He says the industry needs differentiation and underscores the importance of creating more personal experiences and connections between suppliers and operators.By Roman Frymer, editor at G&M News, and Damian Martinez, journalist at G&M News.
After 20 years of coming to ICE London, are you feeling nostalgic knowing that next year the show will be based in Barcelona? What are your sensations being a direct witness of the evolution of the industry?
This year was my 20th anniversary at ICE London. I’ve been coming to the event since the beginning when we used to gather in Earls Court which actually looked like a gymnasium. At that time, it was filled with equipment, slots and table games, and then, very quickly, I saw a transition to the iGaming verticals. I was aware that this transition was happening much sooner in the UK than in the rest of the world. From all over the planet, people would come to the United Kingdom every year to see what the gaming future was going to be like for them. This is the value of the ICE experience: looking into the future. What you witness here, maybe five or ten years from now, everyone will see it implemented in the United States or Brazil or other emerging markets. I’ve always considered ICE as an ideal place to learn about things to come. The spirit of the event will continue no matter where, because it’s about the providers, and how they use the event to display new content and products. There is nostalgia about London and the UK. This market has always been a leader, but other than that, the industry momentum will go on in Barcelona.
If you could, and were an organizer, what elements do you feel could be added to the fair, from your experience and analytical perspective?
Who knows? Maybe one day I will be an organizer myself, but I would say that we go to 30 shows a year, in every location in the world, and there needs to be a way to put the focus on innovation and new products and making it fun. Sometimes, you can get into a routine of visiting booths, attending debates and awards ceremonies, and it becomes like a routine. The industry needs differentiation. It’s one of the things that I look for in events, like the ones that G&M News organizes. We need to create more personal experiences and connections between suppliers and operators. I mean delivering better ways to create a connection and an entertaining experience for all.
You surely had lots of meetings at ICE. What topics were you asked about? What are, in your opinion, the 3 or 4 most urgent concerns or challenges of the gaming industry right now?
The challenges are always the same: finding harmony between creating exciting products or platforms, and the work of regulators who have all kinds of concerns and sometimes overreact or step in and do too much. I often hear about that. Obviously, there are issues related to integrating products and timelines, and competing problems, because there are things happening so fast and companies are trying to keep up with that pace of change. It’s a global business. It’s interconnected. It’s moving fast. These are the issues.
SCCG Management has been signing partnerships with companies in different verticals of the gaming industry and jurisdictions. How are you managing this kind of expansion into so many businesses?
We are a global company in a global industry. There are some similarities that link different geographies and there are some local issues that distinguish different geographies. What I’ve always believed is that if I’m helping a company boost their presence, for example, I should be able to help them in USA, Canada, Mexico, or South America because the industry is global. Companies want to work across jurisdictions, and I must be flexible and scalable enough in order to meet their needs.
The last question has to do with your team at SCCG Management. What is the internal structure so that everything works so well and on rails? How do you divide the job, what areas are defined, and what projects your company will be developing throughout the year?
We have a good team. We have quality people and professionals who divide their responsibilities. What they look for in me is energy, leadership, and enthusiasm for the industry. If you get up every day with the right attitude and if you have experience running businesses and building brands, working with suppliers across the globe, you just basically apply all that experience and best practices in an organized fashion. This allows you to scale and to do more. What I’m about right now is not only doing that, but also taking it to the next generation, teaching them all the great lessons that I’ve learned over decades.