In 2014, I attended a gaming conference in Atlantic City where the main focus was on the newly introduced use of the internet to deliver gambling products to people within the jurisdiction.
The discussions among the operators and related parties were generally positive. Everything was going well. They were working through the challenges and excited about the future – the standard script for a gaming conference.
Then a funny thing happened: A panel took place featuring four poker players who had been playing on the three iPoker sites in the New Jersey market. Soon, this panel established a rhythm where all four participants complained about the poker products being delivered. In short, the sense of accomplishment that had been the theme of the conference, as established by the comments of the traditional industry-related folks in the Atlantic City gaming ecosystem, was being challenged by four people who were not thrilled with the reality of the new online poker experience.'
To this day, I believe that the gaming industry learned an important lesson from this experience: Never invite actual players to have control of a panel at a gaming conference, for they will muddle the narrative with a dose of the actual player perspective.