ICE Totally Gaming is one of my favorite gaming industry events of the year.  It serves as the perfect opportunity to get oriented with the latest innovations, the most popular products, the hottest issues and to see what’s cooking with the industry’s biggest players.

All my senses are on full blast when I attend ICE as my job on the floor is to scope out the most visually appealing aspects of the show, speak with as many influencers as possible and pick up more industry knowledge at the sessions.

For this week’s column I will share with the world what I enjoyed most at ICE over the course of the three days I was roaming the ExCeL. Unfortunately there is only so much one person can cover at an event as large as ICE, so I’m sure there is plenty I unintentionally missed.  If you have anything to add about what you or anyone else loved at ICE, please feel free to do so in the comments section below.

Bridging the gap between land based and online

I appreciate how ICE provides the first opportunity of the year for the land based and the online sides of the industry to get together under one roof. This year at ICE the overlap between the two sides of the industry was more noticeable than ever, with less of a separation between “iGaming” booths and the rest.  The expo floor was more integrated this year and a number of booths have started showcasing both retail and iGaming solutions.  Even at Fire and Ice we saw professionals from the land based side booking tables and mingling with the crowds.

Reps from the iGaming industry saw a lot of value this year (and in years previous) in coming to check out the technology and games on display at the larger land based suppliers at ICE.  What’s also true is the land based companies are looking to get online via social and the lotteries are looking to get online to increase distribution, so its a two way street when it comes to learning from each other at ICE.

The overlap between land based and online was also apparent within the sessions- take regulation in emerging markets, for example- most of these markets require a partnership with a land based casino in order to legally operate an online site.