First of all, since when did the River City Group officially become Clarion
Gaming? I always remember the two names kind of going hand-in-hand. Or was it
Clarion events? Apparently, now they've pulled a Prince and are calling
themselves Clarion Gaming "The Gamers formerly known as River City". Okay, I
stretched it on that one. However, River City Group is now 100% Clarion Gaming.
They are also 100% ATE. If I knew what ATE stood for, believe me, I would tell
you. However, it doesn't make that much difference anyways because they have
fully merged with River City Group to form....you guessed it: Clarion Gaming.
ATE is basically a major business resource for casinos, online gaming and
gambling companies. They're well known for their conferences, exhibitions and
publications, which on the same token, so is River City. Therefore, the merger
is a good match.
One such conference is the Global I-Gaming Summit and Expo, which is going on
its tenth consecutive year. Next years event has already been scheduled, and
true to form, River City, I mean Clarion Gaming, has already begun marketing it
and advertising the event. Set for June 2-5, 2008 at the Palais de Congres in
Montreal (which is where I believe it is held every year, or at least most of
the time), the next I-Gaming Summit will apparently focus on cross sector
partnerships, primarily between the land-based and online casino gambling
sectors.
Sue Schneider from Clarion Gaming said that with the gambling industry
changing so drastically, next year's GIGSE will be changing its own structure
and itinerary. And while I am thinking "What else is new? The gambling industry,
both online and offline has and always will continue to change", I do believe
that a remolded GIGSE is a good idea. My only concern is merging the land-based
and online gambling sectors entirely. Because when that happens, the online
casino gambling sector will be dominated by giants like Harrah's and MGM, just
like they do in Las Vegas. Think Church and State guys. Independent, yet working
together and existing in peaceful harmony.