Believe it or not, only a few years ago, the idea of filming in casinos was still just as taboo as card counting. People, including casino executives, have the tendency to be a little apprehensive of things they don’t know or fully understand.
To the more traditional thinkers, they thought allowing filming on the floor opened a property up to a lot more risk. But… as the saying goes, “scared money doesn’t make money.” Yes, allowing filming does allow for more discourse about how things went during a recorded session, including what the property looks like and feedback on any team member interactions that took place. If operators are worried about the reflection of their particular property online, they should worry about fixing the problems at their core.
Thankfully, in the past 5-6 years, a decent portion of casinos have seriously warmed up to the idea of peeling back the curtain and letting people, influencers included, film their experience.
Obviously, this wasn’t the case when I first started working Downtown. The Brian Christopher section, nevermind the fully dedicated and branded room, at Plaza Hotel & Casino, was still a year or two away. There were only a handful of channels trying to break into the industry, and I had to fight that traditional ideology mentioned above in order to get the filming ball rolling.
Step one was to build my case to present to the final decision makers. I started watching hours upon hours of slot videos that were uploaded to YouTube by various people. From there I was able to make a short list of the creators that were consistent, fun, and focused on the slot play. This short list is where I first really started watching all Brian’s videos.
Even in the very early days, it was clear that there were going to be different types of slot influencers. I wanted to work with someone like Brian, who were not only fun, but infused a sense of professionalism which makes operators, myself included, feel more at ease. Now that I had a list of people that I want to learn a little more about, I started compiling all the public facing analytics that I could get my hands on. I knew if I could get the numbers on my side, the upper management crew would be more open to trying something new.
I started making a Powerpoint (#CorporateLife) that highlighted total views, likes, and comments. Most people will instantly think that the more views, the more value that can be found in a creator. I am more about that engagement. Now, as with back then, I am looking for meaningful comments that show the viewers are engaged and looking for new places to explore and presumably gamble.
Thankfully, the presentation worked and I was given the go-ahead to invite Brian to the property. What seems to be the theme to our relationship, I decided to shoot my shot and slide into Brian’s DMs. While I don’t exactly remember what I said, I do painfully recall I had a typo in my email address and it still haunts me to this day.
Typo aside, thankfully, Brian said “yes” to swinging by and I got to planning! While Brian had agreed to visit, I wanted to razzle dazzle him in an attempt to make my property one that he would like to come back to. That would have been easier if my green light to host Brian included a budget, but that was not part of the deal. Instead, I got busy thinking about a work around and it occurred to me. Brian is a gambler and probably already in the database. I contacted a host who was always so friendly and helpful (hi, Matt!) to see if there was any magic he could work.
He loaded up some free play, I hunted for a beach bag in the basement of the property (it is where extra gifts were kept) and we waited to meet Brian! I will always appreciate colleagues that see the bigger the picture and are willing to help.
No matter which creator fits the profile of a property, some key things should remain the same when hosting someone like Brian for an official partnership. Properties should always have an itinerary in place, even if it’s only a suggestion. I would provide a full schedule that listed when dining outlets were open, any reservations that have been made on a creator’s behalf, live video times, and allocated filming time.
Once an itinerary and date were set, I would make sure to alert anyone on property that needed to be aware. This included the IT department so they knew not to mess with the WiFi and to remain on standby for any network issues. Slots needed to know to make sure the floor was serviced and someone was on standby for any jackpots. Security is another big player, they would get a whole rundown of our invited guest including their legal name, channel name, contact information, and even a screenshot from their Youtube channel so they knew what the creator looked liked.
Of course, no matter how many emails that I would send to property management and the security team, someone somewhere would walk up to the influencer, while filming, and ask them to stop. Because of this, I would also create a filming card. This filming card had my name, position, and all contact information. I also listed out the people with a little more authority than me in hopes that whoever was interrupting the process would take the card and get the hint.
What it comes down to is really just making sure you find a creator that not only matches the vibe of the property but is also nice to you and your other guests.
