EDUCATION It’s Vegas, Baby! Other Sights of Interest Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat Madame Tussauds Las Vegas Marvel Avengers Interactive Exhibit The Shark Reef Titanic Artifact Exhibit Adventure Canyon Adventuredome Big Apple Roller Coaster Discovery Children’s Museum Ethel M Chocolate Factory Hershey’s Chocolate World Grand Canyon West Rim Lake Mead Hoover Dam ALOA 2019’s venue, the South Point Hotel and Casino, has so much to do on site, and the main Strip is only about 15 minutes away. The second change was brought about directly by the first. ALOA has to com- mit to locations two to three years in ad- vance, as that is how far out these hotels and venues know their schedules. With Vegas off the table, ALOA had to book locations we could get into based on our criteria. The possibility of Vegas moved further down the timeline. A New Vegas Location Enter the South Point Hotel and Casi- no, the site of ALOA 2019. This property has it all: a movie theater, bowling alley, championship rodeo/motocross/concert arena and over a dozen restaurants inside, from fast food to casual dining. All of the ALOA classes are on one level of the conference center, which is also located in the hotel above the lobby. No long hikes from your room to the classes! Should you need to make a run to a grocery store, pharmacy or mega-de- partment store, all can be found within a few-mile radius. Want to venture out and visit the Strip? It’s 15 minutes away. 56 KEYNOTES JUNE 2019 This may well be the best venue ALOA has ever used in Vegas and, more im- portantly, they are looking forward to us being there. We aren’t just another group coming in. Vegas Activities Okay, that all sounds great, and I know there will be some really good classes on everything from automotive and electron- ics to business, safe work and more. But what about my family? We are making it a vacation, we don’t gamble and have children, so the casino is out. What does Vegas offer us? TONS. Let’s start with the shows. Virtually every hotel/casino in town offers shows nightly. These range from music acts to comedians, magic to flights of fan- cy. About 15 minutes from the hotel is a massive indoor go-cart track, Pole Posi- tion. It’s an awesome place for the kids (or the adults) to spend some time. For the adventurists, there are the rides atop the Stratosphere hotel: X-Scream, the coaster that takes you over the edge of Red Rock Canyon Fremont Street the 109-story tower; Insanity, the swing that sits 866 feet above the Strip and spins you 64 feet over the edge of the hotel; Big Shot, the catapult in the center of the tower that shoots you up to a max height of 1,081 feet above the Strip while pulling 4 Gs; and the list goes on and on. So, if you have never attended an ALOA conference and taken classes, this is this is a good one to start with. If you have attended but have been ab- sent in recent years, this is a good one to come back to experience. If you are a loyal ALOA member, you already know how much fun classes and after-class time can be in Vegas — we look forward to seeing you. Yes, finally, we have come back to Las Vegas. Jim Hancock, CML, CMST, is ALOA’s educat ion manager. You can reach him at [email protected] or (214) 819-9733. WWW.ALOA.ORG
