In Business Las Vegas, November 9th, 2007
The American Gaming Association's Global Gaming Expo, the world's largest gathering of the casino industry, opens its three-day run at the Las Vegas Convention Center on Nov. 13.
More than 28,000 people from around the world are expected to attend the industry's premiere convention featuring 750 trade show exhibitors, dozens of panel discussions and speaker presentations and keynote events on what's ahead in Internet gambling and tribal casinos.
The event is closed to the public, but thousands of industry professionals from across the Las Vegas Valley are expected to attend.
While in town, conventioneers from more than 100 countries are expected to take behind-the-scenes casino tours of the Hard Rock Hotel, Palms, Planet Hollywood, Red Rock Resort, Green Valley Ranch and the MGM Grand's "Ka" Cirque du Soleil show stage.
Frank
Fahrenkopf, president and chief executive
of the
Washington
-based American Gaming Association, said the event is designed for industry leaders to learn about new industry trends and see cutting-edge casino technology before they're introduced on casino floors.
"The events are each designed to provide G2E attendees with a one-of-a-kind educational experience that simply can't be found anywhere else,"
Fahrenkopf
said of the event.
Fahrenkopf
will moderate a keynote discussion on Nov. 14 on the state of the industry with a focus on the status of Internet gambling. Included on the panel on Internet gambling will be
Rep.
Shelley
Berkley
, D-Nev.;
Al
D'Amato, chairman
of the Poker Players Alliance;
Terry
Lanni, chairman and chief executive
of MGM Mirage;
Gary
Loveman, chairman and chief executive
of Harrah's Entertainment; and
Andre
Wilsenach, chief executive
of the Alderney Gambling Control Commission in Great Britain.
A speaker with ties to sports and entertainment will kick off the event with a keynote address on Nov. 13. Award-winning
sportswriter
Frank
Deford
, who has contributed to Sports Illustrated, has appeared as a commentator for "Morning Edition" on National Public Radio and is a correspondent for HBO's "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel" will discuss his coverage of sports and entertainment.
A third keynote on Nov. 14 will review tribal gaming issues.
Ernie
Stevens Jr., chairman
of the National Indian Gaming Association, will moderate the session featuring five tribal leaders from across the country.
Other educational events are scheduled every day of the event. Speakers and panel discussions will address a variety of industry issues, from casino cheating to using sports events to market a property.
Last year's trade show floor had more than 320,000 square feet of exhibits. Among the major exhibitors this year will be a familiar roster of gaming equipment manufacturers, including
Las Vegas
-based Bally Technologies, Progressive Gaming International and JCM Global.
International Game Technology, Aristocrat, WMS, Atronic and Konami are other big names scheduled to show their newest products.
Companies will show new slot machines, table games, cards, dice, surveillance systems, bill and coin validators, card dispensers, chips and coin hoppers. Casino work attire also will be displayed with a fashion show of company uniforms.
One of the trade show events that has grown in popularity in the two years that G2E has presented it is a culinary show that offers new products and trends in food and beverage with daily cocktail and culinary demonstrations.
A series of networking lunches is planned to enable industry professionals an opportunity to meet. Special events are planned for marketing directors, women in gaming, Native America leaders and security and surveillance executives.
Tied in with G2E in
Las Vegas
will be the eighth annual National Center for Responsible Gaming conference on gambling and addiction, which opens Nov. 11 at Paris-
Las Vegas
.
Medical researchers from across the country will gather for the three-day conference. Delegates to the problem gambling event will be allowed to tour the trade-show floor and the final session is scheduled at the Convention Center in conjunction with G2E.
