Concluding a really good run of podcasts in 2009, over at UNLV we’ve posted the Colloquium talk that Rob Bone, VP of Marketing for WMS Gaming, gave today. The UNLV alum talks about his career path, the behind-the-scenes of slot development and marketing, and the challenges ahead for slot manufacturers.
View the flyer (pdf)
Got to the UNLV Gaming Podcast page
It should be available in iTunes as well.
I’m working on a few interviews for the next couple of podcasts, then we’ve got a few more traditional academic speakers in the spring. Stay posted.
I guess I am not sufficiently au courant to know what all those references to films, characters or games were but I do agree that denomination of a slot by its coinage unit rather than average coinage usage is at best misleading.
Perhaps the Gaming Company as an intermediary between the casino and the player does serve as a restraint on the house-edge though that restraint might be easily eroded over time.
I was surprized to hear that slots are now being viewed as a social activity although I have seen double-seated slot machines for couples. I seem to recall some buzzwords about cocooning and the demise of bowling leagues and felt that slot machines would be solitary experiences except perhaps for team play of a bank of progressive slots that I’ve occasionally heard of.
I was surprised to hear that the casinos do not track non-casino spending such as spas, restaurants, shows, etc. I thought they did atleast track that information though perhaps not in real-time.
I certainly think a slot player who also spends money at upscale restaurants and spas is valuable to the casino, but most slot players seem to be retirees who seem to focus solely on the slot machines and their rooms.
I think Harrah’s is starting to track non-casino spending by Total Rewards members. They give points for, I think, any purchase made in their properties if you present your Total Rewards card when making the purchase. I wonder if a Total Rewards credit card can be far away, or if that’s a wall the Gaming authorities won’t remove?
Jeff,
Here you go–a link for the “Harrah’s Total Rewards Platinum Plus Visa Card” (registered trademark!):
https://wwwa.applyonlinenow.com/USCCapp/Ctl/entry?sc=uaajv3