The recently released spring issue of TribalNet magazine, a digital publication for technology-minded professionals in tribal gaming, government, health, and other enterprises, brings a focus on areas of information security, technology, and leadership, along with gaming and hospitality.
The publication is released every spring and fall by TribalHub, a platform for tribes to grow, connect, and gain opportunities.
In an article about driving success in tribal casinos in 2022 and beyond, Shawn Harris, director of sales for U.S. Omnico Group, said a survey shows 94% of guests believe casinos need to do more, while and 71% agree that casinos need to implement more technology across venues. Some 77% claimed they would spend more money if they could earn loyalty points across a casino and 66% said they want contactless ordering of food and beverage through an app.
“Creating an omnichannel experience is necessary to keep your guests engaged at every touchpoint and have them come back for more,” Harris wrote. “Ultimately, it comes down to making the guest journey as seamless as possible. But if your touchpoints aren’t talking to each other, then they’re just getting in your way – and could be the difference between thriving and just surviving.”
Several articles in this issue highlight important topics in tribal gaming and hospitality. For a full view of these articles, flip through the easy-to-read digital format.
There’s a Q&A on the transformative nature of artificial intelligence and robotics on casinos with Steve Neely, the general manager of Rolling Hills Casino, and Jeff Debrosse, the chief technology officer at Advanced Image Robotics. They talk about how AI can augment the workforce and help identify candidates best suited for certain roles.
Neely said a tight labor market and rising labor costs makes the use of robotics enticing. His property introduced robots to run dishes from the dining room to the dish room and it’s made a huge difference, he said.
“We then had them take food orders to the host stand and the bars and will use them to run food to the dining room,” Neely said. “Not only is this use of robotics more efficient, but we’re also able to move those people who would have done those tasks to another part of the operation that cannot be automated. It doesn’t hurt that our customers love seeing and interacting with them.”
Neely said the hourly rate to run a robot is about half of what a human costs and joked that it never calls in sick or needs a vacation. But workers are still important in hospitality, he added. “We can’t lose sight of the fact that in gaming and hospitality, we’re still a people-to-people business.”
Israel Stone, organizational development director for the Little River Casino Casino Resort, wrote an article on how culture is the answer to leadership. He said tribes must find the balance between company and leadership culture, using tribal culture as their foundation for both. “Leaders aren’t born. They’re incubated in a system where the environment and climate are right for optimal growth.”
The latest issue also covers cybersecurity best practices in an article by Andy Jabbour, co-founder and managing director of The Gate 15 Company.
The magazine also touches on other cyber issues and promotes the second annual virtual TribalHub Cyber Security Summit on June 22.
Shannon Bouschor, director of operations at TribalHub, said the contributing writers are people within the industry. There are also updates from various agencies and entities that provide funding and critical services to tribes.
“This issue is pretty heavy on security topics and that’s top-of-mind for gaming and every industry,” Bouschor said. “That comes through in our magazine, as well as our upcoming cybersecurity summit and our regional events and annual TribalNet conference and tradeshow this fall. Security will remain at the top of the list that people want to hear more on.”
There’s also a Q&A on cryptocurrency and Bouschor said that will be a topic of discussion, along with cashless technology, heading into the fall at the 23rd TribalNet Conference & Tradeshow from Sept. 12th through 15th in Reno.
The spring issue also has articles on touchless hospitality dealing with in-room phones, government-related topics such as health, infrastructure and wireless, a lot of updates from industry vendors and solution providers, and internal controls with a discussion on the regulations dealing with the acceleration of technology at a pace that’s difficult to keep up with, Bouschor said.
“The internal-control article is interesting and intriguing and given the author is an executive director of IT security at a gaming corporation, the perspective is very insightful,” Bouschor said.
