Direct marketing has evolved—but most casino programs haven’t kept up. This session reframes how direct marketing should work today, blending traditional segmentation with digital behavior, timing, and real-time triggers. You’ll explore how leading teams are moving beyond static code grids and monthly cycles to build more responsive, revenue-focused systems. Through real examples, we’ll break down what’s changed, what still works, and how to start making smarter decisions about who you target, when you reach them, and why it matters.

Session Coach:

Julia Carcamo, J Carcamo & Associates

Julia Carcamo is a casino branding expert and the author of Reel Marketing: The Art of Building a Casino Brand. As president & chief brand strategist at J Carcamo & Associates and founder of Casino Marketing Boot Camp, she aids casinos in building and maintaining engaging brands and tactical marketing programs. Following a successful tenure at Caesars Entertainment, where she developed the initial brand architecture for Harrah’s core brands, including Total Rewards, she answered the call from Steve Wynn to open his signature resort, Wynn Las Vegas. She was at the helm of the reinvention of the Isle of Capri house of brands, introducing new brands, successfully connecting with new and inactive customers, and reintroducing the iconic Lady Luck Casino brand. Recognizing the impact the Hispanic market is having now and will have in the future, she has co-founded espÑOLA, a Hispanic marketing and engagement agency.

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Your database drives every offer, every campaign, and every result—but only if it’s structured and used correctly. This session focuses on how to make better marketing decisions using the data you already have. We’ll cover practical approaches to segmentation, offer design, frequency, and performance tracking, along with ways to incorporate behavioral and psychographic insight. You’ll also learn how to simplify reporting and build dashboards that clearly communicate value to leadership. The goal: turn your database into a tool for decision-making, not just execution.

Session Coach:

Mary Loftness, Profitable Customers

Mary Loftness is a 35-year veteran marketing strategist with extensive experience in Customer Relationship Management. Having spent her career driving the measurability of marketing and the need to define and track acceptable returns on investment, she understands the need to quickly assess marketing issues and propose solutions that yield both immediate and impressive results. She learned the importance of effective value-based pricing and yield management working with Radisson and Westin hotels.

As Vice President of Relationship Marketing at Station Casinos, she knew how to combine direct marketing, customer needs and value data, an effective call center, and the web into a powerful marketing engine to drive both new and repeat customer behavior. She drove the project planning and launch of one of the first, and to this day, most successful multi-property loyalty programs in the industry.

Profitable Customers, Inc specializes in tailored solutions for improving revenue and profitability at casinos large and small. This ‘hands-on’ approach couples customer data analytics, market research, strategic and tactical planning, and leadership coaching to improve overall revenue, profit and return on marketing investment.

Mary’s company, Profitable Customers Inc., has been providing CRM consulting to the gaming industry for more than 21 years. She teaches Casino Marketing courses in the University of Nevada Reno Extended Studies program and frequently speaks at industry conferences including the Global Gaming Conference and National Indian Gaming Conference.

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Most casinos are sitting on significant revenue in their inactive database—and struggling to unlock it. This session focuses on how to bring players back in a way that feels relevant and timely. You’ll learn how to break the “inactive” segment into meaningful groups, identify the right moments to re-engage, and develop offers and messaging that actually drive return visits. We’ll also discuss how to evaluate success beyond redemption rates and avoid the common pitfalls that make reactivation campaigns easy to ignore.

Session Coach:

Luigi Mastropietro, Everi

Luigi Mastropietro is a longtime casino marketing innovator and trusted industry advisor with more than 25 years of experience helping gaming operators strengthen player acquisition, relationship marketing, and customer development strategies.

Over the course of his career with Everi and its predecessor organizations, Luigi helped shape and expand a wide range of marketing services tailored to the casino industry. Since the late 1990s, he has played a key role in developing solutions that support casino marketing and player development teams in attracting new players, improving campaign performance, and building stronger customer relationships.

Following Global Cash Access’s acquisition of Central Credit in 1999, Luigi led the integration of Central Credit’s Guest Development Services into the broader corporate portfolio, helping establish what became Casino Marketing Services. Under his leadership, these services became a valuable resource for casino operators looking for high-performing prospecting and player-acquisition tools tailored to gaming.

Among the innovations introduced during his tenure was the Casino Share Intelligence dashboard, recognized by Casino Journal as one of the Top 20 Most Innovative Gaming Technology Products.

Now retired from Everi, Luigi works as a consultant, bringing decades of hands-on experience, strategic insight, and deep industry knowledge to casino operators and gaming partners looking to sharpen their marketing efforts and grow revenue.

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Email is one of the most flexible and cost-effective tools in your marketing mix—when it’s done well. This session goes beyond basic tactics to focus on what drives performance today. You’ll learn how to write subject lines that get opened, structure emails that drive action, and build campaigns that support your broader marketing efforts. We’ll also explore automation, lifecycle journeys, and personalization strategies that help you move beyond one-off sends and into more consistent, behavior-driven communication.

Session Coach:

Andrew Kordek, iPost

Oh, let us introduce you to Andrew Kordek, the VP of Customer Engagement, Support, and Marketing at iPost – a place where they claim to be the wizards of Email Service Providers (ESP), catering to those modern marketers (especially in casinos) who just can’t get enough of data and hyper-personalization. Fancy, right?

Before landing in this Email Shangri-La, Andrew fancied himself as the Co-Founder and Chief Strategist at Trendline Interactive, where he supposedly led some sort of email marketing strategy revolution with some of the largest and most complex programs in the world. He’s been around the block, you know – client side, where he led email at Groupon, Sears, and Quest Software, like the champion of strategy, execution, reporting, and analytics.

This guy’s been rocking the email boat for over 24 years. They say he’s an innovator, a thought leader, and apparently, the self-proclaimed superhero fighting for responsible email marketing. Oh, and let’s not forget, he’s been ranked #5 among the big shots in email marketing. Quite the feather in his cap, huh?

And when he’s not busy being the Email Messiah, Andrew takes up the mighty pen, becoming an email-writing warrior. He graces stages with his email wisdom, probably preaching about the do’s and don’ts of subject lines. Oh, and rumor has it his love for email is so passionate that he branded his Illinois license plate with the word “EMAIL.” I guess he’s keeping the roads spam-free, one plate at a time

Your players don’t experience your marketing one channel at a time—and your campaigns shouldn’t operate that way either. This session brings everything together, focusing on how to align direct mail, email, digital, and app-based communication into coordinated campaigns. You’ll work through a hands-on exercise to map out a campaign across channels, ensuring timing, messaging, and offers reinforce each other instead of competing. The result is a clearer, more structured approach to executing campaigns that feel connected and perform better.

Daniel Kustelski, Chalkline Sports

Daniel Kustelski is the CEO of Chalkline, a customer acquisition and engagement platform for regulated gaming. After serving as a captain in the U.S. Army, Daniel worked in a number of sports-related positions before co-founding an online sportsbook based in Johannesburg, South Africa. After selling the sportsbook to the Sun International casino group, Daniel returned to the United States, where he operated an ADW before founding Chalkline.

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Direct mail is still a core driver of casino revenue—but the way it’s produced and deployed has changed significantly. This session explores how technology is reshaping direct mail, from faster turnaround times to automated workflows and templated campaigns. You’ll see how to reduce lag between decision and deployment, improve targeting, and build campaigns that keep pace with player behavior. If your current process feels slow or rigid, this session will give you a clearer path forward.

Session Coach: 

Mat Neely, TPI

Caleb Hayworth, TPI

In a crowded mailbox, your piece has seconds to make an impression. This session focuses on the creative side of direct mail—what gets noticed, what gets opened, and what drives response. We’ll look at format choices, personalization strategies, and ways to elevate VIP communications so they feel intentional and differentiated. You’ll also explore how print can work alongside digital through tools like QR codes and integrated landing experiences. Expect real examples and ideas you can adapt to your next campaign.

Session Coach:

Jessica Hoffman, TPI

Digital tools are expanding the ways casinos can communicate with players—but not every feature drives engagement. This session focuses on how apps, player portals, and progressive web apps are actually being used today. You’ll see practical examples of how these tools support direct marketing efforts, reinforce campaigns, and create more consistent touchpoints with players. The emphasis is on what works in real-world environments, so you can make smarter decisions about where to invest your time and resources.

Session Coach:

Joe Tingson, TPI

Bringing over 20 years of casino industry experience, Joe Tingson is TPI’s Vice President of Customer Success. He oversees the vision and strategy for TPI’s Player Connect mobile app, and player portal. Joe is dedicated to providing the best possible experience for both the casino operator and the casino player. This mindset ensures TPI’s clients receive tailored solutions that drive success.

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David Fink, TPI