Who has Vegas insight?

To be honest, I don't have a ton of Vegas Insight.

Friends turn to me for suggestions and information about Las Vegas, as they know I've been there many times. But I don't have any special insight.

I needed a title for a blog, and I wanted something that wasn't as generic as "Vegas Talk." So after two minutes of careful deliberation, I came up with "Vegas Insight." When I found out the Twitter handle was available, I knew I had my blog's name, even if it's a bit of a misnomer.

Here's a brief biography of me and a general description of what I intend to do with my blog:

I'm a 40-something guy from Minnesota. I'm not anonymous, but it really doesn't matter what my name is for the purpose of this blog, at least not yet. Once I set the world on fire and media outlets want to profile me, my name might matter.

I have been to Vegas about 30 times since I first visited in January 1997. I use to keep a list of each trip, by month and year, and who I traveled with. I wish I had a better summary of my trips, it would be a lot of fun to look back now and then. I've written an occasional trip report for an online message forum or two over the years, but I don't make a habit of it. When I do write a trip report it's usually detailed, and devoid of glamorous, outrageous stories.

I don't spend much time on the strip, I have modest means, I'm not particularly skilled at gaming the casinos for comps and I don't have any connections that afford me VIP treatment when I'm in Vegas. I'm sure I'll write a lot about my experiences and memories in future blog installments.

I have participated in a few message forums in the past, and I will mine them for information when I'm preparing for a trip, but I've tired of contributing to them, for the most part. I haven't tired of writing, it's what I do for a living, a meager living, really, but it's all I know. I simply reached a point where I keep tabs on Vegas with some degree of regularity, and decided I needed a place to share opinions about the things I'm reading. And when I'm inspired to share a memory or story, I'll do that, too.

I've seen the Internet evolve over the past 15+ years and I know enough to know that it takes something special to make money with an online presence. I have no desire to try to turn a blog into a revenue stream. I'd be happy to accept cash in exchange for advertising, but it doesn't happen with a simple blog offering occasional commentary on events in Vegas from a guy who lives 1,500 miles away.

I'm not sure how often I'll write, but it won't be daily, or regularly. Winters in Minnesota are typically cold. Summers in Minnesota are too short, and I enjoy bicycling, and pushing myself to bicycle hundreds of miles each season. I'll write in the summer, as well as the winter, but my output will be sporadic. I expect I'll write something at least once a week, and possibly several times a week when it's cold, but this blog isn't going to be Vegas Chatter, my current favorite site for Vegas news and information. I've been reading that site for a while now, and it's the only Vegas site I turn to on a daily basis. But I do hope to expand my base of Vegas knowledge in searching for Vegas news to comment upon. When it comes to traditional news sources in Vegas, I gravitate to the Las Vegas Sun, even though it's small in comparison to the Review-Journal. Thanks to Roku I watch a few news reports each month courtesy of 8 News Now.

I write purely for the joy of writing. Some people spend an hour playing Xbox games at night. I love pinball, and I grew up playing video games, so I'd love to have time to play online and/or video games at this point in my life, but that's not a priority. I would rather spend an hour writing than trying to master a complex video game, and this blog is my latest outlet. (It's not my first, but that's another story, and not one I'm going to get into.) If I attract readers who care enough to comment, all the better. And thanks in advance.