Before I get stuck into detail, may I remind those of you for whom English is not your first language (and some of you for whom it is), what it means to “keep things in perspective”.
When we have something “in perspective”, it means that we consider it to be part of a wider, complete situation, and that we have an accurate and fair understanding of this.
The perspective here is that SBC Summit 2024 was a debut. Not only was it a debut, but it was also an aggressively bold expansion, a noticeable shift in emphasis and a clear bid by SBC to become No.1. You don’t call your own event The Greatest Show in Gaming if your intention is to be modest about your place in the world!
Negative feedback requires perspective. Most importantly, as a debut, and especially such a massive one, shit will simply happen. Accept it and move on with a positive mindset and know that ‘teething troubles’ are part of a learning process and will be eradicated by next time.
Next up, accept that over which nobody has any control. Sure it rained relentlessly for the first time in months in Lisbon. And yes, it was ironic that we all woke up on the Friday to blue skies and sunshine. But this was an Act of God and even Rasmus Sojmark can’t (always) persuade him to play ball!
Yes, the combination of rain and heat produced unpleasant levels of humidity, but the lack of air conditioning throughout the venue may be because these conditions are so rare, or maybe something that can be rectified over the coming 12 months.
Finally on perspective, if your Lisbon hotel was an hour away, that is your own fault. Outside of the venue, and the event, if you cannot pre-plan your trip and organise your own logistics, this is not the fault of the organiser. Bear this in mind in a couple of months’ time, because is half the size of London, has less than half as many hotels and two-thirds the number of taxis. As the Boy Scouts motto says: “Be Prepared”.
Overall, an outstanding success
From an SBC perspective, the Summit itself must have been an outstanding success. You can view the numbers in numerous places, and they are unprecedented, but the coolest ones for me were the vast growth in attendees from North America, LatAm, Asia and Africa. Plus, the wider economic impact of the event on the city of Lisbon being estimated at €70-100m is a remarkable achievement.
The evolution of SBC’s flagship
However, the most interesting aspect for me was the transition that SBC has very consciously taken as an organiser. It is understandable, it is commercially logical, and it seems that they have pulled it off. In simple terms, SBC’s heritage is as a company that organises conferences, supplementing the attendees’ opportunities (and their revenue) with ‘secondary’ exhibition areas.
In Lisbon, this dynamic was entirely and spectacularly reversed.
SBC Summit was very much a trade exhibition and despite celebrity names, the conference element appeared to be the junior partner. Is this a good or a bad thing? It certainly makes perfect business sense for SBC.
What proportion of the 25,000+ attendees who are mostly there to do business in the exhibition halls actually have time to sit in conference sessions? My guess is not as many as might initially be hoped. Even as a journalist, I attended just one. The reality is that in an exhibition this vast, a client or prospect appointment every 30 minutes for three full days still leaves us missing people out.
Of course, the answer – for all visiting companies – is to send more people. I am not convinced that smaller companies, or bean-counting FDs, view sitting through conference sessions through the same ‘VFM’ lens that they do floor-walking and meeting actual business contacts.
Shifting priorities on both sides
The most obvious priority now for going to SBC Summit as a visitor is to attend what is an incredibly well put together and supported trade exhibition. That experience was outstanding, one of the best I have ever enjoyed and by far the best that ‘excludes’ land-based and is laser-focused on iGaming and sports betting.
At the closing press conference, one of my more ‘tradition-facing’ media colleagues, asked about land-based gaming at SBC Summit in future. The response was suitably non-committal, but in SBC’s shoes, I would stick resolutely to the sectors that I have worked hard to win over and dominate and leave the logistical nightmare of thousands of slot machines, hundreds of tables and ingrained expectations the size of Saturn to those whose expertise is specific!
Always room for improvement
It would be sycophantically ‘Media Partner-ish’ to roll out a red carpet of unrestrained praise for SBC Summit, so here are a few ‘tweaks’ that I think would make things better next year. Obviously, a personal view only.
No.1 and out on its own for me, is getting away from the venue at the end of each day. It is the same at many venues but on this occasion, it was a nightmare. I have no clue how to improve this, or if it is even possible, but it is not my job to even try.
Secondly, although the vast majority of my own time was spent in the main Halls, when I did venture into the Affiliate Leaders and ESI events, the feeling was not exciting. One (ESI) was just too far away from the ‘buzz’. The other (Affiliate Leaders) had the misfortune of being held in a temporary structure which when the Act of God arrived, was transformed into a sauna. This was bad luck, but ultimately, both events had the feeling of being ‘add-ons’ and should be upscaled in 2025.
Finally, apart from the parties, I was far from convinced by the value of Main Stage and MEO Arena. I attended the first 10 minutes of Sir Tim Berners-Lee’s talk, and it felt awkward, sitting in an arena that is more used to hosting the Rolling Stones, listening to a softly-spoken genius addressing an audience of less than a couple of hundred. I guess Tony Hawk drew a bigger crowd, but I wonder when even he last spoke in an auditorium that was 90% empty. This didn’t work at all for me, although the boldness of the ambition remains praiseworthy.
The positives are immense
In conclusion, the future for SBC Summit looks bright. The airport badge collection is brilliant, the dedicated zoning works like a dream, the catering is fantastic, and every ‘work’ aspect is nailed on.
In terms of the Halls, whilst squeezing people into a venue that is not quite big enough can create the illusion of being ‘busy’, SBC Summit exhibitors seemed to unanimously love the space and enjoy the more controlled flow of visitors in the aisles.
As the ‘business-end’ of the entire exercise, the exhibition was an unprecedented success, a definite nine-out-of-ten experience, and we should all look forward to 2025 with excited anticipation.
