TribalNet, the organization that brings tribes and resources together, will hold its 19th annual conference and tradeshow Nov. 5th through 8th at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.
The conference will bring together more than 600 tribal leaders and vendors as part of a nationwide audience of technology professionals who work in tribal gaming, government and healthcare, according to Mike Day, the founder and CEO of TribalNet.
“It offers the opportunity to congregate, share experiences, wisdom and peer-to-peer connections in an effort to bring positive change to tribal communities through the innovation and application of technology solutions,” Day said.
The conference comes after TribalNet, which was formed in 1999, expanded its offerings and services for tribes and their members earlier this year. It has grown to connect and seek opportunities in solutions, best practices and technology among tribal gaming, government and healthcare, Day said.
Day served as the chief information officer for the Sault St. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians in Michigan when, he said, he saw first-hand how tribes didn’t talk to each other.
“I thought it was the silliest thing in the world,” Day said. “I know there is a tribe down the road 10 miles that way, another one 20 miles this way and (it’s like that) all over the U.S. We were the early adopters of many things, and I sat and watch tribe after tribe deal with the same pitfalls.”
Day wanted to change that by creating an organization where tribes could talk to each other. He sent out letters to tribes across the country. 16 tribes showed up at the first conference in Sault Ste. Marie.
“The whole idea at the first one was, what systems are we putting in, and how can we work together to do things better,” Day said. “Vendors did not treat tribes very well. (Tribes) were second-class citizens for the most part, even though we were large organizations ourselves.”
Tribes were buying the “wrong tracking systems and other junk” from gaming vendors and could have saved themselves the mistake if they had called another tribe for advice, Day said.
“Historically, tribes didn’t talk,” Day said. “This was not a happy family but one competing for enterprises. Gaming exacerbated that. But we’re not competing on technology and systems that we use. That was my focus.”
Last year’s conference in Phoenix had about 500 attendees and 140 vendors participate in what’s part of the largest gathering of technology decision makers, executives and technology vendors working in the Native American industry, Day said.
The conference has multiple technology-specific tracks dealing with such topics as tribal gaming, government, health, leadership, and security, Day said. Technology has always been a big focus: how it can aid innovation, increased profits, and self-sufficiency.
“You have to have that woven into what you are doing,” Day said. “Technology used to be in an IT department sitting off in the corner somewhere.”
TribalNet expanded its offerings in January to connect service providers and products under their new TribalValue partners and solutions division. Best Buy is one of the biggest names on the portal.
“We work with large organizations that might not know how to connect with tribes,” Day said. “And there are tribes that aren’t aware of all available products because of poor communication. We built TribalValue to connect with solutions and providers.”
TribalNet has also introduced TribalWise, which helps tribes with training and education at a lower cost than they would otherwise pay, Day said. Another new service is TribalFocus, a consulting management division that focuses on technology and systems, innovation, and driving new revenue. It helps improves policies and procedures and with strategic planning.
“We need to keep up with the speed of changes and invest in employees without breaking the bank,” Day said. “We understand how tribes work and the politics involved and what people are going through. We want to deliver classes and courses that make sense.”
Day, who was previously CIO and director of consulting services for Cannery Casino Resorts in Nevada and Pennsylvania, is passionate about TribalNet and decided in late 2016 to begin working on a way to deliver these additional platforms.
“We wanted to focus more on services, provide better training opportunities, share more information and find better solutions to give the Native American community a leg up and help them drive toward their goals,” Day said. “The window is now… to find economic self-sufficiency. Let’s figure how to do it, let’s leverage what we have.”
