Yogonet announces official program of its EY! 2012 Conference

The event will analyze, among other issues, the value of marketing to increment the player interest in slots, the society between slots and online gaming, sustainability and business, the barriers to the growth of gaming in Latin America and the use of social networks in the marketing of casinos, among others.

For the eighth year in a row and within SAGSE Buenos Aires, EY!2012 Encuentro Yogonet will take place November 13 and 14 in Salón “Puerto Salguero”, a modern space located in Costa Salguero Complex. The hall will be set up, as in previous years, to receive national and international executives and authorities, and all the talks will have simultaneous translation, offering an unbeatable space of debate, training and dissemination of trends and technologies for the sector.

Besides, it was announced that online suscription is already open for people interested in acquiring their tickets, and the cost per person will be U$S 180, taxes included. There is a limited capacity, and there are important discounts for groups.

The preliminar program of conferences for this year was already confirmed, and counts with the following talks:

DAY 1 – Wednesday, November 13

8.30 hs. ACCREDITATION AND BREAKFAST

9 hs > SLOTS: THE VALUE OF MARKETING TO INCREASE PLAYER INTEREST
The operator has now more chances to improve the customer experience in the point of sale (the slot), through a series of marketing tools that operate through new systems that bring the operator the opportunity to make the most of its contact with the bettor directly. This way, it is possible to send messages to the customer while he is playing; the bettor may watch broadcast events live or streaming in the machine; the customer may be offered to participate in free games according to his bets, or he may simply ask for a beverage from the confort of the terminal. If carefully administrated, these advantages may motivate the customer to play more and have a more pleasant stay during his visit to the gambling hall.
Speakers: Eduardo Aching (Konami, Vice President of International Sales), Richard Hellwig  (Merkur, Sales Director Latin America), Matt Wilson (Aristocrat, VP Marketing Americas). Moderator: Mariano Molina Zavalía (Trilenium Casino, Marketing Manager).

10.15 hs > TRENDS: SLOTS AND ONLINE GAMING, A GROWING SOCIETY
The main suppliers of slots and casino games globally have recently given their first steps in a market that promises to expand even more and with better regulated frames. With the focus put in the imminent regulation of online poker in the United States, and with the successful regulation that online betting has shown in different European markets -Spain is the most recent example-, the companies are encouraged to dare more and prepare an important launch. WMS has recently released its new “Interactive” division, Bally has its department of Interactive Games Development, Shuffle Master received Nevada approval for the development of products and IGT (with its Double Down Casino) are just the tip of the iceberg, showing that the big market players are already immersed in this growing market. This phenomenon will be analyzed by:
Speakers: Sebastián Salat (WMS Gaming International, President), Esteban Corio (IGT, Sales Director), Gavin Isaacs (Shuffle Master, CEO) and John Connelly (Bally, Vice President Business Development). Moderator: Augusto Dechat (Trilenium Casino, Slot Manager).

11.30 hs > SUSTAINABILITY AND BUSINESS
The sustainable management as a key factor for the development of the entertainment companies: United Nations Global Pact, Responsible Communication and Responsible Gaming Programs in Argentina.

Speakers: Flavio Fuentes (Pacto Global, Naciones Unidas), Alejandro Langlois (ComunicaRSE) and Julio Brizuela (CONJUGAR), together with Natalia I. Suárez (Codere, Corporate Social Responsibility Manager).


12.30 hs > PHILIPPINES AND ITS "ENTERTAINMENT CITY”: PLANS TO EXPAND GAMING
The Philippines Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) is a 100% controlled by the government corporation, which is under the direct supervision of the Office of the President of the Republic, and which currently operates 13 casinos. The CEO and President of PAGCOR, Cristino L. Naguiat, Jr., will be speaker in this session about the growth of the sector in Philippines and will comment about the mega-project "Entertainment City", which will bring investment opportunities and top-level tourist attractions in the country. Four candidates received provisional licenses for possible developments in the area, and each of them have committed to invest at least us$ 1 billion to carry on the project. According to government estimations, the total cost of “Entertainment City” development would be around 5 billion dollars.

Speaker: Cristino Naguiat Jr. | Pagcor, CEO


DAY 2 – November 14

9.30 hs >ACCREDITATION AND BREAKFAST

10 hs > THE GAMING INDUSTRY IN LATIN AMERICA: BARRIERS TO SUSTAINED GROWTH
The gaming industry in Latin America is in a constant state of flux, with growth opportunities in several markets and growth barriers in others, through short-term, undesirable approaches. Everyone is talking about the great growth potential in Latin America, but…Is the region growing as fast and sustainably as it could?

Harmen Brenninkmeijer, current VP of Market Strategies of Inspired Gaming Group, will debate on issues such as the nationalization of the gaming sector, the perception of the sector and the market regulation, among other important topics. During the last decade, Brenninkmeijer worked as CEO of Octavian International, representative of Mikhon and founded the firm Xanadu Entertainment. Additionally, he has been President of the European Gaming Commission for 3 years

Speaker: Harmen Brenninkmeijer (Inspired Gaming, SVP Strategic Markets)

11.15 hs > SOCIAL NETWORKS: THE NEW CHALLENGE FOR CASINO MARKETING
Facebook, Twitter and other social networks have strongly penetrated in the whole society, and the gambling venues find in them a new channel for the promotion and customer loyalty. The main international slot firms have already entered in the world of virtual relationships, developing products for this new market. Are the social networks new development environment or a new competition for casinos? Well-known marketing managers of casinos gather in a panel that will analyse and develop the best marketing strategies, based in the new social networks phenomenon.

How can social networks such as Facebook or Twitter help in order to attract public to the casinos?

Is the generational change of customers considered at a casino when thinking about the different types of marketing strategies?

Speakers: Mariano Molina Zavalia (Trilenium Casino, Marketing Manager) and Romina Freijomil (City Center Rosario, Marketing Manager).


12.30 hs > THE CHALLENGE OF HANDLING LARGE VOLUMES OF DATA IN A CASINO AND MAKE THE MOST OF IT
Nowadays, among the main tools for the success of a casino appear the effective marketing campaigns and the optimization of the casino. In order to achieve it, carefully thought and managed processes are necessary, and in this way it is faced the tremendous challenge of handling lots of data obtained from players every day, and from there, understand in deep their preferences in order to optimize our opportunities.

In this session, specialist Andrew J. Cardno gathers experiences of leading operators combining the power of data visualization with advanced analytics, with the aim to carry on highly profitable marketing actions and increase casino incomes. With almost 20 years of experience in the sector, Cardno has been awarded with two Smithsonian awards and was also three times winner of The Casino Journal awards to the "Most Innovative Gaming Product”. He is also inventor of more than 60 patents, published more than 14 articles of the industry and is co-author of a book. For the gaming sector, he has brought consulting services to international companies and groups such as Trump Entertainment Resort, Harrah's Entertainment, IGT and Penn National Gaming, among others.
Speaker: Andrew J. Cardno (BIS², Chief Technology Officer)