As I write this, Air Force One has landed nearby at the McCarran Airport and the President is enroute to UMC hospital. But I’m here to provide an update that captures the spirit of Las Vegas nearly three days after the shooting tragedy.
If I had to offer an update for today,
I’d still assert I’m out of words as I mentioned in my first report Monday morning. Yesterday I was too exhausted to collect my thoughts and write an update. And I’m not alone. In speaking with attendees at the Continuum Navigate conference, everyone is in a reflective mood. There aren’t the gun control debates flaring up on Facebook (see the replies to conversations posted up by SMB Nation member Karl Palachuk). If for no other reason than we are here witnessing history and I’d offer have been emotionally impacted. I’ve been doing a lot of walking and realize, like my experience with 9/11 in 2001, more feelings and insights will arrive to me over the Fall. This is going to take time.
Figure 1: Outside the Mandalay Bay hotel and resort, I paid my respects at this memorial shrine setup between the hotel and the concert venue.
Too Raw
A well-known IT industry personality was in the Mandalay Bay hotel when the shooting incident occurred. I traded messages with him hoping for a full interview to report to you. He kindly declined, saying it’s still “too raw” for him. I totally respect that and get that. I will see this individual at a few more events this fall and wish him the very best as he navigates the impacts he has incurred from the event.
Figure 2: This is the concert venue that I viewed on my morning walk today (the stage is above the red truck). One interesting factoid shared with me by a passerby was that the land in this pic is where the new NFL stadium will be built by 2020 for the Raiders to relocate. That information hasn’t received wide coverage.
Wiser Minds
Since my first report, the world’s media has arrived. I can’t offer much to you in the way of facts, insights and analysis concerning the crime. I’m a witness and watching the reports just as you are. Ali Velshi from MSNBC and CNBC is shown in Figure 3.
Figure 3: All of the major news personalities are here including Velshi from the NBC family of networks.
Figure 4: The NBC/MSNBC “studio” on top of the Hooters Hotel garage.
Signing Off
These are hard blogs to write as I balance a reader’s right to know and my own internal emotional challenges to simply maintain composure at the Navigate conference. This is my last report from Las Vegas. It’s just too raw for everyone here. But I leave you with the following thought. One thing you can do is visit Las Vegas and support this community. Your patronage will be greatly appreciated by the Uber drive I rode with who ferried inured people to the hospital late Sunday night. On behalf of everyone here in Las Vegas – thank you for your thoughts, prayers, concerns and contributions.