SO I DROP INTO VEGAS FOR SOME MANAGEMENT MEETINGS LAST WEEK..... FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE NEVER BEEN, LAS VEGAS IS A PLACE NESTLED BETWEEN THE GRAND CANYON TO THE EAST AND DEATH VALLEY TO THE WEST... AND INTERESTINGLY ENOUGH, IT CONTINUES TO SHINE LIKE A DIAMOND IN THE DESERT. 

I WAS VERY FAMILIAR WITH LAS VEGAS, HAVING LIVED AND worked there off and on for over 10 years, BUT I HAD not been back to the "City of Lights" since 1989.. THE LAS VEGAS OF TODAY IS THE FASTEST GROWING CITY IN THE UNITED STATES. IT IS THE ONLY CITY IN NORTH AMERICA TO BE ESTABLISHED IN THE 20TH CENTURY, AND THEN GROW TO OVER A MILLION RESIDENTS IN THE SAME CENTURY. EVERY MONTH ANOTHER 6,000 PEOPLE CALL LAS VEGAS THEIR HOME. 

FOR ME, flying into Las Vegas REMINDED ME OF a scene out of Blade Runner..Trams TAKING people to the CITY OF THE CENTURY for THE rides OF THEIR LIVES... IT IS EASY TO SEE WHY MCCARRAN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT is RANKED the 7th busiest in the world. I'M HAPPY TO SAY IN SPITE OF THE CROWDS AND ACTIVITY, ALL MY LUGGAGE SHOWED UP RIGHT ON TIME! 

Driving in from the airport....I FOUND MYSELF BEING overwhelmed AND CONFUSED. WASN'T THE ALADDIN OVER THERE, AND The Tropicana OVER THERE..... IN FACT, THE TROPICANA used to be the last hotel-casino on the strip. Now it is JUST one OF THE MANY "WORLDS LARGEST HOTELS" THAT CREATE A CONTINUOUS FLOW OF ARCHITECTURAL DESIGNS AND ENTERTAINMENT VENUES. ALMOST TOO MUCH for the sensory DEPARTMENT to handle. 

WHILE I HAD COME TOTALLY PREPARED TO ANALIZE AND STRATEGIZE ABOUT MY PROFESSIONAL FUTURE, I WAS A BIT BLINDSIDED WITH THE CHANGES PUT BEFORE ME. I WAS HIT WITH AN INCREDIBLE SENSE OF LOSS AND CONFUSION. Where was the Vegas I once knew??? All THE old haunts that I remember? WHAT AN ADULT DISNEYLAND THIS HAD BECOME. WHAT A TRIP! 

I WAS TREATED TO A MOST WONDERFUL ENLIGHTENMENT BY MY HOSTS; I FOUND out that MOST OF THE feel-good hang outs have been blown up, torn down, sold off and moved out.. Structures that were once familiar TO ME had not only changed their facades but HAD completely renovated and MORPHED into NEW illusions. IT WAS BOTH EXCITING AND SCARY AT THE SAME TIME.