LAS VEGAS -- World Gaming Congress & Expo, the largest business conference and trade show of its kind, concluded its three-day event at the Las Vegas Convention Center Friday with a record-breaking attendance of 23,000 in total registration.
Delegates from every major gaming jurisdiction in the world attended this year's show.
"We continue to be impressed by the industry's vitality and the level of participation at World Gaming Congress," said Paul Dworin publisher of IGWB International Gaming & Wagering Business Magazine, which sponsors the event. He added that the show also attracted nearly 700 exhibitors from the gaming and allied industries, and top-name celebrities such as Priscilla Presley, Michael Jackson, and Monty Hall.
This year for the first time World Gaming presented a Hospitality Pavilion, featuring products and services that underscore the increasing ties between gaming, entertainment, and hospitality interests. Educational programs also reflected this new partnership, notably the all-day symposium entitled " Theme It," presented by the Themed Entertainment Association.
Seminars covered controversial issues such as problem gambling and the federal study commission that will issue a report on the impact of gaming in local communities. Speakers and delegates also debated Washington's uneasy relationship with Indian gaming, the state of interactive gaming and on-line wagering, marketing to families with children, and transportation needs linked to growth in and around Las Vegas.
Other program highlights included a keynote address by Sergio Zyman, former head of global marketing for The Coca-Cola Company who discussed the opportunities for success that are often born out of failure.
Also for the first time this year, World Gaming Congress & Expo presented a one-day Slot Manager Institute; and repeated for the second year in a row its successful Gaming Protection Program presented in collaboration with the American Society of Industrial Security (ASIS). Other programs included financial presentations by Bear Stearns.
World Gaming Congress & Expo '99 will be held in the Las Vegas Convention Center, September 14-16.