Thursday, Sept. 18, 2003 | 11:17 a.m.
Mike Germano breathed a sigh of relief as Dennis Conrad's presentation wrapped up Wednesday morning at the Global Gaming Expo.
"At least we wound up on the best list," Germano said as he left the session highlighting the year's best and worst casino promotions.
As the head of player development for the Camel Rock Casino in Santa Fe, N.M., his plan to attract older players celebrating their wedding anniversaries won points from Conrad for innovation.
"It's all about finding out what your customer wants," said Germano, now the player development manager for the Pechanga casino in Temecula, Calif.
Conrad is president of Raving Consulting, a Reno firm that provides marketing advice to gaming companies nationwide. He couldn't agree more with Germano.
"That's it, find out what your customers want and give it to them," he said.
Examples sticking to that simple principle included Dini's Lucky Club in Yerington. The small casino this year began offering free electric wheelchair recharging to its customers.
"Most casinos have a very high percentage of the elderly crowd," Conrad said, adding that a Colorado casino, similarly, was offering to recharge oxygen tanks.
Another winner was the Sky Ute Casino in Ignacio, Colo. There the gaming operation was giving nonprofit organizations a shot at a "charity gamble." The casino guaranteed a $500 donation to the organizations, but they had a shot at more if they took a spin at grabbing cash in a wind-tunnel-like money booth.
"Oftentimes we downplay our (gaming) business," Conrad said. "This is a chance to show the community how fun it is."
Harrah's Entertainment Inc. made the best promotion list with a dramatic branded promotion built around the board game Monopoly. The winners of local promotions at the company's properties around the country were flown to Reno to play a life-size Monopoly game.
Conrad conceded that such a promotion caries a steep budget that the country's smaller casinos probably can't afford, but the program emphasized some good lessons.
"The people can become a part of the promotion," he said. "It adds excitement."
Successful promotions, however, don't have to be expensive. Harrah's also received praise for packaging several deals designed to attract bowling fans in Reno for a professional tournament.
The casino promoted a laundry list of giveaways, that included leftover items from past promotions, existing restaurant deals and discounted show tickets for nights that were likely to already have empty seats, Conrad said.
The Riviera also received points for a table-top promotion for buffet tips. The card talked about the benefits of scouting the entire buffet spread before loading up a plate and the importance of getting cold food first.
"It sends the message that 'We care about your experience,"' Conrad said, adding that it also could help turn revenue-generating tables over more quickly.
The doomed promotions making Conrad's worst list seemed to be plagued by a lack of attention to detail.
He pointed to a Father's Day blackjack promotion that offered 2-to-1 odds with no maximum bet. It costs the ill-fated casino $800,000 before it was scrapped.
Conrad does not identify the casinos responsible for the "worst" promotions, an announcement that seemed to illicit a mixed emotional response from about 150 attendees of the presentation.
The worst list also featured mailings that did not include the address of a casino that had just changed its name.
The worst list was topped by a casino that promised to give away a "classic" 1963 Chevrolet Nova worth $17,500, Conrad said. After the winner picked it up, it wouldn't start. Her mechanic told her it was worth about $3,000, despite the casino notifying her that the tax liability in the car would be double that amount.
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