Inside Asian Gaming

February 2014 | INSIDE ASIAN GAMING 31 Insights broader spectrum of services. And in 2014, as I mentioned, there will be new areas on the show floor to feature them. What about the exhibitors themselves? How are their needs changing and how is the show responding? In addition to what I have mentioned, and this is across all the events that we run, audiences are expecting more support from us as organizers prior to an event to facilitate networking and help them find new contacts. Reed is investing quite a lot in enhancing our capabilities in these areas to enable exhibitors and visitors to network prior to the showvia online andmobile tools.This will greatly enhance the quality of the businessmeetings during the show. It will also provide our audience withmore valuable information as they prepare for their visit. It sounds like the scope of this year’s show definitely will differ from past years. The show in 2014 is expected to expand by 20% over last year, and this primarily is being driven by new business segments in the areas I mentioned. With four months to go, we have already exceeded the showroom floor space of the 2013 presentation by almost 10%. Equally important is the new focus that we’ll have on non-gaming amenities, Internet gaming and investment. This new focus, would you characterize it as the highlight of G2E Asia 2014 as the planning has progressed so far? There are quite a few highlights, both in terms of the scope of the show and in how we are creating more networking opportunities for all participants. Yes, you will see a lot more exhibits and content from non-gaming sectors such as lighting, interior design and entertainment. This came out of our continuing dialogues with casino operators. In light of the massive infrastructure and property developments taking place in Macau currently and over the next few years they have a real sourcing need, especially from new suppliers who might potentially be able to offer more value. At G2E Asia 2014 you will see thematic areas which will give these suppliers a consolidated platform for presenting themselves and their products to the operators. We are also creating specific slots for non-gaming suppliers to present to the operators. On the conference side, i-Gaming is a very current topic across the globe, with tremendous potential, especially in Asia. While it has always been a focus of G2E Asia, the team has taken a step further in 2014 by organizing an i-Gaming conference to take place on the last day of the show. In addition, we will also have an Investment Forum that will be part of “Audiences are expecting more support from us as organizers prior to an event to facilitate networking and help them find new contacts.” the main conference program. On top of that, Reed is also investing in new technology to connect people in the industry prior to and during the event.We are very excited about these newdevelopments and the possibilities they can offer in terms of providing the most relevant platform for the industry to congregate. Can you give us a bit more detail on these new“thematic areas”? As I put it in my response to you earlier, we are constantly engaging with the customers, meaning the operators, the visitors, in our planning of the event. As you know, they are investing quite a lot in non-gaming development, and this is something they would like to see more of in the show. That is the how and why of the direction we are going in. So what are these non-gaming sectors that we are going to bring in? When we talk about non-gaming, of course, it’s very broad, it takes in almost everything, but we have identified a few areas that will receive most of the attention: design, interior design, design materials, lighting and the products that go with it, and what they can do in terms of enhancing the appeal of the operators’ retail areas, meeting areas, lobby areas, entertainment areas. Like the