Oral history interview with Junior Fonotisatele conducted by Cecilia Winchell and Stefani Evans on November 10, 2021 for Reflections: The Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project. Junior discusses his Samoan background and the importance of strong family values. He talks about his early years in Utah and California before moving to Las Vegas where he attended and graduated from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Junior shares his employment history as a bodyguard for Floyd Mayweather, an entrepreneur of a clothing brand, and an investor into a range of ventures including security, solar energy, and mental health. He concludes with a discussion of Samoan cultural celebrations, his religion, and the significance of his tattoos.
Oral history interview with Danny Cluff conducted by Claytee D. White on December 8, 2017 for the Remembering 1 October Oral History Project. In this interview, Danny Cluff discusses his attendance at the Route 91 Harvest music festival on the evening of the October 1, 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada with his friends and nephew. He talks of finding safety in Hooters with other survivors from the concert. When speaking of gun control, he discusses his perspectives on human nature, citing his experiences during and after the concert shooting. Throughout the interview, Cluff speaks of the ways he has healed and kept positive after the shooting, such as laughing through the hard times and writing poetry, of which he gives a few samples.
William Morgan was born in Kansas City, Missouri and moved to Las Vegas with his family in 1969. Morgan entered the slot industry early by becoming an instructor at his father’s gaming school which provided instruction on slot and arcade repair and maintenance. His start in the gaming industry was in 1989 when he became a slot technician at the Imperial Palace. Morgan would later move to the MGM Grand as a journeyman slot technician in 1993 and eventually to the Stratosphere in 1996 as shift lead slot technician. Shortly thereafter, Morgan moved to Tunica, Mississippi to become director of slot technical and arcade at Grand Casino Tunica. After moving back to Las Vegas, Morgan became a lead slot technician at New York-New York as it was opening as well. After going back to Grand Casino Tunica for a short period of time, Morgan returned to MGM Grand and eventually back to New York-New York where he was able to promote to slot technical manager. He then moved to the Aladdin to also become slot technical manager where he stayed until 2004. He held the same position at the Lady Luck and later helped to develop The Plaza in Downtown Las Vegas. In 2005, Morgan began working for AC Coin & Slot as western regional service manager and was later promoted to national service manager in 2011. He worked at AC Coin & Slot until it closed in 2013. The interview with Morgan starts with his discussion of his background in slot repair and management, including his experiences in opening several properties. He goes on to give his opinions on which qualities make good slot managers and then discusses his approaches to both laying out a slot floor and interacting with customers. Morgan then describes how slot machines have changed since he started in the industry. The future of slot machines is also mentioned, particularly how the use of Wi-Fi technology could change the way games are played. The interview finalizes with Morgan’s advice to those who wish to go into the slot industry.