“While everybody that buys a ticket has access to the official networking party this doesn't mean everybody necessarily goes, so we try to make educated guesstimates regarding the capacity. What we've learned in the last couple of years is that there has been an aggressive spike in how much value delegates put into the networking elements.”
SBC SUMMIT BARCELONA
Held on 19-21 September, how is SBC Summit Barcelona 2023 going to better last year’s event? Where is the scope for improvement?
A lot of things went down very well with clients in 2022 and we want to expand on these aspects. We will maintain the quality of our networking events whilst investing to ensure that when attendees go to an SBC event there are networking opportunities included beyond the conference and exhibition hall. Significant effort is being made to ensure there are social events in the evening that anyone who wants to attend can do so.
Whilst the scalability within the floorplan is excellent, some of the networking capacity was not where we wanted it to be last year. While everybody that buys a ticket has access to the official networking party this doesn't mean everybody necessarily goes, so we try to make educated guesstimates regarding the capacity. What we've learned in the last couple of years is that there has been an aggressive spike in how much value delegates put into the networking elements.
Suddenly, everybody wants to go. Even our pre-registration party - which used to be a very casual social gathering in a hotel - has become an event. At SBC Summit Barcelona 2022 we printed nearly 900 badges. We weren't ready for that volume of people resulting in too much congestion. Tis is being addressed and we will ensure everybody has a chance to participate in our networking events going forwards.
The conference marketing push for SBC Summit Barcelona 2022 was on emerging tech and blockchain. What's the focus this year? How do you ensure each industry vertical is represented on the conference agenda whilst also not repeating material and subject matter used for previous events?
Te emerging tech and blockchain track was added quite late to the 2022 agenda. We're looking to bulk this up to become more substantial so exhibitors can display these
P136 WIRE / PULSE / INSIGHT / REPORTS
technologies that aren't overly familiar to attendees. Alongside this, we want to build upon the content and community of this emerging vertical.
In terms of the agenda and conference itself, event organisers run the risk of overlapping subjects across tracks, particularly pertaining to leadership and high-end strategy. Terefore, we have established a dedicated leadership panel to ensure similar subjects don't crop up repeatedly across other conference tracks.
Should the conference and exhibition keep growing, what potential is there to expand at Fira de Barcelona, or would a venue change be required?
Fira de Barcelona has massive expansion potential. Even if we were to look at other options, it would more likely be the other Fira. Tere is a reason the city is part of the brand name for the event. We always thoughts this concept was a good fit for the location. Fira have been very good to deal with. Te Fira offers plenty of of opportunities to get creative in how events are layed out and this is very important to us.
The SBC Awards - will this be in Barcelona for the foreseeable future?
With so many dates to pay attention to in the industry event calendar, it is a lot more convenient to have awards ceremonies take place when thousands of stakeholders are already gathered in one place. Te SBC Awards event started as a standalone event, whereas the others at the CasinoBeats Summit, SBC Summit North America and SBC Summit Latinoamérica were add-ons to the respective existing events.
I think the industry became used to having the SBC Awards in London, but it fits having the big global gathering in Barcelona. In 2022, we held the awards at Palau Nacional and are still exploring venues for 2023. Personally, it was a goosebumps moment walking up the steps to the old national palace. It's important for SBC to include these once in a lifetime experiences no other industry event offers. Attendees remember them.
Missing from this year's calendar is Betting on Sports Europe, previously held at Twickenham Stadium and Stamford Bridge.
“In 2022, we held the awards at Palau Nacional and are still exploring venues for 2023. Personally, it was a
goosebumps moment walking up the steps to the old national palace. It's important for SBC to include these once in a
lifetime experiences no other industry event offers.
Attendees remember them.”
Was it the volume of industry events in the calendar which prompted the decision to drop the London-based event?
Tere are a lot of events out there. Tis is feedback we often hear and is our primary reason for removing Betting on Sports Europe from the calendar. We don't want or need to create an unnecessarily congested schedule for our clients and partners. Betting on Sports Europe previously sat in June where other European industry events are scheduled.
We hope other event organisers will join us in acknowledging that what we can do to help the industry is offering events with justification. Tese events will then naturally grow because they are useful. Ultimately, we decided SBC Summit Barcelona can offer a sports betting dedicated focus Betting on Sports Europe brought to the table - both on the agenda and the exhibition floor - so we don't need to host an extra event.
SBC SUMMIT NORTH AMERICA
SBC Summit North America is the company's first event of the year, once again being held at the Meadowlands Exposition Center in New Jersey on 9-11 May. How has this event evolved in line with the US sports betting market since it was first established?
Very well, so much so that it has become one of our flagship events. A few factors have played into this success. We responded very quickly to the onset of the pandemic, aided by the fact we were a much smaller outfit in 2019. As the legalised online sports betting and igaming markets began to rollout across the US, it was clear that American companies had very little experience in the sector. We identified that the US market was going to need events like ours to help not only stakeholders stateside, but to bring in much needed expertise from Europe.
Te fact we maintained the brand throughout COVID-19 and stayed connected with that community has only helped build the event. I
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