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July 20
Paris Las Vegas |
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Player
Development is the hottest topic in gaming today and this Summit is
a “must attend” for senior level player development, marketing and
operations executives.
Note: The
Player Development Summit is not included in the basic Casino Marketing
registration rate.
Agenda
As of
July 2; subject to change
Monday, July 20
8:45 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.
Introductory Remarks
Speaker: Charles Anderer, Group Publisher, Gaming, BNP Media
9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.
Building Loyalty with Your Player Development Team
The subject of player development usually revolves around players and what we can do to get them to start, continue and increase spending at our casino property. But what about the casino's player development staff, both frontline team and senior executives? What are we doing to motivate them, to organize them, to train them to be knowledgeable and effective customer relationship builders and salespeople for our casino entertainment experience? What are we doing to build THEIR loyalty? In this provocative opening session, one of the most successful and progressive casino marketing executives in the world will discuss the principles of building team loyalty with your people who are responsible for building player loyalty with your most valuable customers, the ones who hold the key to getting us through the recession.
Speaker: T.J. Tejeda, Principal, The Talisman Group
10:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
Networking Break
10:30 a.m. – 11:45 a.m.
Overcoming the Recession by Building Even Closer Relationships with Your Best Players
Sure, everyone knows that we are in a recession – even the players who LOVE us are visiting less often (if at all) and spending less money with us. But before we start discounting our product and flooding our players' mailboxes with even more free play and cash offers, are there ways to increase or maintain revenue without “giving away the store,” by giving more of a “piece of our heart” instead of a larger “piece of our wallet?” Well, yes, there are, actually, and in this stirring session, the casino industry's acknowledged expert on customer service and relationship based marketing will show you how, drawing on his lessons learned as the owner of a true “Cheers” locals casino and from his consulting work with a small and rare group of casinos that have also embraced the concept of “customer worship.”
Speaker: Steve Browne, President, Raving Service
12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Keynote Luncheon
Storm Clouds and Rainbows – The Future of Player Development
Troy Simpson, Senior Vice President of Innovation, Barona Resort and Casino
Player development was pretty easy for a couple of decades – find some good executive hosts, figure out who your best players were, sprinkle in a little technology, a dash of organization and a WHOLE BATCH of freebies, and watch those crazy gamblers come flocking back through our VIP Lounge doors. Well not anymore – whether it's recession, or competition, or we've just picked over all of the “ripe fruit” – player development is no longer easy. So what's a perplexed casino marketing executive to do? Fortunately, someone has been noodling on all this and he's prepared to share it all with you. Troy Simpson is the Senior Vice President of Innovation for Barona Resort and Casino (tell us ANYONE else in the in the casino industry with THAT title!) He is one of the savviest casino marketers around, working for perhaps the savviest casino around. Well Troy's been thinking in the box, out of the box, breaking boxes… he's been trying to answer question that most of us haven't asked yet, trying to understand where the “new, new thing” is going to come from. In this candid and cutting edge keynote session, Troy will share wisdom employed by Barona to create a guest-centric business model that stands the test of time, as well as what makes his eyes get REALLY BIG nowadays.
1:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Networking Break
2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Player Development and Ethnic Groups: Where is the Opportunity?
By now, most casinos have realized that gambling is part of the Asian culture, that Greeks love to gamble, that Persians will spend hours in a casino that meets their needs, that Hispanics are a rapidly growing casino demographic. But how is a responsible player development executive supposed to figure out whether to hire a Vietnamese host or throw a Greek VIP party? With limited resources, how can a casino marketer decide which ethnic groups are worth player development efforts and which are not? Whether yours is a small, rural tribal casino or a huge megaresort, in this session you will learn from one of the industry leaders on ethnic casino marketing how to decide where the opportunities are and if you need a focused and full marketing effort, or just some trained hosts who know how to reach across cultural lines.
Speakers: David G. Schwartz, Director, Center for Gaming Research, University of Nevada Las Vegas; Bill Zender, Principal, Last Resort Consulting
3:00 p.m. – 3:45 p.m.
Do It Yourself: “Cutting-In” Made Easy
Acquisition of new players is one of the most challenging responsibilities of casino hosts and player development specialists. Starting up a sales-focused conversation with a stranger is difficult for even the most seasoned professionals. This interactive session, involving every participant, will sharpen your skills with a “cutting-in” exercise that is chock-full of learning AND fun. Bring your business cards and a rush of adrenalin; we'll supply the cowbell.
Facilitator: Toby O'Brien, Vice President of Marketing and Client Services, Raving Consulting Company
3:45 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Decompression
4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
How To Build (or Rebuild) an Effective Player Development Department
Perhaps you've just started out in this Player Development game, or your efforts have gotten a little stale and your hosts are spending more time on “retention” than “growth” or “acquisition.” So how do you create an energetic, organized and value-adding Player Development function, or revive a moribund one? In this case study session, some of the top player development professionals around will share their stories and how they did exactly that. They'll describe the circumstances they encountered, the barriers they had to overcome and the results they achieved, by following solid principles and strategies of effective organization and business building.
Moderator: Dennis Conrad, President and Chief Strategist, Raving Consulting Company
Speakers: Steve Browne, President, Raving Service; Kari Stout-Smith, Director of Casino Marketing, Barona Resort and Casino, T.J. Tejeda, Principal, The Talisman Group
