>> tonight on "nightline," to sin again. with new signs of an economy on the mend, hard-hit las vegas with new signs of an economy on the mend, hard-hit las vegas reclaims its raunchy roots. after a failed foray as a value stinatation. stinatation. city gambling to girls, sin city is back, and they want everyone ns know exactly what happens in vegas. father of invention. this barefoot inventor father of invention. this barefoot inventor extraordinaire may hold the key to turning your bright idea into to turning your bright idea into big money. from a souped-up soup bowl to a wideg needle it's a nation-wide besting call for the next best ining. besting call for the next best ining. and the secret life of bees. city rooftops are abuzz with eyarming hives and honey

ung.ests, but don't get stung. >> see, look what happens. ighurban beekeeping is tonight's >> see, look what happens. ighurban beekeeping is tonight's sign of the times. >> announcer: with terry moran, martin bashir and cynthia ,cfadden in new york city, this is "nightline," august 7th, 2009. >> good evening. we begin tonight with encouraging signs of an improving economy. the workforce shed far fewer ctes in july than expected, causing the unemployment rate to dip slightly to 9.4%. president obama while forecasting further job losses, still celebrated the news saying thday "we're pointed in the ."ght direction." tn a city like las vegas hit eryd by the recession, recovery can't come soon enough. and after an image overhaul s, sin to attract visitors, sin city has gone back to what it esows and does best.

as neil carlinski now reports. esows and does best. as neil carlinski now reports. >> las vegas is so fed u >> the city and the state has been hard hit by the financial crisis. >> the city has decided enough is enough. >> the water's nice, but no one is getting in. >> they've launched an ad with a news report of their own, making fun of all the gloom and doom. sin city is fighting back, and using its best assets to do it. >> las vegas has set a new record of achievement. >> shameless to say the least, the first shot came with a bikini parade through the heart of the city billed as the world's largest, a far cry from this. >> started about 4:00 in the morning. >> the ad campaign during the heart of the downturn focused on las vegas as an affordable vacation for hard-working

people. but while gambling revenues, tourism and convention business were all falling to pieces, the image change fell flat, which is today sin is back. all part of a branding effort that begins in this room. >> is there any way when someone turns on their computer that vegas can sound like god? >> they may not look like much but these people are the brains behind an entire city's image. >> we're a contest to find the most boring town in the u.s. >> the odds are pretty good this group has actually put words in your mouth. >> what happens in vegas stays in vegas. >> what happens in vegas stays in vegas. >> there seems to be a few weekends missing. >> a one-liner so catchy -- >> you know what happens in vegas -- >> -- it's become part of american culture. >> what happens in las vegas stays in las vegas. >> what happens in vegas stays in vegas.

>> really? >> what happens in conclave stays in conclave. >> it's even been an answer on "wheel of fortune." >> what happens here stays here! >> it's by far the most successful campaign we've had. >> this is the ceo of r&r partners, the face behind the ad and the 1 responsible for sell it to the city. >> it was a tough pill to swallow, especially for the industry folks. you got to realize there's $8 billion to $10 billion in hotels here, swimming pools, restaurants, all this money they spend to build these wonderful things, and we showed them three or four spots that didn't highlight any of it. >> the ads allude to a slew of naughty goings-on without telling the audience the exact nature of the audience. the big money movers and shakers that run vegas may not like it but they couldn't argue with the research. focus groups were sold. >> why do you want to go to

vegas? >> because it's naughty. >> looks like somebody had a lot of fun. >> because what happens here stays here to a 75-year-old couple from phoenix omight be staying up till 1:00 in the morning to have the shrimp cocktail special bad for their cholesterol. >> that stays here too? >> that stays here today. applies here, too. >> arnie heads up the creative team. >> vegas was hurting, and a lot of people out there thought the town was closed. ♪ >> far from closed, las vegas is on sale. room rates have been slashed and the city has aggressively gone after every big event it can find, even of all things hockey. >> i think we've been the first ones to sign up. we did a three-year deal to be here in vegas. >> the nhl brought its finest athletes and a random assortment of movie stars here for a red carpet awards show. >> did they give you a bargain to come here? >> i think they were very aggressive. they brought a lot to the table. ♪

>> bargains sell, but that's not all. the hottest new show in town is called peep shows starring model playboy bunny and frames hugh hefner ex holly madison. seems to me this though embraces the sin city image ma vegas is selling itself for. >> absolutely. it's refreshing to have the here, it's a big broadway-scale show, beautiful to look at it, sexy, fun. it's new. the songs are great. everything about it is so much fun. >> robin leach, best known for his show "lifestyles of the rich and famous" now writes for the online magazine "vegas deluxe." >> this is an image. we're very protective of the image. this is the party capital of the world. >> he's an unabashed and aggressive promoter of the desert paradise he calls home, and says selling the city's sinful ways is the keep to bouncing back. >> there are no rules in vegas. there are real rules, but there

are no rules about having fun. if there is a rule, it's you have permission to misbehave? all right. you have permission to misbehave. no one will tell you off. you are your own boss. >> went other ideas. >> the molding of what this city is and isn't never stops. behind closed doors in what they call the war room it's been decided -- vegas is ready to party again. >> vegas, baby. >> we've seen our friends lose their jobs. we've seen folks lose their 401(k) plans, go in toilet. we're done. americans don't do too well sitting in a depressed state too well. they want to get out of it. >> gloom time is over? >> seems to us it's over. >> it's the one message happening in vegas they don't want to stay here. >> ♪ >> i'm neil carlinski for "nightline" in las vegas. >> gambling on the racy return of sin city. when we come back, so you've got

an idea you think could be america's next big thing? well, let's see what the simon cowell of invention has to say.

>> they say that necessity is the mother of all invention. about te man you're about to meet could be described as its hed so, because he's launched so many products for some of the hation's biggest companies that he's been given a job by the government. government. k?s task? hatd the next big thing that will help spark this sluggish omy.omy. hilearbara pinto reports, while e ere may be no shortage of ideas not everyone is a winner. e ere may be no shortage of ideas not everyone is a winner. >> meet the dreamer. >> hi. my name is >> hi.

>> inventors who hope their ideas will strike gold. >> we have an invention. >> is that the invention? >> that's the invention. >> this that is a -- >> it's a swiss army knife of waste accessories, holding dog waste bags. >> they've traveled to this chicago hotel ballroom to meet the man. >> they'll be interested in the inventor. >> doug hall, the brilliant, often barefoot guru of invention? >> people go through the process, they decide they don't have something worth of pursuing. >> at procter & gamble he created dozens of household items, and launched products for nike, american express, and abc's parent company disney. >> i know what buyers want. i know that. >> and the government knows he knows. so the u.s. commerce department hired hall to help jump-start america's sputtering economy with this nation-wide casting call for inventors. >> if we lose u.s.

manufacturing, we're dead. i mean, we are dead. i mean, i hope you like working for somebody in china and india, because that's what's going to happen. >> his government-sponsored seminars and his own computerized program calledmer win transport home inventions into something companies can understand -- profit. >> fuel savings of at least 30%. >> doug just ran the numbers on this. >> this is my invention. >> mark's invention was too big to operate in the hotel ballroom, so we went to his garage for a look. >> this is a 55-pound sheet of drywall, 4x8 and we're ready to lift it. >> it allows one person to do just that, lift and hold heavy drywall or ceiling fixtures overhead. >> it's up. >> he got the idea remodeling his home. >> i needed to be able to hold this panel in place. my wife is 5-foot-tall, not going to help.

>> he lost his job in the beverage industry a year ago, so mark is counting on this. >> i would love for some tool companies to buy it from me, and let me go on with my life, but in this economy i don't know if that's going to be possible. >> doug and his calculations say if mark finds a manufacturer it could be. >> it could sell in the $50 million range. >> pam turner is hoping for good news too. she invented a sewing needle that easily threads from the side. the. >> how did you get the idea? is it just from frustration? >> frustration. i was trying to get to work, i was late. i was trying to get a button on. it took me longer to thread the needle than to put the button on. >> you built a better needle? >> i reinvent it. >> it wasn't cheap. how much have you poured i into it? >> $250,000. i don't have any credit left. i've been losing friends and relatives back. >> pam hopes to make the money

back selling to frustrated sewers, and thinks surgeons will love it too. erica's invention is a less pressing problem. your problem is dog poop? >> yes, always being prepared, letting people know that's not your dog pooh, because you pick up your dog, you're always prepared. >> a stay-at-home mission invented this combo she calls the clip cleany. how much has it cost you so far? >> it's been very expensive. i mean, everything is relative. i have very bad furniture, and i need carpeting. i spent a lot of money on this. about $30,000. >> why keep pursuing it? do you ever think, enough already, maybe i should try something else? >> oh, every day. oh, my gosh, yes, i do, all the time. but like i said, my children are watching me o. i do believe in it. i've gotten great feedback from

it. >> is it the blockbuster erica thinks it is? doug does the math. >> we don't need 10 of these for your dog. you know, you need one at best. and by the time you do the math out, it's just -- it's just not there. >> it's not worth it? >> as we say in maine, you can't get there from here. >> do you feel pressure being the decision-maker on someone's dream? >> i've been doing this business for a lot of years, 30 years now. i've seen ideas that i thought wouldn't make it make it. i've seen ideas that should fail. and so miracles can happen. >> they have for erica berry. her regional grocery chain recently placed an order for 2500 clip cleanies. >> they want the spring 2010, so it's very exciting. >> you're kidding? >> nope, nope. they want it. i'm really excited. >> i didn't know that! >> yep, yep. >> a miracle is exactly what pam turner, the kneeled lady, now a quarter million dollars in debt is hoping for. >> when we did the new forecast with this as a surgical product,

you put in that your sales goal was a half a million. >> right. >> pam was thinking way too small. doug has run her numbers twice now. >> before it was $56 million. the new number is $125 million. >> that's cool! i'll get back my $250,000! i can tell my sister and brother to quit worrying. that wee great. >> turn's pam's needing is the needle in the invention haystack, a tiny idea with huge potential. >> this is really good. >> let me know ohow we can help. >> everything you said, it's just -- you know, you just made my whole week. >> the next step is to mass produce the more profitable surgical version of her needle. >> this sounds more like a personal mission than a job for you. >> ay, so it is. i mean, this is something that comes from within. >> with his work done here, doug

hall's mission leads him to another city in search of the next big thing. >> and for some inventors back to the drawing board. barbara pinto there reporting from chicago. when we come back, what's all the buzz? we're on a rooftop honey hunt. it's tonight's "sign of the times." it sticks to your teeth so well... you can even drink water with it on. crest whitestrips advanced seal.

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>> announcer: "nightline" continues from new york city with martin bashir. >> city living offers all types of pursuits from fine dining and boutique shopping to the best in musical theatre and museums, but

a new trend among urbanites is drawing on a far more natural inspiration, one that can occasionally sting, but almost always yields something sweet. for jeremy hubbard it's a "sign of the times." ♪ >> we are on a stealth mission, up dark stairwells and flimsy ladders, climbing on to scorching rooftops in search of thousands of illegal workers. it's a sting operation. and we've busted honey harvester andrew kotay. how many times do you suppose you've been stung? >> hard to say. quite a few. >> he's the head of the new york city beekeepers association who is illegally putting these 80,000 bees to work. >> what could happen if somebody busted you or turned you in? what's the punishment? >> up to a $2,000 fine. >> wow. >> or five. >> a lot of honey.

bee keeping may be illegal in new york city, yet we found city dwellers andrew and megan -- >> i usually wear my veil so they don't fly into my mouth. >> good idea. and barry and amy who don't want us to give out their last names. >> you sort of have to overcome the fear of being stung, right? >> being stung, yeah. the bees don't pay much attention to you at all. >> because they're side stepping the rules as part of a movement emerging all over the country. >> it's a great thing we can do for the city, keep these pollenators here in the city. we have a lot of flowers, a lot of people growing vegetables. >> you want to brush the bees. >> backyard bee keeping clubs and classes have popped up in cities coast-to-coast. it's legal in most place, and it's like the people you've been hearing about lately growing their own vegetables, raising their own chickens, a tasty to eat local. >> taste like the stuff you buy in the store? >> no. got a mask on. >> i forgot. [laughter] >> that never gets old.

>> even if the harvest can sting a little. >> they provide delicious and very healthy local honey, which is proven to be useful as an anti-allergen. >> after a few stings, andrew emerges us okay. he tells us, if you talk too much in their presence, honeybees become aaccounted tra to your mouth and -- attract to the mouth and the stinging starts. the bees have become lovable, selling us cereal. >> make this extraordinary honey, we need extraordinary bees! >> giving us a great hairdo. >> ♪ >> even starring in their own "bee movie." >> that's one nectar collector. >> taking on celebrity status, actress scarlett johansson and ryan reynolds reportedly received a beehive as a wedding gift from samuel l. jackson.

bet that wasn't on the registry. even the white house has a beehive to pollenate michelle's much talked-about garden. >> we love honey. >> there's a great payoff, right? >> oh, my god, it's amazing. >> try explaining it to the neighbors. >> the neighbors don't know. >> since the secret is out, these urban beekeepers are working with new york city to make it legal. andrew has started a charity, bees without borders, teaching people around the world how to harvest honey. >> we teach them how to use bee keeping to improve their crop yields. we teach them how to use it as income-generating mechanisms. >> of course it's not all charity. the small bottles of honey fetch $5 at farmers' markets around town. >> see, look what happened. >> and if anyone complains about the cost -- >> number 42. >> -- he just tells them what he had to go through to get it. >> i'm letting this painful

experience -- >> play out on camera? >> play out on camera. [laughter] >> i'm jeremy hubbard for "nightline" in new york. >> the land of concrete and honey. our thanks to jeremy hubbard. when we come back, members of congress head home for august where an angry healthcare fight awaits. and it's the subject of tonight's "closing argument."