Interview SCHMIDT GROUP
INTERVIEW: ARNE SCHMIDT, MANAGING DIRECTOR, AND ROBERT HESS, HEAD OF COMMUNICATIONS, SCHMIDT GROUP.
G3: Mr Schmidt, we can see that you feel at home in this industry
AS: I have been brought up in the industry. My father founded the Schmidt Group. We have always looked to new developing innovations and that thirst for bringing better, more exciting solu- tions to market, remains with us and characterises what we do.
G3: What is your opinion of the IMA?
AS: The IMA is the best we have in the industry. All exhibitors have been looking forward to the show. There are many new things to see and natu- rally it is a pleasure to greet our customers here. You could say the IMA is split into two sections: the daily part for business and the evenings for networking and socialising. Both are just as important as each other.
RH: Thank goodness we have the IMA again. Our customers are positive despite the uncertain polit- ical situation. The feeling comes through that this industry has a future from 2017 onwards. Customers want to know what is new here. They believe in future business potentials. I personally have been in this industry for 18 years now and I can say that the professionalism of our customers is as strong as ever. Many industry participants are active on behalf of the industry in associa- tions. There are more and more seminars on offer on the subject of responsible gambling. Five years ago I could not have imagined that being the case in the industry.
G3: Why does the industry then suffer from such a poor public image?
AS: Too many politicians treat our industry as they did 20 years ago. Many do not see the vast changes our industry has gone through. We are a professional industry, providing a form of enter- tainment, indeed with an element of risk, yet we acknowledge that and provide a network of sup- port.
RH: You can also see it this way: journalists do not have much time. When they are supposed to report on our industry, they check Internet search engines and are mostly confronted with negative news. They use this as their basis and are no longer impartial.
G3: There seems to be an ‘us and them’ attitude between the industry and politicians?
AS: Yes, and this needs to stop. It has been all too easy to criticise politicians who have spoken against us. We need to approach these politicians and understand why they are making such state- ments. We need to reach out to them and look for common dialogue. Furthermore, we have far too
4 4
Arne Schmidt, Managing Director, Schmidt Group
many associations. We need to speak with one voice.
RH: Exactly. The newly formed ‘Deutsche Automatenwirtschaft’ is the first step in this direction. Furthermore, we need to accept that AWP gaming rightly belongs to the Interstate Gambling Treaty. We are a form of gambling and need to have dialogue with the other segments within gambling to see where we have common- alities.
AS: My approach is not to look at the status quo and take our judgements from there. We need to look at gambling in its entirety, asking questions such as ‘how does it take place?’ Where does the demand come from?’ ‘What forms of gambling do people want, for example, land-based or mobile or online or a combination of these? What size of bets do people want to place? Only when we understand the demand for gambling, then we can provide the right supply for gambling in place.
G3: The German gambling industry is rather frag- mented, though.
AS: That is where we need to change as well. We must reach out to the other forms of gambling and look for interaction between us. Once we have answered the question, ‘what are the ideal forms of gambling?’ can we then create the ideal portfo- lio. This naturally includes player protection, in other words responsible gaming. We must ask the same questions, ‘what are the ideal forms of responsible gaming?’ This then will make it most effective and simplest to control.
G3: So the goal to is define the vision of gambling and then create the portfolio around it?
RH: The global gambling market is changing quickly. To stand still here in Germany would not be coherent to this.
AS: We would then have no goals, no corporate direction. Our industry is not just about AWPs. We
Robert Hess, Head of Communications.
have to all get this into our heads. It is about legal gambling or how we can create the best offers to make illegal gambling as unattractive as possible.
RH: Lotto, casinos and sports-betting are all dif- ferent segments and are treated differently. We need to change this. A problem gambler is a prob- lem gambler regardless of where he or she plays too much. All gambling providers need to sit together at the table and find a common solution to combat gambling addiction.
G3: Players can now ban themselves at arcades and not only at casinos. Isn’t this a step in the right direction?
AS: Only to a point. A player who bans him or her- self is then banned for life. That is a big step to take. This player can only rescind the ban with a medial certificate that confirms that all pathologi- cal problems have been solved. A doctor will think twice before attesting to that. Thus, we believe that the majority of players who believe they may be affected will not make use of the ban. It needs to be altered to a temporary ban – for the player to see how he/she is affected. That would make it more player-friendly and affective and problem gamblers would be more willing to make that first essential step to self-help.
RH: At present the bans are implemented in dif- ferent ways. Sometimes they are only for a specif- ic arcade, sometimes for all arcades in a state. They need to be used on a federal scale. It does not help to be banned from one arcade to then be able to walk into the other next door.
AS: The young generation has to accept its respon- sibility and make these changes for the better. I for my part am leading by example. The path ahead lies in mutual respect, taking concerns seri- ously and finding joint solutions.
RH: You cannot stick your head in the sand when it is already under water. Now is the time for change.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60