Diamonds and Busted Pipes
demic was a whirlwind from both a personal and professional perspective , as he had welcomed a child into the world March 4 , just days before the Ainsworth office shut down for the first time .
“ I think we started with saying two weeks , and then God , I don ’ t remember when we were fully back ,” says Trask . “ To be honest , I don ’ t know that we ’ ve ever fully returned , you know ? Certainly the work flow has returned and we ’ re doing more than ever . But certainly Covid changed for us probably a little bit of the way we do business like everybody else . I think it ’ s certainly changed some people ’ s desire or need to be in the office . We were very quick to adapt to Teams and Zoom and a number of different things like that , which allowed the day-to-day work to continue , and it ’ s slowly come back .”
For Ainsworth and other manufacturers , the reopening of casinos was certainly a much-needed boon , but as Trask notes , there were still a lot of problems left unanswered . For starters , the question of “ How are we going to show ( customers ) our stuff ?” was paramount . In a disjointed world , it seemed impossible to connect in a meaningful way , especially in a business environment with limited resources .
That led to the next biggest question : no one knew for sure whether or not operators would have the capital to move forward like before , and it wasn ’ t until the following year and beyond that business started to return to a sense of normalcy .
Diamonds and Busted Pipes
Towards the end of 2020 it started to become clear that the scope of the pandemic was much wider than originally anticipated — the dialogue shifted from “ stop the spread ” to “ the new normal ,” and companies adjusted accordingly . At certain points during the years that have followed , the pressure caused breakdowns , but it also fostered a sense of innovation that stands out even to this day .
Interestingly , one of the best examples of this ingenuity didn ’ t even originate solely from gaming , per se . Jon Olsen , founder of Vaask , saw the increased need for hand hygiene in a casino environment almost immediately , and set out on a
mission “ to address the shortcomings of ubiquitous , unreliable and unattractive ” hand sanitizer dispensers , which quickly became indispensable .
“ When we started out , we focused on industries we believed would most benefit from a permanent approach to hand sanitizing ,” Olsen explains . “ The hospitality space has always been one of our priorities because this is an industry that needs to protect both employees and a varied customer base . Casinos are a perfect example of the kind of high-traffic , high-touch environment where a superior approach to hand hygiene is most needed .”
Even as the public began to transition away from full-frontal prevention measures , Vaask ’ s dispensers remained a staple for properties everywhere , thanks to their large-capacity cartridges , use of AC power to reduce battery waste and sleek , futuristic design cues that blend well with modern design themes .
On the supplier side , some of the best and most creative games were born from this period of constraint , but it didn ’ t come easy , as longlasting supply chain woes continued to beleaguer the industry long after the immediate impacts of Covid began to wane .
“ The impact of the supply chain for us was bigger than the impact of Covid itself ,” notes Dan Schrementi , president of gaming for Incredible Technologies . “ For a while we couldn ’ t even get that supply . I mean , that was issue No . 1 … We pride ourselves on being the easiest to work with and the most transparent company in gaming , and as part of that , we look at it and say supply chain management was a definite struggle for a smaller manufacturer .”
The topsy-turvy nature of the supply-and-demand dynamic plagued much of the sector , resulting in a lot of “ hurry up and wait ” scenarios . As a result , Schrementi says , “ that puts pressure on making really smart decisions on how you design your products and how you build your products .” It also slashes research and development opportunities , making the margin for error that much smaller .
Still , Incredible Technologies has managed to
“ The reality is , this was probably one of the most significant crises as an industry we ’ d ever gone through .”
— Mark Birtha , President , Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Sacramento
“ We were very quick to adapt to Teams and Zoom and a number of different things like that , which allowed the day-to-day work to continue , and it ’ s slowly come back .”
— Mike Trask , Vice President of Product Marketing and Global Communication , Ainsworth Game Technology
“ Casinos are a perfect example of the kind of high-traffic , high-touch environment where a superior approach to hand hygiene is most needed .”
— Jon Olsen , Founder , Vaask
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