Day: June 24, 2013

For decades, Tom Skancke has been expounding on visions of transportation systems that he thinks will catapult our city and its economy into the future. He has talked about monorails, light-rail transit, highway infrastructure, you name it, and he’s not done. But the long time local transportation expert and current CEO of the Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance, formerly the Nevada Development Authority, is also relying on “millennials” to get his message out. And in the past couple of years their actions have done plenty of speaking for his cause.

In February , Nevada became the first state to approve online gambling. Delaware and New Jersey quickly followed suit, and more states are weighing some kind of online gambling legislation.

If you ask a random sampling of people how they remember a historical event such as the fall of the Berlin Wall, their responses will be based on their age when it occurred as well as their cultural perspective. The wall fell in November 1989. Memories may include diverse responses such as “I remember my parents watching TV all night,” to “I have a piece of the wall that was given to me by my sister, who was there,” to “It felt like what I fought for had finally taken place.” (These are all actual memories of the event.)

To carry the “boutique” descriptor in any field suggests an element of success, that something is small but selective, quality wins out over quantity, and exclusivity is the priority. Boutique hotels have increased in popularity over the past decade. So in a city known for a bigger-is-better approach, there has been an emphasis on creating that intimate experience among the giant brands that make Las Vegas an internationally known destination. As a result, boutique hotel offerings imbedded within mega resorts are thriving.

If someone invented a pill that could give us more energy, help us lose weight, improve memory, reduce the risk of diabetes, osteoporosis and cancer, improve our decisions, make us more productive employees, improve our performance between the sheets, had no side effects and costs us absolutely nothing, would we knock down walls to get it? Although there is no magic pill, there is something we can do to accomplish all of this and more, and it actually does have no side effects, costs nothing and, when you think about it, takes no effort. It’s as simple as getting an hour or two of additional shuteye each night.

Consumer Reports magazine recently did a survey on customer service and found that 64 percent of people within a 12-month period actually left a store because they perceived service to be bad, while another 56 percent became angry at being transferred multiple times over the phone before reaching the right person.

When Jack Bernard was a senior executive in the health care industry, he racked up millions of airline miles, but also made millions of dollars for his companies.

In recessionary America, the company, personal or family budget is under constant review. More and more Americans have been forced to face spending realities, sometimes several times over. For those who have successfully scrutinized their budget, there is hopefully a great payoff of debt-free living and diminished stress down the road. Even still, maintaining a successful budget is not a light-hearted affair. It requires persistence and a commitment from all parties involved, something that can be easier said than done.