When you get as old as I am, 10 years seems to zip by. But in the case of this magazine, I feel like I’ve been working on it my entire life. Maybe that’s because I have been doing this same kind of thing my entire career. I started covering the industry in the mid-’80s for what was then an employee publication that grew into what was at the time one of the major trade publications.
Through a complicated series of events at the beginning of the past decade, I found myself an independent consultant. I was asked by the American Gaming Association and Global Gaming Expo to build a magazine that would serve to promote G2E, since the other two magazines in existence at the time refused to take advertising from G2E.
In order to set it apart from our competitors, we at first published two issues a month, a pace that nearly killed me. After we got established, we dropped to a more sane monthly schedule and we were off to the races. Since that time, publishing this magazine has been nothing but a joy, even through the tough times we all endured over the past few years.
Our goal at Global Gaming Business is simple: to provide our readers with the information that they will need to understand how they fit into the industry. We shy away from jargon-filled, dense features that appeal to only a small slice of the industry. We want our readers to pick up GGB and read it from cover to cover and understand what each article means to them and the industry. We’re proud of the industry we call home and we want our readers to be as well.
So on this, our 10th anniversary, I want to thank many people for getting us to where we are today.
First and foremost, as we do with every aspect of our publication, our readers are at the top of the list. Without you and your feedback and criticism, we would not have been successful. Each month when an issue is published, I’m flooded with calls and emails telling me how much they like—or disagree with—certain stories, columns or features. I take the good with the bad. We can’t improve our publication if we don’t hear from both sides, so please continue to send me your thoughts and suggestions.
Secondly, we would be nowhere without the support of our advertisers. They jumped on board right from the start and have been consistently with us over the past 10 years. Even during the difficult economic times, when marketing budgets were cut and executives reconsidered every dime they were spending, our advertisers, with few exceptions, stuck with us. For this, I am eternally grateful.
And of course, while I get the credit for this great publication, I am but a small cog in the wheel.
I was lucky enough to snag Frank Legato, a colleague from a previous publication, early in the life of GGB. The respect he has with the slot manufacturers and technology providers in the industry gave us a major boost. And without his prolific word count, we’d have far fewer pages in the magazine.
David Coheen also came on soon after we began publishing. Again, the respect he earned at his previous positions with other publications brought GGB up another notch. So his sales efforts, and the way he pursues partnerships with our clients rather than just sales, has made all the difference.
Our graphic artists and web designers, Monica Cooley and Robert Rossiello, have given GGB its signature look and feel over the years. We stumbled across our “jack of all trades” Bonnie Rattner a few years ago, and she has been a breath of fresh air. And our recent hire, Floyd Sembler, an industry veteran with a tenure as long as my own, gives us another edge moving into the future.
But I can’t finish without thanking our director of operations, who also happens to be my wife, Becky Kingman-Gros. Without her handling everything from sales management to the books and finances for the entire life of this magazine, we would never have succeeded, because those are skills I seriously lack. And of course, she’s also my best friend, so that helps too.
Ten years sounds like a long time—and it is, believe me. But it is really just the start as we continue to improve GGB and its family of magazines.
So stick around, and thanks for your support. The best is yet to come.
