One of the lessons I have learned in life is that you just can’t fix the world.  You can’t fix EVERY person, you can’t fix EVERY company, you can’t fix EVERYthing.  Don’t use up all your energy and emotion trying.

I get 50 phone calls and 300 emails a day, mostly requests for help.  Since my purpose in life is helping others, I spend most of my daying doing just that.  Finding candidates new jobs, donating my time and financial resources to charity, and making introductions between people that can help each other.  All that stated, I can’t help everyone.  And when you can’t help people, many do not take it well. 

Consider the person that wanted me to invest in his cooking show.  I said "no thank you, not really my passion."  He then told anyone that would listen that I was a jerk.  Actually, I just did not want to invest in a cooking show.

Consider the candidates that come to me for jobs. When you have a hundred candidates for every open job, it’s not possible to submit everyone.  So I match the candidates by education, experience and culture, submitting those that are an exact match for the job descriptions.  In many cases when I tell a candidate they are not a good match they say "Mark’s a jerk."  Even had a few say "Mark is not a Chritian – he proclaims to help people, but he did not help me."  Well, I am a Christian, I do help many people, however it would be accurate to say I can’t help everyone.

It is written in the book of Matthew, I tell you the truth, whatever you did for the least of these brothers, you did for Me.”  So I do my best for as many as I can. God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.

Road trip!  Leaving for Las Vegas tomorrow (May 13), then over to Los Angeles.  Highlight of the Las Vegas trip is a Cigar Smoker at the Stirling Club with a dozen executives and celebrities.  Highlight of the Los Angeles trip is a Godfather "Sit Down" at House of Blues West Hollywood and a CIO Mixer at Hollywood Park.  I’m especially proud of the CIO event since getting technology events to an event is like herding cats.

Las Vegas job market has finally stabilized.  Most recent financial results were off 10%, however that is a marked improvement from the last two quarters.  We are hopeful for a busier summer and a convention filled Fall.  The Godfather’s phone has been ringing the last two weeks, and I’m scouting out a dozen "C" level positions. The top two are a Loyalty Marketing position at $300,000 and a Chief Game Designer at $250,000.  Beyond that, plenty of casino GM and marketing positions.

The next Godfather "Sit Down" in Las Vegas is at Red Rock Resort in June.  The event is nearly sold out today, over a month in advance.  The Godfather will be hosting The BIG 80s Remix on September 11 at LAVO inside the Palazzo.  This is a rare, open to the public Godfather event benefitting Big Brothers Big Sisters.  Tickets are available at www.bbbsn.org.

The last event of the year will be during G2E in November.  Tired of those huge parties with 1,000 attendees, and 800 of them are sales guys?  The Godfather’s event will be 100 of the top gaming executives from across America.  No sales guys, no marketing guys, no solicitors.  We will be on the roof of the Las Vegas Hilton in one of the largest and most spectacular High Roller suites in Las Vegas.

Woohoo! You know, you can’t pay for entertainment like that! Over seventy of the best executives, entrepreneurs and celebrities in America showed up for The Godfather’s "Sit Down" in the old Elvis Suite on the roof of the Las Vegas Hilton. Click on the Photo Gallery to check out the pictures.  I am exceedingly blessed to have so many amazing friends! Thank you to:

God.  First and foremost, I thank God for the opportunity to meet all of you. I am exceedingly blessed to have so many wonderful friends and clients.

Greetings from the Godfather of Las Vegas!  I have several events coming up over the the next 60 days.  These are all private, invitation only events for my clients and close friends.  An opportunity to meet the best people in America!

The Old Elvis Suite at the Las Vegas Hilton (April) – This event is SOLD OUT!  Guest list is the best executives and entrepreneurs in Las Vegas…and a few surprises!  Sponsored by Lori Heinemann (Microstrategy), Eric Swenson (RSJ Swenson) and Pat Murphy (Brocade).

House of Blues Dallas (April) – This event is SOLD OUT!  Guest list is 25 of the best executives and entrepreneurs in Dallas.  Sponsored by Benjamin Kuntz of CareerBuilder.

House of Blues West Hollywood (May) – The last event at HOB was a "10".  Not sure it can get any better, but we will try.  Scaling back from 75 guests to 60.  The House of Blues is on Sunset Blvd. in the middle of the TMZ.  Sponsored by Brian Callahan of Markwood Capital and Joe Preis of GCR.

Hollywood Park CIO Mixer (May) – We had so much fun last year…we are back again!  Thirty of the top technology executives in America.  Sponsored by Sanjiv Goyal of Droisys and Phil Rodas of Quest.

Red Rock Resort Las Vegas (June) – Invitations have not gone out yet.  Venue is one of the premiere "suites" in America.  Sponsored by Lori Heinemann (Microstrategy), Wade Harris (Commvault), Chuck Halsey (Willis Group) and Pat Murphy (Brocade).

The Godfather’s "Will Work for Food Tour" has concluded.   One week in Los Angeles, one week in San Francisco and two weeks in Las Vegas.  Conclusion?  Things are tough all over.

Depression 2.0 (when the stock market falls 50%, that is NOT a recession) has affected me in three ways.  First, my travel schedule will be curtailed for the balance of the year.  With no business or revenues, my personal philosophy of "don’t spend money you don’t have" kicks in.  Second, my ability to place executives in exciting new career opportunities is diminished.  Fortunately, most of the "A Players" are huddled down for the next year to ride this out.  Finally, and most importantly, I am not able to lend my time and financial resources to my favorite charity organizations.  Kind of heartbreaking, but this too shall pass.

The interesting news for me over the last month was two fold.  My clients in San Francisco communicated that high tech has taken a major hit from the economy.  Hardware and software are capital expenditures, so I guess that does make sense.  Also, quite a bit of executive movement in Las Vegas.  People getting out of the casino business, people leaving Las Vegas in a big way (traffic is way better!) and executives just trying to find that right opportunity.  When the economy rebounds in 2010, it’s going to get interesting!