Since, at least four major companies have canceled their plans to meet or hold conventions in Las Vegas this year. Some of the cancellations have to do with the perception of Las Vegas, while others might be because of their own financial constraints. State Farm planned to book 11,000 rooms in September, but those rooms will now remain vacant. Wells Fargo, which received some bailout money, also backed out of a 12-day junket in response to cries that the meeting represents wasteful spending.

According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, President Obama might have thought so because he based his decision on a report that cited “$300 hotel rooms” as an example of extravagance. The Venetian, which is a more upscale property, lists rooms for $189 per night. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) reports the average room rate was $119.19 in 2008, with a low of $96.39 in December.

Most people also do not know that many of these trips were legitimate. Las Vegas hosted 22,454 conventions and meetings that attracted more than 6 million business people and conventioneers in 2008. It accounted for an economic impact of $8.5 billion, employed more than 46,000 Southern Nevadans (75,000 with indirect employment), and represents close to 15 percent of the city’s total visitor volume.

Unless replaced, the damage caused by these lost bookings could be severe to a local economy already experiencing a 9.1 percent unemployment rate, well ahead of the national average. And unless those careless words are corrected, they will damage lives.

The communication needs to change. While candidates can be quick to call out and vilify opponents, industries, and government in order to motivate certain publics to the polls, we need elected officials to shift their communication when it comes time to govern. 

They have to recognize they no longer represent campaign slogans but rather the Wall Street stock broker in New York and the maid in Las Vegas and the automotive lineman in Detroit. They are no longer entitled to pick and choose which American people they represent. They represent us all. 

President Obama’s message did not communicate anything about Las Vegas as much as it communicated something about the bailouts and stimulus package. The power of the purse is the ability of one group to manipulate and control the actions of another group by withholding funding, or putting stipulations on the use of funds. As of Monday, it seems President Obama is intending to use this power and perhaps abuse it, under the guise of protecting taxpayer money.

However, he neglects the obvious. The 46,000 Americans directly employed by the convention industry in Las Vegas are taxpayers too.

Original Post: Blacklisting Vegas: President Obama

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