A very successful inauguration of the World Gaming Expo in Monaco confirmed Igor Gamba’s attention to organize this important event on a yearly basis. The 2018 edition of the World Gaming Expo is scheduled for beginning of December 2018.
Gaming industry from 4 continents meet for the very first time on December 6, 7 and 8 in Monte – Carlo at the lavish exhibition venue – Grimaldi Forum. The inaugural edition was small compared to the gigantic plans Igor Gamba, the founder and CEO of the WGE, has for the future editions but nevertheless the event is considered a huge success as it joined the gaming industry exhibitors, conference speakers, visitors and media from all over the world.
The doors of Grimaldi forum opened on Wednesday when Exhibitors from 14 countries presented their glamorous stands. Some were very impressive, even outshined Las Vegas, as you will have the chance to see in the photos. Already on this first day celebrities joined the WGE exhibitors and visitors. Patrik Antonius, the biggest winner in history of on-line poker and the 2017 WGE guests of honor was accompanied by Hassan N’Dam, 3 times world champion in middle weight boxing, Maro Engel the E-formula pilot with other local sports and entertainment personalities. The celebs were hanging out in the WGE stylishly-furnished VIP lounge sponsored by Espresso Games. Yes “Espresso”, but nothing to do with coffee as the newly re-emerged Italian gaming company with this playful name provides solutions for on-line and land based gaming.
Many Monaco based gaming professionals, including numerous SBM members were there as soon as the doors to the expo opened to visitors. Already on the first day, the WGE team counted visitors from more than 30 different countries and the numbers kept raising through the following days. Without a doubt the most visited part of the exhibition ground during this first day was the open-space conference area where conferences and panels were chaired by incredibly entertaining veteran in the gaming industry Steve Donoughue. WGE team made sure to include the FB fans and shared these exciting debates on FB live stream.
Selected invitees including Monaco government representatives, local casinos, gaming industry trend setters, celebrities, local and international press and friends joined the WGE exhibitors at another iconic Monaco location, Café de Paris, for the Opening Ceremony Gala Evening. This was announced to be the highlight of the WGE 2017 social events and it certainly lived up to the expectations. For next year’s edition the WGE team is planning an even bigger event so make sure to secure your tickets well in advance.
From left to right: Patrik Antonius, Hassan N’Dam, Maro Engel & Igor Gamba
Thursday was the most important day for the WGE exhibitors and they were all feverously lined up to create as many new business alliances as possible, as it is the common practice during such 3-day trade shows. Core conference speakers were also scheduled on this “central” day accompanied and announced by the WGE conference host Steve Donoughue. Moreover, in the midst of this busy and very active day the WGE guest of honor Patrik Antonius and some other VIP guests reunited for a friendly game of poker. Who would you place your bets on: the world champion of on-line
poker, the world champion in boxing or on the world champion in formula? Surprisingly, the outcome was not so obvious, and the friendly game certainly showed how passionate for being the winner these athletes are.
The WGE trade-show is generally set to go on for 3 days as any important gaming event, however with a slight twist and the invitation to open the 3rd day to non-professional or semi-professional gaming enthusiasts. This year’s 3rd day entry was complimentary thus WGE attracted a large number of fans to peek-in before exhibitors left Monaco for a deserved relaxing weekend.
This year’s WGE without a doubt managed to prove its international importance by hosting;
– exhibitors from 14 different countries (Europe, Asia and US)
– conference speakers from 11 different countries (Europe, Asia, US and Africa)
– participants of the WGE from 69 different countries
– local and international media with over 40 pre- and post-media coverages, interviews etc.
The post-event feedback from visitors and exhibitors is especially positive and requesting more of the same when it comes to conferences. Everyone loved Steve Donoughue spicy jokes and loaded questions. Most intriguing and compelling was the fireside style interview with the 2017 WGE key-note speaker Charles Gillespie. Thus, the WGE team is already gathering and preparing an even bigger pallet of important international speakers and trend driving topics for the 2018 expo.
Igor Gamba and the WGE team were proud to inaugurate this 1st edition of the World Gaming Expo and hope it to become another iconic yearly event in Monaco. The team is especially grateful and thankful to everyone who believed in this expo from the early days, will continue to always strive to do the best and make it even bigger with every year to come. This way the participants of the 2017 expo will be able to one day proudly say: “I took part in the very first World Gaming Expo edition, I was there from the start”.
World Gaming Expo is about opportunities. It is about bringing the gaming industry to the place where it all started, so new bigger and greater things can begin. What better place than Monaco for the gaming industry to join on an annual basis and plan for the optimistic future. This invitation from Igor Gamba and the WGE team goes out to both land-based and on-line gaming but especially for any industry leaders, innovative trend setters and to the ones who want to make a notable imprint in the world of gaming.
Comparing to other world shows that today represent an important milestone on every gaming company calendar; the WGE team sees this inaugural edition’s outcome as an optimistic beginning that looks very promising for the future editions of the WGE. We must keep in mind it was only the first edition and that WGE will continue growing and always doing the best for all WGE partners and clients.