hi stuart welcome to the gyro huddle and thanks very much for joining me today hey tim good to see you thanks for inviting me good to see you too no problem excited to speak to you because obviously we've got a massive icelandic show coming up um first things first how excited are you about the show considering we've had we've kind of been waiting for just over two years for it now i think definitely the excitement within the organizing team is is building now we're at the business end of it so we're kind of you know we're starting to see those finishing touches come together we're seeing stand designs coming through um all the features that we've created now obviously we we go on site middle of next week um so uh so yeah we're ready to start building the show so it is really exciting still huge amount of work to do um depending on who you're talking to if you're chatting to my operations team probably less excited more kind of stressed at this moment in time is a huge operation building an event like ice especially in the conditions we've had over the last couple of months but um yeah we're we're really close now we're really excited everything is pointing towards a great event um so um so yeah i think it's just that countdown now of the next sort of week or so to get us there and and see everyone reunited so yeah really excited really excited as you say event events are always kind of uh i guess for everyone going there there'll be that sense of as you make maybe a little bit of a stress anticipation but there's excitement but you always kind of find these things come together in the end and there's always that great feeling of achievement when they do um in terms of attendance this year what are your expectations because obviously we have had a couple of american firms pull out and you know maybe people have made plans over over easter that kind of thing so um you know what what are your expectations for for this year's show yes it's quite a hard one to answer that tim and i i'll tell you why obviously you know historically the the the numbers for ice have been very consistent um and it's it's sort of fairly easy to track on a normal given run really whereas you know you have a certain level of registrations and then you have a certain historical trend on the amount of those registrations that actually turn up we call it sort of you know the redemption number and that's always been fairly um fairly similar really for ice obviously our registrations in actual fact are the most we've ever had at this point certainly versus the 2020 show which was the last one we ran um so that that's really exciting but obviously with all the changes that we've had the the you know the exhibit as you just mentioned all that's been well documented the new dateline et cetera the current conditions still um globally um it's a hard one really so we would anticipate redemption to be lower than normal um and i i certainly we've seen that across the return to live events um outside of the gaming industry um i think the average has been around about 70 to 75 percent attendance versus pre-pandemic levels so if we if we use that as our kind of mark in the ground i guess for ice then yeah we're still looking we're looking at a significant number of people you know well over 20 000 um i think we'll be in attendance and i guess what's what's really exciting um using that that word you used to to the interview is that we're starting to see certain types of people coming through now over the last week or so certainly those types of people that perhaps maybe six weeks ago were intimating that they weren't traveling we're seeing those registrations come through so i think there's been a real moment now everyone's thought well you know isis ice is definitely happening it's building it's going to be a real opportunity for everyone to get together so those fence sitters perhaps are now making that call to travel to london which is really exciting so um yeah we will get we'll get a really great volume of people i think we're seeing an increase in the decision makers the sort of sea level in our registration as well we're seeing pretty much you know all the kind of key operators operating brands and our registration so it's it's building and i think you know we always go from a live perspective um you know it's quality not quantity but i do think we'll we'll get a really really decent uh cross-section of both this year so yeah we'll see let's see where we get to yeah definitely some some positive notes there um obviously the show originally was was slated for february uh moved to april this year but if if if this show is a success in april would you ever consider moving it to spring uh permanently even a simple reason comes to mind that there'll be a little bit more sunshine yeah well you say that but it's it's not it snowed in london yesterday which is yeah so we have uh yeah you're right the chart the chance of better weather is increased in april in the uk versus february although we've had some great february weather as well over the in in the last few years um i think ice has been in february for a very good reason for a very long time and it really kind of kick-starts that buying cycle for a lot of the exhibitors uh i think when we've asked that question in the past february has been still the the right location or the right date line for ice i should say um so that that's been that's been significant i think nothing we've seen or none of the research we've done today suggests that a later date line is is preferred obviously you know it's been well documented on why we had to move it to april um the dates we've got in many respects haven't been ideal for everyone but but it is what it is it's all we could really work with um but no no no no real no real long-term ambition to to to sort of stray from that february date obviously we have our february dates already booked in for 23 which is the seventh uh to the ninth of february um back in london again um so that that's all that's already locked in so um so yeah now february will remain its home sure okay so we're looking at very much a one-off with with the april this year so if we're to talk if we're to talk the show itself kind of um the main event um you know what what are the big highlights this year you know in terms of conferences we got the uh esports arena and things like this what are uh you know what are what are the big plans what are you kind of most excited about that kind of thing yeah i think what what's been important to us as an organizer and me personally on the team is is to um is to really kind of show our investment into the ice brand this year to show our investment into the gaming industry i think you know um you know we are uh first and foremost you know that we're in the business of creating live events and live experiences and and ice is a real bastion of that and i think from a for an investment perspective considering the challenge that we've all had um if if we weren't an organizer that was totally vested in the industry it could have been quite easy to kind of you know cut a few corners or or not invest as much or not do as much sort of evolution but but we've done the opposite you know we've looked at all the experience experiential parts of ice we've invested in all of them so right through to all the pre-existing features they've all had an upgrade they've all been expanded we've worked a lot with our customer groups to kind of get some feedback on on where we need to take them so things like for example the the consumer protection zone which has been a significant part of ice over the last few years has has grown grown in size um certainly in terms of it's been enhanced enhanced in terms of its experience uh getting more brands uh in that space you know improving the kind of the the presentation areas of it the theater areas of it so that's one example of existing products that have been upgraded we've launched new things in we've got our ice 365 new studio which is a brand new feature the ice which allows our ice 365 digital brand to kind of have a permanent place and remind everyone that ice continues all year round not just in a live capacity and that is our our opportunity to kind of um hybrid some of the content lies um that can kind of go out to those attendees that can't be there but can also be picked up on a on a on a ad hoc basis through the ice 365 sites there'll be loads of live material loads of pre-recorded material lots of interviews lots of exclusives so that's really really exciting um and then i think yeah we've obviously got the esports arena this year where we launched it at the 2020 event um we've got the um uh the big betty hyperx truck coming in this year which is which is a huge juggernaut which is going to be kind of using an opportunity for us to recreate another competition we've got rocket league that's being that's being competed four by four teams this year with a prize pool of 25 000 pads with a real real life esports competition happening um we've got new sports bars we've got um [Music] loads of great new existing features i think so we've really tried to show that um rather than kind of stepping back and consolidating what we've done before really investing in products really investing for the industry just to not only you know it's important for me to remind people of of how good it feels to be back face to face um that's been a kind of a team mission all the way through and we are confident we're confident that just being back together on its own will feel incredible for everyone hence our hence our kind of slogan this year which is together never felt so good but but what what we've been passionate about is enhancing that um so just having um having having an extra opportunity not only to remind people what they've been missing with ice but to sort of see actually where where our future direction is over the next few years a real investment in that in that brand so yeah we're excited for people to see it really and excited to get everyone's feedback really yeah as you say kind of features for everyone and and i think the the esports tournament certainly sell the interesting rocket league kind of i know there's a bit of interest in this office maybe to see how that goes um yeah obviously uh you know growing trend um if we were to talk about for a second uh the sort of larger ice brand are kind of outside london and this is a potentially big topic but maybe we can kind of do um maybe more of a condensed discussion because obviously we want to concentrate mainly on london but um will will ice be going kind of anywhere else this year are you looking to kind of expand the brand to other continents no i think look from our perspective when when obviously kovid struck it was a real moment for us to reflect as a brand um you know ice obviously has in the past expanded out to new territories and geographies et cetera but for us it's really important to kind of you know revert back to the the you know the main product the main the main event which obviously is you know is a is a truly international um exhibition in many respects so you know all our all our effort and all our kind of ingenuity is focused towards um you know the ice london product is our as our main focus uh and and that goes for that goes for 23 so whilst we are doing a lot of initiatives to make sure that the ice brand extents extends geographically and i'll give you one example we for the first time we've run a hosted meetings program this year and that's gone out to um so pretty much a global campaign to bring in new buyers to ice um i'll give you give you one example we're hosting some buyers from tribal casinos in the us for the first time we've identified those tribal um operators that are looking for new technology really the only only ice london presents there are obviously domestic events um that sit in that gaming space but icelander really brings that kind of whole ecosystem together so we're hosting some operators from the us so that's been our kind of our main mission really to make sure that we develop and improve the existing ice brand and create new initiatives where we can ensure that that you know extended global community can come come to ice so that's that's certainly our kind of short to midterm vision for ice so no no no further no further plans beyond that at this stage sure so bearing in mind that kind of focus on london um a final question from me um you yourself personally what are you kind of most looking forward to at this show is it is it just simply everyone being back together is it a particular conference track maybe the rocket league tournament you know what is it that if you could highlight i know i know you might want to highlight several but if there's one that really kind of stands out for you does it put you on the spot kind of thing no no that's fine tim i i think look i i might not give you the answer you want to hear in many respects but i just it is really about the people for me i think um clearly we're we're really excited about the experience the features the the exhibitors that we've got the new product launches yeah so yeah we did some surveying recently where we had um um uh feedback from our exhibitor base that there's gonna be over over 1800 new products launched the ice this year which is phenomenal our ice has always been that launch plan for for new and i think in the absence of it over the last couple of years the industry sort of missed that um missed that destination where obviously you know people can source new products so that's really exciting um but i think you know it is it's a it's around the people getting together um it's around that networking it's around the kind of you know new product discovery it's the learning that we've got with our new vox conference tracks in a brand new location actually this year we've upgraded that experience as well um we've changed that into more sort of smaller more roundtable discussions people people have been able to cherry pick the topics that are more interesting to them rather than by a conference track where half the day might not be in their kind of sector space so we've redesigned that there's just been a huge amount of work um to kind of move the ice brand forward and move that experience forward but for me it is all about the people see see seeing everyone together um you know and there'll be there will be certainly you know obviously there's huge friendships across industry but there's huge networking opportunities but for a lot of these people they haven't met in the last couple of years and and that will be a moment i think to get everyone together so from a personal perspective right through to a business perspective i think it should tick all the boxes so seeing everyone there together and that and that feeling really that you you can't replicate on a zoom call as good as this is tim i think when we're on site together our ice it's going to be yeah it's going to be a you know an even more improved um experience for both of us so it is it is the people it's getting together like i said the registration is going really well the types of names that we're seeing uh certainly come in over the last week or two it's huge hugely encouraging um so i think when everyone's together and they get the opportunity to network to have some fun to meet to learn to source new products services etc i think the culmination of the ice show um i i really don't i think people have just would have would have had an amazing experience so i'm looking forward to that more than anything well absolutely i mean we're gambling inside definitely looking forward to the show um we will kind of wait to see how it goes uh you know from your uh your end as an organizer as you say maybe a little bit of stress from some teams but certainly excitement anticipation and hopefully we'll you know be back normal um you know ice back on the calendar and uh we very much look forward to the show um thank you for your time today and we will catch up uh next time for our live joe huddle from ice to kind of round up the show at the end of the thursday i believe all right i look forward to that tim can't wait to see you in a week or so you too thanks very much and cheers for your time no worries thank you