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ANALYTICS OPPORTUNIY
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DRIVEN
Megan Nation • Vice President of Professional Services and Sales , Wondr Nation
Motorcyclists navigate highway traffic by creating space and maintaining it while looking for ways to move ahead . The same may be said of business startups , which disrupt the status quo while remaining strategic , nimble and responsive .
Megan Nation learned that kind of poise and agility at 14 . That ’ s when she got her motorcycle license — legal in her home state of South Dakota — and started riding alongside her parents , first on a Suzuki 450 , then a Harley Sportster 883 .
“ You ’ re like an ant next to these big semis ,” says Nation . “ But it was a wonderful experience , and taught me a deep sense of confidence and independence .”
Those traits will serve her well in her new role , as vice president of professional services and sales for the Mashantucket Pequot ’ s Wondr Nation . Founded in 2022 , the iGaming arm of Foxwoods helps operators implement , manage , develop and optimize their real-money and social online casinos .
Nation first planned a career in health care administration , and studied at the University of Nevada , Las Vegas . But she graduated in 2008 , at the bottom of the job market . So she took a position selling cash-access systems , then changed lanes to join Aristocrat Gaming . Suddenly , the young woman who had never entered a casino was serving tribal operators first in the Dakotas , then New Mexico , Arizona and Colorado .
“ I was this little green salesperson with a lot to learn , but the gaming industry is where I found my success ,” Nation says . Her goal as a professional was always “ to learn people ’ s businesses and find what was best for them , versus trying to get something installed to make a quota .”
Nation believes innovation isn ’ t about technology alone , but a combination of the technical and the personal that builds a more powerful user experience . It ’ s achieved in part through intensive customer research , through focus groups or simply checking the online reviews . “ Players are very happy to be evangelists , to tell you what they love about the platform — and if they ’ re not happy , they ’ ll be vocal about that , too . It ’ s incredible , the number of fan pages and Facebook groups that follow specific casinos or specific platforms . The data is a gold mine .”
As a leader , Nation describes herself as “ driven and very relationship-focused . I like to take big challenges and calculated risks .”
In April , following 10 years with Aristocrat , she joined Wondr , and moved from Las Vegas to Connecticut to start building her department .
She ’ s excited “ to go from ground zero and execute on a vision ” under President and CEO Anika Howard and Wondr ’ s entrepreneurial team . “ We have a nice growth trajectory , and want to be stewards of the conversation ” around the future of iGaming and its use of artificial intelligence , augmented and virtual reality and other experiential advancements . “ The rate at which these technologies are evolving is so quick , it ’ s hard to imagine what it will look like six months down the road , much less six years .
“ We ’ re in such a fortunate chapter of gaming ,” says the Kellogg University executive MBA . “ It ’ s dynamic , ever-changing and ever-evolving , and that ’ s what appealed to me coming to Wondr Nation . Our whole mission is to reimagine gaming experiences .
“ And obviously with a startup like this , the world really is our oyster .” — Marjorie Preston
ANALYTICS OPPORTUNIY
Jeremy Hirst • Director of Casino Optimization & Analytics , Tangam Systems
Jeremy Hirst makes no apologies for growing up nerdy . He makes no excuses for getting great grades in his Bannockburn school in Victoria , Australia . “ I particularly loved math and science , so it seemed natural to pursue this at university ,” he says . “ I majored in mathematics and statistics at the University of Melbourne in Australia .”
Yet Hirst hadn ’ t given much thought to where his career should go with those degrees . “ I just figured I would do something I enjoy and work out the details later ,” he says .
Gambling crawled into the picture when he secured a job as a part-time dealer at a Crown Casino in Melbourne while still at the university .
“ Initially it was just a job where I could earn some money while I studied ,” he says . “ However , I quickly became enamored ; the whole industry is built on mathematics , which naturally appealed to me .”
Turns out , Crown had a graduate program with a temp job on the analytics team . “ By the time I graduated with my undergrad degree , I had a permanent position .”
Hirst saw analytics as a way to contribute to the development of the industry . “ Analytics also meant I had the opportunity to work across more facets of the business ,” he says .
To date , Hirst has worked in gaming optimization , customer analytics , marketing and loyalty , game design , and game protection . Always something new . Always different challenges .
“ If I ever get bored , I think that would be my cue to move on from the industry ,” he says .
28 Global Gaming Business NOVEMBER 2024