Mike Trask admits that Ainsworth Game Technology didn’t have an exorbitant budget at the recent Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas. Instead of “dropping a celebrity from the ceiling,” the vice president of product strategy & marketing says Ainsworth’s promotions are “a bit out-of-the-box, doing things that are memorable, but might be more in line with who we are as a company.”
At G2E 2023, Ainsworth accomplished that goal by featuring a first-of-its-kind live-news broadcast desk. In a partnership with CDC Gaming Reports, the broadcast desk featured interviews with a wide range of G2E attendees, content provided by Ainsworth, and appearances by social-media influencers.
Kelly Koffler, who runs the YouTube channels Beyond Blackjack and Slot500Club, said her appearance with Josh Duffy of Slotaholic and Lovestruck Gambling’s Tina Lynch was “truly off the cuff. There was zero planning. We just started talking — and we’re very good at talking. I think it went really well for us never having done anything like that before and having no plan going in.”
Casey Gonzalez, host of the CDC Gaming Show, conducted and filmed numerous interviews at the Ainsworth broadcast desk with producer Darwin Ortiz of Driven Media. He praised the quality of the set-up, calling it “top-notch – they knew what they were doing. Ainsworth obviously invested some money in this putting it together.”
But most of all, he was thrilled by the atmosphere, calling it “electrifying.”
“I saw a lot of new companies and new faces this year that I wasn’t privy to,” Gonzalez says. “I think the boom of artificial intelligence has a lot to do with. The advancement of tech is bringing a lot of newcomers to our industry and it’s showing.”
Trask noted that the broadcast desk was inspired by live events Ainsworth hosted from its showroom during the pandemic. During the 2021 edition of G2E when attendance lagged compared to previous years, Ainsworth hosted broadcasts from its booth for customers unable to attend the Expo.
This year when Ainsworth sought a partner for the broadcast desk, CDC Gaming Advertising Manager Jim McGlasson “got it right away,” Trask said, adding that CDC Gaming publisher Cory Roberts also understood the concept.
For Roberts, the reality of what Ainsworth accomplished became evident once he stepped onto the tradeshow floor.
“It felt like you were in a different place,” Roberts said. “It felt like you were in a broadcast studio rather than on the tradeshow floor. In the finished videos, you can’t even hear the tradeshow, which from an audio perspective is impressive and allowed the conversations to shine through.”
Trask credits MC2, a Las Vegas company, for providing the tech that made the broadcast desk successful. He also praised creative director Michael Antico for the set-up’s professionalism. “This is really hard work and it speaks volumes about Michael’s talent level and what he brings to our company.”
Trask anticipates replicating the success of the broadcast desk at other gaming industry events in 2024, indicating that the Indian Gaming Association Tradeshow and Convention in Anaheim, California, next April is definitely being considered.
“The feedback has generally been positive and I think we’d do something similar next year,” Trask says.
