As an organizer, experiencing the run-up to an event is always fun. Getting a daily report of who is attending is always a great indication of what the event will be like and EiG is no exception. There are lots of key veterans coming and, as we’ve experienced at most of our events in the past year, many new faces. And the registrations are coming in like crazy.

As of today, we’ve got over 860 people registered representing over 432 companies, governments, or other entities. And it’s a diverse crowd geographically with over 53 countries represented.

So, clearly, this will be an opportunity to learn, debate, view new products, network, get some business done, catch up with old friends, meet new ones and just have some fun. If you haven’t already registered, beat the rush on site and do it now….online at http://www.eigexpo.com/2008/index.cfm?page=register.

See you there.

Sue

One of the things I love most about our industry events is the chance to hear from industry leaders. That’s especially true when you add in a free-form format where the debate, disagreements and diatribes flow with the wind.

The 2008 EiG is offering a double-header of those sessions on the first day in Barcelona. We’ve got two sessions, one of operator CEOs and one for software suppliers. The line-up is as follows:

So as you can see, we’ve amassed the cream of the crop to give you their perspectives of where we are and where we’re headed as an industry. These are uncertain times in terms of the global economy and the gambling industry, particularly the land-based side, is now well aware of that. So we’ll get the take of these experts on how they hope their companies will fare in the coming years.

Operators Forum: Jim Ryan (PartyGaming), Norbert Teufelberger (bwin), Jez San (PKR), Mark Blandford (formerly SportingBet), Arthur Wang (Gigamedia), Gigi Levy (888)

Suppliers Forum: David Loveday (Orbis), Brian Hadfield (CryptoLogic), Mor Weizer (Playtech), Paul Mathews (WagerWorks), Martin Lerby (Ongame)

Without giving away their secrets, we also hope to hear what’s coming down the pike in terms of products and how we can hope to attract new players to this still emerging entertainment option. How do we keep the innovations coming so that products remain fresh and interesting for the up and coming young audience who’s been reared on high action, high visual games?

As we gear up for these discussions, let us know what you’d like to hear from these distinguished industry veterans. If you’ve got a question to get into the mix, email me at sue.schneider at clariongaming dot com.

I’m excited to know that the EiG attendees will be exposed to the musing of Bruno Guissani. I had a chance to speak with him by phone this spring as we were considering him as a keynote speaker and he’s an impressive guy. As you can see from his bio, he is the European Director of TED (Technology Entertainment Design) which has quite a buzz among events on the internet. And, among other past and current duties, he was the Head of Online Strategy at the World Economic Forum in Davos where thought leaders gather. When it comes to how the internet is being utilized by our end-users, he’s the master of spotting trends and seeing how the users are really driving the online experience these days. So I look forward to seeing exactly how he puts the i-gaming industry in context on the overall growth of the web. Don’t miss it!

We've still got a couple of hours to go before pre-registration closes but we've already exceeded the 1,052 total attendance that EiG had in 2006.  A quick look shows that we have 55 countries around the world represented and over 452 distinct companies and/or governments will be represented.  Looks like it's going to be a busy week so bring plenty of business cards along!