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:

Choosing a venue for this year’s all-important EiG Networking Party was not as easy as it sounds. Not only did we need to find a venue with the wow factor, we also needed a bigger venue to handle a much bigger EiG!

After a great deal of research, including complicated phone conversations in three languages, I had a short list to work with and flew to Barcelona to find out more. If necessary, I could have made any of the venues on the short list work, but only one of them made me gawp when I walked in and that was Opium Cinema Restaurant & Lounge Club.

Opium is without doubt one of the most glamorous venues in Barcelona. Converted from an elegant cinema, it has retained the original's sophistication and has gained a chilled out cosmopolitan atmosphere.

It’s pretty exciting when you discover a venue like Opium to work with. I’m really looking forward to putting everything in place and ensuring this year’s EiG party is one to remember.

Post from Anna Pinch, Events Coordinator, Clarion ATE

There's definitely been a lot of talk and excitement about EiG in the last few weeks.  That excitement has manifested itself in the form of an almost sold-out exhibition hall fully three months before the event is to take place.   After much discussion, we decided the options available to us to rectify this were to either set up extra exhibit spaces in the loo or expand the exhibition area.  After asking a few prospective exhibitors if their displays would fit through the bathroom door and getting funny looks in return, we decided to go with the latter of the two options.

The expanded exhibition space can be viewed on the EiG website here.  The EiG Bar (Sponsored by Playtech) is still central to the exhibition, but there are now more stand size choices and more locations available.  But just because there's more space available doesn't mean you should wait any longer to book in...you don't want to be the one in bathroom.