First Northern Nevada Gaming Summit Planned

RENO, Nevada – (Press Release) -- Market leaders Raving Consulting and Ascend Media Gaming Group are teaming up to produce the first Northern Nevada Gaming Summit Feb. 18-19, 2004, at Harrah's Reno.

Northern Nevada Gaming Summit will tackle the many challenges and opportunities facing the Reno market. It begins with an evening reception and welcome keynote address the evening of Feb. 18, followed by a full day of seminars and workshops on Feb. 19. Session topics include an in-depth analysis of Reno market demographics, successful marketing and promotional strategies and the impact of expanded gaming in Northern California. Speakers will be composed of Raving Consulting's team of 15 industry specialists, Reno casino industry leaders and nationally recognized gaming executives.

On Feb. 19, Phil Satre, Chairman of the Board of Harrah's Entertainment, Inc., will provide the keynote luncheon presentation that will challenge Reno to "get off the porch if it wants to run with the big dogs."

Bill Eadington, University of Nevada Reno Professor and Director of the Institute for the Study of Gambling and Commercial Gaming, will provide the keynote remarks at the Opening Night Reception Feb. 18. Reno Mayor Robert Cashell will be one of several speakers during the "Public/Private Partnerships" session.

"We are proud to work with Raving Consulting on the inaugural Northern Nevada Gaming Summit," said Charles Anderer, Director, Product Development, Ascend Media Gaming Group. "Under the leadership of Dennis Conrad, Raving has assembled a team of industry consultants that adds value to the gaming industry, and will prove an invaluable source of content to this conference."

"We are looking forward to focusing our resources on what promises to be an important event for the Northern Nevada casino market," said Dennis Conrad, President, Raving Consulting. "With the support of Ascend's publications and integrated trade communications, I am confident that we will combine to offer attendees a productive and rewarding event."

Ascend Media Gaming Group publishes leading monthly gaming publications IGWB and Casino Journal, and produces 10 niche and regional gaming trade shows and conferences, including American Gaming Summit and Southern Gaming Summit. Raving Consulting Company is a Reno-based marketing company that has worked with more than 200 casino companies worldwide and trained more than 1,500 gaming executives in its insider-savvy gaming seminars@@

Anybody attending?

I will only go if they promise to have a forum that will address the need to buy up a lot of the dumps around Reno and close them. The town can support about 6 or 7 casinos and that is about it. The dumb thing is that no one goes after the locals very hard, they are good solid customers with a lot of money. Believe me, if you ever lived here for even a week you would see how much money there is around here and there ain't crap to spend it on. The town is a victim of thinking in the past for just about everything. People around here act like they will forever be a town of about 100,000 people and endless streams of visitors from Northern California and the Northwest. Dumb people around here, really dumb and to have a conference almost makes me laugh.