Preview ICE TOTALLY GAMING 2018
Kate Chambers, Managing Director, Clarion Gaming, looks ahead to the ICE London and explains why comparisons with Davos are flattering
ICE 2017 was another record breaking event with 30,000 + visitors, 151 nations represented and more net space occupied by international gaming innovators than ever before. Where do you go from that lofty position?
Well what you don’t do is sit back, take your foot off the pedal and wallow in a sea of self- congratulations. Of course, it’s gratifying to have met the vast majority of our objectives, for ICE to have grown for the sixth consecutive year and to have delivered on behalf of our stakeholders. It’s a cliché, but in my business you are only as good as your last show and that truism means that the focus has to be on how we address those areas which didn’t go to plan, to maximise on those that did and to add to the ICE London experience. It sounds a very simplistic approach, but our job is to continually improve and enhance the experience, which starts when people register to attend online and ends when they arrive back home. Enhancements can be macro, in terms of new features or sections, but they can also be smaller or incremental improvements. Te key thing is to never stand still.
What macro changes can visitors expect to experience at ICE?
Te most tangible are the addition of new sections for Payments and the Consumer Protection Zone, both of which are firsts for ICE London.
Te ICE Payment Solutions Section, comprising 4,000sqm of space, will provide a focal point for international visitors wanting to meet and engage with the key innovators and thought leaders in the sector. Te purpose of ICE is to showcase and reflect the dominant trends in gaming and payments is a case in point. We were approached by a number of leading players wanting to utilise ICE as a platform to reflect these innovations and to create a meeting point for all those international visitors
P70 NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE /
247.COM
The Davos of the Gaming Calendar returns to London as Clarion Events promises to deliver 'A global Paradice for a global industry'
with an interest in the latest technologies and advances. I am delighted that we have been able to respond to the needs of the industry in this way and I am confident the resource that we are putting behind the ICE Payment Solutions Section will be well received by visitors.
We will also be promoting the social responsibility message with the launch of the Consumer Protection Zone. Te Zone will provide a focus for the social responsibility message and feature key organisations that are promoting social responsibility, as well as being a platform for presentations. Te Zone is the latest in a series of social responsibility initiatives undertaken by Clarion Gaming, which includes the annual World Regulatory Briefing on Responsible Gambling Innovation, held in London in the Autumn, and the Responsible Gaming Academy training, run by the Totally Gaming Academy.
Wherever Clarion operates, social responsibility is one of the most important topics and that’s across both emergent and mature gaming markets. Although we are not part of the operating community, I believe strongly that we also have a responsibility to serve as a forum for discussion and knowledge exchange.
We will be creating an agenda with demos and presentations from regulators, providers and operators. We also hope to bring government officials, policy-makers and regulators to the Zone as part of the World Regulatory Assembly
(WrA) and International Legislators’ Day programme. Te industry has made important headway in helping to make gambling an entertainment experience, as opposed to a negative or destructive one, and there have been some really significant technology-driven advances in the fields of responsible gambling using data analytics. It’s totally appropriate that these are showcased at ICE London.
ICE London 2018 will comprise a record 43,500sq.m of net space – what does this growth mean to the industry?
We have been very careful to grow ICE at a manageable pace and avoid the boom bust scenario you might associate with an overheating economy. While ICE 2018 is nearly twice the size of the 2012 edition, which was the last held at Earls Court, a lot of that growth has been facilitated by the move to ExCeL London and our ability to meet the needs of exhibitors. Our strategy, wherever we operate in the world, is to work with the industry to create events and opportunities that help meet business objectives. Te expansion of ICE has been driven by demand and reflects the dynamics of the international market, which views London as the once-in-the-year opportunity to engage with a really significant and influential community of buyers and influencers, which in 2017 travelled to ICE from 151 jurisdictions. Tis is great news for gaming organisations who we know want a flagship event that showcases the world’s leading innovators from every gaming
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 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112