Hey {{first_name|there}},
The Play
Three large conferences land in Las Vegas over the next eleven days: Money20/20 at the Venetian, HR Tech at Mandalay Bay, and Oracle AI World back at the Venetian. Many of the buyers and partners you would want to meet are in town, but your hours are not. Use one rule this week: book a conference meeting only if the person can say yes or no to something you need in the next 30 days. Everything else can wait for a call in November. Today, list the three attendees who pass that test and send each a two-line note asking for 20 minutes near their venue.
The Score
The Score is a short rundown of local product and company news worth knowing this week. Here are three that stood out.
Henderson and CSN add three manufacturing programs across the street from the future Haas plant. The City of Henderson and the College of Southern Nevada are adding manufacturing assembler, technician, and trades technician training at the Debra March Center of Excellence in West Henderson, with the first cohort starting Oct. 19. The four-week assembler course was built with Haas trainers, hiring managers, and industry executives. The technician track runs five weeks and 100 hours, and Trades Technician One runs 14 weeks and 180 hours. The Haas facility across the street is scheduled to open in January 2027. According to the release, more than 90% of students in the two technician programs complete their training, and 100% of graduates have found manufacturing jobs. via CSN
Rio puts room booking and towel requests inside ChatGPT. Rio Las Vegas calls it the hospitality industry's first fully transactional ChatGPT experience. Guests can ask for a suite tonight, check cabana availability, or send for extra towels, and complete those actions directly within the conversation. It runs on Traversing.ai, the same platform behind Rio's voice assistant, website concierge, and text messaging, and uses Model Context Protocol so ChatGPT can complete transactions instead of just answering questions. via Nevada Business
Nevada's first public-land data center is stalled, and the policy questions keep moving. The Townsite project near Boulder City was the first data center in the country approved on federal public land, but construction is on hold after a judge ruled the government couldn't rely on an old environmental review from when the site was planned as a solar farm. Gov. Joe Lombardo supports public-land data centers that have community support and signed an order adding guardrails, while Attorney General Aaron Ford opposes public-land sites and would pause new tax abatements pending an audit. Separately, PUCN hearings on cost allocation in NV Energy's resource plan start Oct. 26. via AP · via The Nevada Globe
The Strip (Tech Edition)
Spotlight
Money20/20 week, then Oracle AI World
Money20/20 USA Oct 18–21 · HR Tech Oct 20–22 · Oracle AI World Oct 25–28
Payments week opens today at the Venetian, HR Tech follows at Mandalay Bay, and Oracle AI World brings AI buyers back to the Venetian Convention & Expo Center the next Sunday. Side events cluster around all three, so pick the rooms that match a current goal. Money20/20 USA · HR Tech · Oracle AI World
Ongoing: AngelNV Due Diligence Bootcamp runs through Tue Nov 10 at the International Innovation Center @ Vegas.
This Week, Day by Day
Sunday, Oct 18
Money20/20 USA, Sun–Wed, Oct 18–21 @ The Venetian. Details
Boring Company Vegas Loop engineer tour (invite only), early afternoon, location shared with selected applicants; applications are closed. Details
Payments Distilled (registration closed), 7:00–9:00 PM @ 1923 Prohibition Bar, The Venetian. Details
Venture After Dark (host approval required), 8:30–11:30 PM @ WAKUDA. Details
Monday, Oct 19
Tuesday, Oct 20
Wednesday, Oct 21
AI, Tech & Finance (Sum of Five), 7:00–9:00 PM @ Doberman, 1025 S 1st St. Ticketed, $15 general. Details
Thursday, Oct 22
Pitch4Capital Funding Day, 2:00–4:30 PM @ Mint Meeting Spaces, 3160 S Valley View Blvd. Details
On the Horizon
Oracle AI World, Sun–Wed, Oct 25–28 @ The Venetian Convention & Expo Center. Details
Ai Dev Craft, Tue–Wed, Oct 27–28 @ Red Rock Resort (workshops Oct 26). Details
StartUp Vegas LinkUp, Wed, Oct 28, 11:00 AM–2:00 PM @ WeWork Town Square, 6543 S Las Vegas Blvd. Details
Founder Social: Chicken N Pickle, Wed, Oct 28, 6:00–8:00 PM @ Chicken N Pickle, Henderson. Details
Las Vegas AI Builders (host approval required), Wed, Oct 28, 6:00–8:00 PM @ TensorWave HQ (address shared after registering). Same time as Founder Social, so pick one. Details
Further out: DigiMarCon Nov 4–6, Luxor · AMA LV Nov 5, Fogo de Chao · LevelUp Nov 6 · Free Co-Working Nov 6 / Dec 4 · Vibecoding coworking Nov 7, 10:00 AM–3:00 PM, Tous Les Jours Cafe · Founders Night Nov 11 / Dec 9 · LVIMA Year-End Nov 12 (members only, venue TBD) · HLTH Nov 15–18, Venetian Expo · RE+ Nov 16–19, primarily at the Las Vegas Convention Center · Speed Mentoring LV Nov 19 · Tech Alley Nov 21 / Dec 19 · re:Invent Nov 30–Dec 4 · AI Agents Summit Dec 8–10 (venue TBA) · CES Jan 6–9, 2027 · Startup World Cup LV Jan 7, 2027, Planet Hollywood · Startup Week Las Vegas Feb 17–20, 2027
The Stack
Local programs, workspaces, and calendars to keep handy.
Zero Labs Casino & Gaming Innovation Launchpad. A free accelerator for gaming and casino startups that takes no equity. Check the program page for future cohorts. Details
tech.vegas. A free calendar of Las Vegas technology and startup events. Details
International Innovation Center @ Vegas. StartUpNV’s downtown workspace near Fremont, with 24/7 member access and hot desks starting at about $150 a month. Details
Black Fire Innovation (UNLV). A facility for developing and testing hospitality, gaming, and entertainment technology at the Harry Reid Research & Technology Park. Details
Roseman Bioventures. A 120,000-square-foot life-science incubator in Summerlin with lab space, regulatory and commercialization support, mentorship, and investor connections. Details
InnovateNV. StartUpNV’s deep-tech program for SBIR and STTR applicants, with a proposal accelerator, expert sessions, one-on-one support, and Phase 0 microgrants. Details
UNLV NSF I-Corps. A commercialization path for UNLV-affiliated teams, with mentoring, $1,000–$3,000 in seed funding, and a referral path to larger NSF awards. Details
FounderNV. A free, year-round Nevada founder community with workshops, a speaker series, Founder Hour, and peer networking. Details
SYN Shop. A Las Vegas hackerspace for makers and hardware builders, with shared tools and prototyping space. Details
The Ask
What would help you most with your work or business in Las Vegas right now? Funding, a hire, a first customer? Take our 30-second survey to help shape what we cover. Take the survey
Last call
If you know someone who would find this newsletter useful, please forward it to them. Have local tech news or an upcoming event to share? Reply to this email.
See you next week.
— Charles