t all that interesting, and most of the stuff he was talking about didn’t really apply at all to what we do. The second guy that spoke was a very dynamic speaker. He had grown up in the church and used to be a baptist pastor. He owned a music company (hearandplay.com) and I learned a lot about him about making automated emails personalized.
After these sessions, we had a break and I decided to take some pictures of the conference center, the booths of the different Email Service Providers (ESP’s), and such. Lots of booths had free stuff, where I got the bulk of my souvenirs. (my bouncy ball was taken away at airport security.) After break I was able to concentrate a lot better, my head was a lot less fuzzy, and I was beginning to understand all the email lingo being talked about. And to top it all off, it ended way earlier than I thought it would! So Tom and I wandered around Caesar’s Palace looking for this photo exhibit that was being talked about. They were BEAUTIFUL photos! And when Tom asked how much they cost (thinking postcard size) they started at $3000. $3000!! FOR A PICTURE! Crazy…
The pictures were amazing, but there weren’t that many to look at, so we left the exhibit and decided to explore a bit more of the Forum Shops inside Caesar’s Palace. As we went deeper into the “mall” it was beautiful inside. The ceilings were huge domes painted to look like the sky outside. With clouds and such. The architecture was astonishing as well, with intricate fountains, and statues galore. As we walked deeper and deeper into the shops, we were stopped by a delicious aroma in the air. Drastically different than the smokey smell of the casinos, we were met with the smell of chocolate. It was so thick, it was like I stepped into a cloud of edible air. We discovered that it was a restaurant, AND a chocolate store in one. Needless to say, we decided to eat there that night and the food was delicious! I’ve never had chocolate ranch dressing with onion rings before, but boy did it taste delectable.
After dinner, Tom wanted to look in the chocolate shop for something for his wife, so I decided to take a walk around taking photos. I discovered another fountain, and as I was taking pictures of it, I noticed a blue light near it. Trying to get a better view of the light, I saw that it wasn’t a light, it was an aquarium full of fish! So I decided to take pictures of the fish and as I was taking pictures of the fish, I saw out of the corner of my eye a manta ray swimming happily into view. It’s almost like it saw the camera and wanted me to take pictures of it. So I did. Lots of them, as it kept posing nicely for me.
After this, Tom and I walked back to our hotel. It was an interesting sight walking through Vegas at night. With all the lights and smells and sounds. It’s almost overwhelming the sin that covers that part of the city. People handing things out, announcers announcing the next game of strip poker that will take place right inside the door of a bar, the people staggering drunk in the street, the billboards, the drummers on the street trying to earn tips, a guy making crosses and roses out of palm tree leaves.
Now we’re back at our hotel and it’s time to rest and go to bed. And so ends day 3 of Vegas.
