Former Clarion Gaming managing director Kate Chambers has unveiled plans to launch a one-stop news and networking platform to guide and inspire global gaming leaders.
The Gaming Boardroom has been developed by Chambers’ agency Fulwood Media and is set to launch to the industry at ICE, which runs this week. Chambers said the platform has a straightforward goal: to inspire the inspirers.
Fulwood Media was founded by Chambers after more than a decade as managing director of Clarion Gaming. The agency works closely with Clarion Gaming in an advisory capacity, as well as other major gaming operators and suppliers.
The Gaming Boardroom will be Fulwood’s first cross-market product and looks to occupy a unique position as a members-only platform for C-suite and managing director-level executives.
Chambers says the online product will have four main parts. The first is a curated newsfeed of industry updates, which Chambers herself will oversee to ensure it is only the most relevant content for her membership. That content will be free to all visitors to the website, but viewers must subscribe to gain further analysis of those stories.
Those that subscribe will gain access to the next three parts of the product. First, an analysis feature which will be designed to provide forecasting insight to leaders in the gambling industry.
Chambers estimates that the feature could give leaders back half a day per week, by saving them the task of trawling industry news for the nuggets of information that may have a material impact on their businesses.
“I’m answering a question, which I always struggled with as well, even when I was at Clarion”, she explains. “Who inspires the inspirer? As a leader, and I purposely use the word leader, there’s a big difference between being a leader and a manager. Being a leader, you are there to inspire your team. Inspire better working practices, inspire development, inspire strategy, inspire risk-taking, try new things, so you’re inspiring a team to grow a business. But who inspires that inspirer?”
Her hope is that this product will be the conduit for that high-level inspiration, which ultimately trickles down the entire industry.
Membership will be offered on two levels. The partner subscription will be for c-suite leaders and the executive subscription for marketing and compliance directors, among other similar roles.
Each group will have access to their own peer-networking portal, in which they can meet remotely, share documents, chat with each other and discuss problems and strategies. Chambers says the remote meeting and chat functions will help bring different geographical regions together in a way that has been more difficult until now.
The Gaming Boardroom will also arrange in-person events, small gatherings within peer groups in elite surroundings. The events will offer a retreat in which to connect and talk about the industry while also taking a strictly solutions-based approach to the topical issues impacting the industry at that given time.
Chambers said early feedback to the project revealed a deep desire for this kind of best practice sharing platform but also that users wanted it to reflect Chambers’ own experience and approach to the industry.
She admits it’s not been the easiest job in her career to distil more than a decade of gaming and business leadership experience into a brand-new product. Still, she feels confident that when The Gaming Boardroom is launched, those who know her will recognise it as a Chambers’ project.
“The Gaming Boardroom is a manifestation of my thoughts and feelings, my interpretation of what I found was missing in terms of support when leading a division or company and to really help answer the eternal question, who inspires the inspirer”, she says.
“This inspiration is difficult to narrow down, and hard to teach but once you have a trusted source or a way to get at answers, becomes invaluable. I wish this had existed when I was leading and needed inspiration.”
