Since I am heading to Vegas in about 2 hours and the fact my brother is insinuating lack of content from his glass house I figured I would quickly post on my my favorite observations in Vegas.  Yes, I admit it, I like watching the prostitutes try and pick up their customers in the City That Never Sleeps.  Purely from a marketing perspective, mind you, because I do not get to see that much in my rather small town.  About 6 or 7 years ago was my first true observation of this.  I was waiting for the Luxor inclinator about 2:30 in the morning and I was literally surrounded by very well dressed and jeweled women in very suggestive clothing just milling around.  At that time, they had a security guard sitting at a small desk next to the inclinator and you had to show your room key before he would let you get on it.  Strangely enough, none of these women would make eye contact with him, but just kept pacing around.  Finally, the inclinator arrives and out pops a couple of guys.  The first one says his name and a girl came over and they left the area.  The other guy also says his name and two blondes made their way over and then proceeded to step back into the inclinator that I had just entered.  I hit a floor number below their destination and made the socially expected move of backing into the farthest possible corner.  For the duration of my ride I was subjected to what each of the women were going to do in the whirlpool along with their champagne, strawberries and chocolate.  I chuckled as I was exiting to my floor and was actually intrigued on how much that little event was going to cost him – and no, there is no way I was going to pursue that answer.

A few years later in Vegas, I got a call from a buddy of mine that went out there with us.  Again, about 2 am, he calls my cell to inform me he was just propositioned by a prostitute and thought it was pretty funny.  This is the first time someone I new well was asked for this type of employment in Vegas.  Of course, still thinking about my unanswered question I asked him if he inquired as to the cost – FOR RESEARCH ONLY.  He didn’t ask and actually before I got done asking the question I was hoping he didn’t because I think that would represent a transaction which could have been a whole lot more fun to blog on.

Then came last time I was in Vegas about 3 or so months back.  Sure enough, around 2 am (something tells me I should start watching where I go at those hours) My nephew-in-law and I were heading out of Hooters (how appropriate) and all of sudden a lady at the bar reaches out into our path and asks us how we were doing that night.  From an observation perspective, I am guessing significant less bills would be required to complete any type of transaction as opposed to the shelf quality of the previous Luxor setting.  For the record, this may have just been a very friendly lady who likes to reach out and greet people.  However, said we were fine and continued walking out the door and headed to the crossover between the Tropicana and the MGM.  On our approach, we see two more ladies quite frankly the more traditional prostitute garb just pacing back and forth in front of the escalator.  I must admit, the general quality (assuredly from an appearance perspective only) is significantly higher in Vegas and augmentation is either very cheap elective surgery or the business setting there is very lucrative – or the longevity of the showgirl career isn’t very long.  We responded with disinterest and proceeded back to the Luxor where we were staying.  The following night I stayed up all night so I didn’t have to bother waking up to leave for the airport at 5:30am.  The same friend that gave me the call about his proposition met me about 1 am to play some video poker.  After a couple of hours of that, he headed back to the MGM where he was staying.  Sure enough, he shows up again about 15 minutes later and asks me if I saw a particular lady prowling around the outer slot machine banks.  I had not seen that particular girl.  Apparently she came up  to him and asked if he was winning or not.  I am not sure that is the best opening line that early in the morning – is anyone going to tell someone they have been windfalling it all night and basically beg to be rolled?  There was some banter back and forth and I am not sure of the exact line, but basically asked if he was interested.  He said no and that he was heading back to his wife at another hotel.  Disappointed she then asked optimistically, “Does she like women?”  Now that is a savvy business woman and probably could use those talents in a legitimate profession.  First distract, next engage, then make the offer, sidestep rejection and take another angle.  There are a lot of people I meet in business trying to sell me something that could learn a lot by watching those in the oldest profession.  Oh, by the way in case you are wondering he told her no.

As I was checking my comps at 4:30am I spotted a lady with the same description hanging on some dudes arm.  As they passed me she commented that letting him spank her was going to cost him more.  Yes, Information Technology technical marketers, the concept of Services Oriented pricing is not a new concept, it has been around for a long, long time.  Oh, and before anyone comments, I know that Silicone is been replaced but some of these women are pretty darn old.

Yikes, late for the airport – I’ll correct the typos later…. VEGAS HERE I COME