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The Innovation Group

Posted on March 18, 2015 by -

For the past two decades, the Innovation Group has been recognized as the world’s most respected and sought-after research and advisory firm, specializing in the gaming, entertainment, hospitality and leisure industries.

As the premier provider of consulting and management services, the Innovation Group offers feasibility studies, market assessments and forecasts, economic impact studies, strategic and financial planning, economic diversification, legislative and government advisory, litigation and expert witness, online gaming strategy/research and a variety of related operational and marketing advisory services.

To date, the company’s research and analyses have driven more than $100 billion in investment decisions specific to gaming, entertainment, hospitality and leisure sectors across more than 80 countries and six continents. The Innovation Group’s accuracy and reliability are unparalleled, with its forecasts historically tracking within 5 percent of actual revenues across the most complex of gaming jurisdictions throughout the globe.

Additionally, areas of specialization have naturally expanded into related disciplines such as food and beverage, mixed-use retail, convention centers, sports/performance venues, social media, online gaming and other offerings that define the ever-changing world of leisure and entertainment.

The Innovation Group’s inventive, forward-looking staff of professionals is recognized throughout the industry for accurate analyses and forecasts, diverse services and a timely response to client needs. The company’s professionals have been exposed to industry-best practices worldwide, having helped bring many of the world’s largest entertainment and hospitality developments to fruition.

Multibillion-dollar organizations, government entities, global financial institutions, professional associations and private equity investors are just a few of the client business segments that have made prudent economic, financial, social and political decisions based on the Innovation Group’s analysis, advice and support.

For more information, visit theinnovationgroup.com.

Konami Gaming Inc.

Posted on March 18, 2015 by -

With a strong gaming legacy spanning consumer arcade and home entertainment genres, Konami Gaming Inc. is known for developing games that ignite players’ imaginations and drive proven engagement, while advancing casino revenue and profit growth. Konami understands the needs of the Native American gaming industry, and has developed products that empower operators to get more from their floor using games and technology designed to perform across tribal casino markets and appeal to various customer demographics across specialized regions.

Konami is a complete gaming manufacturer that develops, designs, manufactures, distributes, sells and services slot machines and its award-winning casino management system Synkros. Konami games have proven staying power for engaging high-frequency gaming consumers, so operators throughout Indian Country know how Konami keeps players coming back.

Konami’s library of proven performing games continues to expand to popular themes and premium titles. In addition to the recent release of the industry’s first Dungeons & Dragons slot machines, Konami’s Neo Contra-themed video slots mark the first-ever release of Konami Digital Entertainment video game IP to the casino gaming industry.

This iconic entertainment legacy comes to slot players in the form of two premiere game themes on KP3: Mighty Warrior and Supreme Samurai. Each is equipped with a four-level stand-alone progressive, as well as proven Konami game mechanics like Xtra Reward and cascading reels. Neo Contra is featured on a custom Podium cabinet with exclusive product features such as an expanded top box, eye-catching dual topper and Konami’s all-new Symphonik 3D Sound, which harnesses all the power and awe of 3D audio technology while eliminating the need for separate in-chair or rear-satellite surround-sound speakers.

Synkros—best known for its reliability, innovative marketing tools and powerful analytics tools—is Konami’s leading-edge casino management system. Synkros features system-delivered slot tournaments using True-Time Tournaments, including a player-on-demand format that allows patrons to earn and play tournaments at their own convenience. For floorwide bonusing, it offers SuperSeries, a multi-tiered targeting tool with an expanding variety of new themes.

Konami’s Synkros has been selected by numerous Native American operators across Minnesota, New Mexico, Oklahoma, California and more. Konami continues to exhibit a leading advantage in casino systems technology, providing users with new innovations in the form of zero-cost annual version updates and upgrades to leverage as a competitive edge in their respective markets.

Headquartered in Las Vegas, Konami distributes leading-edge products to casino properties across the globe. For more information, visit konamigaming.com.

Multimedia Games

Posted on March 18, 2015 by -

GCA and Multimedia Games will showcase their latest and greatest at NIGA 2015, including the newest titles for the premium award-winning cabinet Platinum MPX: the Texan HDX, a premium Texas-sized cabinet standing eight feet tall; the brand new Apex V Topper featuring dual video monitors;

and Cash Boom Bang, the latest out-of-revenue game for the award-winning TournEvent system.

Platinum MPX will make another appearance at NIGA this year with two themes guaranteed to leave a lasting impression with players—Dracula and Haunted House After Dark. The 40-inch monitor, custom surround-sound with integrated sound chair and Earthquake Shakers will bring these themes to life. 

  They say everything’s bigger in Texas, and Multimedia is proving that adage true with its latest premium cabinet, the Texan HDX, an oversized cabinet that can showcase any of Multimedia’s standard video themes. The giant cabinet stands nearly eight feet tall, with monitors measuring 42 inches.

The Apex V Topper will have its first-ever showing at NIGA this year, showcased on a bank of new themes such as Artemis, Wild Things and Full Service. This new topper features a unique dual 15-inch video screen setup.

The High Rise Games series will continue to stand tall this year with four new themes–Queen of Diamonds, Pirates Skull & Bones, the Money Man Big Cash Spin and Smokin’ Hot Diamonds. Queen of Diamonds offers a nine-reel, 32-line theme featuring the never-before-seen Jackpot Jump, where progressive prizes “jump” by one or two tiers if the Jackpot Jump card or Queen of Diamonds is uncovered.

Back and better than ever is the award-winning TournEvent slot tournament system, complete with a wireless tablet option, the latest out-of-revenue game and new signage. Cash Boom Bang with 4 Reel Frenzy will take slot tournaments to the next level, as tournament screens explode into four sets of reels once a bomb appears. Making a cameo as well will be the latest sign option for TournEvent, a rotating 55-inch monitor with lighted accent dividers and the ability to be featured on new bank configurations.

From GCA’s cash access solutions, the CXC Lite, CXC 4.0 and JackpotXchange kiosks will be showcased, as well as the cage cash access solution Cash Club, the XView reporting tool, NEWave’s anti-money laundering software and Everi’s product suite for real money online gaming.

For more information, stop by booth No. 1121 or visit www.multimediagames.com.

 

White House Welcome Mat

Posted on March 18, 2015 by -

On a brutally cold January 20, 2009, I watched the inauguration of President Barack Obama with other Native American guests at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. Just a few hundred yards away, history was being made with the swearing-in of our first African-American president.
    
Hopes and expectations were high for the new leader of the free world, and a little humor was welcome as Rev. Joseph Lowery, former president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, pronounced the following benediction:

Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get back, when brown can stick around—(laughter)—when yellow will be mellow—(laughter)—when the red man can get ahead, man—(laughter)—and when white will embrace what is right.
    
Let all those who do justice and love mercy say Amen.
Audience: Amen!

The challenge was clear from the beginning that Native Americans and native nation leaders wanted progress, and the fulfillment of a government-to-government relationship that was seriously deficient during the Bush administration.
    
Those deficiencies included the decades-long recalcitrance of the federal government in attempting to settle the Cobell breach-of-trust case, the clear lack of engagement on native issues by President W. Bush, an informal moratorium on land-into-trust applications, and an off-reservation gaming policy issued by the Department of the Interior without any tribal consultation.
    
While Indian gaming continued to grow by several billion dollars during the Bush administration, and dozens of new tribal gaming establishments opened, several episodes fostered distrust between native nations and their trustees, including gaming scandals associated with lobbyist Jack Abramoff and Interior Deputy Secretary Steven Griles, both of whom were convicted for illegal activities involving Indian tribes.

Good Start

Is the Obama era began, his record as president with respect to Indian Country would be centered on four agencies: the Department of the Interior, the National Indian Gaming Commission, Health and Human Services and the Department of Justice. While many other federal agencies (Environmental Protection Agency, Internal Revenue Service) are critical to the special relationship with Indian Country, the focus on the above four major agencies indelibly shapes the image of each new administration for good or bad.

Obama made a number of detailed campaign promises to American Indian and Alaska Native voters that he sought to fulfill as his term began.
    
One was to conduct an annual meeting with tribal leaders similar to what President Clinton had done on occasion while in office, but on a more formalized basis. In practice, these meetings, which some derided as a mere photo op, became the means for the most direct interaction by Native Americans with the president and his cabinet in over a decade.
    
Many cabinet secretaries also utilized this opportunity to announce major policy initiatives. Obama also required each federal agency to develop a policy on consultation with native nations, which led to an overall effort by the federal government to strengthen its communications with Indian Country. At the end of the president’s first term, he also established an internal working group on native issues similar to what was known in the Clinton administration as the Domestic Policy Working Group.
    
After taking office, the slow process of establishing a permanent Native American affairs team began. An initial frustration with the new administration began to settle in as key positions in the Interior Department and elsewhere remained unfilled even after Interior Secretary Ken Salazar was confirmed. This led the permanent staff at the Department of the Interior and other agencies to place on hold many key decisions until new appointees arrived, which in turn led to increased frustration from tribes on the lack of activity.
    
Deputy Secretary of the Interior David Hayes was one of the first confirmed nominees with experience in native issues (which, as we will discuss, proved to be a mixed blessing for native nations). During the first summer of the administration in 2009, almost all of the key native positions were filled.
    
Most notable were the key positions of Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk, Interior Solicitor Hillary Tompkins, Indian Health Service Director Yvette Robideaux and White House appointee Kim Tee Hee. These experienced appointees were to guide most administration decision-making on native issues throughout the first years of the administration, and were generally to the benefit of Indian Country.

Behind Closed Doors

However, at the Interior Department, the assistant secretary (and his cadre of young, bright deputies) experienced what has over the years become routine and frustrating for the Indian office. True decision-making is often made behind closed doors between the secretary, his top staff and the assistant secretary. I encountered this firsthand when my client, the Gun Lake Tribe, sought a routine reservation proclamation for its gaming establishment.
    
The proclamation was necessary to actually commence gaming on Gun Lake’s newly acquired trust property pursuant to one of the exceptions for trust lands acquired after 1988. While the assistant secretary was prepared to sign the proclamation days after his confirmation in June 2009, it took another two and a half months of intense tribal lobbying for the proclamation to be issued.
    
Reportedly, the deputy secretary opposed this action. Fortunately, then-Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm was also an enthusiastic supporter of the tribe.
    
This early battle signaled what was to become a stalemate on many issues between the secretary’s office and the assistant secretary with respect to gaming issues. Over the next two years, the department was at a virtual standstill on Federal Register publications for new gaming acquisitions, National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Record of Decision(s) (ROD) for gaming projects, and even routine publications of NEPA Notices of Availability of Draft Environmental Impact Statements for gaming projects.
    
This standstill reflected conflicting agendas within the department and unjustified sensitivity in the secretary’s office to the anti-gaming views of California Senator Dianne Feinstein. Feinstein not only opposed the growth of Indian casinos in urban areas, but routinely disparaged all casino gaming, Indian and non-Indian.

Delayed But Energized

This stalemate festered, and by June 2011, tribal leaders, the National Congress of American Indians and tribal advocates were at a boiling point over Interior’s bureaucratic delays on gaming projects.
    
By then, hundreds of millions of dollars of even non-controversial gaming projects had been delayed. Finally in June 2011, Assistant Secretary Echo Hawk announced the end of the Bush administration’s notorious 2008 off-reservation gaming memorandum and its “commutablity standard”—basically requiring that Indian casinos be located within a worker’s driving distance. (This standard led to some gallows humor by some wags who wondered if the standard was akin to commuting in Montana or Washington, D.C.)
    
Echo Hawk’s
announcement rescinding the Bush memorandum allowed the NEPA process to go forward for dozens of projects and ultimately resulted in a number of decisions on off-reservation gaming projects. Whether tribal leaders supported or opposed off-reservation gaming, it only seemed fair that the NEPA processes necessary for decision-making to go forward.
    
For the remainder of the Echo Hawk tenure, which went to the end of the first Obama term, long-delayed decisions finally began to be implemented. This pace was increased after Echo Hawk’s replacement Kevin Washburn was confirmed.
    
In hindsight, the first two years of the Obama administration were probably the lowest point with respect to the promotion of Indian gaming. Along with the interminable delays in the processing of fee-to-trust applications for gaming projects and the lack of Federal Register notices under NEPA, the administration had to deal with the challenges wrought by the 2009 United States Supreme Court decision in Carcieri v. Salazar.
    
In Carcieri, the court ruled that Indian tribes had to be “under federal jurisdiction” in 1934 for the secretary of interior to have authority to take land in trust for them under the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act. This led to widespread confusion over which native nations met this standard, and paralysis at the Department of the Interior Solicitor’s Office on how to process certain fee-to-trust applications.
   
The U.S. Congress was quick to react to the decision by calling several hearings on a “legislative fix,” but the White House never sought to make the fix a legislative priority by bargaining for its inclusion in must-pass legislation.
    
More damaging to the administration was the revelation in 2010 that the Interior Department through Deputy Secretary Hayes had been engaged in a secret legislative drafting process with Feinstein to develop a “Carcieri fix” that also included damaging amendments to the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.
    
NCAI and the National Indian Gaming Association had long sought to keep IGRA free of damaging amendments during the Carcieri process, and the department suffered a black eye when, without consultation, they attempted to facilitate an unacceptable compromise.
    
Carcieri and Cobell Concerns

As the temperature in Indian Country rose in 2009, 2010 and 2011 concerning the lack of advocacy on Carcieri and the processing of gaming projects, the logjam was finally broken by Echo Hawk’s announcement in June 2011 affirmatively allowing the processing of gaming applications, including those for off-reservation projects. This was seen as a positive development, particularly when coupled with the earlier landmark Solicitor’s Office decision on December 14, 2010 regarding the Cowlitz Indian Tribe.
    
In that decision, the Solicitor’s Office finally memorialized its guidance on how to construe the Carcieri case and what tests it would utilize to determine whether a tribe was “under federal jurisdiction” in 1934.
    
The opinion was reasonable, detailed and flexible on how tribes could meet the jurisdiction test. Even so, if the Obama administration’s legacy on Indian gaming was limited to its early years, the record would have been one of distrust, delay and obfuscation. Fortu-nately, the first two years have not been indicative of the years 2011-2015 when the Interior Department issued dozens of game decisions, restored land decisions and off-reservation “two-part” decisions. While many delays still exist due to staffing, it is not the result of a top-down lockdown on progress.
    
For many in Indian Country, the failures in the Indian gaming arena were greatly overshadowed by the phenomenal success of the department and its leadership team of Solicitor Hillary Tompkins, Deputy Secretary Hayes and Department of Justice attorney Tom Perrelli in negotiating a $3.4 billion settlement of the Cobell case on December 8, 2009.
    
This was later enacted by Congress in the Claims Resolution Act of 2010. The Cobell settlement ended years of vitriolic relations between the plaintiffs, and in particular their attorneys, with the Interior Department defendants and its attorneys. The case, which was ultimately found to be justified legally and morally, had often poisoned relations between the department and its Indian trust beneficiaries.
    
The Cobell settlement will likely be seen as the signature achievement for Indian Country during the Obama administration. This settlement also paved the way for the settlement of numerous individual tribal claims against the United States for trust account violations, sometimes totaling in the millions of dollars.
    
The administration built on this success on December 27, 2011 when the Department of Agriculture settled the Keepseagle v. Vilsack class-action lawsuit. This $760 million settlement ended a lawsuit over whether the USDA discriminated against Native Americans by denying them equal access to credit in the USDA Farm Loan Program.
    
In addition, the Interior Department and the Department of Justice settled a number of long-standing Indian water claims against the United States in Arizona, New Mexico, Idaho and Montana.
    
The Department of Health and Human Services enjoyed significant funding increases during the Obama administration, but unfortunately its funding requests were typically below what the Interior Appropriations Committee and the Congress appropriated. Fortunately, the Indian Health Service (IHS) had strong bipartisan advocates on the key funding committees, including congressional members Tom Cole, Betty McCollum, Jim Moran and Ken Calvert.
    
The major division between IHS and Indian Country was the budget for contract support costs, which were routinely underfunded even after tribes won a significant U.S. Supreme Court decision in Salazar v. Ramah Navajo Chapter (2012). The contract support issue threatens to become as divisive as the Cobell case if a solution is not found to this annual problem soon.

Obama Victories

The Obama administration’s legislative record has seen impressive legislative victories in measures like the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) (extending certain tribal jurisdiction to non-Indians), the Stafford Act (granting tribes certain disaster relief authorities), the Hearth Act (improvement to leasing on Indian lands), the General Welfare Act (favorable tax provisions) and the renewal of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act.
   
One notable failure has been the lack of an aforementioned Carcieri fix. While Indian Country publicly appears unified on a “clean fix” with no damaging amendments, the practice has seen the opposite.
   
Some tribal leaders and their Washington, D.C. lobbyists frequently undermine efforts to achieve a clean fix by offering suggestions of unacceptable compromises. Most notably, Indian Country representatives effectively torpedoed a clean fix at the end of the 112th Congress when Senate Committee on Indian Affairs Chairman Daniel Akaka received a floor vote for his legislation.
   
As senior staff to the committee later noted, a number of Republican senators were prepared to vote for the legislation along with most Democrats, but the fear by some advocates that amendments could be added (and others who thought a losing vote would permanently damage the effort) ended up, along with the NCAI and others, lobbying to pull the bill.
   
Regr
ettably, this cratering of support caused the bill to be withdrawn, and it has yet to see a floor vote since. The White House was notably silent during that end-of-year process, and that silence was also noted on Capitol Hill. Even so, it is but one negative on a fine record.
   
The Obama administration began with a plea for the “red man to get ahead, man,” and an objective analysis will show significant gains for Indian Country in terms of funding, land acquisition, settlements, increased jurisdiction and tribal self-determination. After a rocky start, the administration has found sure footing from the president on down to his appointees like Washburn, Deputy Assistant Secretary Larry Roberts and NIGC Chairman Jonodev Chaudhuri.
   
If solid achievements can continue, President Obama may earn and deserve this moniker from Indian Country—best president ever.

Novomatic Americas

Posted on March 18, 2015 by -

Following an extremely encouraging debut showing at NIGA 2014, Novomatic Americas Sales LLC, the dedicated U.S. arm of Austrian-based gaming giant Novomatic, is ready to move into high gear at NIGA 2015.

With a clear emphasis on tribal government gaming, Novomatic Americas, under the leadership of its president, industry veteran Rick Meitzler, is an integrated global gaming company specializing in the design, development, manufacturing, distribution and sales of electronic gaming machines and advanced technology products. The company already has recruited highly experienced gaming industry professionals to its team and has rapidly expanded over the past 12 months.

Leading the NIGA product lineup will be the brand new Dominator Curve—a dramatic evolution of the hugely successful Dominator, which had its world premiere at ICE Totally Gaming in London.

The Dominator Curve features all the ergonomic and design elements of its predecessor plus the advantages of its unique upright 40-inch full HD curved touch-screen. The player position in the focal point of the curved screen guarantees maximum-impact gaming with sophisticated graphics and sound. The Dominator Curve display at NIGA will feature a wide range of single games and multi-game mixes supported on the server-based-ready platform Novo Line Interactive, blending optimized usability and top-quality design with great looks.

Alongside the Dominator will be the product that was a standout hit at both G2E in Las Vegas and ICE in London—the Novostar V.I.P. II. With an impressively large 50-inch screen, it’s widely regarded as the best slant-top gaming device on the market today.

Electronic multi-player gaming will be represented by Novo Unity II, featuring a live Novo TouchBet Blackjack plus virtual (“flying”) baccarat, poker, sic bo and roulette games to wow the crowds.

In all, NIGA will prove to all tribal government gaming attendees that Novomatic Americas is here, in force and very definitely to stay. Meitzler summed it up: “Novomatic Americas is now officially on the move. Starting with NIGA we will bring our product offerings, backed up by our top-class service, to a market that has already expressed its willingness to accept us.”

For more information, visit novomatic.com or contact Rick Meitzler at 224-802-2974.

 

Red Square Gaming

Posted on March 18, 2015 by -

Red Square Gaming is a full-service advertising agency focused on casino brands. Its specialization and energy bring clients a uniquely deep set of skills that the typical agency cannot. Red Square Gaming combines strategic thinking, imagination, logistics and technology to deliver creative intelligence to help clients dominate the competition.

Reaching gamers in a complex and competitive world:

The world is increasingly complex, the media landscape is shifting at light speed and there are more competitors entering the market every day.

Historically, advertising agencies have strived to be everything to everyone. By doing so, category experience often becomes a talking point, rather than a dedicated focus, and service capabilities are expanded simply to fulfill needs, rather than delivering on greater value. Now is not the time for generalist thinking.

A smarter approach to digital:

Intelligent marketing programs that tightly integrate digital are the baseline requisite to compete these days. Traditional advertising—the blocking and tackling of what casino marketers do—is not dead. Quite the contrary. Red Square Gaming’s approach is to tailor campaigns and platforms to each client, strategically employing the right combination of traditional media, digital, social and mobile. A casino’s marketing should not be purchased off the shelf, nor should it be one-size-fits-all.

Founded on Tribal gaming

Red Square Gaming’s practice was launched a decade ago with PCI Gaming (now Wind Creek Hospitality) in Alabama, adding Cherokee Nation Entertainment in Oklahoma to the client roster a few years later. Both of these groups have been integral to the success of the agency, and all have been very fortunate to grow together. This experience, and the resulting decade of learning, is the basis of who Red Square Gaming is. The agency understands the rigors of the category and respects the nuances of tribal entities.

Simply, Red Square Gaming’s goal is to become the best casino advertising agency in the country. The agency will do so by continuing to partner with casinos who seek to break new ground at the forefront of creative media and gaming.

For a closer look at Red Square Gaming’s portfolio and thinking, visit http://redsquaregaming.com or contact Rich Sullivan, chief executive officer, at rich@redsquaregaming.com, 251-476-1283.

Rymax Marketing Services

Posted on March 18, 2015 by -

Rymax Marketing Services is the premier full-service loyalty provider in the incentive and gaming industry. As an industry leader, its primary focus is on creating effective player loyalty solutions for national and regional properties, Indian casinos and racinos, as well as Fortune 500 companies.

With access to thousands of trending products and merchandise from our renowned brand partners such as Johnston & Murphy, Hearts on Fire and Acoustic Research, Rymax offers clients the power of choice from a vast rewards selection. Its award-winning programs and events are designed to drive ROI for the property while increasing player loyalty and boosting repetitive play from guests.

As the largest national direct manufacturers’ representative in the incentive industry, Rymax understands the important role rewards play in driving player engagement and loyalty. The company’s Gaming Division works with partnered properties to provide customized loyalty programs, merchandise rewards and strategic reward events that meet the needs of a multi-generational audience.

Rymax prides itself on offering rewards that appeal to every market segment that walks through a casino’s door. Rymax’s in-house merchandise team will recommended trending reward options for a program or event that best suits the desired targeted audience, to ensure that the appropriate rewards are being offered.

For example, millennials are particularly brand-name and technology driven, so casinos partnered with Rymax have found great success generating repetitive business from this group through unique opportunities like Rymax’s Strategic Interactive Themed Events or R-S.I.T.E. These events give players the ability to attain in-demand products such as a Michael Kors handbag or the latest Skullcandy headphones that they may not normally splurge on themselves.

Rymax on-site casino events have a proven positive impact on a property’s overall performance and keeps players engaged while at the casino. Rymax works strategically with both the program and the venue to create something that appeals to the target audience by using on-trend, innovative ideas and motivational rewards that will keep these VIP players coming back.

From the initial planning of the loyalty program to executing effective player loyalty events, Rymax works hand-in-hand with casinos to achieve their unique goals. To learn more about Rymax contact Paul Gordon, senior vice president of sales, at 973-582-3272 or pgordon@rymaxinc.com.

 

iPoker Hiccup in California

Posted on March 17, 2015 by -

When American Indian tribal leaders gathered last February at Harrah’s Rincon Resort, nestled in the quiet, picturesque, rolling hills outside San Diego, much of the talk centered on the need to reach consensus on internet poker.

Agreement among a handful of politically influential tribal governments is believed crucial to efforts to legalize online wagering in California, which with a population of 38 million people is expected to be the country’s most lucrative statewide online poker market.
    
“California represents the plum when it comes to internet gaming,” Lee Acebedo, executive director of the California Nations Indian Gaming Association, told delegates to the annual Western Indian Gaming Conference.
    
But when tribal leaders took to the microphones to address the approximately 350 conference attendees, the message was far from optimistic.
    
And the backroom debate among tribal leaders was not nearly as quiet as the countryside.
    
An at times heated, closed-door gathering of leaders from nine politically powerful tribes left Sacramento legislators skeptical a bill legalizing internet poker will come out of the 2015 session, if ever.
    
“We thought we had a lot of support, a lot of momentum last year,” Chairman Bo Mazzetti of the Rincon Band of Luiseño Indians said of failed efforts by a 13-tribe coalition to get compromise legislation voted out of committee.
    
“Things have changed,” the chairman said, and a much smaller group of tribes seemed hopelessly deadlocked on key issues, primarily licensing parimutuel racetracks and “bad actor” language.
    
“If tribes don’t get together, there won’t be a bill,” Mazzetti said. “If we don’t do a bill this year, there will not be internet poker in California.”
    
Robert Martin, chairman of the Morongo Band of Mission Indians—partner with another tribe, three Los Angeles area card rooms and Amaya/PokerStars in a coalition seeking online wagering—was even more pessimistic.
    
“All of the tribes are not going to get together,” Martin said. “It is just not going to happen.”
    
Assemblyman Mike Gatto, sponsor of one of two pending bills to legalize online poker, says the word out of Rincon led him to roll back his earlier prediction that his legislation stood a 50-50 chance of success.
    
“I’m less optimistic that it will get done this year,” Gatto says.
    
What tribal attorney Stephen Hart calls the “very complicated mosaic” of internet politics in California has for nearly seven years been the focus of state officials, congressional leaders, tribes, card rooms, race tracks and gambling companies both in the United States and Europe.

Bingo Blast

But the future of online gambling in Indian Country may not be shaped in the state legislature. It may rest in the courtroom of U.S. District Judge Anthony Battaglia.
    
The Iipay Nation of Santa Ysabel, a small, indigenous community in San Diego County, is waging what may prove to be a landmark legal battle with state and federal officials over efforts to run an online bingo website. (See related story, page 32.)
    
The tribe believes it can under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) offer internet Class II bingo regardless of whether tribes, card rooms and most likely the racing industry is successful in legalizing commercial online poker.
    
The Santa Ysabel lawsuit, which is expected to wind its way through the federal courts, may eventually pave the way for an explosion of online wagering in Indian Country.
  
Or it could prove a disaster for major Class II gambling markets in Oklahoma, Alabama and elsewhere.
    
“This can be a milestone case,” says independent consultant Norm DesRosiers, a former commissioner with the National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC). DesRosiers has been retained by the tribe’s partner, Great Luck LLC, as an expert witness in the litigation.
    
“If the tribe prevails it will not only enable other tribes to engage in bingo with the internet as a technological aid, but poker, which is also Class II gaming. Tribes will be able to get into the internet gambling business with no state or federal regulations.”
    
But there are risks for tribes operating the roughly 35,000 Class II machines (8 percent to 12 percent of the tribal casino inventory nationwide) if the courts find the devices are facsimiles of Class III, casino-style games which require tribal-state regulatory agreements, or compacts.
    
Economist Alan Meister, author of the Indian Gaming Industry Report, estimates Class II machines generate 14 percent of the tribal casino industry’s $28 billion in annual revenue.
    
“I don’t appreciate Great Luck putting us all out there,” says John Tahsuda, a tribal attorney and lobbyist for the Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association. Oklahoma tribes operate roughly half the nation’s Class II machines.

Long-Shot Gamble

It came as little surprise at the Rincon conference that some prominent tribes were in angst over the delay in getting an internet poker bill out of the legislature.
    
The Rincon and Pala bands of Luiseño Indians and United Auburn Indian Community were reportedly being pressured by their online partnerships.
    
Rincon has a management agreement with Caesars Entertainment; Pala’s enterprise, Pala Interactive, was launching a website in New Jersey; and United Auburn has a longstanding agreement with Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment.
    
Tensions increased when it was learned New Jersey Governor Chris Christie may have been delaying the Amaya/PokerStars launch at the bequest of billionaire Sheldon Adelson. The casino mogul has been urging Congress to outlaw online gambling.
    
In a letter to pending bill sponsors Gatto and Reginald Jones-Sawyer, the three tribes and more than 20 card rooms said they were willing to accept extending licenses to parimutuel racing associations and agreed to softening “bad actor” and “tainted asset” provisions.
    
Bad-actor provisions were drafted to prohibit the licensing of foreign companies that accepted U.S. wagers after passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA).
    
The provisions were apparently targeted to online giant PokerStars, which before being purchased by Amaya Gaming last year paid $730 million to settle a Department of Justice investigation.
    
Rincon is in partnership with Caesars Entertainment, which last week said it believes Amaya/PokerStars should at least be considered for licensing in the United States, a U-turn from its prior position on the issue.
    
The shifting position on the two issues riled some tribal leaders at the closed-door meeting, particularly Chairman Mark Macarro of the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians of Temecula. Pechanga and the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians of Palm Springs have been steadfast in their opposition to licensing racetracks and easing bad-actor provisions in bill language.
    
Pechanga officials said they were “ambushed” when informed at the meeting of the Feb. 10 letter to Gatto and Jones-Sawyer. Leaders from nine tribes attended the session, which did not include Morongo and San Manuel, though they were invited.
    
Macarro and Rincon Councilman Steve Stallings at one poin
t got into a heated exchange.
    
“This was an ambush, plain and simple, under the pretense of consensus-building,” a tribal official said.
  
“Unfortunately, the letter, which tribes did not know of until arriving at the meeting, effectively capitulates on principles of great importance for tribal rights and future tribal generations,” Macarro said.
    
“The ploy was disingenuous and disrespectful toward most tribes attending today’s meeting. Clearly we have a long way to go to resolve the outstanding issues.”

Future Looks Dim

Officials with Rincon, Auburn and Pala contend Pechanga has dominated closed-door discussions on internet poker, which they believe have not been progressive.
    
In seven years of legislative debate, an internet poker bill has never made it out of committee.
    
“We just got tired of years of endless, unproductive meetings,” said a tribal leader who requested anonymity.
    
The two tribes, with support from a few other Indian governments, have the political clout to block a bill, industry and capital observers said.
    
“Without Pechanga, there will be no bill,” said one state official who requested anonymity. The official said it would not be difficult to block a tax bill requiring a two-thirds vote for passage.
    
“Without Pechanga and Agua on board, it’s going to be tough sledding,” said another high-ranking official who also requested anonymity.
    
In addition to backing off his prediction that online poker had a 50-50 chance of passing, Gatto objected to characterizations by the tribes that he and bill sponsor Jones-Sawyer were “overwhelmingly supportive” of proposed amendments offered by the Rincon and Pala bands of Luiseño Indians, United Auburn Indian Com-munity and more than 20 card rooms.
    
Gatto’s AB 9 limits website licenses to tribes and card rooms. It also prohibits licensing companies that took U.S. wagers after passage of UIGEA.
    
“I welcome the letter,” says Gatto. “This is exactly what is supposed to happen in the legislative process. People who have an interest are supposed to submit their comments on how we can improve any legislation. Do I welcome it? Yes. Do I embrace it? No. Do I agree with everything in it? No.”
    
Jones-Sawyer, whose AB 167 extends license eligibility to tracks and includes no bad-actor or tainted-assets language, did not respond to requests for comment.
    
Macarro and Agua Caliente Chairman Jeff Grubbe are not likely to budge on their opposition to tracks and softening bad-actor language.
    
Expanding gambling in the state, they believe, would encroach on tribal casino exclusivity and jeopardize the industry’s sustainability for future generations.
    
“No iPoker in California is the clearly preferable option” to legislation licensing tracks and bad-actor companies, Grubbe says.    
    
“We’re not doing iPoker in a vacuum,” Macarro says. “There’s a public policy that not only can’t be ignored, it has to be addressed.”
    
Parimutuel racing, a broad-based, largely agricultural industry that includes tracks, breeders and labor unions, would expand the internet coalition throughout the state. But few believe it would generate a two-thirds vote this year. And they are more skeptical it will get through the legislature in 2016, an election year.
    
Chairman Martin has long contended that the agenda for a number of California tribes was to block legislation. He finds the position of Macarro, Grubbe and others to reinforce that belief.
    
“It’s not going to happen,” he says.

Betting on Bingo

Posted on March 17, 2015 by -

A small California American Indian tribe and its online business partner want federal regulators to weigh in on a potentially landmark lawsuit with state and federal prosecutors over an online bingo website.
   
The Iipay Nation of Santa Ysabel and Great Luck LLC are asking the National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC) to affirm the partnership is adhering to the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) in launching a bingo website taking off-reservation wagers.
   
Without NIGC action, tribal officials contend future determinations on the legality of gambling on Indian lands could be left to federal and state officials, seriously eroding tribal government sovereignty.
   
NIGC officials say they are investigating the Desert Rose Bingo website, which was shut down in December by a federal judge acting on a temporary restraining order requested by California Attorney General Kamala Harris.
   
Harris contends Desert Rose Bingo violates federal law, IGRA and a tribal-state regulatory compact.
   
Harris claims IGRA restricts gambling to Indian lands and that online wagers occur where both the gambler and server are located.
   
Santa Ysabel and Great Luck contend the web-browser-enabled bingo game is conducted by “proxy” players through an internet server on tribal land. Great Luck is not named in the complaint.
   
The partnership also claims online bingo under IGRA is a Class II game not subject to state jurisdiction and tribal-state gambling compacts.
   
Harris contends internet bingo is a “facsimile” of a Class III casino-style game subject to the compact.
   
The case is expected to wind its way through the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
   
The tribe has not yet been served in the U.S. Department of Justice case, which alleges the website violates the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006. The DOJ does not allege a violation of IGRA.
   
“The NIGC is currently looking at the full range of IGRA compliance issues implicated by the gaming that was being conducted by Santa Ysabel and Great Luck,” NIGC spokesman Mike Odle says.
   
The NIGC investigation includes whether the partnership violates regulations requiring that most of the revenues go to the tribe.
   
“Our goal is to ensure that the regulatory requirements of IGRA are met and that the tribe is the primary beneficiary of the gaming activity,” Odle says.
   
Tribal and Great Luck officials say they adhere to IGRA sole proprietary guidelines. The tribe’s financially plagued 349-machine casino was shut down last year, putting 115 people out of work.
   
Odle says Santa Ysabel and Great Luck did not ask for a game classification opinion from NIGC prior to launching the website.
   
“Often, tribes will contact the NIGC for a game classification opinion prior to offering a new game,” he says. “The NIGC offers this assistance to avoid risk, uncertainty and costly litigation.”
   
Santa Ysabel Chairman Virgil Perez says the tribe is seeking affirmation from NIGC that Desert Rose Bingo is legal Class II gaming designed to conform with NIGC minimum internal controls and in accordance with an NIGC-approved tribal gaming ordinance.
   
“We are hopeful the NIGC will not stay silent,” Perez says.
   
The simmering dispute between the tribe, Great Luck and the NIGC strikes at growing sentiment among tribal officials and regulators that the federal agency needs to take a more proactive leadership role on internet gambling.
   
“Tribes are going to move on internet wagering. It would be much more beneficial if they could do it in conjunction with NIGC,” says Sharon House, counsel for the National Tribal Gaming Commissioners/Regulators. “Instead of making opinions to provide guidance, they wait until it becomes a real issue. By then the matter is too far gone.”
    
NIGC officials did not respond to the tribe’s suggested February 13 deadline to affirm the website is in compliance with IGRA.
    
Some tribal officials believe acting NIGC Chairman Jonodev Chaudhuri would likely not engage in the litigation before his pending Senate confirmation. Tribal attorney Graydon Luthey says the NIGC “needs to consider jurisdiction issues when you have a state regulator—namely, the attorney general of California—asking a federal court to interpret IGRA.”
   
“If I were the NIGC, that would make me uncomfortable because I’m the congressionally appointed regulator,” Luthey says. “I’ve got some elected state official in California doing what Congress has told me to do.”—Dave Palermo

Under Pressure

Posted on March 17, 2015 by -

The dreaded “S” word—saturation—has been cropping up with increasing frequency over the past couple of years. With new states approving casino gaming and current gaming states expanding their offerings, existing casinos have a choice to make: compete or disappear.

But of course, it’s not that easy. There is no magic bullet to upgrade your appeal to your customers and potential customers. And the vagaries of the different markets add to that conundrum. So what’s a marketing executive to do?

Tribal Government Gaming asked five marketing experts—individuals and companies whose very livelihood depends upon giving good advice to casino executives about how to increase business—what a casino marketing executive can do that will have a true, immediate and positive impact on a casino’s business.

The answers are as prescient as they are effective. Take a few home with you.

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BACK TO BASICS
by Ben Gordon

Walk the aisles at the latest industry trade show and you’ll be bombarded with apps and software that will deliver information on everything your guests desire… from the food they want to eat, to the entertainment they want to experience, to the games they want to play. It’s all there. Some of it is free just for the asking. Competition is fierce and everyone wants to sell you the latest and greatest marketing magic.

At least for that day.

Let’s acknowledge that there is a “race to the bottom” via increasing free play and giving away buffets—so what’s next? Bulletin: You can’t cheat the process. Every house has to be built by first laying a solid foundation for success.

Here’s the good thing—no problema. It’s amazing how many of your fellow marketing execs aren’t covering their assets—you know, like:

Realizing that revenue comes from many different sources. That’s right, it’s more than just slot machines. What are you doing to drive revenue from every direction?

Using data to make decisions. It’s still shocking to see how often people simply do not take the time to see what something did before continuing to do it or to change it. With all the tools at our fingertips, with new technologies to tell us where and when guests are making their buying decisions, our ability to collect and have timely and meaningful data impact our minute-to-minute strategies has never been better or more focused. Make sure you get you some data!

Eliminating unnecessary expenses.“Oh sure—we’ve already done that.” No, you haven’t. You’ve told somebody else or a whole bunch of somebody elses to do it.

Challenge your team daily with one simple question: “Is it nice or is it necessary?” Once people get focused on what they actually need to do their jobs, and the fact you’re going to hold them accountable for that, a lot of “fluff” goes away.

Reinforcing your brand. Your brand is more than a slogan and a logo. It’s your face to the world, and you must find ways to reinforce it throughout your organization.

As a good friend of mine, a marketing mind I respect and shall go unnamed, says, “Your front line must live it in order for your marketing team to say it.”

Having fun. This industry will chew you up and spit you out if you cannot find ways to make a 24/7/365 job fun. And if you think about it, what is more fun than a casino? Great food and entertainment, guests with fun and quirky personalities, gambling, fun and rewarding promotions, developing consistent and fair offers to get them to come back…

If you cannot have fun working in this environment, where can you have fun?

Ben Gordon is the owner and principal of Tribal Resource, LLC. After a successful 30-year career in advertising and marketing, he now works with tribal and casino executives in mentoring and developing tribal talent across the many disciplines of each enterprise. For more information, visit TribalResource.com.

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A COMMODITY OR A SERVICE?
by Michael A. Meczka

In competitive casino environments, the marketing team has the most difficult task of differentiating what is quickly becoming a commodity experience. Casinos offer the same exact games with the same exact titles, with essentially the same exact pay-tables from the same exact manufacturers. How can a casino executive motivate a patron to gamble at one casino over another?

Simply learn what the patron wants, and deliver.

Begin by implementing a program to clarify the basic four elements of determining the gaming patron’s wants and needs. The following may seem elementary, but far more casinos opt to ignore than learn about their market or their patron.

First, conduct a market profile to decide the current competitive set as defined by the patrons, not by non-gambling casino executives.

Second, segment the existing database to determine which segments are profitable and which segments are wearing out more carpeting than they are worth.

Third, conduct a competitive analysis of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats among the patron-defined competitive set of properties. This would include a comparative shop—actually playing at the primary competitor(s)—to discover firsthand their reinvestment, loyalty building and rewards strategies, to name a few.

Fourth, review all and outline your own unique tactics that will deliver the highest perceived values to your most valuable gaming patron segments. Conduct qualitative immersion sessions with targeted patrons to be certain that what has been developed is what these patrons expect. This will ensure loyalty from the 20 percent who generate 80 percent of the gambling revenue. Be willing to “fire” those patrons in your database who are discovered to bring little or no value.

The above four exercises will help define what the gaming patron expects and provide a path to meet those expectations. When done properly in a competitive market, a casino will develop more loyal customers and understanding from its database through word-of-mouth, and do so by simply meeting their modest expectations.

Gaming patrons do not expect to be overly rewarded. They expect to stay in play for a reasonable amount of time proportionate to their gambling budget for that specific casino gambling experience. Time and again, we hear the plea, “Let me play for a while. Let my $100 last me an hour or two. Don’t take it in the first 10 minutes!”

We also hear the lament of winning too quickly. When experiencing a relatively big win (under $1,199) in the first 10 minutes of play, patrons continue to play even though they have more than doubled or tripled their starting gambling budget. Why?

“I am not ready to go home. I am here to relax and escape. Just let me play. I’ll give you all my gambling budget, but let me play for the time allotted to be entertained.”

It is the entertainment of gambling they expect. Remember Ace Rothstein in Casino:
In the
casino, the cardinal rule is to keep them playing and keep them
coming back. The longer they play, the more they lose. In the end, we get it all.
Let’s keep them coming back.

Michael A. Meczka is president of Meczka Marketing/Research/Consulting, Inc. During the company’s 35-year history, it has completed numerous projects focused on improving the total gaming experience. For more information, visit mmrcinc.com.

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SOCIAL ACCEPTANCE
by Mark Elmore

As an ad guy, I’ve always remembered a quote by Robert Woodruff, the founder of Coca-Cola, who said, “I’ll put a Coke within an arm’s reach of desire.” It was advertising and marketing’s job to create the desire, and distribution’s job to get the product out there, everywhere.

Today is different. In the digital age, every product is literally within arm’s reach. Pull out the mobile phone, and find anything you want, whenever you want to. And therein lies the opportunity.

Our customers are gamblers, after all. Their desire to experience the rush of playing and winning games of chance and skill can now be fulfilled by us whether they are in our establishments or not, by playing our tribal online social casino games.

We can develop deeper, more fulfilling, more rewarding relationships by keeping them connected to us. They are with us even when they are not actually with us—thus underscoring that in this day and age, successful brands (relationships) must be totally interactive and immersive; customers are loyal only when they can engage with us on their terms, whenever they wish, so that we become an always-available, pleasurable part of their lives.

Online social casino gaming can and should be an extension of your brand. It gives us new tools for player acquisition and player reactivation—more ways to increase player engagement, increase loyalty, and most importantly, generate incremental visits and increased spend at the property.

By offering our own online casino games and social gaming, current customers and potentially new customers to the property can play for fun and for virtual credits. (It’s important to note that the thrill of winning exists even if the prize is only virtual, because it satisfies our primal need to play and be rewarded.)

The goal is twofold:

Engage customers—own their “time on device” when they desire to play outside the casino, whether it be on their desktop, tablet or mobile (in fact, more than half of all social gaming is now done on mobile), understanding that they’re going to play somewhere, and the last thing you want is for your good players to start playing a competitor’s online games. And secondly, turn those online visits into property visits.

Do that by rewarding free online play with virtual credits for food and beverage, lodging, entertainment and/or other discounts that they must redeem in your property. Plus, you can tailor the redemption periods for credits won online to increase player visits on “off” days, difficult times of the year, entertainment acts that are not selling, or to increase awareness or boost volume at new property amenities like restaurants, lounges, spa, etc.

Here’s some compelling info that’s available for public consumption: Data from Maryland Live! casino’s play-for-free site indicates that 12 percent of the online free-play database came into the casino to play for real money. Of these, 40 percent came more frequently, were worth 20 percent more per visit, and stayed 10 percent longer than other customers.

Let me repeat that: more frequency, more worth and longer stays than other customers. That is social behavior we can all get excited about.

I’ll close with a paraphrase of Mr. Woodruff’s old maxim: “We’ll put a game within an arm’s reach of desire,” and keep the hearts and minds of our current customers and win new ones.

After all, hasn’t it always been about “time on device?”

Mark Elmore is CEO of Gaga, a full-service advertising and marketing firm creating and executing marketing and advertising solutions across all media disciplines. Prior to founding Gaga in 2007, he directed advertising and marketing for Trump Plaza and the Isle of Capri casinos. For more information, visit Gaganation.com.

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SUPERCHARGING PLAYER REVENUE GROWTH
by Gary Border

Here are six steps to immediately begin to increase gaming revenue:

1.) All casinos should invest in aggressive player development departments. To jumpstart growth and build both revenue and market share, enlist your player development staff to create player appreciation events.

Use personalized campaigns to target your inactive premium-level players and any defecting customers. It’s relatively inexpensive, and since the results can be measured in as little as a few weeks, there’s not a lot of risk. Personal touches are powerful loyalty builders, and your property can use the slower midweek space to lavish benefits on these player segments.

2.) Research your better players. It’s important to understand what keeps bringing them back, and it’s helpful to know what it would take to bring them in more—especially since it’s a safe bet they’re sharing their gambling dollars with your competition. You may be surprised how few of them are driven solely by comps. Sometimes they just like to feel “safe,” and the difference can be your entertainment, dining options, or even a favorite server or dealer.

3.) Step back and take a fresh look at your brand positioning relative to your competition. It’s important that your messaging and services be different. Your brand needs these three components to stand out:
a. Uniqueness from your competition in the market;
b. Relevance to the gambler audience you want to attract; and,
c. Clearly defined service and product benefits you can
deliver on.

A great position defines your brand so precisely that it simultaneously defines your competition. We once ran billboards that read:

• “Sure, you could earn a comp someplace else, but then
you’d actually have to eat there!”

• “Nowadays every casino has a theme. Ours is gambling!”

Our client indisputably offered both the best dining and gaming differentiation in all categories. Understanding the market starts with thoroughly understanding yourself.

4.) Use social and mobile media to accelerate your brand exposure. Mobile apps and websites can deliver clear calls to action considerably faster than mail and more personally than advertising. Not only does it keep your customers informed about coming attractions, but the applications give players instant point redemption, event registration, offer redemptions and more.

One of our regional casinos did away with mailers entirely in dealing with their most important gamblers. The same information was delivered instantaneously through applications. They drew higher response rates, eliminated print and postage expenses, and could be tracked instantaneously.

Granted, we tested this shift prior to making wholesale changes. I’d recommend you proceed cautiously as to avoid disenfranchising existing players who prefer traditional mail. Also, consider the benefits of geo-fencing, which is emerging as a powerful tool to reach gamblers precisely when they’re most susceptible to your message.

5.) Plan mass-market events that support your position and attract new players with big purses. Tournaments targeted to slot and table players can be very effective. Events should be designed to entice the three big markets: past players, current players and prospects who gamble with your competitors.

6.) Prospecting ensures a future with fresh players who will counter those you may lose to competitors or strains in the economy. Fish for new players using third-party databases with specific player information. Big data enhancements can increase targeting accuracy and response, but beware of the tendency to over-reward, as creating unrealistic future expectations is ultimately damaging to the brand.

Gary Border is president of Marketing Results, the first agency devoted to database marketing and brand development solely for the casino industry. He has worked in the past for Harrah’s Entertainment, the Trump Organization and Horseshoe Gaming. Marketing Results has more than 100 casino clients. For more information, visit marketingresults.net.

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THERE’S NO ‘I’ IN TEAM
by John Mangini

When executives look at what makes a casino successful, both external and internal engagements are taken into account to identify how it will impact a property’s bottom line. The external engagements with players are critical points for all properties, since this is the source of the property’s identity and player loyalty that creates the revenue opportunities.

But how engaged will your players be if your staff is completely disengaged from the direction of your property?

To make guests feel welcome, you must first make your staff feel welcome. We have proven that an engaged workforce leads to higher customer satisfaction and higher RevPar that goes beyond the gaming revenue. In an industry that counts on player loyalty, it makes sense to put an equal focus on employee loyalty.

One of the primary components of building an engaged workforce is a dynamic employee recognition and rewards program. Recognized employees have been shown to work harder, stay with an organization longer and have more success than those working in an environment without a recognition program.

When designing a recognition and engagement program, there are a few things to keep in mind. First, choose a partner that fully understands organization goals and what executives are looking to accomplish with a program.

Second, find a partner that understands micro-targeting strategies and has the brand relationships to motivate employees with desirable merchandise. And third, design a program strategy that recognizes and engages employees through multiple touch points within the organization.  Strategies can include anything from group recognitions for goals achieved to individual recognitions for milestones achieved.

Additionally, the program must include a peer-to-peer recognition component. Employees recognized by peers feel like they’re part of a team, with a common goal pushing them to work harder, unlike those who are not recognized by their peers. It’s your budget, and the rewards that are offered should be self-liquidating, as they are funded through the lift in the business.

As for player engagements, your loyal players want to feel valued beyond transient players, and there is no better way to demonstrate this than hosting an event that’s exclusive to your most loyal players.

Create customized reward events tailored to players’ need of feeling valued, and that personalize the experience today’s players are seeking. Shopping spree events allow multi-generational players to redeem their hard-earned points for tangible products across multiple product categories that will leave them satisfied and eager to get more involved.

Today’s players and employees want to be appreciated, want aspirational rewards and most of all, want choice.

Give them what they want, and watch your revenue and business grow year over year.

John Mangini, CRP, is marketing manager for Rymax Marketing Services/Brainstorm Logistics. Mangini is a Certified Recognition Professional with over 20 years experience in marketing for both brands and agencies whose contributions to Rymax have helped the organization see significant growth in revenue. For more information, visit rymaxinc.com.