iNTERGAMINGi witnessed a slow start to iGaming360 at the IFEMA in Madrid, Spain, on Wednesday morning with just a handful of exhibitors, including Counting House, Every Matrix, Entraction and Ongame Network.
Around 180 delegates attended the first iGaming360, an event organised by Clarion Gaming and a concept that has become popular in the industry recently - conferences taking place at intervals throughout the day and exhibitor stands in the main networking area. Speaking to iNTERGAMINGi on the first morning, Warwick Bartlett said: "They’re on to a good business model but organisers need to be careful not to get too greedy with the shows."
Ex-England footballer Peter Shilton started proceedings with a talk on the first day, which was followed by a CEO panel including Global CMO of bwin, Andreas Meinrad, Gaming Media Group CEO, Crispin Nieober, and vice chairman of Mangas Gaming, Isabelle Parizel. Along with moderator Warwick Bartlett, the panel addressed several issues in the online industry such as B2B, the US and French markets, and legislation.
Speaking about legislation, Bartlett asked the panel if low tax and a restrictive market outweighs high tax and a bigger market. The panel were reluctant to answer at first but bwin’s Meinrad commented: "Regulation won’t be easy and governments don’t understand how to tax the online gaming industry but we have to establish it. It will be long and difficult but you just have to go through that."
The panel also spoke about what the next big thing in the industry is. Bartlett cited smartphones as becoming mass market, stating: "When they reach 25 per cent penetration they will expand the market more than anything we’ve ever seen before." However Meinrad didn’t disclose as much, commenting: "Nobody knows what the next big thing is. It comes back to driving innovation. Companies are too focused on a day-to-day basis right now and surviving regulation."
A full show report will be included in the June issue of iNTERGAMINGi.
