Not so hot in Sin City

LAS VEGAS -- It sure seems like a busy city to this attender of the United Fresh Produce Association convention in Las Vegas.

But a recent story in Newsweek says otherwise.

"According to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA), Las Vegas has seen gambling revenues fall only once since 1970: in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terror attacks they dropped 1 percent in 2002 from 2001. So far this year they've fallen 4 percent, the number of conventions held has dropped 10.4 percent, and average daily room rates were off 3.8 percent in the first two months of 2008, according to the most recent data available."

United is doing its part with the highest attendance in more than 10 years, according to incoming chairman Tom Lovelace, but FMI will be one of the conventions that is among the "dropped" after this year, as the group moves to having an expo every other year.

Attendance has been strong at both the Monday, May 5, and Tuesday, May 6, breakfast sessions, which both started at 7:30, so maybe the produce industry isn't pulling its weight late at night at the slots and gaming tables.

It could be that industry members value their hard-earned money too much to enrich the gods of Caesar and Luxor.