These slot players should pay me to slap them in the face for $20, at least they can walk away and say they felt something.

@NVFisherman I take it you're straight thereby you have no dogs in this fight. A "Pretty good" candidate never won any races.

With so much hot air in that room I'm surprised attendees just didn't pass out en masse. The speakers are only rehashing the news of the past 3 years. Talk less and do more Las Vegas leaders.

@serious I pondered the same thing, but it's not the Detroit market he's importing it's the brand recognition, reputation and proven business model of it's top venues. A smart move considering that he could open his own steakhouse and run it himself or import a more recognized brand that knows how to run a restaurant. No need to reinvent the wheel and start from square one. It's all about ROI with any business, but more so with casinos and a proven brand has the numbers to back up how long the ROI will take.

I don't think a week goes by that Zappos isn't in the paper. I wonder if Greenspun Media has been bought out by Zappos and unbeknownst to everyone, is now their PR firm?

Couldn't agree more with TeamSG1. The local media seems to have a personal monetary stake in boasting about that Zappos-led downtown movement. I can't say much is going to come of it as it's based around only 1 company, led by 1 man with 1 singular idea: make downtown Vegas into a mini Silicone Valley-San Fran filled hub with hipsters who frequent bespoke bars after work and walk home to their lofts for a poetry night with friends.

Tony is trying to do something, but he may be too entrenched in the process and fails to see the bigger picture.

Is it me or does it seem opening a 105,000 square-foot Macys Mens fashion store in Fashion Show to replace the closing 99K square foot Bloomingdales seem to obvious?

Amazing that Bloomingdales only had 35 people on staff for such a big store.

Being a business publication I'd expect a mix of good news and bad news from Vegas Inc. The Chamber of Commerce is a credible business organization so I'm not sure what @Judgemales issue is with the article. Everything was bad for a second and everyone accepted it, now that things are turning up better some of you guys don't want to believe it.

Perhaps you naysayers should get better jobs where business is actually on the uptick.

Should be titled: "A dozen personalities that changed the valley's business landscape in 2012 for better or worse."

Most of them Pat Mulroy, Sheldon Adelson, Michael Yackira, Steve Wynn, have been in the news this past year for robbing their own customers blind or mixing business and politics.

Most of their predictions are old news and anyone with half a brain can create the same predictions from reading this very paper once a week.

Tell us something we didn't know:

Strip revenue will increase (they're in gaming-lets hope so)
The LVH needs renovations (duh!)
The Riveria is sticking to its roots (no kidding!)
The New Frontier Land will never turn a profit at that current price (ya don't say)
Sam Nazarian's SLS is great at nightlife (ground breaking)

Any person who's in touch with Vegas gaming could have given these answers. I hoped for more critical thought from Colliers.