G2E Asia’s Most Stimulating Cocktail Reception
On May 22, a large and lively crowd gathered at the Portofino Restaurant inside the Venetian Macau for a reception hosted by IMGL and GLI.
Member Profile:
Martin Arendts
GENERAL MEMBER
Partner
Arendts Anwalte Law Firm
Perlacher Street 68
Grünwald, Germany 82031
Germany
SUB GerTel: +49 89 64 91 11 75
Fax: +49 89 64 91 11 76
email: martin.arendts@anlageanwalt.de
www.gaminglaw.de
Martin Arendts is an expert in gaming law, EU law and securities regulation. He studied law at the universities of Passau, Hamburg, Speyer and St Gallen. In 1995, Arendts founded ARENDTS ANWAELTE, now one of the leading law firms for gaming and betting law in Germany (www.gaminglaw.de). Clients include many private bookmakers and remote gaming operators, licensed in the UK, Austria, Malta or Gibraltar, as well as affiliates and media companies in Germany. Recently, Martin Arendts dealt with several administrative law, constitutional law, criminal law, unfair competition law, trademark and licensing proceedings in connection with sports betting, lotteries and poker. Martin Arendts regularly writes for national and international legal publications and speaks at conferences. His work has appeared in a variety of publications, including Internet Gambling Report, World Online Gambling Law Report, European Gaming Lawyer, Zeitschrift für Wett- und Glücksspielrecht/European Journal of Gambling Law, MultiMedia und Recht (MMR), Gewerbearchiv, Casino & Gaming International and ISA Casinos.
Women’s Group Strives To Shatter Gaming’s Glass Ceiling
17 Jun, 2013
Tony Batt, GamblingCompliance
It is no secret that women continue to be almost invisible among top executives in the male-dominated gaming establishment, but a recently formed women’s group in the industry is pounding on the glass ceiling that blocks their upward mobility. Of the 16 members on the board of directors of the American Gaming Association (AGA), only two are women. “Many women are risk adverse and become comfortable within a particular department or division,” Virginia McDowell, the CEO of Isle of Capri Casinos Inc., told GamblingCompliance. McDowell and Patti Hart, the CEO of IGT, are the two women on AGA’s board of directors. Both Hart and McDowell also helped create Global Gaming Women, a burgeoning AGA organization with a database that has mushroomed from 25 to 1,000 in less than two years. In September, during the G2E trade show in Las Vegas, Global Gaming Women plans to release a comprehensive study by McClain Resources on how to develop leadership programs to help women climb the executive ladder in the gaming industry.The group also has established a scholarship program for women in gaming and is close to launching an online mentoring network.“Women in our industry are hungry for information; hungry for somebody to talk to — to have someone who can share their concerns,” said Judy Patterson, senior vice president and executive director of AGA. “They need confirmation that they are not alone out there,” Patterson said. Perhaps nothing illustrates the isolation of women in gaming better than an industry conference.
“When you show up at GIGSE [one of the industry’s largest trade shows held annually in San Francisco], and you’re one of three women panelists in a three-day conference, you know there’s a problem,” said Barbara DeMarco, the only woman who is a contract lobbyist representing racetracks in New Jersey. An advocacy group like Global Gaming Women is “sorely needed,” DeMarco said. When she attends a meeting with gaming executives, tribal gaming lobbyist Penny Coleman said she is “thrilled” if there are any women in the room. “The industry elites and the decision makers are almost always men,” said Coleman, who is the former general counsel for the National Indian Gaming Commission. Although women have made progress in recent years, Coleman said, it is going “extraordinarily slowly.” Patterson, who is helping to organize a Global Gaming Women meeting this week at the International Association of Gaming Advisors in London, said time may be on women’s side in gaming and other industries.” The gaming industry stands to benefit if women employees fulfill their professional potential, and industries with women on their board of directors “have a proven track record,” according to Patterson. Patterson said women in gaming around the world share many of the same concerns, but although some women aspire to occupy an executive’s office in the C-suite, others are striving for a balanced life between work and home.“We want to help these women achieve their goals whatever they may be,” Patterson said. McDowell said some women in the gaming industry have told her they do not have opportunities within their companies to expand their skill sets so they can bolster their resumes. “I respond by telling them that if it is something that truly matters to them, then they often will have to work hard to create [opportunities],” McDowell said. “My gaming career is a perfect example of this,” she said. “My degree is in communications, and I started my career working at CBS radio and television in Philadelphia. I took a big chance, changing careers very early in my career shortly after gaming was legalized in New Jersey, and I never looked back.”
