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IN BUSINESS ENTERTAINMENT ORGANIZERS: ELECTRIC DAISY CARNIVAL GENERATED $136 MILLION By Aida Ahmed staff writer Insomniac, the company behind the three-day Electric Daisy Carnival, says its June festival at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway generated $136 million for Clark County. According to an economic report released by Beacon Economics, LLC., the festival brought an estimated $8.9 million in tax revenue for the state and local government, the equivalent of 1,400 full-time jobs and $55 million in income for Clark County employees. "When we decided to produce Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas we anticipated that Las Vegas would experience a significant economic boost as many of our devoted fans are willing to travel to experience the show," said Pasquale Rotella, president and CEO of Insomniac, in the announcement. The company used surveys from more than 12,000 carnival attendees and data from the promoters to estimate the amount of spending generated for the three-day event. "The impact we calculated was GAMING CULINARY UNION ADVOCATE JOINS STATION AS SENIOR EXEC By Delen Goldberg staff writer Station Casinos, which for years has waged a vicious battle with the Culinary union, has hired one of the labor group's strongest advocates. Mike Sloan joins Fertitta Entertainment as a senior vice president of government relations. He brings more than 20 years of experience to the job as one of the gaming industry's premier political operatives, fundraisers and consultants. Sloan's union experience is vast. He served for years as an employer trustee of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union Health and Welfare Fund and the Local 226 Culinary and Bartenders Pension Plan. He was a key player in numerous union negotiations, having previously worked as senior vice president and general counsel for Mandalay Resort Group (formerly Circus Circus Enterprises). The Culinary has been trying unsuccessfully to unionize 13,000 workers at Station's 18 valley casinos for more than a decade, with the fight intensifying in recent years. Station Casinos has accused the union of an ongoing campaign of harassment. Union members claim the casino group has mistreated Latino workers and violated dozens of federal labor laws. An administrative law judge recently dismissed a majority of the charges, including the most severe — ethnic discrimination. But allegations of interrogation, surveillance and firing of workers involved in the union LEE drive remain. About 80 charges have been forwarded to the National Labor Relations Board. Station executives did not elaborate on Sloan's specific job duties. In addition to his work with Mandalay, Sloan served for years on the board of the Nevada Resort Association, including one term as chairman, and was appointed by two governors to the Citizen Advisory Committee on Tax Policy. He also was elected Las Vegas city attorney and twice appointed a state senator. added that they do not count all of local spending. Visitor spending accounted for $109 million, Insomniac was responsible for $23 million and local attendees spent roughly $5 million. Carnival guests spent more than $19.5 million for hotels, $16.8 million on food, $10.5 million on transportation, $9.3 million on entertainment, $7.8 million on gaming and $7.2 million in retail purchases. According to Insomniac, early bird tickets for the carnival sold out in less than 36 hours. The Electric Daisy Carnival, which STEVE MARCUS EXPRESS YOURSELF: Sami Easterly and Timmy Prag of Portland, Ore., dance during the Electric Daisy Carnival at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway in June. based on the spending of attendees and on some of the spending of the event promoters themselves," said Jordan Levine, economist and director of economic research at Beacon Economics. The carnival generated more this year in Las Vegas than it did in 2010, when it was held in Los Angeles. That's because it was previously a two-day event, and most attendees for the 2010 event were from California, said Levine, who claims to be the largest electronic music festival in North America, plans to return to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway next June 8 to 10. "Insomniac has the greatest fans in the world and according to the survey 98 percent of them plan on returning to what promises to be an even more impressive Electric Daisy Carnival 2012," said Rotella. Advance tickets for next year's festival will go on sale Jan. 3. BUSINESS SCHOOL We are proud to celebrate the naming of the Lee Business School and to express our appreciation to Ted and Doris Lee. Their generous gift will enhance our efforts to achieve excellence in business education. Prepare to Compete Learn about the Lee Business School at business.unlv.edu 8 | 21 NOVEMBER 2011 |