Maureen Beddis
Korbi Carrison
2023
Casino Communications
Q &
A
Maureen Beddis
Senior Vice President , Membership & Events , American Gaming Association
Korbi Carrison
Vice President , G2E Event , RX
Following the return of full access to G2E in 2022 , 2023 ’ s show is even more wide open , and poised to be more successful . Korbi Carrison is entering her sixth G2E as the vice president of the event for show producer RX ( formerly Reed Exhibitions ) and Maureen Beddis is overseeing her first G2E as the senior vice president of membership and events for the American Gaming Association ( AGA ). They spoke with
GGB Publisher Roger Gros via Zoom in August . To see and hear a full version of this interview , visit GGBMagazine . com to access the GGB Podcasts .
GGB : Maureen , this will be your first full involvement in G2E as the event ’ s SVP for the AGA . How did you prepare for this , and what are you expecting to see at this year ’ s show ? Beddis : My preparation actually started last year . So even before I had a chance to join the AGA team , they extended an invitation to me to attend G2E in 2022 as a guest . So I got the opportunity to walk the show floor , meet the exhibitors , certainly spend some time with a lot of the AGA members and reunite with my business partners at RX . I was thrilled to have been able to come to this show last year . So lots of things to expect and see for this year are built upon the successful show in 2022 . We ’ re looking to continue to improve and enhance every aspect of the show . We ’ ll have expanded opportunities for networking this year . The networking lounge was a really big success last year , so you ’ ll see a larger dedicated space for networking this year , along with some opportunities for different groups to gather in that space .
There will be more expanded rich content this year in terms of the conference and education program . This is the first time we did a call for content out to the industry to hear what this industry thinks we should be talking about at G2E . And we had over 400 submissions for sessions . So we are really excited about the content and education this year . And then of course , new destinations across the show floor . We ’ ll have an iGaming zone this year , and will be able to introduce new innovative products coming from the exhibitors , who really are the stars of the show here .
GGB : Korbi , it ’ s your sixth G2E — you went through the pandemic , which caused the show to be canceled in 2020 and reduced dramatically in 2021 . You rebounded greatly last year , so what kind of response are you getting from sponsors , exhibitors and attendees since last year ’ s show was so successful ? Carrison : Thank you for mentioning that ; we did have a great show last year . By all accounts and everybody that we heard from , attendees , exhibitors , sponsors , industry partners , we were really thrilled just to be able to convene the industry again in a meaningful way , year over year . And we ’ ve had an incredible response so far for G2E ’ 23 , building upon that success from last year . I think what we ’ re really seeing is that G2E is reflecting what we ’ re seeing in the industry , which is amazing growth . Lots of growth , records broken all over the place , and we ’ re using G2E to reflect that . So looking at where we are seeing the growth , we ’ re seeing incredible engagement on iGaming and sports betting .
GGB : Maureen , tell us about the interactive tools that G2E is offering to help both exhibitors and attendees to get the most out of the show . Beddis : The good news is there ’ s always a tool for everyone . Some people like the physical show guide and some people like the app . And we try to have it all so that everyone has the most appropriate guide for how they like to experience the show . One of the things that is new this year is a new kind of build-your-own-experience guide . With so much great content at the show and so many exhibitors , one of the things that we heard last year was that people were kind of bummed that they didn ’ t know something was happening , so they may have missed it . Or just being overwhelmed by there being so much content from so many exhibitors . So this is a way we ’ re trying to streamline that for people and help them create their own , more curated experience . Carrison : We have a new section on our website at globalgamingexpo . com where users can go to ‘ Experience ’ and click on ‘ Guides ,’ where they fill out
8 P3 PROGRESSIVE PRODUCTS PREVIEW 2023