Andrew W Scott
CEO
Inside Asian Gaming
Inside Asian Gaming’s CEO first entered a casino in 1986, fell in love with the surrounds and has been around them ever since. Andrew founded World Gaming Group in 2009 and launched WGM, took over IAG in 2015 and debuted a third magazine called High Life in 2016. He is a regular commentator in the media on all things gaming. Named the 2014 Macau Person of the Year, Andrew is also a regular consultant to institutions investing in Asian gaming stocks, President of the Macau Taxi Passengers Association, a member of the Portuguese and English Press Association of Macau and a permanent member of the Macau Gaming Management Association. He is also in the latter stages of completing a Master’s Degree in International Integrated Resort Management at the University of Macau.
Ben Blaschke
Managing Editor
Inside Asian Gaming
Ben began his career as a sports journalist in Sydney in 1999 before falling in love with poker. He soon found himself not only playing the game but writing about it too – taking onthe role of Editor for PokerNews Australasia and subsequently visiting Macau for the very first time in 2008. Having quickly discovered a love of the excitement of a great casino floor, he jumped at the chance to become more deeply involved with the industry when he was offered the role of Managing Editor of WGM in early 2013.
In 2016 Ben added the roles of Managing Editor of both IAG and High Life and this year was appointed Chief Content Officer at O MEDIA, overseeing all content across the company’s growing number of digital and print media brands. Ben was also the creative force behind IAG Breakfast Briefing, – a popular daily gaming industry newsletter hitting 20,000 inboxes at 8am each Macau business day.
Muhammad Cohen
Editor-At-large
Inside Asian Gaming
Muhammad Cohen has been covering business in Asia since 1995 and focused on the casino business for the past decade. He’s interviewed gaming’s best and brightest, been publicly upbraided (at least once, unjustly) by them and in turn has keenly assessed what they’ve produced. His experience as a diplomat and city planner helps him place gaming policies, projects and destinations in the broader urban and geopolitical context of Asia’s increasingly complex web of competing domestic and international interests and imperatives. As a former baseball writer, working with some of the game’s top statistical analysts, he brings a keen appreciation of the power and limits of numbers to paint a picture that may be incredibly accurate but also multi-dimensional.
Dr Davis Fong
Director of Institute for the Study of Commercial Gaming; Professor of International Integrated Resort Management
University of Macau
Dr Davis Fong has been responsible for more than 40 gambling and tourism related research projects for the Macao SAR Government. Pursuit of academic interest has led him to study different aspects of gambling and related issues, such as social and economic impacts of gambling, Chinese gambler behavior, gambling disorder, responsible gambling, visitor profile studies, casino operations, tourism management and more.
On appointment by the Government he has served as a Consultant on the Economic Development Committee since 2017, as a member of the Talents Development Committee since 2014 and on the Consultative Committee of Statistics, Macao SAR, since 2015 (UM Representative). Prof. Fong was appointed by the Chief Executive as a Deputy of the Sixth Legislative Assembly of Macao (2017–2021).
David Green
Principal
Newpage Consulting
David Green is founder and Chairman of Newpage Consulting, a company he established in Macau early in 2010. Previously he was Director of the Gaming Practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers (Macau) Limitada. An Australian citizen, he is also a Permanent Resident of Macau. He retired as a Partner of PwC in 2004, but rejoined in 2005 to assist in the further development of the firm’s presence in the Asian gaming industry. He lived in Macau for more than 14 years, and worked with the SAR Government on liberalization and regulation of the casino industry.
David is both a qualified lawyer and accountant, with considerable experience in gaming, including seven years (1995 to 2002) as a member and Chairman of the Independent Gambling Authority of South Australia. He is also a former Commissioner for Consumer Affairs in South Australia. Green holds a Masters degree in Law from the University of Melbourne, an MBA with Honors from IMD, Lausanne and a Commerce degree, also from the University of Melbourne. He was admitted to legal practice in Australia in 1977. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Public Accountants (Australia) and a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Constance Hsu
Director
Cheng Ying Group
Ms Constance Hsu has over 10 years of direct involvement in a broad set of gaming industry disciplines. Ms Hsu was with Mocha since it began in 2003, starting out as a financial controller and rising through management ranks quickly to become chief administrative officer. There, she oversaw finance, treasury, audit, legal compliance, procurement and human resources. In 2008, she was named president of Mocha, becoming one of only a handful of women to rise to the executive ranks in Macau’s gaming industry.
From December 2013 to January 2017, Ms Hsu served as the general manager of Altira Macau, Melco Resorts & Entertainment Limited’s first casino in Macau. She is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants. In 2011, Ms Hsu was honored with the award of Inspiration of the Year at the Women in Gaming Awards held in London.
She graduated with a bachelor of arts degree from Seattle University, a master’s degree in business administration from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and a doctorate degree in economics from Beijing Normal University.
Professor Desmond Lam, PHD
Acting Program Director of Hospitality and Gaming Management
Faculty of Business Administration, University of Macau
Desmond Lam is a Professor in International Integrated Resort Management and Chair of the International Accreditation Committee at the Faculty of Business Administration, University of Macau. He is a life member of Clare Hall, University of Cambridge, and a recipient of the “Emerging Leader” trophy at the 2016 Asia Gaming Awards.
Desmond has studied and written extensively on gaming-related issues in trade and academic publications and authored the book Chopsticks and Gambling by Routledge. He is a judge for the International Gaming Awards and G2E Asia Awards and a speaker at numerous seminars. Desmond has also consulted for the Macau government and for integrated resorts.
Rui Pinto Proença
Corporate and Gaming
Practice Partner
MdME Lawyers Private Notary
Rui is a partner at the Macau law firm of MdME, where he heads the firm’s Gaming practice. He has been based in Macau for the past 10 years, where he is recognized as one of the leading gaming lawyers. Rui regularly acts for gaming companies in Macau and across the Asia-Pacific region. He also assists governments in emerging markets develop their gaming policies and regulatory frameworks.
Rui was distinguished as “Emerging Leader of the Year” in the Asia Gaming Awards 2017 and was subsequently recognized as a leading gaming lawyer in the Asia-Pacific region by Chamber and Partners. He is the global chairman of the Lex Mundi Gaming Solution, a network of law firms covering more than 25 gaming jurisdictions around the world and a member of the Board of Trustees of the “International Association of Gaming Advisors”.
Michael Zhu
SVP, International Operations Planning & Analysis
The Innovation Group
With nearly 20 years of experience in the gaming, leisure, and hospitality industries, in 2014 Michael Zhu joined The Innovation Group where he applies a comprehensive analytical skill set while exploiting his unique cultural context and leveraging his in-depth development and operational experience in the related sectors. Michael is Vice Chairman of the Macau Gaming Information Association (MGIA). His main focus with The Innovation Group is on mid-and large-scale IR development and operations in the US, Asia-Pacific and European markets.
Michael also expanded his horizons during the GFC as a Leadership Development Associate with Las Vegas Sands Corporation, where he oversaw a broad array of projects to establish and enhance financial planning and analysis for the opening of numerous Sands China integrated resorts in Macau and Marina Bay Sands in Singapore among others. He holds a Master of Business Administration in Hospitality Management from the School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University, as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from Peking University in China. He was a Fellow of the United States National Committee on U.S. – China Relations in Washington, DC and of the East-West Center in Honolulu, Hawaii.
