Casino Life & Business Magazine is, again, media partner and we have our own both at ICE, the most important business event anywhere in gaming.
The award winning show ICE Totally Gaming is returning on the 2-4 February 2016 to London Excel. Their independently audited attendance of 25,497 in 2015 was the highest on record with 133 countries represented. ICE is the annual launch pad for gaming innovation, with literally hundreds of new product launches over the three days.
ICE is a unique gathering place for all the major gaming players including operators, regulators and more. ICE allows you to build your contacts, arrange meetings and forge partnerships with maximum convenience.
ICE Conferences has confirmed its status as the biggest learning and knowledge-exchange event in world gaming. The 2016 agenda comprises over 64 hours of learning opportunities, delivered by 140 thought leaders drawn from both within and outside the international gaming community. The eight strong programmers open with the International Casino Conference (ICC) on Monday 1st February. Organized in partnership with the European Casino Association (ECA), the ICC is being held at the award winning Hippodrome, which is the UK’s busiest and most popular casino, and is located in Leicester Square, central London. The ICC is followed by Modernising Lotteries: Retail & Digital; Data Insight & Business Intelligence and a programmer dedicated to Cross-Platform & Multi-Channel Gaming (all Tuesday 2nd February). Wednesday 3rd February, the final full day of ICE Conferences, will feature Game Design & Development; World Regulatory Briefing (organized in partnership with IAGA); Betmarkets (organized in partnership with SBCNews) and Cybercrime, Security & Regulatory Compliance (organised in partnership with GAMSHIELD). The threat of Cybercrime and the importance of combating it, is reflected in the decision to include an add-on workshop led by the specialist Organized Crime Command based at New Scotland Yard. The workshop will run from 10 – 12.00 on Thursday 4th February. Reflecting on the role and importance of the ICE Conferences programmer, Marketing Director, Jo Mayer said: “ICE is unique within the gaming sector in that it is an event which delivers invaluable commercial/product exchange opportunities for our 25,000 visitors, as well as the opportunity to participate in high level information or knowledge exchange. We know from our customer research, that our visitors value the opportunity to learn about the key contemporary issues impacting gaming via ICE Conferences and then be able to meet with the industry in action on the show floor. “Our invitation to the world gaming community in 2016 is to ‘Enter The Gaming Technopolis’. This applies equally to ICE Conferences at which the subject matter and content is designed to help prepare international business for the technological, regulatory and social challenges and opportunities which lie ahead.”
The ICE App, one of the most popular information tools used by exhibitors, visitors and ICE Conference delegates alike, is available to download for free from the iTunes App Store and the Google Play Store.
The App, which was visited on 38,000 occasions in the lead up to and during the 2015 edition of ICE, enables attendees to the world’s biggest gaming exhibition to access the full event schedule, browse the latest product launches, receive information on all of the speakers taking part in the ICE Conference and Seminar programme, as well as develop a personal event planner to remind them of appointments and business meetings. It also features a detailed interactive floor-plan to help attendees navigate the Gaming Technopolis and keep fully up-to-date with the latest developments through a link to the #ICE2016 social media tag.
ICE Marketing Director Jo Mayer said: “The invitation we have extended to the international gaming community in 2016 is to ‘Enter the Gaming Technopolis’ – the surreal, pop-up gaming city, where connections are made, where ideas flourish and where conversations are all about the future.”
The Totally Gaming Academy, a range of training courses inspired by industry personality Lucien Wijsman and developed in order to enhance bottom-line revenues for both gaming operators and suppliers, will be using its debut appearance at ICE to showcase its portfolio of courses with a series of one hour introductions and tasters.
Delivered by experts in their respective fields, the four courses comprise: The Slot Academy, a land-based and online casino management training program (presented by Lucien Wijsman); The Online Masterclass, an interactive course for online operators and suppliers (Igor Samardziski); Sport Betting Academy – a course which provides best practice implementation in order to drastically improve revenue margins (Jonathan Smith) and Casino Marketing – a practical course equipping delegates with the tools to build and implement a 12-month marketing plan (Arjan Korstjens).
Marketing Director Jo Mayer, believes the popularity of ICE with international regulators is an important and often overlooked feature of the event. She explained: “In 2015 we welcomed 417 regulators to London and we are expecting an increase on those numbers in 2016.
“We know that ICE sets the agenda in terms of new products, new technologies and new thinking – now, I think, we can safely say that it helps shape the way in which regulators perceive the business. I would argue that ICE represents the very best shop window for the sector and when regulators walk the aisles at ExCeL they will see a mature, dynamic and socially responsible industry, factors which will surely help to dispel some of the more lurid misconceptions of gaming.
“It is a testament to the reputation that ICE enjoys on the world stage that so many regulators will be at the Gaming Technopolis in February.”
GamCrowd and Clarion Events are again looking for start-ups in the online gambling sector to enter the Pitch ICE competition taking place during ICE TotallyGaming 2016.
Entrepreneurs are also invited to take a place in a day of curated presentations and discussions designed to give start-ups the very best advice about launching a business in the sector. Participants will also receive trade press exposure in the lead up to the event and in the post-Pitch ICE coverage as well as networking opportunities during the three days.
Start-ups interested in being a part of the show – which runs between Tuesday, February 2 and Thursday, February 4 – have until December 31 to apply.
Pitch ICE is now in its second successful year. It gives start-ups the platform to present their ideas and innovations to attendees from the global gambling industry direct from the stage.
Over the first two days of Pitch ICE, between 15-20 start-ups will get two 15-minute slots to present their business. On the Thursday, the GamCrowd Studio workshop takes over with a series of talks and start-up advice from industry experts.
Chris North, founder and chief executive at GamCrowd, said: “The Pitch ICE show has evolved this year to and is more content-rich than ever. We are hoping not only to showcase the best new ideas but also to provide information and advice from a range of advisors with knowledge of how to get a business up-and-running in this sector.”
The ‘Enter The Gaming Technopolis’ campaign in support of ICE 2016 (2nd, 3rd & 4th February, ExCeL Centre, London) has passed its first landmark, with more than 1,000 international attendees booking their place in the opening week of registration going live at www.icetotallygaming.com.
Explaining the significance of the landmark, Jo Mayer, Marketing Director responsible for ICE said: “We are implementing a carefully constructed marketing campaign which we track against key activities and landmark dates in the gaming calendar. Our schedule of targets and forecasts, which are set against the empirical backdrop of previous campaigns, inform us of what we need to be achieving in terms of registration numbers at key stages in the calendar and I’m delighted to say that we are right on course to achieve another fantastic attendance.
“We enjoyed a good exhibition presence at G2E where there was huge interest in our campaign launch and our plans for ICE 2016. Clearly, there’s a long way to go, but I am pleased to confirm that the numbers registered show that we are right on track for another successful ICE which is so important for our stakeholders based throughout the world who value the brand as the only truly global event which brings together buyers and exhibitors from every conceivable gaming jurisdiction.”
Responsible Gambling Trust to launch annual report at ICE Totally Gaming.
RGT will be publishing its annual report at ICE.
ICE is an important opportunity for RGT to continue to raise the profile of its GambleAware brand with operators as well as to showcase the world-leading research, harm prevention and treatment work that has been commissioned in the past year thanks to voluntary donations from the gambling industry.
