The Authority

Rain this afternoon, but not the promised thunderstorm, with distinct cooling. But it's spring, at last, and the cooling will be short. Unlike some, say those who move to San Diego for the climate, I wouldn't want it to be warm and sunny all year. That's a desert. But Chicago could use six more weeks of warm weather.

Speaking of deserts, I was doing some research on the Las Vegas hotel market recently, room rates and occupancies and so on, so I dialed up the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority web site. If you look very carefully on that site you can find data about the business underpinnings of that town. "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas, especially some of your money."

I wondered about the Convention and Visitors Authority. Most places have a bureau. (Reno-Sparks and Miami Beach are the two other convention/visitor authorities that I can find.) "Authority" is more often reserved for transit entities, ports, airports and the like. But I guess conventioneering and tourism is serious indeed in Vegas, so "authority" it is.