When it comes to advocating for player development, no one has had a louder voice than Steve Browne’s. Literally. While he uses a microphone, he certainly doesn’t need one as his deep voice can be heard in the back of any room. As a former TV newsman, I always said I had a face made for radio. Without a doubt, Browne has a voice that was made for the “Golden Age” of radio. It is booming and hard to ignore. And so is his message.
Almost a quarter of a century ago, Browne joined his friend Dennis Conrad in the startup Raving Consulting group. He had an operational background as a casino janitor, dealer, pit manager, and owner (Cactus Jack’s in Carson City). Browne soon realized that while he could provide operational help to the industry, virtually no one at the time was dedicated to improving the industry’s player-development efforts.
Today, he’s widely sought after in that role. He hosted multiple well-attended sessions at the annual Casino Marketing & Technology Conference held this week in Reno.
While he had no formal background in marketing, he fondly recalls that in the early days, it was often the pit boss who was known as the “guy.” The origin of the term is from the players themselves, who often told their friends, “I know a guy who works at the casino and can get us reservations.” Occasionally, it might have been “my guy” or “my gal.” But that was the origin of today’s very sophisticated player-development programs. The guys and gals have been replaced by the hosts.
While his roots are old school, Browne is a leading advocate for today’s advanced technology.
“It’s the same story with all technology everywhere. There’s technology, or shall we say evolution. And there’s how we figure out how to use it. The Luddites railed against machines and industrialization, because they were afraid that machines would take our work, our livelihood, even our souls. They didn’t understand that the machines would allow us to create new work and work in new and different ways.”
He is fully aware that not all the new things are beneficial. “Technology can bring us together or drive us apart. It depends on how we use it.”
It was at this point that Browne railed against smartphones and the distraction they can cause to learning and job performance. He commented on the number of conference attendees who sat in some sessions staring at their phones instead of listening to the material.
On the other hand, he believes that today’s technology can get even better, or at least can be used better. “As an example, I go to play at your casino 3,000 miles away from home, because I happen to be working in that town. Then you send me a stupid bounceback offer. All it tells me is you don’t know me and you don’t care about me.”
Likewise, some of his messages seem contrarian to the popular goal of “it’s all about the Benjamins.” He explains, “Dennis and I have said the same thing for the last 20 years (and even before in our operating past) that we believe you should get the money out of the gamblers pocket slower, not faster. But no one’s ever going to buy into that, because so many have bought into the concept that business is about making money and not about creating value.”
