President’s Message – October 2014

With the conference season of 2014 almost coming to an end, it gives me great pleasure to reflect on the IMGL’s activities during the course of this year which, in my opinion has been an extremely dynamic and very successful year for the organization and its members. Apart from our established educational core-elements, the Spring and the Autumn Conference, IMGL was invited to support more high-profile gaming events around the world than ever before. Especially our additional and new conference format, the ‘IMGL Masterclass’, has turned out to be a huge success and well demanded event. It has proved to be a valuable ad-on to already very high profile gaming shows and conferences. Following our inaugural event during ICE in London IMGL was able to offer another three Masterclasses in 2014: in the Philippines, Sofia and on the Isle of Man. I trust there will be many more of these Masterclasses in the future. In fact, I am happy to say that the next Masterclass is currently already being prepared and will be taking place at ICE in London in the first week of February 2015.

I strongly believe that one of the core elements of the process of creating effective regulatory regimes for gaming, in particular with regard to sports betting, starts by developing and deepening relationships between gaming operators and regulators. This is where the IMGL acts a kind of bridge or connecting link in encouraging the exchange of views and an open dialogue in order to achieve shared goals. In this respect, I am very pleased to announce that mid October next year the IMGL will be hosting a joint conference together with the International Association of Gaming Regulators (IAGR) in Lima / Peru. The event intends to build upon what the associations have achieved in Oslo when the IMGL and IAGR paired their conferences in 2013. I am looking forward to working with incoming IAGR President Birgitte Sand from Denmark and I am confident that together we can create a remarkable and unforgettable event. We already had some excellent meetings that allow us to speak of such great expectations. As already pointed out in my last President’s Message, I am delighted to see that our members are represented at probably all major gaming events worldwide. Attendance at conferences is, in my opinion, the most effective way to build your professional network, while being educated on the most current and demanding legal issues in the gaming sector. Leading conferences boast expert speakers and high-profile discussions and, again, I am proud to find so many of our members among these speakers. Additionally, and it goes without saying, the conferences will give you an unparalleled chance to visit some of the world’s nicest places and to meet interesting people from all over the world to form connections and share experiences with. The next IMGL Spring Conference will be taking place in North America. Details will be announced in the near future. Please check our website – www.gaminglawmasters.com – frequently for further information and save the dates early. This way you will not miss the exclusive opportunity to partake in one of the main educational and networking events for leading figures in the industry of 2015.

In the interest of constantly improving our services for members and friends IMGL has put tremendous effort in redesigning our website. You will find many new features including a very useful tool for the registration for IMGL events. Please navigate and explore the site and discover the ways you can benefit from this new state-of-the art product. Information, presentation and communication are the pillars of the new concept. Needless to say, that the site is self-explanatory and easy to operate.

The IMGL Website Committee chaired by Marc Ellinger and Marc Dunbar deserves our highest acknowledgement and gratitude. I would also like to pay Fran Russell and her team at Spoke8 a particular compliment for the professional implementation of the new design and certainly our Director Melissa Triplett for coordinating all this in countless hours of work.

I have no doubts that www.gaminglawmasters.com will take its place among the most important gaming law sites in the world. Please feel free to let us know what you think of it or how we can further improve the site in order for it to become an essential source of information.

Very much looking forward to seeing you all at one of the next IMGL events in the near future!

Joerg Hofmann