Las Vegas is the epicenter for entertainment, luxury, and nightlife. Ever wonder what goes into the PR and marketing for some of the most iconic properties on the The Strip? Look no further. This week, Jenn and Kalli welcome Kassidy Krystek, former Director of Public Relations and Communications of Resorts World Las Vegas. Today’s deep dive conversation tackles what it really takes to build momentum in a city where every property is fighting for headlines – and bookings.
imPRessions S4 EP 2 Transcript
Jenn
Hi, Kalli.
Kalli
Hey, Jenn.
Jenn
So, when was the last time you went to Vegas? Not for a business trip, but just to go for a vacation, just to have some fun, if you’ve been.
Kalli
So, I mean, I’ve been to Vegas several times for business and not once just for fun.
Jenn
Really? Interesting.
Kalli
Yeah, I’ve actually, every time I’ve gone, I’ve tried to see the Bellagio Water Show, and I never catch it. And I’ve been several times.
Jenn
Oh, yeah. I mean, I’ve only been to Vegas once, to be honest. Like 4, I mean, I’ve been to Vegas 1000 times, but only once on like a vacation or trip. So, I really can’t say too much, but I think today’s conversation is going to excite you and hopefully our listeners and maybe want to inspire somebody to take a trip because I have reached out and invited our old client, Kassidy Krystek, who you know very, very well as we worked very closely with her at Resorts World Las Vegas.
Kalli
Oh, that’s great. I love talking to Kassidy. She is definitely the go-to girl that knows all the ins and outs of Las Vegas.
Jenn
100%. She’s born and raised. Obviously, she worked for a long time at Resorts World. So, she knows all the ins and outs about the great city. And today, we’re going to talk a little bit just about what goes into PR marketing for a company as iconic and as big and reputable as Resorts World. I think a lot of our listeners, especially looking into travel and tourism, they’re going to learn a lot about what goes into it, what it takes. And Kassidy is honestly the best person for that conversation. So, excited to chat with her.
Kalli
Yeah, I couldn’t agree more.
Jenn
Great, let’s get to it. When most think of Las Vegas, lights, luxury, and limitless entertainment is usually what comes to mind. But behind the glamour, marketing a modern resort located on the iconic strip is no easy feat. With countless properties vying for media attention and bookings, marketing professionals are faced with the challenge to create campaigns and strategies that cut through the noise and keep guests, as well as reporters, coming back. Kassidy Krystek was one of the leading PR forces when Resorts World Las Vegas opened in February 2021. As the Director of Public Relations and Communications, Kassidy joins us today to talk about her expertise in hospitality marketing and what properties can do to stand out from the competition. Hi, Kassidy. Thanks for joining us today.
Kassidy
Hey. Thanks for having me.
Kalli
Hey Kassidy. We’re so happy to have you here today. Very much looking forward to chatting with you. So, I really kind of wanted to dive into when you joined Resorts World, we were already, like they were already had been open for two years, but it was still like one of the most like the newest openings and an iconic property on the strip. So how did you approach coming into that environment and trying to really influence and also differentiate the early marketing from like the other established properties?
Kassidy
Yeah, it’s no easy feat and certainly is an uphill battle. Anyone will tell you. So, I came on board in February of 2023. The property opened up in June of 2021 post pandemic, you know, it was extremely tough. Obviously, there’s not a lot of people who have done it before. So, like, what is the blueprint, right? I think that the opening team had a huge feat in figuring out how they had to create marketing assets during a time where you couldn’t have people filming in person with each other. There was also a changing media landscape and sentiment was changing around the pandemic and post-pandemic and how people felt about certain things. So, you know, from call it 21 through the end of that year, all of 22 into the beginning of 23, as I was living in Las Vegas and seeing how the property was being marketed, I had a unique opportunity to sort of watch it from the outside in first before coming on board in 23. And something that was fun that I was part of in 23 actually was the launch of the Rule the World campaign, which was, call it the second iteration of the brand campaign for Resorts World. So, when they pushed out the initial marketing, which again, this was the opening team, the tone was a lot more fantasy-like, right? It leaned very heavily on entertainment, very heavily on like the what could be at Resorts World. The Rule the World campaign was shot completely by the in-house team in partnership with a creative agency in town. And the Rule the World campaign was really the reintroduction of Resorts World to the market. I think in terms of positioning it as different and new and cool, it’s sort of making it a little bit more approachable luxury in Las Vegas, right? Resorts world is modern, it’s new, it does scream luxury, but it still is very approachable. And the term modern luxury there was introduced and said a lot in terms of the brand positioning just because that’s how we wanted to be received by the public. So, when you look at that campaign, you’ll see, yeah, people are in fur coats, they’re gambling, they’re doing, you know, they’re drinking, they’re having fun in this beautiful, insane, new, shiny property, but it’s not stuffy and it’s not unapproachable. And you watch it, and you say, oh my gosh, I want to be a part of that. So, there’s the actual marketing creative assets that were pushed out. And then also in terms of how we were positioning it from a PR standpoint, how are we telling that story and that narrative with the media that we’re bringing in to experience a property and shaping that in our pitches and in the narratives that we’re pushing there. So, yeah. I would say it was wanting to make it different but still feel luxurious and make it more approachable than maybe some of what you would think as like luxury marketing.
Jenn
Yeah, and the property did do a great job with that, I will say. But I want to ask you something that’s a little bit more focused on just Vegas itself, because I think that a lot of us have seen that Vegas as a city has changed drastically from a traditional casino destination to something that Resorts World was kind of trying to tap into, right? A more modernized luxury vacation. So, I’m curious, just as an expert, how has marketing and PR evolved today across the board to kind of complement this new era of Vegas that we’re seeing?
Kassidy
Vegas is always evolving first and foremost. I grew up in Las Vegas. I’m a Vegas native. Not many people can say that. So, getting to grow up here and literally watching all of the hospitality marketing before my eyes over the years and then to come into it, working in it has certainly been a very privileged experience, I would say. But, if you look at the evolution of Vegas, right, however many years ago, I would need to pull the numbers off the top of my head, but gambling was the majority share of the revenue on the strip. And it went from gambling being how people were spending their time and their money, and now people are spending their time on entertainment and dining. in Las Vegas. They’re also having more of an appreciation for the amenities and the rooms. You know, it’s not so much like, oh, we don’t care what our room looks like. We’re gonna be out partying all night anyway, which yeah, you might be, but now people also want a really nice room and they want a really, really nice hospitality experience. So, the marketing evolution has shaped in reflection of that now. So, although as a marketer in Las Vegas, if you were working on a strip or working for a casino property, you do need to know how to market for the casino, which is a niche in itself. You also need to know how to market from a lifestyle standpoint because the average traveler now is looking at the holistic experience. They’re saying, I’m going to come to Vegas, and I want to have a great meal, and I want to shop, and I want to see all the shows, and I want to do all the things. And yeah, maybe we’ll go play slots. But now like gambling is not the main reason that people are coming to Vegas. And then there’s also the challenge of how we’re reaching those demographics. Obviously, there is a huge shift towards social now. And I know as PR professionals, we now know that social falls under PR, especially in terms of earned media, right? How are you working with influencers to tell that earned story? Even if you are maybe paying influencers or doing a trade-out, there still needs to be some sort of authenticity in how they’re telling that story and making sure that you’re really earning that positive narrative from them. in addition to all of the other earned media that’s being worked on, the owned and paid assets, et cetera.
Kalli
Yeah, I think that’s really interesting that, again, something that we maybe thought of because we’re in touch with it, but I think the average, even just the average marketing or communications professional hasn’t really thought, like the evolution of Las Vegas is so different than any other travel destination, it has so many nuances. And like you said, it is, whether it’s the casino and the entertainment, like it’s so specific and so niche. And I’m gonna actually just add another layer into that, you know, now a lot of people do live and work in the city. Like as it’s growing, there’s more people that are there full-time. So, you still want to bring them in for the entertainment, for the nightlife, for the dining. How do you market to locals versus the tourists who are coming, you know, maybe they are coming for the casino, but the locals are coming for different reasons.
Kassidy
Yeah, great question. I laugh because it’s really been interesting watching that change before my eyes right now. I think it’s no secret that Vegas is having to evolve in response to consumer sentiment across the board, right? We’ve all seen the stories. So now you have the subset of your national audience and your local audience. And the first rule in PR and marketing is always, who is your audience? What do they want? And where are they? From a national level, marketing for Las Vegas is incredibly tough. And I think that people always underestimate it because Las Vegas is such a unique market. We’ve seen it time and time again where these huge brands or really well-known concepts come into the Las Vegas market thinking that it’s gonna be a breeze. They’re like, oh, we’ve done this in LA, we’ve done this in Miami; we’ve done this in New York, you know, Chicago, et cetera. And it was a shoo-in and it was great. It was sold out, this, that, and the other. Vegas will be easy. And then they come into the Vegas market, launch marketing, strategize, whatever it is. And then they realize it’s tough. It’s not easy because if you’re marketing for something on the strip, then you have to create the demand. There isn’t going to be a captive audience there because it’s so transient. If someone is looking at, you know, sports, for example, right, they’re going to be flying in specifically for that game or, you know, for that wrestling match or for that UFC fight or whatever it is. It’s not like you’re marketing something in the LA, Southern California market where your audience is already there. They already know what’s up and they’re gonna be there regardless. Here, it takes a little bit more effort. So, then you look at the locals, right? The locals don’t want what the tourists want. They’re not where the tourists are, obviously. They’re here in Las Vegas. And the majority of the locals are tapped into the hospitality market. So, they know what’s up. I think that Stations Casinos does a really, really good job of their local marketing to, the Las Vegas Valley with their respective properties here. They do a really good job of keeping a pulse on what locals want, not just from a marketing standpoint, like what do they want to hear from us, but what do they actually want? You know, they responded to the consumer sentiment about things being too expensive, I think in a really good way. They have a lot of specials. They’re advertising it very well. And they do a really great job on social as well, telling that story that, hey, we hear you and we’re not only making these changes operationally, but we’re also having fun with it because we want to have a good relationship with you. So, it’s the things like the free parking. It’s not charging an arm and a leg for, a drink or whatever it is. And however they’re able to operationally make that work for the bottom line, kudos to them.
Jenn
Yeah. And I have moved recently from New York, and I live now in a place where it gets very touristy during Halloween. And it’s like, people, it’s the same sentiment. Like you live, people live here. People don’t think they do. And it’s like the same thing in Vegas. Like people actually live in Vegas. It’s not just for travelers. Yes, it’s a great opportunity for a wonderful vacation. And sure, there’s a lot to do, but there are people that live and work, and like you said, you’re born and raised there. So, there does sort of need to be that balance of being able to also cater to the people that are the reason that people can go there, right? And can travel and have a wonderful vacation and experience.
Kassidy
Yeah, absolutely. And I think also for locals, I’ve said it time and time again; you get so spoiled when you live in Las Vegas because we truly have everything here, from hospitality, entertainment, dining. When I travel, I honestly, I don’t even travel for a really nice hospitality experience or a really nice dining experience. Not to say that other markets don’t have that as well, but we have the best there is here. So, for locals, when you talk about what locals want, we want to be able to do the nice things that Vegas has accessible to us but make it easier for us to do. If there’s a way for me to go to a resort pool for the day, and it’s not a difficult thing to do, right? Or if I can go to a nice restaurant on the strip, or if I want to go see a show or whatever it is, I want it to be easy, and I also don’t want to feel like I’m getting ripped off. And I think in general, that’s what Las Vegas locals want, is we want to be able to play in the place that we live and not feel disgruntled about it.
Kalli
No, I definitely understand that. Another client that I’m working with is based in Hawaii, and you know, they’re also a travel attraction, not a resort, but the conversations around how are we attracting locals? What are we doing in the community? They’re actually some of the most important parts of the conversation because if the community isn’t involved, the people that live there aren’t interested in it in any way, shape or form. It just makes it really difficult and not welcoming. And especially in Hawaii, like they’re very much about a welcoming culture. You know, it really does make a difference to do those things where, like you said, like it’s the day pass to a resort pool or, you know, even the free parking, like having that special something just for the locals. Because again, a local is driving. Obviously, they’re taking their car. They’re not flying there. They’re not necessarily taking an Uber. Like they’re able to get there by car. You know, that’s something that’s meaningful to them that is going to make that difference of, well, I could, like you said, it’s easy. I could have stayed home or I could go here. You know, it’s easy. It’s enjoyable. You know, it’s a great experience.
Jenn
Well said. And one thing, too, I think that both for locals and travelers is, and what’s great about Vegas, outside of the food, right, outside of the amenities, is a lot of the major partnerships and the events that happen. There’s the celebrity residencies, which are, you know, a great opportunity for people to see their favorite musicians. And, you know, we have like the big New Year’s Eve celebration. How do you maximize PR impact for those moments? Because there are so many to choose from. There isn’t just one celebrity coming. It’s not just Janet Jackson having a residency in Vegas. You know, it’s a long list of really compelling musicians. So how, what’s the best approach in order to make sure that your property, your resort, is able to be seen against all of the competition?
Kassidy
I mean, it always is going to come down to timing and strategy for the properties that are able to lean on talent names. They try to get it out as quickly as possible. So, you’re going to start seeing the nightclubs; you may start seeing some of the theaters announce talent if it’s not already on the books. And New Year’s Eve in Las Vegas is already such a marquee moment in the calendar, right? So, I always find it interesting because I say people are going to come to Las Vegas for New Year’s anyway, but we still want to make sure that the property looks good, right? And I think all of the properties out there, it’s kind of that time to show like, oh, what we have, look what we can do. We have so much going on for New Year’s. This is why you should stay with us because although the drive and the demand is there, it’s still very competitive. Those winter months, specifically second half of December after NFR and then into January are, I don’t want to call it the slow time because the fall, winter, spring is actually the busiest time in Vegas, but it does slow down a little bit. So New Year’s Eve weekend is really a time to sort of make up for a lot of that ground during the slower weeks of the holidays, right? During Christmas, Thanksgiving is traditionally slow. So, it’s that time where you’re able to really draw a lot of mass through that entertainment. And depending on when the entertainment bookers are programming it, they can help to drive that business as well, right? So, if you have New Year’s Eve, I don’t know when it is this year, but let’s just say it’s on a Friday night, right? People are already probably going to be in town for that weekend. But if they’re programming shows on Wednesday, Thursday, or Monday, Tuesday, it might be harder to sell those shows, even if it is a big-name act. You’re driving business on those bookend days and those to the weekend so that you’re still able to make up for some of that ground. I think in terms of the names specifically, you’ll definitely see a difference in talent that’s being booked in the theaters versus the talent that’s being booked in the nightclubs. A lot of what the nightclubs will do too is they’ll have a resident that’s already on their calendar come in and do New Year’s Eve. Again, because they know that New Year’s Eve and the nightclub is going to be huge, they don’t usually need to book a specialty act for that.
Kalli
That makes so much sense. And I wouldn’t have necessarily thought of that, but it’s gonna happen. So just, no, that’s not where your extra effort lies or needs to lie rather.
Kassidy
Right, and I think, yeah, that is, so when we talk about Vegas being a difference, a different market and a nuanced market, that’s one of those things where it might seem a little bit backwards, but then you start to think about it and you say, okay, yeah, we do need to put more of an investment into call it the need states or the time where we need to drive more bodies, more business, more mass, versus times when we know that we’re already going to have it. We don’t need to spend as much.
Kalli
That makes so much sense. You know, I know that there’s so much marketing and PR that are tied to the digital aspect. And I know we touched upon this a little bit before, you know, so how do properties in Vegas approach the influencer partnerships? You know, what makes for a really great collaboration?
Kassidy
I think that there’s a lot of legwork to it. We all know; we all know this. Part of it comes down to, again, it’s all in the audience, right? Who’s your audience? What do they want? Where are they? And what it is that you’re, what that you’re pushing. In Las Vegas, we do have a number of really good local Las Vegas influencers that actually have a national audience. And, you know, there are people that I know a few degrees away that are like, I watch so and so on YouTube or I watch so and so on TikTok or that’s so cool that they covered your event or they covered your announcement or this, that and the other, which to me has been really interesting in the shift of storytelling, especially if you’re also working with media, right? Because working with media, there’s sort of a different rule set. I think a lot of us are kind of going through a learning curve with it. And then you also have the odd crossover where sometimes the media are also influencers. But I think finding success in those announcements or telling that story, you’re always going to get what you put in. So, as a marketer, as a PR professional, you need to give them as much as possible to tell the best story. Literally spoon feed it and say, hey, this is everything that we have going on. This is the best way to capture it. This is everything that you could possibly need. And again, like I said, it’s still trying to find that balance between making sure that you’re going above and beyond for that person to tell your story for you, but it’s also in an authentic way. And the experience that they’re having is authentic because at the end of the day, you know, what other people are saying about you and saying about your brand is more important than the story you’re going to tell yourself.
Jenn
Yeah, and in the same vein, I’m curious to talk with you a little bit about social media in terms of Vegas. You know, we know that unfortunately, social media can make or break someone’s reputation, right? All it takes is 1 bad tweet that could go viral. We’ve seen it happen, not just in Vegas, but in a lot of tourist destinations where people feel that they’re spending money and don’t get the adequate experience that they feel that they deserve. How in a place like Vegas that is for, is all about that and is all about giving people the best times of their lives, how do you think properties across the strip manage that reputation in real time? How does that work exactly?
Kassidy
You’ve asked the right person. I have seen it all.
Jenn
Unfortunately, yeah.
Kassidy
I’ve seen it all. I will say, once it’s out of the bottle, you can’t put it back in. Let’s just start there. Especially if it’s a situation where someone else on Twitter or TikTok is already starting to tell that story for you. People love to hate. Let’s just get that out of the way. People love a salacious story. They love the tea. They don’t care about who it is. And once that ball starts to roll, people are hooked on it, especially on TikTok. If anyone is chronically online, you know, you’ve seen the scandals on TikTok and it’s like part 4, part 5. Now we’re on part 57 of whatever is going on. So, I mean, the unfortunate answer is that you have to stop that before it starts. And I’ve always said that one of the keys to crisis management is just making sure that operational decisions are not being made to put you in a position where you now need to loop in your crisis communications team. And it’s a lot easier said than done, especially because those people that are thinking worst case scenario or thinking in headlines aren’t always in the room with operations. And that’s what we do, right? Especially if anyone has that specialty in crisis communications, you think in headlines, you think in worst case scenario, if this was going to go on the Wall Street Journal, what would the headline be? Yeah, I think at least in my experience, when the situations have happened, it’s one of those things where it’s like, one little thing blows up and now you have to backtrack, right? And it’s really just stopping it as quickly as possible and remediating from an operational standpoint to, again, going back to authenticity, saying, how can we make this right with the guest, with the customer, with our audience, so that it’s not performative, right? Whatever happened, how can we make this better? Obviously within reason, right? Always need legal sign off and their blessing to move forward. But I think that’s the simplest… simplest answer to that. And on social specifically, I think there’s always a time and a place to reply as the brand or reply or put out a statement as the organization. I will always say that your actions are going to speak louder than your words. So, if you as the company or as the brand has already remediated this and people are able to speak to that, that’s great. But there’s very rarely a situation where responding to something to, you know, quote unquote correct the story or the narrative puts you in a good… good light because usually it’s just adding fuel to the fire and you are now prolonging that, call it news cycle, right? Even if this is living on social media, there’s still a news cycle to it. It’s either going to be hot for four hours, it’s going to be hot for six hours or 12 hours, or, you know, now you’re going to go respond as a brand, and you’re going to make it hotter for now 72 hours. So, it’s really reading the room and figuring out how can you neutralize, right? And how can you neutralize from an authentic place?
Kalli
Yeah, I mean, there are definitely some times where a situation has happened, for many clients where the first question is, do we respond because of whatever the nature of it is. And I kind of want to dive a little bit deeper into crisis communications, especially in today’s political and economic climate.
Jenn
Yeah, girl.
Kassidy
Yeah. To put it lightly.
Kalli
Yes, putting it extremely lightly. What would be some of the challenges of handling a crisis in Las Vegas? Because again, like as we’ve said throughout this entire conversation, you know, Las Vegas is like a unicorn. It plays by its own rules. It dances to the beat of its own drum. So, you know, curious as to what the approach should, or the challenges would be there.
Kassidy
I think it depends on the type of crisis, always, right? I mean, all eyes are always on Vegas. So, when you are working as a PR professional, as a crisis communicator for a Las Vegas brand, I think that eyes are just always naturally drawn to Las Vegas. Again, you’re not just thinking about your audience locally and thinking about what the sentiment is in your own bubble. You need to read the room from a national standpoint, and you need to read the room as if you’re reading it in headlines. You know, it’s always what’s the headline going to be of this situation and how quickly can we quell this news cycle. I think in terms of navigating what’s going on now, I would say it’s sometimes better just to play it safe. And again, as a PR professional, you need to be reading the news every single day. You need to know what’s going on because it can be so easy to push out a piece of creative or a tweet or copy or something that sounds insensitive or it sounds like you’re not reading the room just because you didn’t check, you know, the AP today or you didn’t get caught up on whatever it was, or maybe you didn’t even see an alert about your own brand being looped into something. So, it’s not just thinking about, wow, how can I promote my own brand? How can I do all this promotional stuff? But also, how can we make sure that what we’re saying and what we’re doing is in line with how people feel? And it’s funny you bring this up because I have thought about this often, actually, the last I would say call it a year or so, right? Obviously, there’s been a lot of changes, especially in the recent months, in our country and how people feel about how things are changing very rapidly. So, I find it funny because I’m, I mean, it’s not funny, but I laugh about things I shouldn’t laugh about. But as a brand, you’re pushing all these promotions, outcomes, you know, spend money at our property, come like buy these pants we’re selling or this car or whatever it is consumerism is pushing today. And meanwhile, people are like going through things in life. You know, when does the bubble burst where as a brand, you need to read the room and say, hey, maybe we should pull this back because people have other more important things to talk about. So, I think specifically, you know, if you’re a marketer that’s marketing at the national level, those are things you need to be cognizant of, especially if you are pushing digital advertising too. too, right? If there is something happening in a specific region where things are hot, it may not be the best look to be insensitive to that, right? You need to ask yourself, hey, should we be pulling back on what we’re doing right now for, call it 12 hours or 24 hours? Or do we need to go dark on social today? Or do we need to push this announcement because we need to read the room? And I think that those are the questions that PR and marketing professionals need to be asking themselves not just every day now, but I would say multiple times a day just because of how quickly things are changing.
Kalli
Yeah, I was gonna say these days, hourly, like may not cut it.
Kassidy
Yeah, and it’s, and it’s also, it’s also a conversation that PR and marketing professionals need to assert themselves to have with senior leadership before it gets to that point. You know, this is sort of a, call it more of a career tip, right? But at some point, even if agency too, right, agency to client, before it gets to that point, if you are reading the room and you are, not everyone can predict the future, but if you can look at this and say, okay, what’s the worst case scenario here? What are we feeling instinctually? How are we discerning this situation? That conversation probably needs to be asserted sooner rather than later. Because by the time you get to a point where you need to make that decision, and you need to have that really tough conversation with senior leadership and operations, people are not thinking clearly. They’re probably thinking very reactively. They have not had time to think about this situation and this decision. And although it can be tough, as an agency to a client or an in-house professional up the ladder, it’s probably better to talk about that sooner rather than later, in my opinion.
Jenn
Yeah, I agree with that. And kind of just to sort of wrap all of this, because you have a very robust career working in hospitality, seeing things on the front line from a PR and a marketing perspective. Where do you see the hospitality industry going, whether in Vegas or just nationwide, what are some trends that you think are sort of on the horizon that people should be aware of?
Kassidy
That’s a good question. And I think that what we’re probably going to see, which I think Resorts World was a little bit ahead of the curve, is that approachable luxury positioning, right? How can guests and consumers have a really nice experience but also be getting a good value for it. And they don’t feel like they’re getting ripped off. I think people still want to travel. They still want to do nice things. And I think that we’re probably going to see more brands figure out a way to provide a really great experience that has those luxury, luxurious touches to it, but isn’t so over the top where it’s unattainable or unaffordable. I saw this TikTok the other day of this lady. She was sitting at a pool in Hawaii, and she was talking about how she was like, not only, you know, did I pay for the resort fee, but I have to pay for the lounge chair at the pool. Those sort of little anecdotes, right, are pointing the direction that people aren’t happy with being nickel and dimed like they are, and people are reading the fine print a lot more. And I think that they’re going to be making more conscious decisions about where they’re going and how they’re spending their money just because of how they feel about, you know, being itemized, right, for their vacation and for everything that they’re doing. So, I don’t know how the larger hospitality brands will respond to that, but I think that it’s going to be an important consideration in the decision-making process for consumers.
Kalli
Agreed. I mean, I know just for myself, I’ve booked a couple of trips recently where I’ve booked them because like the package is really great. Like it included the activity, the hotel, like it made it really easy. And like I, even though I on the back end know like they’re just adding up these costs and saying it’s a package but mentally you’re like this is great like I want to do all these things and I’m getting great value for it. So, Kassidy, I don’t and you I’m sure you know this already but I really, I love talking to you. I love working with you. You are an extremely polished PR professional. You have a ton of experience in hospitality, and you really just have a natural back for understanding the Vegas landscape. So just, you know, tell us, what do you, what would you like to do next in your career? Like what is on the horizon for you?
Kassidy
I wish I knew.
Kalli
You know what? That’s sometimes the best. It’s sometimes the best.
Kassidy
I recently left Resorts World. It was an incredible experience. And, I really do wish everyone there the best. I think the new leadership is really going to steer the property in the right direction. And they’re going to do incredible things. And, you know, I’ll be cheering them on from here. But yeah, right now I’m freelancing. I’m consulting. I recently, I, you know, took on a new project working with a security company. So very different than hospitality, of course, and comes with its own challenges. I love a good challenge. I’m like, I just want to feel something. You know, that’s why I love crisis too. So, but, this specifically will be interesting because it’s, again, it’s a whole different learning curve when it comes to learning about the audience. It all goes back to that and the nuances of what they’re doing and, how their business plays into, like you said, current events and how things are evolving. So, I’m really looking forward to working with them specifically. But right now, I mean, just seeing where the wind blows, not only my background is in hospitality with Resorts World, and I worked with Diamond Resorts for a number of years, also during COVID in their media department, which was absolutely insane. But I also have a background in financial technology. I have a large entertainment background. sort of have done a lot in, the last 9 ongoing 10 years of my career. So, who knows what is next? Maybe it’s everything, And I think that’s something that’s so exciting about sort of just going through the cycles of your career, right? You never know what’s going to happen, but just know that whatever’s next is going to challenge you and make you grow and make you learn new things that are required for whatever is around the corner. And the possibilities are endless. So, we’ll see.
Jenn
Absolutely. Truly well said. And I think I can speak probably on behalf of not only myself, but Kalli and our listeners when I say this conversation has very much made me want to book a trip to Vegas. So, thank you so much for talking to us. It’s an incredible city. It has such a rich culture and doing the marketing and the PR, it’s really, it’s really amazing. And it’s just incredible to kind of pick your brain and talk through just these great insights. So, thank you so much again for being here today.
Kassidy
Of course. Thank you, ladies, for having me.
Jenn
Anytime. And for our listeners, tune in on Wednesdays for new episodes and be sure to follow the Pollack Group’s social media channels for updates on your favorite PR and marketing podcast impressions. See you all next time.
