This industry is funny.  We interact with each other via email and telephone and a few times a year, we actually see each other.  It's sometimes hard to imagine each other in our day-to-day lives since we only get to see short glimpses of our real lives.  So in an effort to share some of the more mundane aspects of producing conferences and exhibitions, we've now got a "Daily Entertainment" category. 

Today's Daily Entertainment came in the form of a fur-covered, four-legged beast known as Dexter.  You may know Mark Balestra, our esteemed publisher of IGamingNews.com and the Internet Gambling Report and it is he that is responsible for bringing Dexter to the office almost daily. 

Dexter is named after a TV program of the same name that shows on Showtime in the US.  The program is about a homicide detective who moonlights as a serial killer in his free time (I know, interesting premise, right?) and the furry version lives up to his namesake.  There's not a fluffy stuffed animal or water dish that is safe from his sharp and menacing teeth.  Trash bins quiver in fear under his watchful gaze and vein hope of something edible being discarded within so he can pounce and spread the wrappings around the floor of the office.  Passersby look on in anxious anticipation of whether he'll bound over the rickety fence barring him from the outdoors and pounce on them, possibly tearing their throats out. 

I give you...Dexter:

He's vicious.  Vicious, I tell you!

Saying that a lot has changed since the 2007 EiG could be the understatement of the year.  Changes have taken place not only with the format and production of the event, but also behind the scenes, here in the bowels of Clarion Gaming.  Last year, EiG was produced jointly by River City Group in St. Charles, Missouri and ATE in London.  This year?  We're one big happy, intercontinental, gaming event production family known as Clarion Gaming.

But Clarion Gaming is just a name.  The feel of the show comes from the people behind it and we're all (mostly) still here.  There have been staff changes to be sure, but for the most part, it's the same core group of miscreants and misanthropes that have brought you the last six EiG's. 

On the serious side, this year's EiG is poised for some big-time growth.  We started planning, researching and selling the event over six months ago and the extra lead time has paid dividends in the form of: some of the most impressive speakers we've ever had, a nearly sold out exhibition 13 weeks out, and a raft of new features that are too numerous to list here.  Well, I could list them all here, but it's now 5:01 and it's Friday.  Plus, I'll need something to blog about next week. 

Some highlights from the 2007 EiG:

What a great party at Opium! Please find below some pictures from the 2007 EiG party.

Thanks to everyone who played at the first EiG indoor football tournament. Below are some pictures from the event. The games were rather close with the green team winning the 7 a-side games, and the white team winning the 5-a-side tournament.
I will be running another igaming football event on Monday 21st January 2008, the day before ICEi, so please contact me for more details, stephen.jury@clariongaming.com.