It was opened by a VIP delegation of former and current show directors including Charles Henry, Roger Withers and Simon Thomas.
This year’s edition of the show featured 80 stands, up 11 per cent on last year, occupying 3,700sq. ft of space.
Speaking at the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Henry said: “I am grateful to BACTA chief executive John White for the invitation to open this year’s EAG which promises once again to be a very successful event for both exhibitors and their customers. While I have been out of the business for many years I have not lost touch with those who followed in either EAG or BACTA.
“I believe that all exhibitors and customers benefit from this tradition and return year after year to enjoy this very special annual event. It is a great privilege to be here and by cutting the ribbon declaring EAG 2023 open.”
Martin Burlin, current EAG chairman, added: “EAG is a celebration of everything that is unique about our industry including the key personalities who have helped to guide it over many, many decades. As well as representing the best place to experience the latest revenue-boosting games, source fresh ideas to increase footfall and network with fellow industry professionals, EAG 2023 also includes a six-strong free seminar programme covering a range of business-centric issues.
“Our two new show features comprise the EAG Safer Gambling Hub and the Bingo Hub developed in conjunction with the Bingo Association. The show provides the perfect opportunity for operators to plan for the year ahead.”
The Bingo Hub featured specialist bingo suppliers including Shipley Creative, ECM Systems Ltd, Cowells Arrow, Wexel Gaming, NRM, ISD and Willow Communication. The Hub was the perfect place to see the latest products, source fresh ideas, and network with fellow professionals. The Hub was a great success, with a steady flow of traffic throughout the period. Late afternoon on both the Tuesday and Wednesday the Bingo Association hosted some charity games of bingo, the atmosphere was fantastic and those who won donated am amount which the Bingo Association made available to their charities of choice which included Variety – the Children’s Charity who are the designated charity of the Association.
Miles Baron CEO Bingo Association said: “Our first time at EAG was a great success for the Bingo Association. Exhibiting alongside our BACTA friends and colleagues felt the natural thing to do as we have many common and shared interests. And we were not wrong! Bingo operators and suppliers felt ‘ at home ‘ at EAG and the Bingo Association Bingo Hub can only get bigger and better over the years. We are here to stay!!”
Other feedback from exhibitors at the Bingo Hub:
“We were fully supportive of the Bingo Association decision to move the Bingo Hub to EAG this year, and now the show has completed we are even more convinced that EAG is the natural location for the Hub and Cowells Arrow as an exhibitor going forward.
The show was a great success for CA as a business, enabling us to showcase our diversification further into the Pub and Club market through machine supply of our new products; Jumbotron (B3A) and Max Fusion (B4), whilst also maintaining and reinforcing our commitment to the Bingo industry as the Number 1 supplier of Bingo tickets and Dabbers.
It was pleasing also that the now traditional and highlight of the social scene, the joint event with Shipley Creative at The Cow, on Wednesday evening was so well attended, by a greater spectrum of people and companies, and judging by the night and the feedback received was thoroughly enjoyed by all”. Tony Lister, Managing Direct Cowells Arrow
“During a supplier call with The Bingo Association late in 2022 it was evident that EAG was the preferred industry focal point for 2023 exhibitions. The Bingo ‘plaza’ with the suppliers encircled, or close to the Bingo Hub, worked well for ECM. The area provided a relaxed space for customers and suppliers alike, to gather and meet as a bingo community, offering long dwell time and enabling productive conversations with our extensive customer base”.
ECM demonstrated the prototype versions of ‘Nucleus,’ our replacement for our industry wide Bingo Controllers, and ‘Fusion’ our new dynamic and flexible, high performance display system. At the stand customers were able to see the seamless integration with the ECM tablet system. On the other side of our stand our traditional e-series system was previewing the latest 3.2c software release for our gaming tablets which is due to be tested in trial sites soon.
Nucleus will eventually replace all aspects of our bingo hardware and software, driven by a more flexible PC based platform that modernises all ECM controller and display systems.
Fusion works either as a standalone product or integrates with Nucleus, offering a powerful multi-channel input, muti screen output solution, for an immersive fully featured bingo experience”. Kevin Hamilton – CEO, ECM Systems a Playtech company
“EAG 2023 represented a bit of a departure for NRM in so far as we swopped a stand-alone presence on the show floor in favour of a position on the innovative EAG Bingo Hub which had been put together in co-operation with the Bingo Association. It’s very positive that the BA and EAG combined in such a way, and I believe this initiative worked well for everyone – not least EAG visitors who were able to find all of the suppliers to the Bingo sector in one place.
There was a positive outlook running through those visitors to the NRM stand. EAG was the perfect opportunity for us to showcase our proven range of products and services, comprising Jigsaw, AD-GO, Bingo Express 2, Flexi-Tab, as well as a collection of membership and mobile applications all of which enable hospitality venues to provide consumers with an enhanced entertainment experience at the same time as managing the costs of running a progressive retail gaming business”. Andrew Ludlow – Managing Director NRM Group
“EAG was a great event for Shipley Creative. It was an ideal opportunity to meet up with our clients and show them the latest innovations and the projects that we’ve been working on. It was great to see so many operators and suppliers join us at the Cow on Wednesday night for the Cowells Arrow, Shipley Creative social event”. Dave Robson – Operations Director Shipley Creative
“The Bingo Hub worked really well, it was a fantastic networking and social event , and as an added bonus we also did some great business too”. Alice Keech – Product Manager at Willow Communications Limited
“Wexel Gaming are very happy with the outcome from this year’s EAG Expo. We were exhibiting as members of The Bingo Association – alongside our sector partners within the Bingo Hub.
Moving the Bingo Hub from ICE to EAG this year was a positive step. The BA did a great job with the layout. It was a nice environment within which to exhibit, and it encouraged cross-sector conversations with our industry colleagues – almost creating a “show within a show”!
We’re thrilled to have sold products on all 3 days of the show – and secured some unexpected international business.
At the show, we announced the launch of our new platform, Bingo Plus Online, which is going live later this quarter. This gained strong interest from several Bingo Operators, who we’re excited to say are taking the white-labelled form of Bingo Plus Online in Q2 this year”. Sean Young – Managing Director Wexel Gaming
“The Bingo Hub was a great success for us this year at EAG and we were delighted to be an exhibitor as part of the Bingo Association, it was also a great opportunity to network with the industry”. Chris Wrigley – Managing Director ISD Computer Services Ltd
