Here's what happened: I had 3 drafts scheduled for Friday morning and had the best rooms in the Bellagio Convention Center for them: Monet 1-4. We started two auctions at 9 am in Monet 1 and 2, but unfortunately another conference had a breakfast outing until 9:30 am and we had an NFBC XII draft starting at 10 am. The hotel didn't want to push the first group out so quickly and didn't have a single conference room available for us. Since we had the patio deck as part of our agreement, I made an Executive decision to schedule an outdoor draft weeks ago and hoped for the best. It was either that or get a hotel suite to host this, but even all of those were sold out. I really rolled the dice here.
I really hoped that things would change up to the day of our draft, but no rooms opened up. I checked the weather report and emailed all of the owners a day beforehand. I even asked them to come a little early so that we could get this done in time for some of these owners to draft at 1 pm. The idea was to jump inside around 11 am and then clean that same room in time for the 1 pm draft. Everything was on a tight schedule, but I felt we could pull it off.
Well, as luck would have it, the weather was just perfect that morning. It was almost 75 degrees by 10 am, the U was pointed toward the beautiful Bellagio pool and everyone showed up 15 minutes early. We got done by 12:45 pm and moved the next draft inside. Everyone who came out and saw this draft taking place outside was envious. It got a little hot during the last 10 rounds, but our guys sucked it up and really enjoyed this. I'd like to hear from some of those drafters, but I think they really liked the unique setting and camaraderie among this great group. It was an incredible setup, an incredibly beautiful, sunny day, and a draft we'll never forget.
We didn't host any of the afternoon drafts outside, but we had that entire glorious patio for people to come outside or just mingle between drafts and catch up with fellow owners. What a great, great setting that was for our group. We were very lucky and the best news is that we have that exact same space on Saturday, Sept. 8th for our NFFC drafts. The only difference is that it will be about 105 degrees that day!!! Anyone want to draft outside?
What did you guys think? Did you like the outdoor draft? Did you like the Monet rooms? Let's get some feedback from Las Vegas. I want to make sure Denny and I took care of you folks.
