Message from the President

Year-end summaries and “Best Of” lists have become a media tradition in recent years.

One reason for this onslaught, I suppose, is because readers actually enjoy reminiscing about the year gone by. It’s healthy to pause and take stock of how much has happened in one short year.

A more cynical way of describing this phenomenon is that most media companies these days run on a shoestring, and year-end recollections are easy to compile—a creative editor can stretch lists and compilations over several issues.

I’m not going to do that though. While I feel I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge the challenges of the past year, I believe in learning from history, not repeating it. So let’s focus on opportunities.

While our membership is powerless to do much about war, global economies, or Paris Hilton, we can build on the many successes we’ve enjoyed—both as individuals serving our constituents, and as a collective body known as the International Masters of Gaming Law.

As we’ve said many times, IMGL’s primary mission is to provide education about gaming law. And to that point, I’m proud to report that the final quarter of 2006 was a huge success for our organization.

Our presence at G2E in November was strong, with 76 people attending our reception honoring Regulator of the Year, Peter Dean; many members shared their expertise in seminars, and we saw tremendous traffic at our booth.

I’m especially pleased about the new video we unveiled. Several members, including our Executive Director, Melissa Lurie, were instrumental in producing the video, which promotes the positive aspects of IMGL.

I’m proud of the way we have responded to the ongoing challenges facing the Gulf Coast and New Orleans. Hearing the stories of struggle, rebirth, and renewal firsthand, has been heartbreaking, at times educational, and almost universally uplifting.

And what a pleasure it was to honor IMGL Gaming Executives of the Year W. Owen Nitz and Jeffrey M. Cooper, Co-Trustees of Biloxi’s IP Hotel & Casino. We praised them for their commitment and tireless efforts to revive not just their Biloxi property, but an entire community. Of course, they were not alone in those efforts, as we learned repeatedly throughout the fall conference.

So, I thank IMGL—lawyers, regulators, educators, and staff who have helped us advance our mission—in New Orleans and Ljubljana, at CasinoFest and G2E, on the Internet and in this magazine.

The content of this magazine continues to improve, thanks to our volunteer contributors; and the financial health of the magazine continues to grow, thanks to a growing advertiser base.

We have two more educational IMGL conferences planned, Chicago in the spring and South Africa in the fall. We will also provide an educational law track at two strong regional conferences this spring: Southern Gaming Summit and CasinoFest, both in May; and we will sponsor Gaming in Canada, Feb. 27-28.

Here’s to success, prosperity, and peace in 2007.

Michael Lipton mdliptonqc@aol.com