Early February each year brings ICE totally gaming.
It’s a quiet time of the year and I’ll often holiday in February as the financial impact of trading less won’t really be felt by the end of the year. So the show is well timed to kick start the year and take some actions forward before that break.
The show
About 30,000 people descend on London’s Excel arena to glare at half-naked women, if you want to believe the press stories this week!
All stands try to attract your attention as you drift by. Some use astonishing displays, some celebrities, regular shows and some use attractive women and men. Yes, there were male models there also. As a balding middle-aged man, I’m highly offended that a more attractive male was being used to attract women onto a stand. 🙂
Seriously though, I can’t remember an exhibition type format in ANY industry where you are not induced to visit a stand one way or another. If you look at some of the stunts Paddy Power has pulled in their various forms over the years it seems controversy does pay. It just comes in and out of fashion.
I actually thought the show was quite tame this year compared to other years.
But seriously
The reality is somewhat different at the show. There are so many people that come here from all over the world it’s a great place to do business as more or less everybody is in the same place at the same time. I seem to be able to that without being involuntarily influenced to visit random stands.
That’s the main draw for me at this event, it’s a great chance to rattle through everything in a few short days. It’s a very productive few days, with or without the controversy.
I did a good video summary of the event last year. I couldn’t really add much to that, so have put that below for you to watch. The only people I didn’t meet this year was Betfair, but all the other meetings I had were very productive.
It’s given me some good groundwork for where we are headed this year. I’m looking forward to bringing you new things in 2018!
