Sycuan Casino Resort Featured in Global Gaming Business Casino Style Magazine
https://issuu.com/globalgamingbusiness/docs/casino_style_2019/28
HBG Design Principal, Dike Bacon, speaks at the UNLV Gaming & Hospitality Education Series
https://issuu.com/globalgamingbusiness/docs/global_gaming_business__july_2019
HBG Design Principal, Dike Bacon, was a speaker on a session panel called ‘Expand or Die: Non-Gaming Amenities’ at the UNLV Gaming & Hospitality Education Series produced by Global Gaming Business. Held at Morongo Casino Resort on May 21, the ongoing speaker series will keep tribal gaming executives informed about the topics that will define Indian gaming over the next decade.Read more
Global Gaming Business Names Emily Marshall Emerging Leader
All in the Design
By Michael Vanaskie Mon, Apr 22, 2019
See full article in Global Gaming Business Magazine
Emily Marshall, IIDA, Interior Design Discipline Leader, HBG Design
Casinos and integrated resort developments are among of the most iconic architectural buildings in the world. It’s easy to recognize this looking at the Las Vegas skyline or the seminal steel structure of Marina Bay Sands.
While the exteriors sometimes create iconic attractions, what lies inside is critical to creating memorable guest experiences. Emily Marshall appreciates this notion. As leader of the Interior Design Group at HBG Design, she’s an expert on the design nuances necessary to create environments that leave a lasting impression.
“Interior design for the hospitality and gaming industry is all about creating vibrant experiences for guests,” Marshall explains. “This has always intrigued me—the drama and excitement that physical spaces can impart, the thoughtfulness that’s put into how guests use and experience a space.”
“Interior design for the hospitality and gaming industry is all about creating vibrant experiences for guests,” Marshall explains. “This has always intrigued me—the drama and excitement that physical spaces can impart, the thoughtfulness that’s put into how guests use and experience a space.”The nuances of both the business goals and guest desires in gaming and hospitality originally attracted Marshall, and keeps her pushing forward. “There’s a psychological element to it, paired with the fantasy of escapism. That’s kept me challenged and passionate about my career.”
While Marshall could be a considered a design veteran with 14 years of experience, her interest in and experience with art and design began well before her professional career. The daughter of a prominent Memphis architect, she developed an eye for design at an early age. Professionally, she points to her first mentor as having the most impact on her career trajectory.
“The influence of my dad notwithstanding, my first mentor, Jacques Coetzee, taught me how to truly be a designer,” Marshall says. “He helped me understand the importance collaboration plays in the role of an interior designer, while also teaching me how to push the boundaries of design and to be bold in my expression of interior spaces.”
For young design professionals, Marshall has advice on ways to grow both professionally and personally. “Broaden your perspective. Travel! Go see as much of the world as you can. The challenges we face when designing very complex experiences have existed before, so it’s important to see how other designers dealt with them."
“Every project has issues, some more visible than others, so seeing details in real time is important,” she adds. “I believe in complete immersion into places whose cultures and traditions affect their visual connection to the built environment.”
For someone whose livelihood revolves around creating memorable experiences for others, Marshall says the projects have had just as much of an experiential impact on her. “Seeing these gaming and resort projects come to life has given me indescribable and unforgettable experiences of my own.”
This year, she looks forward to seeing three major projects come to fruition and open. “These large-scale projects have been years in the making,” she says. Be on the lookout for Marshall’s latest imprints on the gaming and hospitality industries.
HBG Design Weighs in on Market Growth in Global Gaming Business
Global Gaming Business MagazineRead more
Dike Bacon Weighs in on Indian Gaming’s “Ask the Experts: 2019 Predictions”
See full article in Indian Gaming Magazine
As part of Indian Gaming Magazine’s Editorial Advisory Board, HBG Design Prinicipal Dike Bacon was asked to share his insights and predictions for the casino resort industry in 2019. Here’s what he had to say…
There is an old saying in the gaming industry – ‘The most important customer is the one you don’t have.’ This is just as true today as it was 25 years ago. It is important to constantly study social, cultural and economic changes in search of important influences that will guide client investment and design directions. 2019 will be an interesting year of contrasts. The gaming industry has had the significant benefit of riding a historic economic tailwind, but that may start to change.
As the national economy evolves and potentially tightens, so may the wallets of the guests. Discretionary entertainment purchase decisions will continue to be more informed and selective. Guests will be willing to indulge on some higher-end experiences, but only for very specific things. Luxury, or at the least the perception of exclusivity, will continue to be a resort differentiator. The caveat is that guests will desire a luxury experience, but won’t necessarily want to pay for it. They will be willing to make certain trade-offs. As an example, guestrooms will continue to trend smaller in square footage, but will have higher levels of design, finish, and technology.
Guests will continue to dine out. As resort operators curate and offer more unique localized food and beverage offerings, margins will continue to improve. But all F&B offerings don’t have to be custom. The inclusion of national chef-driven brands and emerging regional brands will continue to be a strong trend. Technology will continue to condition people to demand more convenience. In-room technology that is complex or confusing can have the opposite effect. The Guestroom technology should be intuitive and user friendly. Guests will continue to become more engaged with a property and will demand a more effortless and personalized experience.
In a recent national hotel survey, 60% of hotel guests said they want higher quality service and a better overall ‘experience.’ This has produced things like the artificial intelligence driven chatbot called ‘Ivy.’ Ivy has already been implemented in some casino resorts. Ivy is powered by IBM’s Watson platform and has the potential of handling over 90% of guest requests. Watson is a question answering machine. One of the most interesting results of the guest/Ivy interaction is the amount of valuable data gathered about the guest’s resort experience.
The future success of the Indian gaming industry will be dependent on providing experiences that have cross generational appeal. One of the most interesting emerging generational connectors is health. The flagged hospitality industry continues to devote more and more attention to wellness as a differentiator. Wellness attributes can include things like increased sound attenuation, better artificial lighting and natural lighting, high quality air filtration, and organic materials. Implementing products and experiences that have cross generational appeal will continue to be one of the strongest trends for years to come.
Shawn Hobbs, AIA, Principal – Designing Your Own Career Experience: The Evolution of a Design Disruptor
“Most importantly – learn all the rules that govern your project. Then, break as many as you can for the greater good of the project. And find a firm that appreciates a little disruption.”
Read our thoughts on Timeless Design in GGB’s Casino Style 2018
"Instead of catering to one generation or the other, the gaming and design industry should focus more holistically, which is best accomplished by broadening and elevating the total guest experience for all demographics.” – Dike Bacon, as featured in the latest Global Gaming Business, Casino Style magazine.
Click for a PDF version of the article.
What is Biophilia, and Why Does it Matter?
https://issuu.com/globalgamingbusiness/docs/tribal_government_gaming_2018/32
HBG Design’s Dike Bacon: Connecting a Memorable Guest Experience with Good Design
https://issuu.com/hbgdesign4/docs/casinostyle_makingtheconnection_sm/2
Indian Gaming Spotlight on 2017 and Beyond
“Incorporation of a wide variety of non-gaming amenities will continue to be the best and most effective way to differentiate a property from competitors and also from other non-casino oriented entertainment choices.”
– Dike Bacon, HBG Design Principal
See what other insights Dike shares about Indian Gaming in 2017, in the December issue of Indian Gaming Magazine.
Read the full article at Indian Gaming magazine.
Dike Bacon, Principal/Partner HBG Design There has been remarkable and very encouraging levels of vibrancy across most segments of the Indian gaming industry. Barring cataclysmic fallout from the recent federal elections and any large scale domestic or international economic calamity, these conditions should continue well into 2017 and beyond. In virtually all markets large and small, customers are simply patronizing Indian facilities more, gambling more, and spending a lot more on non-gaming activities and amenities.
Incorporation of a wide variety of non-gaming amenities will continue to be the best and most effective way to differentiate a property from competitors and also from other non-casino oriented entertainment choices. The roadmaps are pretty loose. Every market is different and one size or program mix does not fit all. Capital allocations have to be right sized relative to seizing unmet business opportunity on one hand or addressing a saturated market on the other. In most markets, the percentage of non-gaming amenities to gaming has been increasing but it can vary widely. We’re seeing the percentages of non-gaming amenity seats to gaming positions ranging from 25% to well over 50% depending on total resort size or proximity to urban environments.
It’s all about being memorable. The really successful Indian casinos in most markets will continue to be widely known and favored for doing certain things exceptionally well. This can be as simple as locally and culturally connected food experiences or comfortably luxurious swank guestrooms and edgy bathrooms that nobody else provides. This is the exact opposite of the sameness of the big brand experience. An interesting emerging amenity is the new style mixed-use family entertainment center. These can be significant non-gaming revenue drivers and are often centered on modern bowling concepts or the new generation of entertainment oriented golf driving ranges. These amenities often attract a local community customer that for various reasons wouldn’t typically patronize the resort.
The Indian casino resort experience is often a lifestyle choice. For many guests, the resort is their country club and the most satisfying thing they leave with is an experience that was fun and that they can’t get anywhere else. For the industry to continue to remain relevant and able to sustain the inevitable demographic shifts of the future, the casino resort experience has to have multi-generational appeal. The challenge is not to define products that appeal to one audience (like Millennials) or the other, but rather, take cues from all generational perspectives and customer demands and incorporate them in new and exciting ways.