Those of you who attended the IAGA/ R conference in Rome this year will know that we had a great conference. Apart from the opportunity it offered to foster existing and develop new relationships with regulators and advisors from across the globe, which is essentially what IAGR is about, most attendees agreed that the formal program was of a high standard. Allow me therefore to congratulate Dennis Neilander, the past Chairman, and the Steering Committee on a job well done. I also wish to congratulate Peter Cohen, who is the Executive Commissioner at the Victorian Commission for Gambling Regulation in Australia, with his election to the position of Vice-Chairman of IAGR.
The purpose of my email is to inform you of the arrangements for the 2009 IAGA/ R conference in the hope that it may assist you at an early stage with your planning for next year. It has been decided that the 2009 IAGA/ R conference will take place in Buenos Aires, Argentina and will be held from October 19 to 23, 2009. If you are not familiar with Buenos Aires, here are a few points which you may find of interest:
* Compared to most other jurisdictions in the world, Argentina is known to offer good value for money, which I am sure you will agree is an important consideration in the current economic climate. The exchange rate is very favourable (currently around 3 Pesos to the US Dollar);
* The conference will be held at the Buenos Aires Hilton Hotel, which is situated in the downtown Puerto Madero district, one of the newest, safest and certainly most picturesque neighbourhoods in the city. The hotel is a short walk from prominent tourist attractions, limitless restaurants and nightlife with quick access to both domestic and international airports. Most importantly, we were able to negotiate very favourable room rates with the Hilton Hotel (i.e. US$235 for single and US$245 for double occupancy);
* As far as flight connections are concerned, Buenos Aires is exceptionally well connected to the rest of the world, with direct flight connections to and from most major US, European, Australasian and African cities;
* If you are thinking of combining the conference with a holiday trip, it is worth noting that the US Today Show recently recommended Buenos Aires as the best value summer vacation.
The Steering Committee will be meeting in January to plan next year's conference program. I therefore wish to invite you to forward any suggestions you may have in respect of the program to me. Should you like to be considered for participation in a panel discussion on a particular topic, please let me know. I am pleased to say that the newly elected President of IAGA, Governor Bob Miller, has committed IAGA to working closely with IAGR on the conference program and to involve regulators in the IAGA section of the conference program.
Finally, as our aim is to provide a forum for regulators from across the globe to meet, exchange views and information with a view to fostering cooperation, I encourage you share this information with as many other gaming regulators as possible, specifically, those who are either new to the regulation of gaming or who have not attended our conferences before.
