IAG presents the first ever Super September, comprising the IAG Academy Summit and two exciting networking events at Manila’s Newport World Resorts from 12 to 14 September 2023.
There are now just weeks remaining until the debut of Inside Asian Gaming’s “Super September”.
Running from Tuesday 12 to Thursday 14 September 2023 at Manila’s Newport World Resorts, this exciting new addition to the annual gaming calendar comprises a high-level, two-day educational summit called the IAG Academy Summit plus two highly anticipated networking events – Manila After Dark and the IAG Academy IR Awards.
“Now that the pandemic is behind us, we are starting to see in-person events returning again,” said IAG’s Vice Chairman and CEO, Andrew W Scott. “But although we’ve recently seen industry events in Singapore and Macau, we have not yet seen an event for the land-based industry in the Philippines – despite the Philippines being the fastest growing jurisdiction in Asia. We recognized a gap in the market that needed to be rectified and have taken the opportunity to do so.
“We see the Philippines as the natural location for Super September because of the growth trajectory of Entertainment City, Clark and Cebu, the proactivity of PAGCOR in making sweeping changes to the industry, and the fact that PAGCOR has made it clear it wants the Philippines to become the gold standard for gaming in Asia.
“All of these reasons make for an extremely exciting market, and we saw it as a no-brainer to establish a series of events in Manila. With the addition of the IAG Academy Summit and the IAG Academy IR Awards, we finally have the opportunity to run such events in our own way.”
Super September will launch on the evening of 12 September 2023 with the return of networking social Manila After Dark (MAD 18), to be held at The Grand Bar and Lounge at Newport World Resorts from 6:30pm to 9:30pm. This represents just the second ever edition of Manila After Dark following its debut at Okada Manila in April, with the event doubling as the evening welcome event for the IAG Academy Summit kicking off the following morning.
Wednesday 13 and Thursday 14 September will see the IAG Academy Summit take place in The Ballroom at Hilton Manila, Newport World Resorts, bringing together the best minds in the Asian gaming industry. With content developed by IAG’s Vice Chairman and CEO Andrew W Scott and Managing Editor Ben Blaschke, it will feature a range of speakers from across the region offering their insights by a range of methodologies. These will include traditional panels and presentations as well as more innovative formats never before witnessed at industry trade shows in Asia.
While the final speaker line-up was still being confirmed at time of publication, IAG has already announced that PAGCOR Chairman Alejandro Tengco will deliver the Keynote Address on the opening morning of the IAG Academy Summit on 13 September. The President and CEO of the Clark Development Corporation, Atty Agnes Devanadera, will deliver the Keynote on the morning of Thursday 14 September.
The summit will feature a highly insightful regulators panel featuring regulators from across the Asia-Pacific region, a lively discussion around slot machine regulation, a closer look at the emergence of Clark, Philippines as a major gaming and tourism hub, and an operators’ panel populated by representatives of some of Asia’s largest integrated resorts.
“We have attended hundreds of conferences, seminars and summits and have organized many on behalf of others, however the launch of our own IAG Academy Summit allows us to implement the many innovative ideas we’ve had along the way,” Scott explained. “Our goal is to provide attendees with real value while engaging our audience with a variety of new and interesting formats.”
Also highlighting the week’s schedule will be the first ever IAG Academy IR Awards, a black tie gala to be held in The Ballroom at Hilton Manila, Newport World Resorts on the evening of Wednesday 13 September. The 20 award categories have been separated into four divisions: Resort, Gaming, Corporate and Industry, with the full list of nominees outlined on pages 66 to 77 of this issue of IAG.
Aside from these 20 categories, the evening will end with a special Hall of Honor ceremony honoring individuals in the Asia-Pacific Integrated Resort industry who have made or are making important industry contributions.
Why an IR Awards? Simply put, as a result of the pandemic, it is now more than four years since a genuine Asia-Pacific industry awards was held and certainly one with an associated live Gala Dinner and Asian-based organizers. With the pandemic now well and truly in the rearview mirror, IAG recognized that the time had come to create a new and credible awards ceremony for the Asia-Pacific IR industry.
The IAG Academy IR Awards will be a live in-person event with a black-tie gala dinner completely run by IAG – an Asian born and bred company with an in-depth knowledge of the people and companies who have made the industry in this part of the world what it is today. IAG has the credibility and convening authority to organize the most prestigious, credible and recognized Awards for the Asia-Pacific Integrated Resort industry.
“It’s been a four-year drought when it comes to land-based awards for the Asian gaming industry and we are delighted to bring them back to recognize the efforts of the operators and suppliers who make our industry tick,” Scott said.
“Not only have we developed a series of categories recognizing companies and their products but also categories recognizing Rising Stars and Industry Icons, as well as an Outstanding CEO award. A fourth category, Industry Legends, will launch in 2024.
“We look forward to the IAG Academy IR Awards growing each year, just as the Asian Gaming Power 50 has become one of the industry’s must-attend events each November.”
The launch of the IAG Academy Summit and the IAG Academy IR Awards follows a rebranding of the former Integrated Resorts Academy Asia as the IAG Academy – bringing the strength of the IAG brand to the Academy and recognizing IAG’s more APAC-wide and less Macau-centric focus.
