Just Say No

Why do I keep saying no to conference invites that could boost the newsletter's brand? I have my reasons.

I get invited to speak at a lot of conferences, and while I know it would be good for increasing my newsletter’s brand and exposure, and finding new sponsors, I have been turning them down in recent years — I have advised a few when they are creating their agendas and panels.

I will always consider attending, and there are a few organized by longtime industry friends of mine that I have given some serious thought to, but most inquiries receive a polite but immediate, “I can’t make it.”

In fact, I don’t even attend conferences anymore.

So what changed? Conferences changed.

I’ve been to dozens of conferences over the years, most between 2014 and 2019. But I noticed a stark change in 2018 and 2019, when conferences turned into parties thrown by lobbyists and corporate giants, where the main draw is hearing what some celebrity has to say about something they have a passing interest in.

In 2019 I remember everyone rushing to hear what former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie had to say, and I didn’t understand why anyone cared then or now. I knew what he was going to say (the same thing he said in previous interviews), and that there would be some bombastic soundbite everyone would latch on to, and the press would eat it up.

In 2014, Steve Wynn and Sheldon Adelson were the keynote speakers at G2E, delivering speeches I sometimes agreed and sometimes disagreed with. Both speeches were riveting. They were educational and insightful, because both were passionate and candid about the topic, and freely spoke their minds.

Nowadays, everyone delivering a keynote is on guard, fearful that they might slip and say the wrong thing (AKA speak passionately and candidly). Organizers don’t want to rock the boat with a controversial speaker on a panel, let alone a keynote, lest a big sponsor get upset. I don’t have the patience for carefully measured words and platitudes anymore.

I tried to go about my business as usual post-PASPA, thinking there were conferences within the conferences, but everyone was busier and people with only a passing understanding flooded the industry and once-interesting conversations turned into surface-level meet and greets.

From where I sit, the value of attending went way down — There is still tremendous value in attending conferences if you are not trying to granularly cover the industry for the industry and industry-watchers.

What Can You Do For Me?

Setting aside the changes over the years, another reason I avoid conferences now is that you start to live in the conference bubble. The same people saying the same things over and over, everyone hyper-focused on the next big thing, and silver-tongued lobbyists and PR people trying to implant an earworm to bring you around to their self-interested ideas.

In 2015, my interactions with people at conferences were less transactional, or at least mutually beneficial. By 2018, I could tell I was being schmoozed, and if I couldn’t immediately help you in some way, it was on to the next conversation. As Victor Rocha calls them, Vampire Parties. I have always been willing to chat with anyone about the industry, whether it turned into an article or not.

I miss the 2015 version of these conferences, and getting to walk the halls or sit down at a table and casually chat with a regulator or industry executive who knew 1) what they were talking about, and 2) what they were saying was safe.

As I’ve noted before, my first NCLGS, the Summer Meeting in Boston in 2016 had maybe four or five press people. By 2018 there were too many journalists at these events, all trying to scoop the next big story, and those same regulators and executives grew far more tight-lipped, having been burned too many times.

That vibe-shift isn’t limited to conferences, it’s everywhere. The whole industry has changed. The coverage is more mainstream and relationships are more — I’ll use that word again — transactional.

If I contacted a lawmaker about an online casino bill in 2015, I was likely the only person and we would usually talk on- and off-the-record. Those are the conversations that tell you what is actually happening. Unfortunately, you can’t do that when you are bombarded by 50 calls, and you have no idea if the journalist is friend or foe. Fortunately, I still have some of these conversations, although not as often.

My Work Would Suffer

Here are a few more reasons I have been skipping conferences.

• Attending a conference would mean scaling back the newsletter for a few days to a week, and I hate playing catch-up with the news, and not having a complete breadcrumb trail for readers to follow. It disrupts the rhythm and consistency that makes the newsletter timely and reliable, which is what I believe sets it apart.

• I also own a martial arts school, and while this may seem odd, being there allows me to step outside the gambling industry bubble every evening, which keeps my perspective sharp, and is another reason I think my newsletter stands out. I’m a workaholic, and this daily break gives me work-life balance.

• Finally, I’m getting older and set in my ways. Conferences are a system shock and it takes me weeks to reset my schedule, which would take a toll on the newsletter and my other projects. As I said above, the value isn’t there for me.

In the end, I’ve found a system that works for me, and by staying focused on the newsletter (and the karate school), I’m able to stay candid and passionate — if you don’t like what I say some of the time, good, because if you agree with everything I say I’d be no better than the conferences I just spent 900 words decrying. Safe, transactional, and largely uninteresting.

If conferences ever swing back to those candid, insider vibes of 2015, maybe I’ll reconsider.