President’s Message February 2015

The New Year has only just begun, but already has potential to become one of the most exciting and successful years for the IMGL yet.

The recent exclusive IMGL Reception at the Haymarket Hotel at 3 February in London and the IMGL Masterclass held at the ExCel Center got the conference season of 2015 off to a good start and set the bar very high for upcoming events this year. The reception was once again co-sponsored by Jeffrey Green Russell Limited, London. The officers and I would like to thank them for their continued partnership and support of the IMGL.

Both the IMGL reception and the IMGL Masterclass were well-attended and provided excellent networking opportunities, especially considering that they were hosted within the framework of ICE Totally Gaming – one of the most influential and most important trade shows and exhibitions in gaming.I was happy to see so many familiar faces at the events and have once more enjoyed getting to know new players in the industry and learning from each other.

The full-day free-to-attend IMGL Masterclass held on 4 February was very popular and positively received by members, friends of the IMGL and other gaming professionals attending ICE and, in my opinion, was outstanding – not just for the variety of topics covered and discussed on the panels but also for the quality of the speakers who demonstrated great expertise and knowledge of the industry.

This year’s event began with our presentation of the award for 2014 Gaming Regulator of the Year, Australia/Asia to Malcolm Richardson,Director of Compliance and Investigations Gambling and Licensing Services, Department of Business, Northern Territory Government, Australia. Pictured, left to right: IMGL President Joerg Hofmann, Malcolm Richardson, IMGL Executive Director Melissa Triplett.

The IMGL Masterclass was introduced as a new conference format at last year’s ICE. Therefore this year’s masterclass marked the first anniversary of the IMGL Masterclass.Judging from the feedback I received from multiple attendees of IMGL Masterclasses in 2014 and this year’s IMGL Masterclass at ICE, it is safe to say that the new conference format has so far been a huge success. I am confident that the IMGL Masterclass will continue to be that successful and will attract more and more industry professionals and potential IMGL members in the future.

Speaking of the future and IMGL Masterclasses – I can already confirm two IMGL Masterclasses for 2015:  one in Amsterdam on 25 June at the iGaming Supershow and one at G2E Las Vegas on 28 September. However, there are more to come and of course many other interesting gaming events to keep track of. I therefore recommend that you to regularly check our recently redesigned website which contains all the latest information on upcoming events and conferences and will keep you updated.

I would also like to take the opportunity of inviting you all to our IMGL Spring conference which will be held from 29-31 March in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. As you will know from past conferences, our IMGL Spring and Autumn conferences provide one of the industry’s premier forums for leading figures in the industry to exchange views and share knowledge on current industry developments. Therefore, make sure you do not miss this next educational and networking event and do not forget to register. We have an event registration system in place on our website.

Finally, let me draw your attention to the new functions on our website which allow you to share articles via the IMGL website, search members via the directory and intend to make communication between members and friends of the IMGL easier. You will also find a search function which will enable you to search for keywords in articles, programs and photo galleries of past events, updates on our publications, and links to other useful gaming resources.

I encourage you to explore and use the website and report back to us should you have any queries or suggestions for improvement.

See you in St. Thomas!

Joerg Hofmann