This year’s World Game Protection Conference, March 12-15 at Bally’s Las Vegas, will focus on how casinos can prevent and protect customers from active shooting events, focusing on a new reality created by the October 1 mass shooting at Mandalay Bay.
The conference, expanded from three to four days this year, also will highlight ways to prevent and deal with casino robberies, which have been on the uptick, and cyber attacks, according to its founder Willy Allison. “Over the last 12 years, we’ve focused on game protection and cheating, stealing, advantage play, that kind of stuff,” Allison told CDC Gaming Reports. “Last summer, we decided to expand the scope and broaden our horizons to include all sorts of threats: physical, security and cyber. Over the last year or two, there have been a lot more violent incidents in Las Vegas. We thought it was important to cover all the threats, and then October 1 came, and that sort of cemented that theory.”
The conference will feature a keynote by Larry Barton, a leading world expert in crisis management and threat assessment.
“Five months after the worst mass murder and public shooting in American history, casino security leaders, law enforcement, and victims’ families are still searching for answers as to what could have and should have been done differently to prevent an unprecedented massacre,” Allison told CDC.
“This is an extraordinary moment in the evolution of gaming and public safety, and we have landed the most highly regarded authority on the issue to kick off our program.”
More than 800 are expected to attend the conference, which also will include exhibits by more than 30 vendors displaying the latest in video security and surveillance, identification and other technologies.
“We’re going to have a new segment called Casino Strong in which vendors that have new products get up on stage and talk about how these new products can help make casinos safer,” Allison said.
The regular rate for the conference and expo is $1,195, with lower rates for groups and expo-only attendance. Register at worldgameprotection.com/register/ or at 702-407-9900, Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. PST.
