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The purpose of this paper is to better understand the dramatic transformation of Las Vegas from a local watering hole to a world renowned entertainment city, and to offer predictions of what this ever-changing city might become in the future.

A series of turning points in Las Vegas’ history are presented in a chronological manner, highlighting how external forces have played a role in shaping the city into what it is today. These external forces are then used as the underlying reasoning for a series of scenarios, signposts informing predictions detailing what might happen to Las Vegas in the future.

The development of Las Vegas has been influenced by a wide range of external factors, from geology, government, organized crime, business visionaries, large corporations and the economy. The continued influence of these factors could lead to drastically divergent outcomes from the loss of the city to a new golden age.

This paper identifies turning points that have helped to shape the development of Las Vegas, and in doing so encourages researchers to consider future scenarios grounded in the underlying dynamics of the turning points.

The purpose of this study is to identify the optimal meetings, incentive travel, conventions, and exhibitions (MICE) capacity for Las Vegas and analyze the over‐ and under‐capacity situation in Las Vegas from 2010 through 2014. The study provides recommendations for Las Vegas's future MICE development based on the capacity analysis.

A single‐period inventory model, which involves cost of over‐capacity, cost of under‐capacity, and forecasted future MICE demand, was used to identify the optimal capacity in terms of MICE square foot days for each year from 2010 through 2014. The model, which identified optimal capacity, was compared to the planned available capacity for each year to determine the magnitude of over‐ or under‐capacity.

The cost of over‐capacity was found much greater than the cost of under‐capacity. The model that identified optimal capacity indicates that Las Vegas will experience severe over‐capacity from 2010 to 2014.

The findings of this study should help researchers and practitioners evaluate the current status of the Las Vegas MICE industry in terms of capacity efficiency. The results suggest that the MICE development in Las Vegas is heading for over‐capacity and the industry must downscale its development plan in the near future to avoid severe over‐capacity.

For the first time in MICE research, this study develops an inventory model for determining the optimal MICE capacity. The model enables researchers and practitioners to identify and quantify over‐ and under‐capacity in the MICE industry in a scientific way.

The purpose of this study was to discover, qualitatively, periods of involvement in Las Vegas gambling marketing campaigns and analyze success factors that may be useful to other gambling destinations, particularly in the Asian market.

The study was established to allow a two-pronged approach of semi-structured interviews and site analysis coupled with review of planning and marketing documents in Las Vegas, Nevada 1980–2000 era and ending with the 2019 branding approach.

Results revealed degrees of success and rationales for changes in campaigns over a 40-year period. When analyzing market strategies, it became evident that many factors were involved decisions to visit Las Vegas, such as social, safety and security factors, as well as opportunities for recreation.

Gaining access to top level executives proved challenging due to reluctance of subjects wanting to disclose business strategies.

This study was unique in employing qualitative processes to elicit planning and marketing approaches and relative successes or failures from those involved in multi-property management. Further, analysis of documents over a wide time frame provided insight into the pitfalls and strengths associated with various campaigns.

This study seeks to assess international tourists' perception of safety while shopping in the USA, using Las Vegas as the study site. Over recent years, Las Vegas became an international destination for visitors from the Asia‐Pacific region to celebrate Chinese New Year. In February 2007, Las Vegas hosted the NBA All‐Star Game for the first time from February 16 to 18. The two major events occurred over the same weekend. When two cultures shared a single site, however, the combination presented an issue of safety concern.

Data were collected using an intercept methodology over the three‐day period in a major shopping venue/casino from February 15 to 17, 2007.

The study finds that many of the tourists carried a large amount of cash on their person. As the week progressed, Asian visitors were less likely to feel their person and belongings were safe in the three major venues researched of restaurants, shopping centers, and amusement parks.

Few papers have addressed the safety concerns of international tourists in the USA, specifically in Las Vegas. Findings of this study contribute to the safety and security management of various tourist venues.

As the University of Nevada, Las Vegas continues building its new library, questions arise: Will the library instruction section be responsible for teaching students how to use word processing software? How will the new location affect the demand for bibliographic instruction? What will the new classrooms look like? In addition, staffing limitations, the library’s electronic environment, support from the teaching faculty, the library’s budget, and user demographics produce pressures that drive the direction an instruction program ultimately follows. The library staff can influence and control all of these pressures except one: user demographics. In this article, the authors discuss UNLV’s user population, how it has affected the development of a flexible library instruction program at UNLV, and how the online tutorial at another large urban university relates to its user population.

YouthBuild programs are uniquely designed to address the status of unemployed and uneducated young men and women who are disconnected from work and education. This study, on YouthBuild Las Vegas (YBLV), aims to fill the call for more research on transformative service research, specifically related to education, poverty and well-being. The program educates “opportunity youth” in construction skills while also encouraging progression toward a GED/HiSet or high school diploma. Service providers can better understand how to increase and support reconnection and well-being, especially among low-income individuals in communities with great needs for support services.

This yearlong qualitative research study intended to better understand transformative service within the context of former high school dropouts previously without a path to a productive future. YBLV was an ideal single-site case study because it was bound by space, people, organization and time. The study followed one YBLV class from admission through graduation; the qualitative work with the organization started prior to the students’ enrollment and continued after the students graduated. Primary data collections were interviews and observations. Additional data collection occurred in the forms of written documents, as well as photos and videos.

YBLV succeeded because of service providers’ attention to the funds of knowledge of the student population and adapting the format and structure of programs to adult learners, developing mentors for consumers and acknowledging the context and layers of knowledge that consumers brought to the program. The students were able to experience reconnection and increased well-being because of the service providers’ impact throughout the program.

Transformative service research (TSR) research has focused on areas as diverse as health care and homelessness, whereas the lens of funds of knowledge has primarily been applied within educational settings. It would be worthwhile to apply funds of knowledge framework beyond education yet still within the TSR agenda. There are also opportunities to apply the theory to other vulnerable populations. Broadening the scope of reconnection and well-being TSR research far beyond YouthBuild may identify additional or other synergies between these areas.

The growing body of research on TSR suggested a gap in understanding how service providers can support consumers in poverty and a need for greater well-being. This study on YouthBuild highlighted the phenomenon among low-income, undereducated, urban young adults and while the goal of qualitative research is not to be generalizable, specific examples such as adapting programs and structures to low-income consumers, developing mentors to model wanted behavior and goal-setting and acknowledging the funds of knowledge that consumers bring to situations, can be generic ingredients for future transformative service projects.

Research has demonstrated that public investment in programs that assist youth toward a positive trajectory and greater well-being is much more beneficial than disciplinary measures such as increased spending on policing and prisons. Employment and educational training programs have led to measurable success and when disconnected youth have greater vocational training and high school completion, they and the broader economy experience improved outcomes. Therefore, from a policy perspective, YouthBuild and programs like it emphasize growth, development and well-being for undereducated and low-income individuals.

The funds of knowledge theoretical framework are new to the Journal of Services Marketing (JSM). That framework coupled with the population of former high school dropouts in a second-chance school and a focus on service providers and well-being within a poverty context, all contribute to the paper’s originality. Reconnection is also a relatively new concept for readers of JSM. These three areas: funds of knowledge, reconnection and TSR are the backbone of this research.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze walking activity and recent efforts at augmenting walkability conditions in the cities of Macau, Lisbon and Las Vegas.

The methodology consisted mostly of in-loco observations, pedestrian counts and extensive reviews of the literature, city plans and regulations.

The findings include the need to properly design, maintain and retrofit pedestrian facilities, while reducing safety conflicts among street users as well as the establishment and the nurturing of a culture of walking.

A fivefold international walkability research agenda with implications for other cities around the world is established: the value and the need for comparative studies and best practices; the need for urban design interventions; the cultivation of attractiveness and aesthetics; the implementation of safety, construction and maintenance criteria; and responsible funding programs.

This paper has twofold implications for stakeholders with direct responsibilities in the design, planning, building and maintenance of streets and public spaces, and for those who simply use those places at their own discretion.

A succinct set of recommendations include the need to augment endogeneity, the need to make cities for people and not for automobiles and commitment to resolving pedestrian safety concerns.

This paper discusses the factors affecting street vibrancy from both a stakeholder’s and a user’s perspective. The fundamental and inalienable right to walk is analyzed using the WPPFUS framework (walking levels, purposes, primacy of walking, facilities, unique features and safety concerns).

This paper aims to examine the anatomy of a real estate bubble. In the process, the paper identifies three phases of the market's evolution: flips, flops and foreclosures. An examination of the Las Vegas real estate market illustrates the three phases.

The paper examines transaction data from the metropolitan Las Vegas area (Clark County) from 1994 to 2009. The first part of the analysis identifies the three phases of the bubble and is descriptive in nature. This is followed by more formal tests of Granger causality.

In the early part of the sample, a large percentage of transactions are speculative or “flips” causing prices to rapidly increase. Eventually, flipping loses its profitability and over the last three years, there is an increasing number of foreclosures leading to falling prices. The descriptive analysis of the Las Vegas market is augmented with causality tests which show that prices were the driving force behind all three phases in the market's evolution.

Future research might focus on underlying structural inter‐temporal relationships to augment the Granger causality tests.

Analysis shows that price is the driving force behind a bubble and that loan modification programs alone will not solve the current housing crisis.

Government entities might expand neighborhood stabilization programs to affect both demand and supply of homes. Moreover, it might be prudent to include information related to flipping on multiple listing service agreements. Additionally, local governments should be consistent in their record keeping.

To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first paper to examine the housing bubble using an extensive set of transaction data.

This paper aims to expand the theory of situated learning with the application of technology and provides a technology-based situated learning model with suggestions for doctoral program design.

A literature review of the relevant topics was conducted. Themes emerged by the systematic review of the relevant studies and theoretical framework.

Studies reveal that part-time doctoral students often feel unsupported, dissatisfied and disconnected with their program. Many of these issues may be mitigated by faculty and peer mentoring, and various forms of asynchronous communication through a situated learning framework with interactive communication technologies.

Research of doctoral education should pay more attention to part-time doctoral students and investigate the quality of their programs given their individual needs, and how their progression and completion can be achieved through the innovative approaches proposed in this study.

Program designers may use a technology-based situated learning approach in program design to fulfill part-time doctoral students’ needs toward enhancing mentorship, students’ academic self-efficacy and career preparation. Further support is offered through a virtual community of practice.

This paper draws researchers’ attention to program design and part-time doctoral students’ retention and completion of a doctoral program.

This study provides an innovative synergetic model that helps administrators and program designers to design doctoral programs and motivates researchers to conduct research regarding part-time doctoral students.

How will schools reinvent themselves to respond to the technological and economic demands of the mid-21st century? In response to the demands, a school district in the western region of the United States implemented a model patterned after the franchise business model. Two effective principals were tasked to simultaneously lead multiple high-risk elementary schools and to replicate the success they achieved from their flagship school. This paper aims to introduce the concept of franchise model schools. It also examines the innovative impact of the model as it relates to student achievement and leadership development.

The methodology for this research was a case study approach. This case study sought to examine teacher and school leaders' perceptions of the implementation of the franchise model school framework. The setting of this case study was five franchise model elementary schools in the western region of the United States. Participants of this study included 37 grade-level teacher leaders and 133 teacher respondents to an online questionnaire. Semi-structured focus group interviews were conducted with grade-level teacher leaders at each participating school. State and site-based academic assessments were also collected and analyzed.

Due to the novelty of the franchise model schools, the long-term effects on student outcomes are not yet discernable. Interviews with the teachers and school leaders revealed that staff morale was low after the initial implementation of the model and student assessment scores also decreased after the first year of implementation. The current pattern of student assessment revealed a decrease after the first year of implementation and a small increase after the second year. Findings revealed assistant principals within the model increased their leadership capacity and efficacy. Assistant principals felt confident in their ability to lead a school as principals.

The implementation of franchise model schools is unique to the United States education system. Minimal research exists which examines the novelty and impact of franchise model schools. This case study has the potential to inform school systems, policy-makers and educator preparation programs of new practices and innovative structures that can help meet the demands of obtaining a mid-21st-century education. For educational leadership preparation programs, the use of this model provides new practicum and internship opportunities for aspiring school administrators.