Season: 2018

Jason Gastwirth is President of Entertainment at Caesars Entertainment, where he is responsible for the live entertainment programming across the company’s close to 50 venues nationwide—with Caesars recognized as the #3 live entertainment promoter in the world based on ticket revenues—as well as the company’s brand alliances/sponsorship and tv and film production divisions inclusive of oversight of Caesars Entertainment Studios. Gastwirth spearheaded the successful launch of the world-class Zappos Theater at Planet Hollywood that launched Britney Spears in the world’s first pop resident show as well as residencies featuring Jennifer Lopez, Lionel Richie, Pitbull and Backstreet Boys.

Prior to joining Caesars, Gastwirth served as the Chief Marketing Officer of the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas where he oversaw property marketing, hotel sales, revenue management, e-commerce, public relations, entertainment, sponsorship and call center operations. Gastwirth also worked at Las Vegas Sands Corp. as Vice President of Casino Marketing and Corporate Entertainment where he was responsible for expanding the VIP gaming customer base while negotiating entertainment deals for the company’s properties in Las Vegas, Macao and Singapore.

Before joining the hospitality and entertainment industry, Gastwirth held strategy positions in San Francisco and New York at Gap Inc. and management consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton. He earned his bachelor’s degree in government with honors at Harvard University and his MBA at Stanford University.

Gastwirth was recognized as “40 Under 40” by Vegas Inc. magazine in 2012. He has a wife and three daughters, and serves on the Southern Nevada Public Television Board of Directors, the American Cancer Society’s Southern Nevada Leadership Board, and gala organizing committee for the Tyler Robinson Foundation.

Ben Fox is a partner and producer for Gameacon, a conference that promotes artists in game creation by providing a space for them to showcase their work, the opportunity to reach an audience who craves to see it, and a forum to learn from each other.

Fox has been an entrepreneur his whole life. He is always looking to come up with the best solution to fill a need. When he saw that independent game designers needed an event like Gameacon, he immediately set out to create the most awesome event he could.

John English is the Managing Director of Sports Betting and Technology at Global Market Advisors. He specializes in global business development for the regulated gaming industry, with emphasis on technology, content, and distribution, as well as public relations and contract negotiation in regulated gaming. English’s work history contains an extensive background in gaming, including lottery, AWP, slot machines, table games, sweepstakes, systems, and race and sports betting both digital and live.

Matt Davey is Chief Executive Officer at SG Digital, a new division within Scientific Games which has become a leader in online gaming, sports and iLottery. Matt is responsible for leading SG Digital, which is the combination of two top-tier companies, NYX and SGI, and offers an unparalleled suite of engaging game content and product solutions. Matt was the co-founder of NextGen Gaming and has led NYX since its inception. He took NYX through its IPO and the major M&A activities.

Andy Caras-Altas is CEO & founder of TraffGen Global and is one of the leading authorities in player development marketing tools & technology. TraffGen has casino clients in North America, Europe and Asia. In Macau it is the market leader in Host Management & Player Development tools. Andy has helped to bring Artificial Intelligence, Big Data & Computer Vision to casinos great & small. He has spent two decades in casino gaming as an Exec and also an affiliate. His studies include BSc (Hons) Engineering Physics, MSc Advanced Manufacturing Systems & MBA.

Cath Burns is an experienced global senior executive with a consistent track record of initiating and delivering high growth, performance improvement and organizational change for Gaming and technology companies, large and small, in general management.

Most recently Burns was Senior Vice President, Gaming Systems at Scientific Games a worldwide leader in content, technology, and solutions that empower gaming, lottery and interactive customers. Headquartered in Las Vegas, with nearly 8,000 employees worldwide, Scientific Games serve customers from manufacturing and operational facilities on six continents.

Prior to that Burns was partner at Partis Solutions, the leading advisory firm providing both consulting and transactional services to the interactive real-money and social gaming industries. Partis Solutions is a sister company to Pentasia, the market leader in interactive gaming recruiting for over 10 years. Partis’ team of 30+ consultants has worked with more than 60 clients, on projects such as iGaming market entry for land casinos and suppliers, real-money strategies for social casino companies.

Prior to joining Partis Burns was CEO, TCSJOHNHUXLEY a leading casino gaming equipment manufacturer and supplier. With more than 20 years experience, holding senior positions in several worldwide gaming and technology companies. She came to TCSJOHNHUXLEY in March 2012.

Prior to this, she served as vice president Asia Pacific for Bally Technologies Inc., since 2006. At Bally, Burns established the company’s Asia Pacific head office in Macau for both its Gaming and Systems business operations. An incisive leader with a talent for driving change and growing profits, she was responsible for expanding the company’s business into new markets creating year-on-year growth with a multi-million dollar turnover. She forged excellent relations with distributors, suppliers and customers internationally as well as managing large-scale systems installation projects for many of Macau’s prestigious casinos. Burns is also credited with achieving the company’s re-entry into the Australia and New Zealand gaming markets.

She started her career at IBM Australia where she was an account and business development manager. From there she was the general manager, Australia and New Zealand and the director, international sales for Video Lottery Consultants for six years.

She was honored with a “2008 Great Women of Gaming – Proven Leader” award and “Leader of the Year (Land Based) at the Women in Gaming Awards 2013. In 2009 and 2010, she was listed in the Top 50 Most Influential People in Asian Gaming.

Burns was born in Canada and graduated from Flinders University of South Australia, with a BA in History & American Studies and from Central Connecticut State University with an MSc in International Studies. She has broad international working experience in Asia Pacific, USA, Macau, Africa, South America and Europe.

Drew Brunson holds an M.B.A. in Marketing from the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. From 2012 to 2015 he held positions in marketing for companies such as Hometown Discoveries Las Vegas, Serenity Mental Health and Newmark Grubb Knight Frank.

In 2014, Brunson co-founded Residential Rating Services, a strategic real estate consulting business to change the way consumers rent apartments, focused on the UNLV campus area. As Director of Residential Rating Services, Brunson oversees the day to day operation as well as the big picture trajectory of ResiRatings, handling the financial and marketing obligations focusing on a lean strategy for startup longevity.

Brunson joined Caesars Entertainment Corporation in 2017, working his way up from Esports Analyst to Esports Lead. He now heads Caesars strategy in this newly developed market.

As co-founder and chief marketing and strategy officer for Duetto, Marco guides product vision, direction and implementation. Prior to Duetto, he was Executive Director at Wynn and Encore resorts in Las Vegas, where he founded and managed the Enterprise Strategy Group. Marco was also recently named the Entrepreneur in Residence at Cornell University’s School of Hospitality Administration, and can be seen speaking or lecturing at industry events and hotel schools worldwide.

 

Bill Bachman has been active in the casino industry since 2004. Bill joined MGM Resorts International in 2008, where he started as an analyst in the corporate marketing division. Here, Bachman was responsible for creating reports for both the hotel and casino verticals of the business, which included a portfolio of 10 properties in state and five out of state. From corporate marketing, Bachman was promoted to marketing manager for the Bellagio, where his focus was on slot, table, and hotel database marketing, along with the creation and execution of email and direct mail campaigns.

Leveraging an ever-expanding portfolio of qualifications ranging from analytics to special events, Bachman has thrived throughout the changing market conditions and has proven to be a valuable asset to various gaming institutions. In November 2013, Bachman obtained his MBA from the UNLV Executive MBA program.

Joe Asher has been CEO of William Hill US since 2012, when William Hill acquired Brandywine Bookmaking, a company Asher created. Brandywine was a pure startup, which Asher launched in 2008 under the brand name Lucky’s Race & Sports Books after he relocated to Las Vegas from New York.

Asher has a long backswinground in the gaming industry and a lifelong passion for the race and sports betting business. Starting when he was a teenager, Asher held management positions at several racetracks, including Brandywine Raceway, Dover Downs, Harrington Raceway and Foxboro Raceway and was the Wilmington News-Journal’s thoroughbred racing handicapper for Delaware Park.

Previously, Asher was an attorney with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. He is a graduate of the University of Delaware and the Delaware Law School of Widener University, magna cum laude, served a judicial clerkship with the Supreme Court of Delaware and was admitted to the bar in Delaware and New York. He is also a member of the Advisory Council of the Center for Political Communication at the University of Delaware and the Board of Directors of the University of Delaware Alumni Association, the Board of Trustees of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, the Board of Directors of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, and the Nevada Board of Trustees for Olive Crest.