GGRAsia – Digital-only ICE Asia proved successful: organiser

Digital-only ICE Asia proved successful: organiser

Jun 15, 2020 Newsdesk Industry Talk, Latest News

More than 1,600 attendees participated in an aggregate of 17 sessions dedicated to discussion of gaming business in Asia, said the promoter of ICE Asia, a casino industry conference and exhibition held earlier this month.

This year’s edition of ICE Asia – the inaugural event – was held in a digital-only form, due to travel restrictions related with efforts to stem the further spread of the Covid-19 pandemic. The trade show – originally scheduled for Manila, in the Philippines – ran from June 8 to June 10, and was held concurrently with SiGMA Digital Focus Asia, an event for the online industry.

“The migration to digital proved successful for attendees, including more than 7,300 messages sent across the live streaming platform with more than 5,000 individual discussions created amongst viewers,” said the organiser, Clarion Gaming, in a Monday written announcement.

The “ICE” branding is used by Clarion Gaming for a popular London, United Kingdom event each year. The promoter also organises gaming-industry-related gatherings in North America and Africa.

This year’s ICE Asia involved regulators, gaming operators and experts. It focused on the future of gaming and market recovery post-Covid-19. The opening day started with a keynote statement by Andrea Domingo, the head of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (Pagcor), that country’s gaming regulator.

“ICE Asia Digital has been a great success and we’re delighted to have had some fantastic feedback from participants,” said Greg Saint, ICE Asia event director, as quoted in the release.

“We were aware that, with the demand for intelligence and networking opportunities in this difficult time being even more important, clearly the show had to go on,” he added.

Mr Saint noted that ICE Asia Digital’s provided the entire content for “free for attendees,” while also facilitating networking opportunities in order to “help and support further” the gaming community in Asia.

“I’m confident that people who joined us will have left knowing more and meeting more people, which is what all events are truly about,” he added.

Clarion Gaming said additionally that next year’s edition of ICE Asia would take place on May 27 and 28.