When the dean of the William F. Harrah College of Hospitality talks about the next UNLV seminar to help educate people in the gaming industry, baseball comes to mind.
Stowe Shoemaker mentioned the Michael Lewis book Moneyball in describing the May 17th seminar on the use of analytics as part of the UNLV Gaming & Hospitality Education Series. The 2003 book that was later made into a movie starring Brad Pitt dealt with the Oakland A’s analytical approach to building a winning baseball team rather than the traditional practice of scouting.
“The critical issue facing any organization today is how do we drive great customer experiences to benefit the guests and also the enterprise,” Shoemaker said. “As we collect more and more data on a business, we can make better decisions. We’re trying to move away from this is what my gut tells me to this is what the data tells me.”
Shoemaker said the prime example for the casino industry is what’s happening in baseball with analytics. It launched the revolution in baseball about using more data to make decisions on rosters and drafting rather than simply by what someone sees or believes.
“In the casino business because we collect so much data, this is a great opportunity to hear some major people in the field on how they use analytics,” Shoemaker said.
The seminar on the UNLV campus will kick off at 1 p.m. with David Norton who spent eight years with Caesars Entertainment as chief marketing officer helping to bolster the industry’s leading Total Rewards program. The session is titled, “The Caesars System: How to Use Data to Boost Your Visits & Loyalty.” Norton wrote a book, The High Roller Experience: How Caesars and Other World Class Companies Are Using Data to Create an Unforgettable Customer Experience.
Norton, chairman and chief marketing officer with GALE Partners, will discuss his time at Caesars and trends in the gaming industry today, according to Roger Gros, publisher of Global Gaming Business Magazine and one of the sponsors of the educational series along with Applied Management Strategies.
A session from 1:30 to 2 p.m. is titled, “Data Dump: How to Organize and Prioritize Analysis.” It features Ralph Thomas, chief data scientist with VizExplorer, a data analysis company. He will talk about what’s important to the everyday operations of a casino resort and what should be considered when looking at the long-term health of a property, Gros said. He also discusses how data can be used to reduce expenses and boost revenues, he said.
The final session from 3 until 4:30 p.m. is titled, “Doing the Numbers: Data Analytics & Gaming.” Gaming has always been about the numbers, and data is gathered from customers via loyalty programs, frequency of visits, games played, time played, but the industry lags, Gros said.
A panel of experts in data analytics will explain how the industry can improve its data analysis, add to the customer experience and create more spend, customer satisfaction and loyalty, Gros said.
“Data analytics has become more important as we go along here. There’s been an explosion in the amount of data that casinos gather from their customers on a monthly basis and for many years they didn’t know how to interpret it,” Gros said. “There are a lot of companies out there that have put together programs that allow them to dig down deep and understand their customers to a greater extent. Even today, there are a lot of operators that don’t grasp it. The idea of this session is open their eyes to what is out there and what they can do.”
The program is moderated by Brian Wyman, principal at Innovation Analytics. The panelists are Marco Benvenuti, CTO with Duetto Research; Rob Jacks, vice president of professional services for Agilysys, Marilyn Janssen, vice president of marketing operations with Caesars Entertainment; and Ayman Taha, vice president of enterprise technology solutions and innovation for MGM Resorts International.
“We’re trying to focus on those mid-level executives that are clawing their way up,” Gros said. “They know data analytics exists, but the decisions are made by their bosses. This gives them the opportunity to come in and see what their bosses are looking at so that when they talk to their bosses, they understand what they are saying.”
The seminar will be held at the Stan Fulton Building. Episodes are available through a streaming webinar or can be viewed online later.
The onsite registration is $199, and it’s $79 for the webinar. A networking cocktail reception will be held after the session.
“This is the third one we have been doing, and each seminar gets better and better,” Shoemaker said. “Those who are participating in it are enjoying the experience and there’s opportunities for networking.”
For more information and to register go to https://conferences.regfox.com/unlv-gaming-hospitality-education-series-2018.
