CasinoCompendium met Courtney Muller, Reed Exhibitions VP, with a view to see why regional companies in Latin America should showcase their products at the G2E in Las Vegas, and current trends at industry expos.

CC: Although Latin America is the major growth region per machine installations right now, with some significant gaming equipment manufacturers and suppliers, there seems to be a lack of interest from such firms to exhibit at G2E. Would you comment on this?

CM: As with any event, no matter how global in nature, most of the exhibitors will come from the host country. In the case of gaming you see it more strongly based on all of the regulations and licenses that are necessary to operate in the U.S. states. In a lot of cases, manufacturers don’t have product that fit the regulations or have been approved for the U.S. market. It makes it much more difficult to get a return on your investment if you are only going to the show for promotional purposes and not to sell. While G2E is the largest gaming event in the world delivering an audience from around the world including Latin America, the majority of the audience is from the U.S. market. Companies must make a decision to exhibit based on their needs. There are many companies at G2E that do not sell in the U.S. but come to see the buyers from their region that attend G2E. As mentioned earlier the global reach of G2E attracts buyers from all over the world as the show does offer the largest breadth of gaming product at any gaming event. If you are a company who is looking to expand internationally into any region G2E is a great way to reach buyers from every continent.

CC: We see at most of the expos worldwide, sales teams from other expos visiting exhibitors and sometimes, even closing deals for their own expos, but this does not seem to be a practice that Reed or G2E favour. As a relationship develops with the organizers of the SAGSE events in Latin America, is Reed likely to have a presence at their expos, and others, perhaps?

CM: Each year we put together a list of competitive events that our sales teams will visit, both in the U.S. and abroad. A representative from Reed has attended a SAGSE event 5 out of the last 7 expos. We have also attended ELA and FADJA in Latin America but we do not attend all of the events every year.

CC: After nearly ten years at the LVCC, G2E is moving to the Sands EC, would you give us Reed’s viewpoint on this decision?

CM: The decision to move to the Sands was purely customer driven. For a number of years we had been told that our show dates were too late. Our attempts to get earlier dates at the LVCC were unsuccessful so we made the move to Sands. Our ten years at the LVCC were fantastic and we hope for a great decade at the Sands as well.

CC: Do you know if there are other companies holding parallel events to G2E, like TCS JohnHuxley did at the Palms, last year? Are we likely to see such a trend in the future?

CM: There are always a few companies that choose to see customers outside the convention center, which is really too bad because the buyers complain to us about these companies and wish they would join us at the show!

CC: There have been comments about G2E targeting Europe with a view to run an expo over there. Would you care to comment on this?

CM: There are ongoing discussions regarding the European market. If there is something definitive to talk about we will let you know.

CC: As far as industry conferences go, the G2E Las Vegas Conference has no peer worldwide. Perhaps this is an event that might be replicated in Europe and other regions?

CM: G2E is always looking to work with customers from around the world and would be open to creating an educational event in Europe.

CC: Thank you kindly for your comments and ideas, which our readers and subscribers worldwide will surely appreciate, and we look forward to seeing you during G2E at the Las Vegas Convention Center. (E-10.29.10)

© Copyright 2010 CasinoCompendium



>>> return to archives
>>> return to frontpage