The latest edition of Juegos Miami has been characterized by a cultural aspect that we have not had before

"This edition has been characterized by a cultural aspect that we have not had before. This year we awarded COLJUEGOS with the distinction of the year and we added touches of Colombian culture, so during the networking party, for example, there was a group that played Colombian music: salsa, cumbia. And I liked that, because for me that is what distinguishes Juegos Miami from the other events we do," said Layla Ali, when asked about the highlights of the event.

"We had Evert Montero, the President of both Juegos Miami and Fecoljuegos, give a presentation about the country and the importance of gaming there. We also had traditional Colombian food and music at one of our networking parties kindly sponsored by Novomatic. That does not mean that we are focusing only on that country, but this year we are celebrating Colombia and next year it could be Mexico, Argentina or Uruguay, wherever. I like that because at ICE, for example, we do not do it. At BgC we do a little more, because it is a Brazilian event, but in others we do not have the opportunity to celebrate culture, and for me this is the most important thing," Ali added.

The Juegos Miami conference producer was satisfied with the academic program. "The topics were interesting and several people have told me that they liked the mix of perspectives we have had with international entities, from Latin America, regulators, operators, suppliers, the legal perspective, the perspective of the associations, and they have said that this is enriching. And that's the most important thing for me, because that's what the conferences are for, to learn."

Regarding the date of the event next year, Ali said that it will probably be held on the same date. "At the end of May, beginning of June, in the same place. The hotel has a charm that is one of the factors that contributes to the success of the event," she added.

When asked about the importance of the event taking place in Miami, Ali replied: "We have two main reasons. In the first place, we are not favoring any culture or country in particular; we want to be objective and not favoritist. What we want is to help, facilitate and organize conferences, networking and tradeshow for all of Latin America, and we thought that the right place would be Miami, because it has a lot of Latin American culture, but also because, as it is in the United States, it is more neutral. And secondly because it's a nice, more relaxed place."

"I am very happy with this edition. I think more people attended than last year. Around 700 people registered, which is an increase of 57%, although we do not yet have the final numbers," said Ali, who then added : "It's the culmination of a lot of work, seven months of preparation. I also have to thank Evert Montero for his work. I know he is super busy with FECOLJUEGOS and he also does this for us. I think a lot of this increase in attendees is thanks to him."

Finally, Ali talked about the presidency of Juegos Miami. "The first three years we had the support of Marcelo D'Amato, President of the Chilean Association, since he helped us a lot to found the event. We discussed it internally and, as Evert has helped us a lot with ICE, Juegos Miami, BgC and our European events, we wanted to find a way to thank him for all the work he has done, and we thought the best thing would be to give him even more work and ask him to be the President of Juegos Miami, to show him that we are very grateful to him. Next year we will think internally who it will be, but it is about mutual support. I believe that we will give the attendees the opportunity to choose the jurisdiction of the following year."