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May 2020 President’s Message

September 17, 2020

Dear Fellow IMGL Members and Friends of IMGL,
 
As you recall, the Executive Committee of the IMGL has been carefully monitoring the COVID-19 events around the globe. While there is cautiously optimistic news on the health side, there is still significant uncertainty about travel and events in the second half of 2020.   Taking this uncertainty and the governmental public health advice and associated jurisdictional developments regarding COVID-19, the Executive Committee of the IMGL and the Board of Trustees from the International Association of Gaming Regulators (IAGR) and have determined it is in the best interests of both groups and our respective members to postpone the Autumn 2020 conference in Boston until September 12-17, 2021.

Our conference will still be held at the Boston Marriott, will be hosted in partnership with IAGR, and will be offering back to back conferences including a joint conference day and networking events as previously planned.

Many of you had previously registered for the Spring 2020 IMGL Conference in Athens, and you still have a full conference registration credit that can be used at anytime in the next two years for any IMGL conference.  This will be a full conference credit and no additional funds will be required if the registration fee increases for a future conference.   I would encourage you to consider attending our Spring Conference in Athens from March 10-12, 2021 and our joint conference with IAGR in Boston, September 12-17, 2021. We are currently seeking panel topics and speakers for that conference, so please let our Executive Director, Brien Van Dyke (brien@imgl.org), know if you have a suggestion or would like to speak.


Just last week, IMGL held its first virtual panel:  Sports Betting Amid COVID-19.  I extend my thanks to IMGL founding member John Maloney for assembling and moderating this panel which had well over 100 online attendees.   Our next online panel, Sports Data Rights, will be held on June 11, 2020, and will be moderated by IMGL member Andy Danson from Bird & Bird in London.  Please go to IMGL.org for more details and to register.  IMGL is exploring several options for further virtual events for its members leading up to our Spring 2021 conference. If you are interested in an online panel, please reach out to Executive Director Brien Van Dyke. We also invite you to send any articles or other forms of industry updates so we can include in our newsletters.  


Finally, IMGL has also been working closely with Clarion Events to organize several upcoming virtual events, such as ICE Asia (June 8 - 10, 2020) and iGB Live! Digital (July 14 - 17, 2020). In-person events such as ICE Africa (October 28 - 29, 2020) and iGB Live! in Amsterdam (September 22 - 25, 2020) are still moving forward at this time.


Postponing our conferences this year has been a difficult decision, but in the end, it is the proper and responsible decision. We are pursuing new ways to enhance our member experience as we continue in these unprecedented times; if you have any feedback on how I or the IMGL can better serve you, please let me know.  I want to thank each of you for your support and your understanding in this difficult time.  I also want to wish you good health and look forward to hopefully seeing you at G2E, if not before.
As always, please do not hesitate to contact me at any time with any thoughts, concerns or suggestions.

Sincerely,
Marc Ellinger
President