Korbi Carrison has walked the floor of every Global Gaming Expo (G2E) since it launched in 2001. As Event Vice President for RX USA, she has spent the last eight years managing the logistics, relationships, and last-minute problems that come with running one of the gaming sector’s largest annual gatherings. Her core observation after more than two decades is simple: G2E survives by refusing to stand still. And that refusal to settle, she argues, is precisely what has kept the event relevant in an industry that rarely looks the same two years running.
What Carrison’s Tenure Signals for the Gaming Trade Show Market
The endurance of a single event over 24 years tells a broader story about how B2B gaming commerce actually functions. Trade shows remain the connective tissue of a fragmented industry, where slot manufacturers, casino operators, regulators, and technology vendors negotiate in person rather than through screens. Below are the strategic reads for executives tracking the space.
- Continuity as a competitive asset: An event that has run without interruption since 2001 carries institutional memory that newer competitors cannot replicate overnight.
- Adaptation is the product: Carrison frames G2E’s value not as a fixed format but as its willingness to reshape around whatever the market is doing that year, from cashless payments to sports betting expansion.
- The person managing the event matters as much as the event itself.
- In-person still wins in gaming: Despite years of digital pivoting across most B2B sectors, live floor traffic remains the mechanism through which gaming deals get done.
- Regulatory proximity: Events like this double as informal meeting grounds where operators and compliance officials share the same corridors, a dynamic that shapes how quickly the industry responds to rule changes.
A Show Built on Constant Reinvention
Since its debut in 2001, G2E has positioned itself as the annual checkpoint for the North American gaming industry. The event is produced by the global events business behind RX USA in partnership with the American Gaming Association, and it draws manufacturers, operators, and suppliers to Las Vegas each year.
Carrison’s point about adaptation is not decorative. The gaming industry she first encountered in 2001 was dominated by physical slot machines and land-based casino floors. That world has since absorbed online gaming, mobile sports betting, cashless transaction systems, and a wave of regulatory expansion across dozens of U.S. states. An expo that failed to track those shifts would have faded years ago.
Which raises a harder question: how does an event stay essential when the very definition of “gaming” keeps widening? The answer, in Carrison’s telling, is operational discipline. Someone has to smooth the bumps, and for eight years that has been her job.
Why the Timing of This Matters Now
The U.S. gaming sector is in an unusually active phase. Commercial gaming revenue has climbed steadily as legal sports betting spreads, and operators are pouring capital into technology that barely existed a decade ago. That expansion changes what exhibitors want from a trade show. A vendor selling sportsbook software has different needs from one selling reel-spinning cabinets, and the floor has to accommodate both.
Still, the fundamentals of why people attend have proven durable. Buyers want to see hardware in person. Regulators want to understand the tools they will eventually oversee. And executives want the hallway conversations that no video call reliably delivers.
How the Event Has Tracked Industry Shifts
| Era | Dominant Industry Focus | Implication for the Expo Floor |
|---|---|---|
| Early 2000s | Land-based slots and casino floor equipment | Hardware-heavy exhibits, machine demonstrations |
| 2010s | Online gaming and early mobile products | Growing software and platform presence alongside traditional cabinets |
| 2020s | Sports betting, cashless payments, and regulatory expansion across new state markets that continue to reshape exhibitor priorities year over year | Blended floor of hardware, fintech, compliance tech, and betting platforms |
The People Behind the Logistics
Trade show management is rarely visible to attendees, and that is arguably the point. When a 24-year-old event runs smoothly, few notice the coordination required to keep thousands of exhibitors, buyers, and officials moving through a single venue. Carrison’s role sits in that invisible layer: contracts, floor plans, exhibitor demands, and the inevitable crises that surface hours before doors open.
Her longevity is itself a data point. Eight years in a single senior event role, following two decades of attendance, gives her a vantage point that few in the sector share. She has watched exhibitor categories rise and vanish. She has seen the floor rearranged to fit whatever the market decided mattered that year.
That accumulated perspective is not easily transferred. It is the kind of institutional knowledge that walks out the door when a veteran leaves.
What This Means for Exhibitors and Operators
For companies deciding whether to commit budget to a physical presence, the practical takeaways are concrete. A show that reliably adapts reduces the risk that an exhibitor’s category gets sidelined. Operators evaluating new technology gain a single venue to compare vendors directly. And regulators gain proximity to the products they will be asked to govern.
The business calculation comes down to whether the expo still delivers the audience each exhibitor needs. On the evidence of its 24-year run and its repeated reinvention, the answer for most participants has stayed yes.
Frequently Asked Questions
When did G2E first launch?
The Global Gaming Expo debuted in 2001 and has run annually since, making it one of the longest-standing events in the North American gaming calendar.
Who produces the event?
It is produced by RX USA in partnership with the American Gaming Association.
What is Korbi Carrison’s role?
Carrison has served as G2E’s Event Vice President for RX USA for the last eight years, overseeing the logistics and operational challenges of staging the expo. She has personally attended every edition since 2001.
Why does the event keep changing its format?
Because the gaming industry does. As online gaming, sports betting, and cashless payment systems have grown, the expo floor has shifted to reflect what exhibitors and buyers actually want to see that year.
Is a physical trade show still worth it for gaming vendors?
For most participants, yes. In-person demonstrations and hallway negotiations continue to drive deals in a way digital channels have not fully replaced.
