Las Vegas
The networkers are back in Vegas. Some of them, anyway.
At 2 p.m. on a recent Tuesday, club music blasted inside the cavernous, windowless convention floor of the Nightclub and Bar Show. Servers offered orange Jell-O shots, attendees sampled giant bacon-stuffed Tater Tots and entrepreneurs flagged passersby to test-drive their karaoke machines, portable bowling alleys and other potential next big things in nightlife innovation.
Over 9,000 registrants were hustling to get the party going again. Sin City is anxious to revert to its pre-pandemic normal, which includes not just casinos and showgirls but the conventions and trade shows, from consumer electronics to waste management, that are a tentpole of its economy.
Avi Goren, 32-year-old co-founder of Marqii, a New York City menu-management company, was one of the few people on the expo floor wearing a face mask.
