Pedestrians traveling along the Fremont Street Experience have long been entertained by the nightly light show and rows of casinos and shops.
But in recent months, that entertainment has been pushed into other parts of downtown.
Pedestrians along First Street between Boulder Avenue and Bridger Avenue have heard enhanced environment music pumped through wirelessly connected loudspeakers and amplifiers set across 75 concrete light poles.
The $299,000 project, stretching across five acres, is the first of a multiphase plan to bring the music to other parts of downtown, said Gregory Maher, business development for TeleData Technologies, which was commissioned by the city of Las Vegas to install the system.
Maher said the next target would bring the equipment along Fourth Street.
The local company has made a proposal on that project, though there is no timeline, Maher said.
Subsequent phases could be set up in the Main Street and Commerce Street region, along with East Fremont Street. Other plans could bring the project to the downtown part of Las Vegas Boulevard and along other side streets, possibly from Sixth Street to 10th Street.
Maher said the city has a temporary system that can play up to 1,000 three-minute songs. But the fuller plan could bring the controls to the west service center for the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada’s FAST system.
Besides music, the system can broadcast live events such as parades, Maher said.
Commercial gaming, e-sports to
converge at trade show
At an October conference, officials from commercial gaming and e-sports will hear guidance on how the two industries might work better together.
The two-day event Esports and Casino Resorts will run Oct. 25-26 at the SLS Las Vegas. It will feature Seth Schorr, CEO of the Downtown Grand and Fifth Street Gaming; Tobias Sherman, global head of eSports WME-IMG; and others.
Show topics will include the nuts-and-bolts of hosting an e-sports event, e-sports gambling products for casino game designers, content creation strategies for e-sport fans, a survey of e-sports investing and practical strategies for maximizing the visit for an e-sport fan.
Narus Advisors, a local advisory firm helping clients build revenue, audience and brand presence for e-sports, daily fantasy sports and online gaming industries, is producing the show.
Downtown Grand that entered the e-sports market in late 2015 and now hosts weekend tournaments. MGM Resorts International welcomed about 10,000 fans at the Mandalay Bay Events Center during an e-sports competition.
Panel members of the Nevada Gaming Policy Committee discussed the potential of making wagers on e-sports in mid-May. No final decisions were made, but another meeting on the topic could come in August.
Applicants for designer-in-residence program sought
Downtown Project is seeking graphic designers to submit applications for Thumbnail, a three-month, live-in artist program in downtown Las Vegas.
“We are very excited for the Thumbnail artist-in-residence to help us carry out our mission of developing the Fremont East District in downtown Las Vegas into an art and technology center,” Thumbnail co-founder Maggie Hsu said. “This program will connect talented designers with emerging startups and local business owners, giving them the ability to help shape the growing community.”
Beginning in fall 2016, one artist will receive three months of free housing at downtown’s 211 Apartments at 211 N. Eighth St. and a $1,000 stipend, reimbursement up to $1,000 for material costs and complimentary membership to local creative spaces including Work in Progress, a tech co-working space that hosts classes, mentor office hours and community events, and Stitch Factory, a fashion studio and brand house that works to re-energize brands through fashion in downtown Las Vegas.
Designers also will have the opportunity to be mentored by local working artists, including Jen Taler from Stitch Factory.
The chosen designer will help downtown businesses work on graphic design projects that include brand identity and logos, iconography, marketing materials, brand collateral and promotional items.
At the end of the residency, the designers will present a final project and an overview of their experience to the downtown community.
Applications are being accepted through July 1 at thumbnaildtlv.com. Applicants must be 21 or older and submit an application and portfolio by the deadline.
An advisory board of local business owners, educators and artists, will decide the guidelines and expectations for the program and its participants and choose the winners.