Speakers List

Born 1966 in Austria, completed school in Vienna and University in the USA. Has a proffesional track record in international sales of 19 years and joined Shuffle Master in 2007. He has the Sales and Marketing responsibilities for Shuffle Master in Europe & Africa & CIS.

André Wilsenach has been the CEO of the Alderney Gambling Control Commission, since 2002. This is an independent and non-political regulatory authority in the Channel Islands, established to license and regulate eGambling in Alderney. André holds a Masters Degree from the University of Pretoria. He worked for the University of Pretoria, the Africa Institute of South Africa, the Development Bank of Southern Africa, Ernst &Young (South Africa) and the Provincial Government of Mpumalanga from 1981 to 1994.
In 1995, he was appointed as a member of the Commission that investigated and recommended the legalisation of gambling in South Africa.
During the period 1995 to 2000 he was the CEO of one of the South African provincial gaming boards and a member of the National Gambling Board of South Africa In 2001 he was appointed as the CEO of Zonke Monitoring Services, a private company established to render electronic monitoring services to the National Gambling Board of South Africa. During the period 2003 to 2005 he advised the Guernsey Gambling Control Commission on the development and implementation of a regulatory framework for casino gaming. He is currently the Chairman of the International Association of Gaming Regulators and a member of the International Masters of Gaming Law. He received the Regulator of the Year Award from the World Online Gambling Law Report in 2005 and 2008.

Currently is Chairman of the Board of Management of Bulgarian Trade Association of the Manufacturers and Operators in the Gaming Industry and Chief Executive Officer of Balkan gaming Expo. Also serves as C-level Officer of various operating companies in the Gaming Sector. He served as Chief Executive Officer of many local and international companies in the Insurance and Pension Funds Sector. He’s also served as Member of the Board of Management of the Bulgarian Actuarial Society. He has MSc Degree in Engineering, MSc in Applied Math, MSc in Actuarial Science from City University in London and Diploma of International Economic Relations.

Annette Kok was elected President of the European Gaming and Amusement Federation (EUROMAT) in May 2008 and has more than 20 years of experience in the gaming and entertainment industry. She is also President in the Netherlands of VAN Speelautomaten Branche-Organisatie (Dutch Gaming Machine Organization), and has previously sat on the board of JHV gaming BV (the largest global private company in this sector) and Errel Industries (a leading manufacturer of gaming equipment in the Netherlands).

Currently is a partner in the global governmental affairs group, Dutko Worldwide and is serving as the incoming Chairman of the International Association of Gaming Advisors and is on the boards of directors of International Game Technology, Wynn Resorts International, Newmont Gold Corporation, Zenith National Insurance Company and the Nevada Tourism Alliance.
Bob Miller served as governor of Nevada until 1999. While in office he assured that the millions of tourists who visited Nevada were treated with demonstrable hospitality. He has a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Santa Clara University and Juris Doctorate from Loyola University.

Boyan Alexandrov is well-experienced in tourism, working for travel agencies and tour operators as well as hotels. His major interests and business development are related to new technology and the delivery of most dynamic and topical content to those showing interest in the product online. Adaptation of the product to the client and maximum level of satisfaction of the guests. Considerable experience in the presentation of the country’s tourist opportunities at tourist expos abroad. He speaks English and Russian.

Chris Dempsey has worked with systems technology for 15 years, including 5 years in the gaming industry and 10 years prior to this in the education and defence sectors. IGT are at the forefront of the latest developments in gaming systems technology, including server-based gaming and the open network. Chris is tasked with introducing these technologies to the European marketplace and helping to ensure that IGT’s customers derive the maximum benefit from them.

Has diploma of engineer for automation in railway field and diploma in Management at the Open University School-U.K. Experience in gaming sector: Starting his work immediately after revolution, in 1990, with service and maintenance for Novomatic gaming machines. Establishes joint-venture with Novomatic from 1992 till 2000 and operates machines all over country. In 1994 he is starting the operation in Bingo sector, trained by Vaprel-Spain operating more bingo halls. From 2000, taking part in London shows-ICE, ATEI- and contacting most of the major producers for operating their machines. Since 2004 starting the cooperation with Stella actual Merkur Gaming-Germany and operates and distributes their video-slot machines.
He is a founder member of the Romanian Gaming Association of Organizers and Producers (AOPJNR) in 1995. He is also directly involved in the project and adoption of the actual gaming law in Romania. From 2001 elected as a Vice-president and from 2007 Executive President of AOPJNR.

Danko Vojnovic, lawyer age 48 was born in Djakovc, Croatia, Europe. Lived and went to school in Osijek where finished faculty of law. Since 1985 worked in public service (police department/ criminality police). He also worked in Ministry of Foreign Affairs – diplomatic service as a counsel (diplomat – first secretary of Embassy) in Slovak Republic, Serbia and Montenegro. Consular economic and cultural duties. He is a founder and Secretary of Croatian Automat Club Association and Expert of Croatian Gambling law.

Mr. Ferri brings a diverse international background to GLI Europe, where he is a Regulatory Development Manager. In his position, he nurtures and improves GLI’s relationships with gaming regulators across Europe, consults with regulators on new technology solutions entering the market, and acts as liaison with GLI Italy and manufacturing customers throughout Italy.
Prior to joining GLI, Mr. Ferri was with Gambling Compliance, where he championed the need to facilitate the dialogue between lawmakers in charge of delivering new gaming regulations and a new breed of increasingly large global operators thirsty for quality compliance information.
Mr. Ferri has also worked with Inspired Gaming Group, identifying needs and difficulties in adopting new technology at the regulator level. At Inspired, he exported the concept of server-based gaming to the Far East and Latin America. He also led the efforts of Leisure Link Italia and Gruppo COS in establishing the platform of Italian game concessionaire Gmatica.

Frank Legato is editor of the international trade journal Global Gaming Business. He has been writing on gaming topics since 1984. Prior to his current position, he was founding editor of the trade journal Casino Gaming and as an editor for Casino Journal, Casino Player and strictly Slots. Legato is the author of How to Win Millions Playing Slot Machines…or Lose Trying, published by Bonus books; and of Atlantic City: In Living Color, published by Indigo Custom Publishing. He has a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a master’s degree in communications from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh.

He has over twenty-years-long experience as a partner in a management consulting firm and as a manager in large firms. He also consults on remote gambling to the Italian Authority starting from the first step of the Italian model development and continuous cooperation till the current stage. Consultancy from strategy to execution (entry strategy, business modeling, regulation, M&A, organization, marketing and communication) to several Italian and foreign operators on remote and land based gambling business in the Italian market and to some Italian operators aiming to find opportunities in foreign countries.

Since 29 years in the trade. Business interests and experience in Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Cyprus, UK and in Austria of course. President of Austrian Automatenverband.at; 1st Vice president of EUROMAT, Brussels; Technical Expert of the Spielapparatebeirat of the county of Vienna, Expert for the Austrian Chamber of Commerce, Member of the working group on Responsible Gaming/EUROMAT;

Henning Krippendorff has 25 years of experience in hotel operations and development in Europe, Asia and North Africa. Since 2004 an affiliated member of Horwath Consulting Zagreb, extending activities on the Balkan, which was leading to set ground for Horwath HTL (Hotel, Tourism, Leisure) Zagreb’s range of activities to Bulgaria by opening an office of HTL together with sister company Horwath TPA. The field of activities includes hotel project development and branding, destination-management and –marketing planning, turn-around management services and coaching. Henning is born in Northern Germany. He is a director at Sigma Capital Investments. www.horwath.hr

From 1999 Ivan Tzankarsky is an Executive Director of Casino Technology Ltd. In the period of 1997 – 1999 - a Senior Engineer of Gaming Equipment Design in “Tornado 94”. From 1993 to 1996 worked as an Executive Director of "Deith Leisure" Ltd. Bulgaria. He has 13 years of experience as a hardware designer of Robot Control Unit in Institute of Industrial Cybernetics and Robotics – Bulgarian Academy of science.

Joseph Weinert has been analyzing the gaming industry for 13 years. He researches and writes economic, international and regulatory studies for private- and public-sector clients worldwide. He has been the project leader for numerous studies in multiple domestic jurisdictions, as well as in Czech Republic, Russia, Slovak Republic, Spain and United Kingdom. He is also Editor of Spectrum’s widely acclaimed newsletter, Gaming Industry Observer, and its GIO2 premium service. Weinert is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and has been quoted in prominent media outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today and CNN.

Joseph F. Borg currently occupies the post of Director Legal and Enforcement of the Lotteries and Gaming Authority – Malta and has been occupying this post for almost two years. Before joining the Authority, Joseph, acted as a Legal Counsel to Vodafone Malta Limited for three years.
Joseph was conferred with an LL.M. in Information Technology and Telecommunications Law from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow with Distinction. Earlier, he was awarded the LL.D. from the University of Malta, after writing and successfully defending a thesis entitled “Protection of Trademarks against Domain Names”. In November 2000, Joseph graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Legal and Humanistic Studies.

Dr. Joseph Lema is a professor of Hospitality Management at Drexel University in Philadelphia, PA, USA. He lectures and consults in the areas of tourism and casino gaming management with research focusing on human resource development. Dr. Lema has over 40 publications and presentations, serves on five editorial review boards, and is a member of the International Council on Hotel and Restaurant Institutional Education. His prior experience includes casino operations management in ultra competitive gaming markets in the United States.

Marcel Heutmekers has an extensive experience in the industry with various positions on both supplier and operator side. He was previously active for Avalon Casino Development, Atronic International and Holland Casino.

Michael started his casino career as a dealer in Charlie Chester’s casino in London. He subsequently worked in various casinos in different countries before returning to London in 1988 where he eventually started the rebirth of the independent gaming school at the British Gaming Academy in Leicester Square. By the time he arrived in Russia in early 1992, he was ready to embark on the adventure that was to become Storm International. Over the next 17 years Storm built the company from one 3 table casino, to five casinos and 20 slot halls in Moscow and Nizhny-Novgorod, employing over 6,000 people. However following new legislation proposed in December of 2006, all these facilities are forced to close on July 1st, 2009. Meanwhile Storm has opened its first of several slot casinos in Monterrey Mexico, as well as a Shangri La casino in Yerevan, Armenia. Storm has also opened in Germany and will be opening its brand name Shangri La & X.O. casinos in Minsk and in the Hyatt Hotel in Bishkek on July 1st of 2009. Several other projects are in various stages of development.

Joining the industry in 1977 Mike Wallis built on his experience in Military Intelligence. Using his expertise in Operations and Marketing Mike started International Casino Monitoring (ICM) in 1988 since when it has been active in more than 50 countries and hundreds of operations from largest Hotel/Casino in the world to many small European style casinos on several continents. Mike has been highly successful in helping casinos win €100’s millions extra while maintaining or even reducing cost ratios using a mixture of “expert” and “process” consultancy methods. ICM operates on “No Success No Fee” to combine client objectives with ICM.

Mirjana Acimovic was born in 1962. She graduated in The Faculty of Dramatic Arts - institution of higher education in theatre, film, radio and television in Serbia. And post graduated in Petrograd. Working experience: JAT- Yugoslav Aero Transport, BORBA – Yugoslavian leading newspaper in Serbia, INEX Inter – export Company, DIL Engineering, VIACOM Electronic. She worked as manager, journalist, export-import operator etc.
Since 1992 as general manager in FUN CASINO. Since 2005 president of JAKTA -Association of gaming organizers, authorized technicians and producers of gaming equipment. She is fluent in English, France and Russian.

She graduated English language High School in Sofia and holds a Master in Law Degree from the Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”.
Now she is completing a second Master in Law Degree at the University of London in subjects “European Law” and “International Business Law”. Since 1998 till 2004 she worked as a consultant. Since 2004 she is a Legal Advisor for some of the major casino operators and gaming equipment manufacturers in Bulgaria. Since 2007 she is a Senior Legal Advisor of the Bulgarian Trade Association of Manufacturers and Operators in the Gaming Industry /BTAMOGI/ and its Member of the Management Board since 2008.
Now she is a Member of the Legal Committee of EUROMAT /European Gaming and Amusement Federation/, Member of the IMGL /International Master of Gaming Law/ and IAGA /International Association of Gaming Advisors/.
She speaks and actively participates in various meetings, conferences and forums in the field of gaming and entertainment business, as well as in the discussions for the European gaming market, development and regulation.

Prior to Storm, Nicholas Middleton held various management and director positions in marketing with Harrah’s Entertainment, Boyd Gaming Corporation and Oceans Casino Cruises (the world’s largest off-shore gaming company), primarily within the Direct Marketing discipline. Nick has been apart of both opening and acquisition teams during his gaming career and has managed multiple locations in three different U.S. markets and In Russia. Nick has also consulted within the software development sphere with companies such as Fortis Software and Wound Path.
Nick was a prestigious Kauffman Fellow and earned a B.S. in Organizational Management & Marketing from The University of Alabama where he was a nationally ranked and full scholarship recipient in Track and Field and graduated Cum Laude with an MBA in Finance and Entrepreneurship from the University of South Florida.

Polly Karastoyanova was born on September 28, 1969 in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. She is married with two sons. From 1993 to 2004, Polly Karastoyanova was vice-president of Aspoli Karas International – an agency for business and consultancy;
Since 2004 she has been chief executive officer of the Bulgarian Congress Tourism Association and in 2006 she was named CEO of the National Tourism Board of Bulgaria and a member of its management board.
Professional duties: interaction with state, non-governmental and international institutions on issues related to the development of the tourist industry in Bulgaria; Promotion of Bulgaria as a destination on the international tourist market; Activities oriented towards promotion of international events in Bulgaria.

Rene Lindsen, 51, is a gaming-industry veteran who founded Swiss Gaming Corporation in 2006. Originally from the Netherlands, he began his career at Holland Casino, where he held several positions over 14 years, including International Project Manager. Due to his experience and knowledge of the international Leisure and Gaming industry, Lindsen is Council Member of the Gerson Lehrman Group, Leisure & lodging, Council Member of the Society of Industry Leaders and registered consultant at the Vista Group.

Robert W. Stocker II is a Member of Dickinson Wright PLLC in Lansing, Michigan. He has an international practice in gaming, regulatory, corporate and alternative insurance programs law. He is an adjunct professor at Cooley Law School, where he teaches gaming law, business planning and business organizations and received an award for excellence in teaching. Stocker has been listed in Chambers Global, Best Lawyers in America and Michigan Super Lawyers for his gaming law expertise. Stocker is a founding Member and President of International masters of Gaming Law /IMGL/. He has spoken on numerous issues at a variety of educational programs.

Mr. Student has been in the casino gaming industry for 37 years and is presently President of Applied Management Strategies, a world wide consulting company operating in strategic planning, sales and marketing. Prior to AMS, Mr. Student was President of Cyberview Technology, Inc. Mr. Student was also Chairman and President of Gaming Systems International and has been a speaker at all the leading gaming conferences around the world.

Since 1999 till 2001 he has hold positions of Dealer and Inspector in Casino Rila, Rila Hotel – Sofia. Since 2001 till 2006 he has hold positions as a Dealer, Inspector, and Game Manager in London Casino Club at Radisson SAS Grand Hotel. Since 2006 till 2008 has hold position of Game Manager in Sean Cliff Casino, Dar Es Salaam in Tanzania. Since 2006 till July 2009 Rudi is Marketing and PR Manager and since July 2009 he is a Marketing Director and a Member of the Board of Directors of Eldorado Corporation. He participates in conferences and forums in the field of gaming and entertainment business and continues to extend his knowledge in the games including Black Jack, American Roulette, Stud Poker, Three Card Poker,Pоntооn and Texas Hold’em.

Rumen Draganov is the director of the Institute of Analyses and Assessments in Tourism. He has earned a degree at the Technical University and the University of National and World Economy. He has been working in the field of tourism for over 35 years now and has held various positions in the tourist sector. He was CEO of tour operator Balkan Holidays and chairman of companies from this chain in London, New York, Rome, Berlin, Frankfurt am Main, Vienna, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Helsinki, Stockholm, Warsaw, Bratislava, Budapest, Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Cairo, Beirut and Kuwait.
Rumen Draganov was also at the helm of the Tourism Committee at the Council of Ministers as well as deputy minister at the Ministry of Trade and Tourism.
He has taken part in the establishment and work of a number of NGOs such as the Bulgarian Association of Travel Agents, the Bulgarian Association of Alternative Tourism, the Foundation for Local Government Reform. He was a founder and a chairman for two terms of office of the Sofia Tourist Council. He is a chairman of the Supervisory Council of the National Tourism Board and a Chairman of the board of directors of Grand Hotel Pomorie.

Since 1993, Mrs. Birne has worked as Director Financial Market Policy department of the Ministry of Finance Republic of Latvia. With the establishing of Lotteries and Gambling Supervisory Inspection on 1998, Mrs. Birne starts her career as Director of Inspection.
Mrs. Birne is a graduate from the University of Latvia, Finance and Trade faculty and on 2001 she earned the Master’s degree in social science.
Signe Birne is very active with her point of view on development of gaming business all around the Europe, since 2001 she holds a position as a Member of the Executive Board of GREF, Gaming Regulators European Forum, now she is a Chairman of the Executive Board of GREF.

Formerly the Minister of Tourism for the State of Nevada, USA (1989-2001) and currently the President and CEO of the Nevada Tourism Alliance, the union of tourism suppliers. For the past eleven years, Tait has presented 26 tourism development evaluations in countries around the globe, most recently in the Republic of Tajikistan, Republic of Georgia, Romania (for senior representatives from nine Balkan countries) and X'ian, China. He is recognized by the United States Department of State and the Library of Congress of the United States as pre-eminent in tourism development in Eastern European, Central and East Asian countries.

Todor Radev is Rector of International University College in Bulgaria and Lecturer in Economics and Human Resource Management. Former President of the Board “Albena Tourist Co.”, former Member of the Advisory Board Albena Invest Holding. He is a Present Member of the International Social Security Association; Present Club “Economica 2000” – member of Executive Board and Former Member of the Executive Committee of the European Trade Union Institute, Brussels, of the Supreme Statistical Council of Bulgaria. Specializations and practices in Tourism Marketing, Tourism management, Program of Management Training in the British Industry.

Tsvetan Konyarski has more than 15 years experience in the Human Resources field. Previously worked as HR Consultant in Deloitte Central Europe and held top HR positions in Deloitte Bulgaria, D Commerce Bank, Coca-Cola HBC Bulgaria. He is also a Member of BHRMDA (Bulgarian Human Resources Management & Development Association).
He has a Master’s degree in International Economic Relations from the University of Economics in Sofia and is a DDI Certified Interviewer & Master Trainer.

Tsvetoslav Yotov has a Master’s degree in psychology from Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia, with a specialisation in social, labour and organizational psychology. He has been working in the field of Human Resources (HR) management for 7 years; currently, he is a recruitment, training and human capital development manager at RS Consult AD.

Zlatko Waiss is one of co-founders of Advansys d.o.o., Slovenian based company, specialized for building Slot Management systems. Started in gaming industry in 1991 as system developer, he gradually moved to R&D Manager and later to General manager and gained a lot of experince in understanding the needs of casino operators.