Michael and Krissy Dot Com

Krissy and I just got back from the second annual Gallery Core Team meetup. It was held in Las Vegas last weekend and we had an amazing time. It was great seeing everyone we met in New York last year as well as several new faces.

We got to Vegas about 11AM on Friday, about the same time as Donald and Mary Ann and Chris. We met up with them in baggage claim then headed over to Disneyland, err the taxi corral, and shared a cab to the Luxor, the official meetup hotel. The Luxor is the big black pyramid at the south end of the Vegas strip. Most of the core team stayed in the pyramid rather than the towers (which are shaped like Mayan pyramids rather than Egyptian pyramids) and thus got to experience slanted walls and inclinators (which move up and down the pyramid at a 38 degree angle) rather than elevators. After getting checked in, we had lunch at the buffet with Donald, Mary Ann, and Chris. After lunch, we called Jesse, who got in early Friday morning and met up with him in the Luxor casino. After gambling for a bit, we went up to Jesse, Jacquie, Jay and Melody's room to hang out. At check-in, a bunch of us got some coupon books that included 2-for-1 drinks at happy hour so the next stop was Happy Hour. We met up with some more of the Gallery team then picked up our new Gallery T-shirts. We headed up the strip to New York, New York for dinner at Nine Fine Irishmen. After dinner, we caught Zumanity, an excellent Cirque du Soleil cabaret show.

On Saturday, we met up with the Gallery team for breakfast. The cafe didn't have a table for all 20+ of us so we ate with Jesse, Jacquie, Jay, and Melody. After breakfast (more of a brunch since we had a late night at NY NY), we went over to the Mandalay Bay for shopping and more gambling. At 2PM, we went to Bharat and Jen's suite for the first in-person team meeting. We have weekly team meetings on IRC but this was the first time almost the entire team was available for an in-person meeting. After several hours of productive discussions, we broke up to get ready for dinner. Dinner was further up the strip at Wolfgang Puck's Postrio at the Venetian. We had a private room, a 4 hour open bar, and an excellent 5 course dinner. After dinner, we gathered for the obligatory group picture, then wandered through several floors of the Venetian parking garage till we found the taxi stand. We headed back to the Mandalay Bay to see the burlesque show at Forty Deuce then hit the casino one last time. Finally, we got an early morning snack with Jay and Melody at the Luxor's Pyramid Cafe.

Krissy and I had a relatively early flight on Sunday so we had to miss the group lunch at the cafe but we did get to say bye to Jesse, Jacquie, Jay, and Melody while checking out. It was another amazing, fun-filled Gallery meetup. Pics are (of course) available in our Gallery.