Wednesday, April 18, 2012

news.casinolife

news.casinolife

FutureLogic Launches First of Its Kind Customer Service Role

Posted: 17 Apr 2012 09:21 AM PDT

GLENDALE, Calif., — April 17, 2012 — FutureLogic, Inc. announced today that it has named Steve Zbin as Customer Experience Manager. In this capacity, Zbin will act as a valuable resource and point of contact for customers with inquiries about technical or service-related issues regarding FutureLogic products.

This first of its kind position in the gaming market reaffirms FutureLogic's superior customer service program and assures world-class support for existing customers, as well as those just beginning to adopt the company's popular TITO printers and promotional couponing solutions.

"As promotional couponing rapidly takes hold in the gaming industry, casinos are increasingly seeing the unique benefits offered by our products, such as our PromoNet® couponing solution and our award-winning GEN3 Evolution® and GEN2 Universal™ TITO printers," said Nick Micalizzi, FutureLogic's Vice President of Sales and Marketing North America. "As FutureLogic's new Customer Experience Manager, Steve will help solidify our stellar reputation for customer service. His proven record in gaming sales and management and his educational background in technology make him the ideal choice for supporting our customers as they embrace these innovative technologies."

Steve Zbin has been with FutureLogic for eight years, first as Sales Manager-OEM Applications and then as Business Manager. Before joining FutureLogic, he held positions as Field Applications Engineer and Regional Sales Manager for Seiko Instruments' Micro Printer Division. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Electronic Technology from Cleveland State University.

About FutureLogic, Inc. Founded in 1983 and headquartered in Glendale, Calif., FutureLogic develops and supplies solutions for the gaming industry including high-reliability printer equipment and in-game promotional couponing solutions. As the undisputed leader in super-robust thermal printer technology, FutureLogic is the industry’s premier supplier of thermal printers for casino gaming, promotional equipment, kiosk, industrial, RTAL, gas pumps and medical applications. FutureLogic has shipped more than 1.5 million TITO printers worldwide. In July 2004 the company founded FutureLogic Europe, Ltd. to provide direct sales and engineering support for the growing OEM thermal printer markets in Europe. In October 2006 FutureLogic expanded its global support network into the Asia Pacific market, with a new sales and service center in Macau, China. In 2010 FutureLogic further supplemented its service and support platform with the opening of an office in Sydney, Australia, and in 2011 the company expanded its sales and marketing presence to cover South America. More information on the company is available at www.futurelogic-inc.com

 

 

ECA SLOT Summit Interview with Event Founder Lucien Wjisman

Posted: 17 Apr 2012 01:25 AM PDT

Lucien, what was your vision for the ECA Slot Summit? I think the ECA Slot Summit was really an offspring of the Slot Academy. But the big difference between the slot academy and the slot summit is that the academy is a five-day management training course in which I assume the role of teacher. It's highly interactive, participants work on exercises and do tests

ECA Slot Summit Founder Lucien Wjisman

– the basic idea is to make them better in their jobs.

The primary objective of the ECA slot summit, which has a range of different speakers, is not to train people to get better at the things they do today, but to bring them up to speed on industry developments in other countries and technology trends. The speakers are either experts in their fields or company executives.

Another big difference is that summit delegates spend three evenings with colleagues from other casinos – giving them plenty of time to sit down and discuss what's going on. So at the summit, we have interaction among delegates, but also interaction with the sponsors. In my opinion, that is the third big difference between the slot summit and the slot academy. The academy does not have sponsors; the summit needs sponsors – particularly to cover the simultaneous interpreting costs, which are very high.

The sponsors like the summit, because they have a very captive audience. If a slot manager goes to the ICE in London, he won't get more than a couple of minutes with any sales director. But at the slot summit, they can actually have dinner together and sit down all evening to talk.

So the feedback I get back from people is that the slot summit is a great opportunity to meet with your counterparts and discuss issues of mutual interest. It gives delegates the chance to meet suppliers in a completely different setting – one which they would never find at an exhibition. They hear about new technologies and upcoming developments. There is no other event that provides this opportunity to such an extent. If you go to an exhibition, you won't hear what a supplier is planning for the next 10 years, you'll hear and see what they are planning to sell this year.

Slot Summit Hannover March 2012

What are your experiences in overcoming the language-barriers at such an event? When you have delegates from all over Europe, you have to work with simultaneous interpreting. That is challenging. It all falls back on the quality of the interpreting, and our tried and trusted concept here is to work with the same interpreters every time. The interpreters we used this week, we will use them again next time. They are now familiar and more comfortable with the terminology, they understand the context and connections. At the same time, we have to brief the speakers carefully. Many of them have little if any experience of working with simultaneous interpreters, so we have to explain to them that they have to slow down to give the interpreters time to catch up on what they just said. People are often afraid to ask questions in a foreign language. I am convinced that most of the people who follow the summit via the interpreters are fully aware that they would not be able to take all the information on board if there was no simultaneous interpreting. We also provide hand-outs to delegates people in their native language.

What was your aim when you put together the programme for the slot summit? Obviously, the whole ECA Slot Summit stands and falls with the quality of the program, the overall set-up and the daily schedule. We have already gone through the learning curve here, and I think we now get almost everything right. We will also bring the themes we chose this time into the summit in France later this year to ensure continuity.

Essentially, we had one day on "Data and performance analysis" (What do you have to look at here? How do you do data-based performance analysis?). One day focussed on "Marketing" ("What are the profiles of people who visit casinos? What do these different profiles expect from pricing strategies, promotions, progressives or the placement of machines?). On the third day, we addressed a very hot topic in Europe at the moment, namely "Server-based gaming, landbased gaming, online gaming, conversions…" (How can casinos establish and use synergies with other forms of gaming?).

From your point of view, what would you like the delegates to take away from this event? First of all, I hope the ECA Slot Summit will make their world bigger by giving them an understanding and an idea of where they can go with their organisation. I think they will gain understanding for the technologies that are coming and that will help to remove a lot of the apprehension people are currently feeling – with regard to the internet or anything else they see as a threat to their own local operation.

I think the ECA Slot Summit should be somewhere between a wake-up call, an eye-opener and a revelation – somewhere between the three.

On top of that, I really think it is an excellent way for people to extend and maintain their networks.

How do you view the cooperation with ECA? What does the ECA bring to the slot summit? This was the first time we had done this event together. At the first slot summit in Slovenia, the ECA realised that this event fitted perfectly with its plan to offer and organise seminars for the casino industry throughout the year. So we got together and organised this first joint event in Hanover. I think we can already say that it was a total success and a win-win situation for both of us.

ECA involvement is particularly important in marketing the event, in getting the message out to its members. The association with the ECA gives the summit an image, a brand I could never have achieved on my own. With the ECA and the University of Las Vegas as strong brands behind the ECA Slot Summit, I believe this event has the potential to become an industry standard.

www.slotsummit.com

SPIELO INTERNATIONAL INTRODUCES NEW PRODUCTS AND A NEW FACE AT G2E ASIA

Posted: 17 Apr 2012 12:59 AM PDT

MACAU – SPIELO International will be showing its latest product line-up and enhanced sales presence at its longtime distributor RGB's booth #527 at G2E Asia 2012. The show takes place at the Venetian Macau from May 22 to 24.

SPIELO International's new Macau-based Sales Director Maria Garcia

At the show, customers are invited to meet SPIELO International's new Macau-based Sales Director, Maria Garcia, who joined the company in April, as well as its newly-appointed General Manager of Casino Systems for Asia Pacific, Lai Fatt Chiang.

new General Manager of Casino Systems for Asia Pacific Lai Fatt Chiang

 

 

 

 

 

 

The team will be demonstrating dozens of compelling new games for the Asian market, including three Egyptian Gold™ titles, Cleora™, Nefturi™, and Ramosis™. Egyptian Gold is SPIELO International's first progressive link using Episodic Gaming. As players progress through the game during one session, they can save and re-activate their achieved status during the next play session. The player unlocks more features and additional bet options for more action become available. When he or she reaches the highest status, an additional award is randomly revealed by Tutenchamun. Egyptian Gold offers an exciting 5-Level Progressive Playoff, where the player is able to win multiple progressives.

KITTY CASH™ is the latest addition to SPIELO International's ATRONIC multi-level progressive links, and features the cuddly cats from the internationally recognized brand, the Artlist Collection's "THE CAT," on the stylish OXYGEN™ cabinet. On top of the three supporting game titles – KC Royals™, KC Playgrounds™ and KC Music™ — this exciting multi-level progressive features two bonus rounds: the Mystery Cat Bonus and the KiTTY CASH Bonus.

Visitors to the show can also explore two new diversity™ game suites, Absolute Azure™ and Gambling Green™. Each diversity game suite features a variety of up to 10 games grouped into categories that can be selected by players via touch screen, with Roulette now available as a selection. Presented on the OXYGEN cabinet, diversity allows players to select their preferred game types with different volatility levels, and is the only multigame on the market featuring proven, top-performing standalone progressive games, all in multi-line and multi-denomination format.

In addition, SPIELO International's new core games include MOVING MOMENTS™, GOLDIFY 2™, GOLDEN CITY™, 1421 Voyages of Zheng He™, Mayan Magic™, Dolphins Moon™, Magic Pharaoh™, SPHINX Wild™, and Master Roulette™.

The complete range of GALAXIS™ casino systems solutions will be presented at G2E Asia with a special focus on Star TABLES™, Star JACKPOTS™ and Star BONUS™ modules for the Asian gaming market.

Star JACKPOTS™ manages mystery and progressive local and wide area jackpots and our deep experience in this field has translated into top-performing, turnkey Wide Area Progressive (WAP) systems installed at casinos in 16 countries throughout the world.

TimeBomb FEVER, a new addition to the wide range of Star BONUS™ products, will be demonstrated live at the show with guaranteed bonuses designed to attract players and boost gaming during specified time periods.

The GALAXIS modules are connected across the gaming floor with CRYSTAL.net™ next generation floor network. It includes a touchscreen player interface on the slot machines for player communications and advertising and provides a unique platform for many of our Player Services.

www.spielo.com

 

IGT and PlayCity Casino Partner to Bring Exciting Experiences to Players in Mexico City

Posted: 17 Apr 2012 12:23 AM PDT

(LAS VEGAS – April 16, 2012) –International Game Technology (NYSE: IGT) announced today it has been named a strategic partner by PlayCity Casino, an alternative gaming entertainment company with 20 slot properties throughout Mexico.

"IGT games are among the best performing slot machines in Mexico, which is why this strategic agreement will enable us to deliver fun and entertaining gaming experiences to our players across the country," said Emilio Vega Jimenez, director of operations at PlayCity Casino.

IGT will provide PlayCity Casino with the latest technology in machines, themes and systems, such as the sbX® casino management solution and IGT Floor Manager, allowing the casino to have unlimited access to more than 300 themes in IGT's game library, optimizing the games' performance and improving player experiences. Amongst the popular slot titles available is player favorite Black Widow® Video Slots. This game features Super Stacks® with long stacks of the same symbol that appear on spins that drive player anticipation and excitement, while providing a Free Games bonus.

"IGT is proud to introduce our systems and games to PlayCity Casino, a leader in Mexico gaming and entertainment," said Dan Mikesell, IGT regional vice president of sales for Latin America. "This strategic partnership allows IGT to expand its products throughout one of the leading casino entertainment companies in Mexico while providing unique gaming experiences to their players."

sbX™ is specifically designed to satisfy the needs of any size casino floor. PlayCity Casino will have the tools and resources they need to create a truly differentiated and compelling gaming experience for their players. IGT has brought sbX™ to market with an emphasis on interoperability, and it is the industry's first Gaming Standards Association compliant server-based solution. PlayCity Casino joins a growing family of customers around the world who are optimizing their operations with IGT's server-based applications. More than 50 casinos in 11 countries have partnered with IGT for this server-based technology that delivers results to the bottom line.

About PlayCity Casino PlayCity Casino, a new entertainment alternative, is the premier place for fun, unique and exciting experiences. It is part of Grupo Televisa, and currently has 20 establishments in Mexico's major cities, which generates over 1,300 jobs, supply chain provider positions, significant revenue for merchants and cash prizes, as well as spectacular event experiences and great giveaways. PlayCity will soon have a benefit program that will reward the loyalty of its customers in a unique way. For more information please visit www.playcity.com.mx.

About IGT International Game Technology (NYSE: IGT) is a global leader in the design, development and manufacture of gaming machines and systems products, as well as online and mobile gaming solutions for regulated markets. More information about IGT is available at www.IGT.com or follow IGT on Twitter at @IGTNews or Facebook at www.facebook.com/IGT.