Vickie Claiborne had already been organizing an attention-getting walk called WE WALK for Events and Entertainment in Las Vegas, when the #WeMakeEvents national committee member Andrew Gumper asked her to join the Vegas RedAlert team for the Sept. 1 awareness campaign. “We had access to just about any gear we wanted from almost every vendor in town,” says Claiborne, who served as RedAlert regional director for Vegas. “Folks came forward with leads on everything from generators to boom lifts. Our network reached out to every corner of the city, and we had the support of the local IA 720 and the Musicians Union. Everyone from the 68,000 people in Las Vegas who have lost their livelihoods have volunteered time, equipment and money to support us.” While most casinos on the Strip declined to participate, the downtown Plaza Hotel & Casino gave them the green light to go red, and Myron Martin, CEO/President of the Smith Center, approved the Truss Garden, with 68 pieces of truss each representing 1,000 out-of-work event professionals in Vegas. Martin also led the road case march, pushing Case #1.
Debi Moen, from “Designer Watch,” PLSN, Sept. 2020, page 40
