Managing Editor: Glyn Thomas


Mob: +380 675 482 857 glyn@ace123.com


Associate Editor: Joyce Todd Tel:


Mob: jtodd@ace123.com


Journal Manager: Peter White Tel:


Mob:


+44 (0) 1892 740869 +44 (0) 7973 273714


pwhite@ace123.com


Assistant Journal Manager: Chris Sanson csanson@ace123.com


Correspondent - North America Roy Katz roykatz7436@gmail.com


Correspondent - South America +55 48 8842 1061


Juliano Machado Tel:


juliano.machado@gmail.com


Correspondent - Spain Andrew Behan Tel:


andrew@bingolife.biz


Correspondent - UK Alan Campbell yankeecampbell@yahoo.com


Design: Stefan Geo design@bingolife.biz


Subscriptions: subs@bingolife.biz


Regular Contributors: Lorien Pilling, GBGC Phil Fraser, Focus Online Management Dennis Conrad, The Raving Consultancy Bob Ambrose, Independent Gaming Consultant


+34 607 793857


+44 (0)161 6339236 +44 (0)7803 249 988


Editorial Policy: The views and opinions expressed in bingo life remain principally the views of contributors and do not necessarily reflect those of the editor or publishers. The publishers wish to avoid inaccuracies and, whilst every precaution has been taken to ensure that information contained in this journal is accurate, no liability is accepted by the editor or publishers for errors or omissions, however caused. Unless otherwise stated, articles appearing in this publication remain the copyright of the publishers and may not be reproduced in any form without the publisher’s written consent.


Printed in the UK by MPC Limited. www.bingolife.biz


Having worked in all sorts of media over the years - on magazines dealing with everything from Urban Regeneration to Retail - all of the industries have had a reasonable grasp of marketing and PR and have promoted themselves effectively. It has not been impossible to find a decent image of a product - whether it’s the latest Jaguar or a JCB or a jam jar. In the bingo industry however, the question of image seems to be so much more blurry. Type in “casino” on google and look at the images. Nice aren’t they? Now type “bingo” and see what you find. Maddening isn’t it? Ask yourself this: “Have I got professional images of my venue / product / staff? Am I telling potential customers how great my venue is though consistent messages and good images?” So why is this important now? Well, it has always been important but perhaps the recent bad weather and a crippling tax hike may be the sand in the Vaseline that will spur on some action. Enough of the lecture - let’s get back to those two issues. The bad weather has had a terrible effect on all entertainment venues including bingo halls. It is hard enough to persuade people to get up and out to their local club but when they physically cannot, the financial effects are disastrous. Online bingo and online gambling generally have clearly been the winners during the bad weather. As for the Government taxation increases I recently caught up with Simon Thomas, whose company is busy completing the conversion of the London Hippodrome to a state-of-the-art casino (and whose father was a renowned bingo industry figure). This is what he had to say: “It seems ridiculous that as one of the softest products around Bingo has one of the highest tax rates. However the Government realistically is not able to drop tax rates, so Bingo should argue for ways it can increase its income rather than seeking the impossible. More Cat B3 machines will help and better use of technology. The online tax comparison is again a waste of energy as online companies will move to wherever it is most commercially advantageous to them. Better to get the regulator to focus efforts on restricting what they can do if they are not taxed in the UK. Happily there are a lot of people who enjoy going out and it is up to operators to make their environments the places they want to go to”. Wise words indeed.


Editor’spage I


mage is everything and perhaps the start of a new year should be the right time to ask whether you have enough good images at your disposal.


FRONT COVER: X2 is one of the fastest growing providers of high performance, mobile gaming devices for playing keno, bingo,


Glyn Thomas Managing Editor


sports book betting, roulette and more. It develops and supplies


custom gaming solutions using the latest touchscreen tablet computers that enable


operators to offer a wider range of revenue


generating games and enhance the customer


gaming experience. See www.x2mc.co.uk


bingo life


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