Feature: AGA Reed
The Show Must Go On W
Concerns over Coronavirus prompt the reinvention of Global Gaming Expo. By: David McKee
ell before the event, rumors were swirling as to whether 2020’s Global Gaming Expo, set for October 5, would be held. While trade shows in Las Vegas were expected to resume in the autumn, the persistence of Covid-19 threw that into question. Given that large gatherings of people in Las Vegas were prohibited in midsummer, there was no certainty as to when that ban would be lifted, further casting a pall on G2E. On July 8, the axe fell, with American Gaming Association President Bill Miller announcing that G2E would not be held as usual, but would be replaced with a series of virtual events. “In light of continued uncertainty around a viable marketplace at a physical G2E show, global travel restrictions, and currently unknown guidance on large public gatherings this fall,
we have come to the unfortunate conclusion that we simply cannot hold an in-person G2E this year,” he wrote, adding, “Health and safety have always been our top priority and the uncertainty created by the ongoing pandemic makes this the prudent decision ahead of critical deadlines for exhibitors planning to participate.” One uncertainty Miller could have mentioned is that Las Vegas is currently closed to international travel, potentially taking the “global” out of Global Gaming Expo. This was a bitter pill to swallow for the AGA, the Association of Gaming Equipment Manufacturers and sundry other constituents. It was also a blow to the Las Vegas Strip and specifically to Sands Expo Center, which had been planning to host 30,000 attendees. Given its traditionally packed show floor aisles and seminars, G2E would have been an event-planning nightmare, particularly in terms of balancing social distancing with (hopefully) robust attendance. Even 36
Bill Miller, American Gaming Association President
if Nevada authorities had allowed the show to go on, half-empty exhibit halls and panel discussions, sprinkled with masked participants would have sent a pessimistic signal to the industry. G2E had survived adversity before, particularly when it convened on the day after the Mandalay Bay Massacre, but Coronavirus was simply too big of an imponderable to be finessed. So why was the plug pulled on G2E? What will replace it? And how does the future look? We spoke with American Gaming Association Senior Director of Events Meredith Pallante and G2E Event Director Korbi Carrison. www.casinolifemagazine.com