Sophia and I had the pleasure of attending the Ethical Gambling Forum this year, held at Flutter’s offices in Leeds and hosted by the organisational powerhouses that are Jo Abergal and Adrian Sladdin. Not to mention the hospitality and efficiency of Bridget and her team at Flutter.
Conferences can be strange places, and their purpose can be diluted at best – completely unknown at worst. The best way to describe the EGF is with reference to one of their panels ‘Conference Overload’. This panel did not land. Designed to evoke conversation about whether we should be travelling internationally to attend conferences, and whether they are worthwhile, the panel fell on deaf ears as all attendees shuffled their feet and decided they absolutely wanted to attend this conference. With clear objectives and carefully curated panels, everyone who I have spoken to following the conference have raved of its success – from operators to gambling harms treatment providers.
The buzzwords, because there are always buzzwords, were collaboration, seatbelts and balance.
Collaboration and balance will be well known to all in the industry; collaboration between all major stakeholders within the gaming ecosystem to strike a balance between commerciality and player protection. The overwhelming theme from the EGF was that the best operators are using player protection measures and safer gambling tools like a seatbelt. You never want to use it, but it’s always there just in case.
Sophia and I have picked out some elements of the conference which resonated with us and pieced together some useful information for operators, including the black market, AI, compliance as a commercial advantage and the public perception of gambling.
For any gambling queries, please contact amanda@woodswhur.co.uk, sophia@woodswhur.co.uk or your usual Woods Whur contact.