The freelance events manager for one of the second-tier online sites related an interesting story to me the other day that’s germane to this conversation. Back in May he called up the WSOP folks who were in charge of the Gaming Life Expo to see if he could get some qualification on the rules (such as they were) about what promotions would and would not be allowed during the Expo. At first, when he asked them what were the rules, they told him “anything goes.” Then he got into specifics and everything kept changing.

Girls with painted chests a la the SI swimsuit issue? Ok. But they couldn’t leave the booth, like all the models this year.

Costumed mascot? Fine, but it had to take the head off if/when in the casino. Don’t want the Rio getting robbed by a bunch of costumed mascots.

But anything else was ok. Until he asked about it, at which time it immediately became not okay or was otherwise restricted. He then concluded that it would be better to seek forgiveness rather than ask permission for any other promotions.

As a result, his site was the one that had the marching band (with cheerleaders) start up as they were walking on the casino floor and play all the way down the long hallway into the expo. I’m told that the Gaming Life Expo people were decidedly not happy about the bass drum being pounded all the way down the hallway.

We had a great time and the Expo was somewhat successful for us, but the Rio/Harrah’s have got to do a better job with management. It’s an easy bet that this thing will be even bigger next year, and come October, they need to start figuring out how to get ahead of the curve.

Keep up the good work, Dan.

Ed

it’s like good political debate in America … just because you criticize certain moves doesn’t mean you hate the country and all it stands for. on the contrary, you love and respect what it stands for, and therefore want to keep the standards extra-high.

or something like that.

Ed