AGA Communications Awards Winners Reflect Maturity, Diversity of Gaming Industry

LAS VEGAS—Eleven different gaming companies, ranging in geographic region from Canada to Mississippi and in size from Harrah’s Entertainment and MGM MIRAGE to Cliff Castle Casino in Camp Verde, Ariz., today received the American Gaming Association’s (AGA) highest communications honor, the Gaming Voice Award.

Harrah’s Entertainment received three of the 13 Gaming Voice Awards presented, including one for a radio public service advertisement (PSA) – the first time in the competition’s five-year history that a PSA has won an AGA advertising award. The Prairie Island Indian Community also produced a prize-winning PSA, winning the award for the top television broadcast advertisement. The awards were presented during the fifth annual AGA Communications Awards Reception, held during Global Gaming Expo (G2E) at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

“Our theme at G2E 2005 has been the maturity of the industry since the AGA was created 10 years ago,” said Frank J. Fahrenkopf, Jr., president and CEO of the AGA. “The quality and diversity among this year’s winners is a dramatic demonstration of that theme.”

While the majority of the awards went to commercial U.S. gaming companies, three awards went to Native American casinos and one to Canada’s Societé des Casinos du Québec. In addition to Prairie Island Indian Community’s advertising award, two other Native American casinos were honored, including Mohegan Sun, which shared the award for Best Multiple Outdoor Advertising Campaign with Societé des Casinos du Québec, and Cliff Castle Casino, which collected the Gaming Voice award for Best Web Site Produced by a Native American Casino.

The awards program, sponsored by Goldman, Sachs & Co., with support from G2E, Piercy Bowler Taylor & Kern (PBTK), and Wells Fargo Bank, was held in conjunction with G2E, the gaming industry’s largest international trade show and conference.

Hollywood Casino in Tunica, Miss., with awards for Best Single Print Ad and Best Single Outdoor Ad, joined Harrah’s as the only multiple winners.

The AGA also honored Phil Hevener with a Lifetime Achievement Award for the 25 years he has written about gaming industry politics, economics, trends and personalities. Hevener currently writes for several publications, including his own bi-weekly newsletter, Phil Hevener’s Gaming Hotline, and consumer and trade publications such as Global Gaming Business, Gaming Today and Poker Player.

Award winners were selected from among 23 finalists by a blue-ribbon panel of judges featuring experts in investor relations, public relations, advertising, graphic design and new media.

The following is a complete list of Gaming Voice award winners, their assisting agencies and the category for which they were honored:

Best 2004 Annual Report

Ameristar Casinos, Inc. (Assisting Agency: Eleven, Inc.)

Best Broadcast Ad: Radio

Harrah’s Entertainment, “Harrah’s Entertainment Code of Commitment”

Best Broadcast Ad: Television

Prairie Island Indian Community, “Prairie Island PSAs 2004” (Assisting Agency: Prin Pictures)

Best Customer Publication

Harrah’s Entertainment, “Harrah’s Entertainment’s Commitment to Our Community Reports”

Best Direct Mail:

MGM MIRAGE, “MIRAGE 2005 Super Bowl Invitation” (Assisting Agency: Schadler Kramer Group)

Best Employee Publication

Harrah’s Entertainment, “Harrah’s Entertainment’s Chairman’s Award Campaign”

Best Multi-format Ad Campaign

Bellagio, “Bellagio ‘O’ Campaign” (Assisting Agency: Diesel Advertising)

Best Outdoor Ad: Multiple

*Mohegan Sun, “A World at Play” (Assisting Agency: Kirshenbaum Bond & Partners)

*Société des Casinos du Québec Inc and Casino du Lac-Leamy, “Ottawa Outdoor Campaign.”

Best Outdoor Ad: Single

Hollywood Casino Tunica, “Hollywood Glamour Winners-Kim” (Assisting Agency: Hawkeye FFWD)

Best Print Ad: Multiple

Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa, “‘Wait Branding Print” (Assisting Agency: Schadler Kramer Group)

Best Print Ad: Single

Hollywood Casino Tunica, “Hollywood Glamour Winners-Bessie” (Assisting Agency: Hawkeye FFWD)

Best Web Site: Produced by a Commercial Casino Company

Argosy Gaming, www.argosycasinos.com (Assisting Agency: The Sacco Group)

Best Web Site: Produced by a Native American Casino

Cliff Castle Casino, www.cliffcastle.com (Assisting Agency: Cramer-Krasselt)

*Indicates a tie for first place.

The AGA represents the commercial casino-entertainment industry by addressing federal legislative and regulatory issues. The association also serves as a clearinghouse for information, develops educational and advocacy programs, and provides leadership on industry-related issues of public concern.