Supplier News
Denmark – IGAR’s Copenhagen conference heralded a huge success
By Phil - 2 October 2018
IAGR’s Annual Conference, held this year from September 17 to 20 in Copenhagen, has been declared a huge success by IAGR Board of Trustees and delegates alike.
Trude Felde, newly designated IAGR President and Senior Advisor at the Norwegian Gaming and Foundation Authority said: “The Conference attracted almost 230 delegates representing 47 different gambling jurisdictions and 41 countries from every continent. As Co-chair of the Conference planning committee, I believe we met our goal of making the Conference a truly global event and I am pleased at the diverse nature of both the speakers and panellists, and the delegates. We attracted many new speakers who made an invaluable contribution to the program as well as fresh insights from speakers who have worked with us previously.”
“Our program was intended to challenge and generate discussion within the overall theme ‘Let us make great regulation – together’. Our first keynote speaker, Chris Brady, Professor of Management Studies and Director of the Centre for Sports Business at Salford University in the UK, gave us food for thought in likening regulators and punters to referees and players. Ranjana Adhikari, Co-head, Media Entertainment & Gaming Practice from Nishith Desai Associates, asked us whether regulating gambling was a job for state/government or industry.
“The debate was illustrated by the example of India. We also tackled subjects such as the effectiveness of sanctions; whether payment blocking was a successful tool in the fight against illegal operators; the dilemmas faced by regulators, and crisis and emergency management in casinos. From a global perspective we learnt about sports betting in Africa and the USA, how gambling is developing in Latin America, and the impact of the recently imposed advertising ban in Italy. Lootboxes; effective regulation through social licence and risk communication strategies; the importance of dialogue between regulators and industry, and whether bonuses continued to be an attractive marketing tool, all contributed to a stimulating and thought-provoking event. We also revealed the findings of our first survey of IAGR members, covering questions ranging from the size of different regulators, their areas of responsibility and the challenges that they face. We will be publishing this survey on the IAGR website in the near future.”
“Birgitte Sand, Director of the Danish Gambling Authority, who co-chaired the Conference planning committee, and her team of staff worked tirelessly to ensure that the delegates experienced the best that Copenhagen has to offer.
‘I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the presenters for their contributions, compelling insights and for giving their time so freely.”
At the Annual General Members Meeting, three new members were confirmed as members of the IAGR Board:Dr Jason Lane, Chief Executive, Jersey Gambling Commission, Jersey, Ben Haden, Programme Director – Insight, UK Gambling Commission and Steven Ngubeni, Chief Executive Officer, Gauteng Gambling Board, South Africa
Trude Felde, Senior Advisor, The Norwegian Gaming & Foundation Authority will serve 12 months as President, with Paul Newson, Deputy Secretary, Liquor, Gaming and Racing NSW, Australia as Vice-President. Bruce Molnar, Chairman, Pokagon Band Gaming Commission (USA) continues as Treasurer. Cedrick Chiloane, Executive Manager: Communications, Mpumalanga Economic Regulator (South Africa) remains as Secretary. Dale Fuga, Chief Operating Officer of the Liquor and Gaming Authority of Manitoba (Canada), who served as President of IAGR for a two-year period, remains as a Trustee.
Montego Bay, Jamaica will be the venue for next year’s IAGR conference and will run from September 30 – October 3 2019.
