NIGA

The National Indian Gaming Association didn't impress me much back in February. Then, the conference was held in Washington, D.C., right before that epic snowstorm. I was battling the usual insomnia that gets me every trip east. It was hard to keep focused, much less awake during some of the speakers. And overall, the conference just didn't seem that organized, as some of the speakers talked more about the upcoming NFL conference championships and the upcoming Superbowl than Indian gaming. At least they seemed to.
The NIGA conference this past week, in San Diego, was infinitely more informative. I might even say too informative. I knew it would be interesting when the keynote speaker on the first day was, of all people, NBA legend Kareem Abdul Jabbar, who entered the convention with BIll Walton, also legendary. Abdul Jabbar was also accepting the NIGA Chairman's Award for his work in bringing basketball camps to numerous Indian reservations. The photo op caused chuckles as Walton stepped in, two seven-footers amongst several Tribal leaders, the tallest maybe six feet tall.
This week was a celebration of NIGA's 25th Anniversary, though only the 19th conference. It was also half conference and half trade show, as the lower level of half the San Diego Convention Center was a cacophony of new slot machines, booths, giveaways, lounge areas, and networking opportunities. I haven't really been to this kind of convention before. The trade show seemed geared more toward casino managers, name a casino department and there were multiple booths peddling some sort of novelty or software designed to make Human Resources and Restaurant management easier. The "bait" in many of these booths were young attractive women, complete with SoCal tans. Given all the older men in suits, that makes sense.
I sat in a number of workshops, most of which were useful, one not so much. Many of these workshops seem like "ins" for the company putting them on. I sat through one on the value of Social media for Tribal casinos. Facebook and Twitter were the focal points, with some recognitionof LinkedIn and MySpace. Facebook totals more than 450 users I learned, with Twitter following behind at 70 million. However, 14 million Twitter users account for more web content generation than all of Facebook. Also, the quickest growing demographic of social media users, over the past year anyway, has been the 55 and over population, who have increased 1000%. Given that same demographic contribute more to Tribal casinos than anything, it is only logical that this company helps marketing departments incorporate social media into campaigns.
The most interesting workshop I attended was the last, and titled "Different Generations, Different Challenges...Dude". It was basically a leadership/managerial course that got into generational differences. I understood Generation X and Baby Boomers, but knew little about Generation Y, the Greatest Generation, the Good Warriors, and the Boomer sub-generation the Joneses. The man hosting the workshop runs a company in Seattle, and although a Boomer, said in all his work Baby Boomers tend to cause more problems around the workplace than other generations, chiefly on account of an unwillingness to turn the reins over to younger generations and not coping well with the proliferation of technology in all aspects of life. Gen Xers, which I am one of, prefer to work unsupervised, don't believe in hierarchies, and were the first generation raised by single moms, which thus created our independence. We also lived through Watergate, IranContra, the gas crisis, Three-mile island, church sex scandals, all of which have made us cynics. Generation Y, they are the chronic texters, the most culturally diverse, and most needing of praise, though money isn't everything. The workshop was, to say the least, fascinating.
There was another workshop that resonated with me, but more on that later. As demonstrated below, I'm starting to use the video capabilities on my phone more.





And if you've ever wanted to see a Cuban cigar made, here you go: