Vegas Vengeance - Staying In Touch / Sharing Photos

[Paulie_D]

Keeping In Touch

I"ve mentioned this subject a couple of times before to various people who will be attending the "You"re Gonna Need A Bigger Bar" event.

With something north of 50 people making the trip staying in touch might be on some people"s minds. I don"t expect that the whole contingent will be doing many things en masse but rather we"ll break into much smaller groups based on our preferences and social circles.

However, it might be nice if people could at least let others know what they are planning. Fortunately we live in an age of social media so we have a wide variety of avenues available.

So, I"m suggesting a Twitter "hashtag" of #apatvegas be affixed to your tweets. That way it can be searched for and you"ll get the feed even if you"re not following the person in question.

Add in Facebook and Google + updates and we"re covered.

If you wish, rather than phoning people in Vegas it is substantially cheaper (depending on your carrier/contract) to text a short message. I have known texts get lost in the ether though.

If you have an unlocked phone and wish to purchase a local sim (with data) that can also be done beforehand.

I had been planning on using MrSimCard.com but have recently come across SimCardGuru.co.uk which seems to have a number of advantages over MrSimCard for what appears to be slightly less.

Photos

I have no doubts that a shedload of pictures will be taken and it might be nice to have a central location where these can be shared.

So, I have created a Public Flickr Group called, not surprisingly "APAT-Vegas".

You can upload your photos to your personal Flickr account (which is free to join/use) and decide which to share with the group.

Any other suggestions?

[Laxie]

Master list of mobile numbers for anyone using one over there.  We send our number to you via PM.  Bunch of copies printed and we dish them out in Vegas.

[Paulie_D]

Master list of mobile numbers for anyone using one over there.  We send our number to you via PM.  Bunch of copies printed and we dish them out in Vegas.

Also a good one but I do realise that some people don"t want to give their number out and calls can be quite expensive what with roaming and such.

Doesn"t worry me as I"ll have a US number with the sim I"ll be getting. I"ll be publishing the new number once I have it.

[KarmaDope]

I"m planning on getting a disposable US cell when I arrive to give to the wedding companies et al.

[Hammerite]

Master list of mobile numbers for anyone using one over there.  We send our number to you via PM.  Bunch of copies printed and we dish them out in Vegas.

PM sent in case we are doing this.

[Paulie_D]

Here"s the link to the mobile number list. [LINK]

Please feel free to add your number.

[dwh103]

Download an app called Viber. It uses 3G/Wireless to make calls over the net = no call charges. Will require you to either use data or have a wireless connection, so perhaps limited in where you can use it.

The person you"re calling needs it too, but if enough people have it it"s not bad.

[RichEO]

I can buy a load of PAYG phones beforehand, register them and then distribute them to anyone wanting one if you want. BTW I am in Vegas now until December.

There are some decent deals, $40 will get the phone and 750 minutes. $70 with unlimited minutes and text.

[Delboy]

I can buy a load of PAYG phones beforehand, register them and then distribute them to anyone wanting one if you want. BTW I am in Vegas now until December.

There are some decent deals, $40 will get the phone and 750 minutes. $70 with unlimited minutes and text.

does this include calls to the UK?

[Jon MW]

I can buy a load of PAYG phones beforehand, register them and then distribute them to anyone wanting one if you want. BTW I am in Vegas now until December.

There are some decent deals, $40 will get the phone and 750 minutes. $70 with unlimited minutes and text.

I was going to get a PAYG from Walmart so if you could get one for me beforehand that"d be handy. I was thinking of a $50 budget so that $40 one fits nicely into it

[RichEO]

I can buy a load of PAYG phones beforehand, register them and then distribute them to anyone wanting one if you want. BTW I am in Vegas now until December.

There are some decent deals, $40 will get the phone and 750 minutes. $70 with unlimited minutes and text.

does this include calls to the UK?

Not exactly. You can add UK calls to it and it costs $5c / min more than usual. But you need a balance on the phone so the unlimited is no good  (ie not all you have to pay). If you had the per minute package you would just eat your minutes quicker. You can receive UK calls and all USA mobiles have a landline number so anyone with an international calling plan or skype in the UK can call you for cheap.

[Delboy]

I can buy a load of PAYG phones beforehand, register them and then distribute them to anyone wanting one if you want. BTW I am in Vegas now until December.

There are some decent deals, $40 will get the phone and 750 minutes. $70 with unlimited minutes and text.

does this include calls to the UK?

Not exactly. You can add UK calls to it and it costs $5c / min more than usual. But you need a balance on the phone so the unlimited is no good  (ie not all you have to pay). If you had the per minute package you would just eat your minutes quicker. You can receive UK calls and all USA mobiles have a landline number so anyone with an international calling plan or skype in the UK can call you for cheap.

Sounds good to me. Put me down for a $40 one pls Rich. It"ll be great to see you again.

(just checked back on this and realised my quoting skills were not up to much that day.... Is the offer still open Rich?)

[RioRodent]

Here"s the link to the mobile number list. [LINK]

Please feel free to add your number.

Just a little note to Paulie_D and RichEO... I beleive the country code for the US is +1 not +01.

And a note to everyone else... you may all know this, but some of you may not -

When saving any ones number in a mobile, inc. UK numbers, if you always use the +Country Code format (ie. UK is +44, US is +1), you never need to worry about using the correct International access code when you abroad.

[Paulie_D]

I got this from BT

Calling the UK from the US : 00 + 1 + City Area Code + Number

Calling the US from the UK : 011 + 44 + City Area Code + Number

Most modern phones and calling plans will allow you save numbers in the format Alan suggested (with the +) and the phone will work it out.

EDIT: forgot to mention that (AFAIK) you have to drop the first "0" from a UK mobile number when dialling it from abroad just like you do any other UK area code.

[Curlarge]

I posted this on the "Bigger Bar" thread but some may have missed it so here it is again.

My cousin, who lives in Park City, Utah, will be coming down to Las Vegas to spend a few days with me from 13th-17th. He is also going to buy a pre-paid mobile for me which roughly gets the following.

$50/£32 approx. (max cost, not sure what the local taxes are but not more than this) including taxes for a new phone and minutes as below.

200 minutes to use over 30 days from the day of the first call. Texts are 1 minute (equiv.) each.

The phone can either be discarded when you leave or used again on your next visit, you just add additional mins when needed. I can"t really see any of us being on the phone for 3 hours but for those that want one it"s a pretty cheap option.

If anyone would like to pre-prder one of these he will get as many as is required.

Once I have them in Las Vegas I will pre-assign each phone to each buyer and send the numbers to you prior to your departure from the UK so you can give it out to whomever needs to know it.

Let me know by PM asap.