RENO, Nevada (May 14, 2008) – The second Player Development Summit will focus on five different player groups and how gaming operators can take advantage of the opportunities these groups represent. As the opening act of the fifth annual Casino Marketing Conference, the Summit is set for July 22 at Paris Las Vegas, to be followed by two days of Casino Marketing sessions, keynotes and trade show activities.

As consumers continue to be enticed by casino marketers everywhere, the more operators can understand their customers, the better they can increase their discretionary spending with more targeted marketing. The Player Development Summit will help define and identify the best ways to reach specific types of potential customers – including Asian and Hispanic ethnic populations, age groups such as Gen X and Gen Y and seniors, and the tourists who frequent many gaming markets.

“In today’s environment, with casinos competing with each other as never before, it becomes critical to really understand your players and potential players,” said Dennis Conrad, President and Chief Strategist of Raving Consulting Company, co-producer of the conference together with BNP Media. “It’s also important to realize that certain groups represent tremendous opportunities for the gaming industry, but they need to be marketed appropriately. Player Development Summit will help put these issues into focus more clearly.”

The Summit’s keynote speaker is Richard Schuetz, a candid and sometimes controversial consultant and former Corporate Vice President of Marketing for Lyle Berman’s Grand Casinos. In a presentation entitled “Sleeping Well at Night in a Sometimes Ruthless Business,” Schuetz will share his thoughts on the evolution of player development (Cro-Magnon to corporate), where it is headed (for better and for worse), and how the marketer can survive it all (alcohol, needlepoint, and/or shock therapy).

After the Summit concludes, the gaming industry’s leading marketing conference and trade show gets underway. Casino Marketing has quickly grown into one of the premier events in the gaming industry, attracting several hundred of the most creative minds from commercial and tribal casinos of all sizes throughout North America and around the globe.

There are two diverse but dynamic keynote speakers for Casino Marketing: Dr. Bill Eadington, Director of the Institute for the Study of Gambling and Commercial Gaming at the University of Nevada, Reno; and Don McMillan, a humorist whose unique background allows him to take a light-hearted look at computers, technology, and the high-tech life.

The conference also features two prestigious annual awards ceremonies – the Romero Awards: Recognizing Excellence in Casino Marketing; and the Casino Marketing Lifetime Achievement Award. For 2008, the latter honor will be bestowed upon Ginny Shanks, former Senior Vice President of Brand Management for Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc.

Complete conference details and registration information are available at www.casinomarketing2008.com. A limited number of sponsorships and exhibit booths are available by contacting Lesley Grashow at (203) 938-2782; grashowl@bnpmedia.com.

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BNP Media Gaming Group is the world’s largest and most experienced gaming industry media resource and the leading producer of trade magazines, specialized conference and expos, websites, eNewsletters and targeted specialty publications serving the gaming industry worldwide. Raving Consulting Company is a Reno-based marketing company that has worked with more than 200 casino companies worldwide and trained more than 1,500 gaming executives in its insider-savvy gaming seminars.

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Media contacts:
Charles Anderer, Senior Events Manager, Gaming, BNP Media, (718) 432-8529; andererc@bnpmedia.com.
Dennis Conrad, President and Chief Strategist, Raving Consulting, (775) 329-7864; dennis@ravingconsulting.com.