Korbi Carrison has attended every Global Gaming Expo since the conference’s inception in 2001. For the last eight years, she has served as G2E’s Event Vice President for RX USA, smoothing over any bumps or obstacles that occur.
Changes? Carrison has seen a few. G2E, she says, always adapts to the mercurial gaming industry. “In the early days, G2E looked a lot different because gaming was different then,” Carrison says. “We saw new forms of gaming come along.”
G2E is scheduled for September 28-October 1 at the Venetian Expo Center in Las Vegas.
From stepper slots to video slot machines, traditional table games to electronic games, and the advent of legalized sports betting, “we’ve seen a lot of different things that casino operators are interested in.”
“We’ve evolved the show to create new activations and experiences for attendees coming to the show,” Carrison adds. “They come to learn, they come to connect. The things that they’re experiencing now are a lot different than they have been in the past.”
G2E has traditionally introduced new products for the gaming industry, and Carrison expects more innovations this year. But the conference has also become a gathering of gaming industry members, a family of sorts that might not see each other but once per year.
“G2E is a place where everyone belongs, and there is something for everyone,” Carrison says. “We really do our best to create the experience where everyone feels welcome. There’s something for everyone, and everyone belongs at G2E.”
Groups that meet at G2E include African Americans in Gaming, LGTBQ+ in Gaming, Global Gaming Women, and Veterans in Gaming. A networking lounge provides a space for professionals to meet, and there are zones devoted to technology, new exhibitors, and the media.
Carrison is excited about the return of G2E Dealer Championships. Debuting in 2025, professionals from across the country gathered to exhibit their skills at blackjack and roulette. Last year’s inaugural winner was Elleonor Hoffman from Graton Resort & Casino in Rohnert Park, California.
This year the Dealer Championship has been expanded to include dealers from across North America, in addition to table games professionals from legal, state, and tribal-regulated casino operators in the United States.
“It was a real labor of love last year, and we were really thrilled with the way it turned out,” Carrison says. “We’re making it bigger and better this year.”
Carrison notes that many gaming industry professionals start careers in one area, “take a few twists and turns,” and wind up in another sector. She says because of that fluidity, because people are constantly on the move, it’s not surprising they reconnect with people they’ve known for many years before at G2E.
“That really is helpful as you’re building your business because you have a baseline of a relationship, and that is a foundation in trust for doing business,” Carrison says.
And so, on the first morning of G2E, Carrison will walk down the hallway at the Venetian, early in the morning before most people arrive.
She will stop, take a breath, look around, making sure everything is perfect.
“Everyone is focused on that one moment,” Carrison says. “It’s a feeling the industry is together and we’re ready to be together and have a really good week.”
