Global Gaming Expo organizers warned the media in advance that they expected declines in both attendees and exhibitors at this year’s gaming conference and tradeshow here in Las Vegas. But you wouldn’t know it from the standing-room-only crowd that jammed one of the first panels on Monday: “The Gaming Floor of the Future.”
Moderator Gene Johnson, an EVP at Victor-Strategies, began the session by noting, “We’ve seen a two-year backlog of new technology,” due to the pandemic and the lack of tradeshows. He asked the three panelists what development they thought had been the most impactful.”
Skyelar Perkins, Senior Director of Slot Operations, Choctaw Casinos & Resorts in
Oklahoma, began by talking about an older one: QR codes. “QR technology has been around for a while, but with the pandemic, folks began using it on their phones to read menus at restaurants and other applications. Because of that, we’ve now been able to employ it in a number of ways on the casino floor, including highlighting non-gaming attractions at our hotels, like artwork and Native American history.”
Julia Carcamo, President and Chief Brand Strategist at New Orleans-based J. Carcamo & Associates, agreed that the QR phenomenon is symbolic of the fact that “older Boomers generally lagged behind in some technologies, but the pandemic accelerated their learning curves and brought them along.”
She also noted that in some gaming areas, like sports betting and igaming, the demographic is definitely trending younger. “Instead of the traditional 50+ female, we’re now seeing growing numbers of gamblers in their 40s, along with more males.”
The panel discussed some seemingly simple strategies that can be classified as new technology. John Connelly, IV, Global CEO at Interblock Gaming, a major supplier of electronic table games (ETGs), said they found that just adding loveseats to their games opened their products to an entirely new demographic: couples who want to play together, rather than the old-school notion of the husband at the tables and the wife in front of a slot machine. He cited recent research that showed the importance of people wanting to be together in social experiences today more than ever.
Perkins stressed that new technology takes time to pay off. He said the key during transition periods, like the emerging trend in cashless gaming, is to offer options to players where they can choose what works for them based on their own comfort level.
“Some folks love to use kiosks, some will be on their phones, others still want to work with a live cashier.” Even with ETGs, he jokingly said to Connelly, “Interblock (ETGs) didn’t work at all at first.” Then he added that they did became popular over time.
Carcamo mentioned the dramatic changes in casino marketing due to social media. “With traditional media, we talked one-way to the players via TV, radio, and newspapers. Now we have to be concerned with how we respond to customers who talk with us. Two-way communication is critical and it’s important to listen and respond to them in the right way.”
One interesting point made in conclusion was that Connelly pointed out that ETGs did very well in the pandemic when tables games were largely closed. But perhaps surprising to some, they continued to do just as well and grew even more when the live tables reopened. That was a point the entire panel agreed on: Technology got a boost during the COVID shutdowns, but those changes may have a long-lasting impact on how we do business in the future.
