Casino and hospitality company Raving continues to expand its offerings to the tribal and commercial gaming industry, in addition to its hosting of popular and informative conferences, media and insights.
The full-service, Native-owned, woman-managed company has worked with clients on a global basis since 1998, partnering with more than 152 Tribal Nations and enterprises and 71 commercial properties in the U.S., Canada and Asia.
Tailored, custom training for your property
With its years of experience on the casino floor, Raving understands all aspects of gaming and resort operations and the challenges faced. Their team builds custom, tailored solutions by using evidence-based methodologies that address the root of the problem, according to Raving CEO Deana Scott.
Raving has a team of more than 25 strategic partners experienced in gaming and hospitality to work with tribal and commercial operators to improve their operations, Scott said. That includes professional services in research, analytics, tribal member development and career path planning, food and beverage, compliance, human resources, executive leadership, player loyalty and host, security and surveillance, team member training and professionally managed services.
“We are really focused on customized operational training for casinos and resorts,” explained Scott. “We have a group of consultants that are experts in their area and have actually been operators so our team understands what happens within the organization and can help improve processes and ROI at properties in all areas of operations. That can be a performance audit, a marketing and loyalty club evaluation, player development and host training, surveillance and security audits and training, food and beverage reviews, leadership development and hospitality in general.”
Raving tailors programs built on standard best practices but customized to each casino to fit the goals of the property.
Digital offerings bring value to clients and the gaming industry
“We’ve definitely grown over the last few years, as COVID pushed us to pivot quicker on some of our digital initiatives,” said Scott. “That allowed us to do more remote work with clients and is a great opportunity for operators because of the cost of travel.”
The company also launched Raving On Air, which is an online portal that features a series of interviews with operators and gaming experts.
An answer to staffing and the power of leadership
With staffing shortages and a focus on keeping the doors open, Scott believes their leadership and HR initiatives are key to building a foundation for an organization where employees want to be.
“That starts at the top and takes time to do it right, but that’s what makes the difference for organizations,” she said.
Casinos can tap into Raving’s team of experts to fill a short-term or long-term role at a property.
“Often, strategic positions can go unfilled for months,” Scott pointed out. “With our team, we’re able to fill a void if you need a GM, marketing director or executive host. If you need to outsource a full marketing strategic department to work with your onsite team or to identify solutions for your loyalty club and host program, we can help keep those programs optimized. Long term, this helps the property because turnover costs time and money, especially in those strategic positions where you get new people that change all of the initiatives. We use best practices and bring insights and tools to help your team get the job done smarter and faster.”
It all starts with the numbers
Research and analytics are at the foundation of everything that Raving does, and that will be a focus of the conference. Whether it’s food and beverage, hotel or guest service, decisions are based on analytics and research to ensure whatever is recommended and implemented are based on fact, Scott said.
Changing the “loss leader” mindset of food & beverage
Food and beverage is one of the areas that has a significant impact on the bottom line, said Scott. A lot of properties are struggling with how to incorporate that into an organization or bring them back after COVID.
“The philosophy that it has to be a loss leader really has to be revisited, depending on the property and what your ultimate goals are,” she said. “We work with organizations to take the research and analytics and all of the years of operational experience to evaluate the numbers and show where we can make improvements in the operation.”
Watch for a groundbreaking surveillance report this summer
Raving has “amazing partners” in its security and surveillance and compliance, Scott shared. It’s not only an expense, but it’s important to look at areas and ensure there’s a safe work environment. During an upcoming webinar in August, the Raving team will discuss the findings of the IASCP National Casino Surveillance Survey – a ground-breaking report that identifies best practices and emerging trends for surveillance professionals in the gaming industry.
Solutions for HR and staffing plans
With HR, Raving can do the nuts and bolts with building salary surveys, job descriptions, staffing plans and budgets. They work with the HR team on initiatives that they don’t have time to get to, Scott said.
“HR teams right now are struggling to get bodies at the properties to work, so we are an extra set of hands to help them with their bigger initiatives,” she added.
Player loyalty and marketing go hand-in-hand
Player loyalty is a key component of a decision-based marketing department so loyalty-based clubs optimization goes hand-in-hand with direct mail optimization and the customer journey, said Scott.
“Those are the three areas that when combined properties can see huge performance improvements, and our team of analytics along with our researcher can help anybody’s data,” she noted.
Two iconic industry conferences return
Raving is well known for its 20+ years producing industry conferences, including Raving NEXT. As of 2022, Raving has relaunched two iconic events – the Casino Marketing & Technology + Host Player Development Conferences. This year’s conference will be held July 12-14 at the South Point Hotel Casino & Spa in Las Vegas, and Scott said to expect a reimagined event with a focus on interaction, technology and analytics.
“There’s a diverse group of industry professionals we have engaged to speak, and our goal is to start the conference looking at the international perspective of marketing and operations. We have operators nationwide and outside the U.S. that attend this event and it’s invaluable to share the global perspective.”
On the Host Player Development Conference, “There are a lot of opportunities for properties to build a strategic host department that’s focused on sales, and we tailor this event to help them do that,” Scott said. There will also be a session on building an Asian Player Development team to understand this valuable player demographic.
A voice and platform for Indian Country
Scott said, being a Native-owned company, they understand the importance of sovereignty and growing organizations within the Tribe to have long-term sustainability for future generations. She co-owns the company with her husband Brady Scott, a member of the Coquille Indian Tribe, in North Bend, Oregon.
Raving offers the Tribal Gaming and Hospitality Magazine, launched in 2019. The digital publication has grown significantly since then and keeps a voice for tribal gaming.
“Part of our why as a native organization is to use our connections to build a solid native network,” Scott said. “We have connections to native casinos across the U.S. We are hosting free Native Networking Parties at both G2E at the Palms and at IGA. These are intended to connect small tribally-owned organizations that want to supply goods and services to the larger industry.”
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You can contact Raving for training quotes, performance reviews and short or long-term outsourced services by visiting their contact page.
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