Article below in today's USA Today. Interesting quotes from Steve Wynn and my client Anthony Curtis, whose website address got two mentions. In the PR world that is like finding a Z9 rated chip in slightly used condition.

By Kitty Bean Yancey, USA TODAY
In a year that brought headline-making layoffs at some Las Vegas casino hotels, Strip mogul Steve Wynn has glad tidings: He is taking applications for 5,300 jobs at his new resort starting Sunday.
He announced via phone this week that he's looking for "happy critters" to staff his 2,034-suite Encore, a bronze tower next to 3-year-old Wynn Las Vegas that he says could open in late December. Job applications can be submitted at EncoreLasVegas.com, where reservations are being taken for February and beyond at rates starting at just under $300 a night.
But isn't the man who brought us a spewing volcano when he owned The Mirage nearly two decades ago nervous about opening a mega-property when Vegas visitation is flat and fuel prices are forcing cuts in flights?
"Welcome to the club," the plain-spoken Wynn, 66, says. "You're not the Lone Ranger here" in expressing concern about Vegas' prospects.
"No one knows what's coming next. … But I'm not the Chamber of Commerce, so I really don't care" about sinking rates at other, more mass-market properties.
LasVegasAdvisor.com, which gives updates on Vegas deals and doings, surveyed 84 casino hotels and found that more than half (47) had rooms available for $50 or less this month.
Even luxury resorts are lowering room rates, offering meal and gaming credits.
The survey found rates below $90 at popular casino resorts including the Las Vegas Hilton, Luxor, MGM Grand, Flamingo, Hard Rock, The Mirage, Planet Hollywood and Monte Carlo.
Not all hotels have taken a hit on prices: The Hilton and The Venetian offered July rates higher than last year's. The lowest July rate found at Wynn Las Vegas was $199 vs. $228 in July 2007, LasVegasAdvisor.com president Anthony Curtis says.
Wynn says that his occupancy has been averaging 95% all year and that his resort caters to "a niche" — the well-heeled who are continuing to spend at the tables, shops and restaurants.
"I'm not MGM Grand that has a whole group" of properties, some of which rely on the budget-conscious, he says of a longtime Vegas rival.
Curtis says the continuing demand for Wynn, The Venetian, Bellagio and other high-end casino hotels "may support some of Steve Wynn's contentions about insulation (from the Vegas downturn) at the highest levels."
The statistics aren't as dismal as the mood of some in Vegas. Though passenger traffic at McCarran International Airport was down 2.4% from January through May, overall visitation was flat (0%) in that period, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority says. Tuesday, the Clark County Commission approved a contract for a third terminal at the airport.
Convention spending, however, was down 4.9% January through May, the number of rooms was up 2.7% and the average daily room rate was down 4.3%. Strip gaming revenue dropped 5.6% through May (16.4% in May alone), the Visitors Authority says.
Curtis says people are walking away from deposits on hotel condos, shows are being discounted, and "for the first time in my memory, we've seen buffet prices go down."
Vegas-based Bill Geoghegan, president of Lodging & Gaming Technology Consulting, noted $37 rooms at Circus Circus on the Strip this week. Given the hotel building boom, "the better deals consumers are going to get."
Says Curtis: "I'm not saying there's blood in the streets. But Vegas is feeling (pain). The town is down."