ICE Totally Gaming, the most prominent event on the industry calendar, opened its doors on Tuesday, bringing together visitors and exhibitors from across the globe to London’ ExCel.
Tuesday saw the the opening day of the industry’s grandest showcase, ICE Totally Gaming with the biggest names in the global gaming market descending upon London’s docklands to showcase the latest and greatest in gaming technology.
Not only the biggest, but the broadest gaming trade show on the industry calendar,the international focus of ICE is a key tenet of the event’s status.
Quentin Stott,managing director at Ref lex Gaming commented on this in no uncertain terms:“It is quite simply the biggest and most diverse gaming show in the world.There are many other gaming shows around the world, but for us ICE is the pin- nacleofwhatourindustryisreally all about,”he said.
“There is a huge diversity of customers from land-based, to online, UK to international. It is always very important for us to be here showcase what we have got,” he added.
The importance of this global outlook was further affirmed by Debbie Malin of Astro systems, which was celebrating a particular landmark at this year’s show: “This will be our company’s 20th year at ICE and it is always an incredibly important show for us. It is a really unique opportunity in that respect to see such a range of people in just one place,” she said.
With the most prominent names in the industry present on some of the biggest exhibition stands around, the breadth of products on show at ICE is as broad as the list of international attendees.
This global scope is not to the detriment of the more UK-focused exhibitors present however,and can in fact present a great opportunity for business, according to Kevin Weir, business development director at Electrocoin.
“EAG is such a busy show and ICE gives us a great second chance to meet with our key customers. Because it is such an international show it gives us a chance to get real quality time with our UK customers,” he said.
The range of products present on the show floor reflects not only the diversity of the industry, but the pace at which it moves, according to Weir. With memories of EAG scarcely a month old, Electrocoin the company already had new pro-cuts to showcase.
“The business that we are all in is so fast moving that even with just the small gap between shows there will always be new things to see here. For example our Grand Palace Photobooth that we have on stand didn’t manage to make it to EAG, but we’ve got it here,” Weir added.
Stretching across innumerable market segments and geographical boundaries alike ICE 2018 looks set to kick on from its busy opening day and truly bring the world of gaming under one roof.
Coinslot February 9 – 15 2018 . No 2563
