Next Month’s Southern Gaming Summit Draws Record
Number of Sponsoring Companies, Exhibitors

BILOXI, Miss. (April 16, 2004) — Nineteen leading gaming and regional companies have teamed up with the Gulf Coast Gaming Association and Ascend Media Gaming Group to present next month’s Southern Gaming Summit, May 5-6 at the Mississippi Gulf Coast Coliseum and Convention Center. The nearly 200 vendors participating in the expo also represent a new record for the 11-year-old event.

“Southern Gaming Summit has grown to become the largest gaming expo and conference outside of Las Vegas because of the unique mix of business, pleasure and relaxation that the event fosters,” said Group Publisher Ashley Smith of Ascend Media Gaming Group. “Gaming leaders from across the country appreciate Southern Gaming Summit because it is a great place to conduct business while enjoying the beauty and relaxed atmosphere of Mississippi’s Gulf Coast.”

The 19 sponsors bring an unprecedented level of strength and diversity to the show, helping to draw more than 70 outstanding speakers and panelists to the 16 conference seminars, and ensure that the expo will be sold out again for the third consecutive year. This year’s Platinum Sponsor are Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport Authority, Harrison County Tourism Commission, Mississippi Coast Coliseum Convention Center, and Mississippi State Port Authority at Gulfport. Gold Sponsors are AC Coin & Slot, Aristocrat Technologies, Bally Gaming and Systems, Global Cash Access, IGT, JCM American, Konami Gaming, Shuffle Master Gaming, Unidesa Gaming Systems and WMS Gaming. The Silver Sponsors are Barco, the North of England Inward Investment Agency. The Bronze Sponsors are Douwe Egberts Coffee Systems, Gasser Chair Company, Marsh, and Mississippi Power.

The theme for this year’s conference is “Casinos and Community,” which addresses the important bond between our industry and the communities we call home. Leading the list of presenters are eight exeptional keynote speakers and panelists: Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour and MGM MIRAGE Chairman and CEO J. Terrence Lanni; American Gaming Association President and CEO Frank Fahrenkopf, Jr.; Isle of Capri President and COO Timothy M. Hinkley; IGT Chairman G. Thomas Baker; Deutsche Bank Securities Managing Director Marc Falcone; National Indian Gaming Association Chairman Ernest Stevens; and Boyd Gaming Corporation President Donald D. Snyder.

Friday, April 16, is the deadline to register at the discounted early-bird registration rate. The full conference lineup and online registration are available at www.sgsummit.com. Full conference registration is $495 through April 16. Registration includes all seminars, social functions (including the Taste of the Gulf Coast Casinos Dinner), and admission to the expo. To view the list of seminar topics and speakers, visit the web site, or call 702-794-0718 x 200.

The Summit is produced by Ascend Media Gaming Group, the Gulf Coast Gaming Association and its members.

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Media contact Stephen Gibbs, 913-344-1334; sgibbs@ascendmedia.com