VEGAS INC Magazine - Latest Las Vegas business news, features and commentaries about gaming, tourism, real estate and more
Issue link: http://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/53926
6A WOMEN TO WATCH K Managing partner, Golden Catalyst Owner, SATAY – Thai Bistro & Bar Jan-Ie Low A fter 12 years in human resources for Fortune 500 companies AT&T Wireless and T-Mobile USA, Jan-Ie Low was ready to be her own boss. So she came to Las Vegas from Washington in 2005 and opened SATAY – Thai Bistro & Bar. SATAY has won numerous awards through the years, including the "Best Asian Restaurant" distinc- tion from Las Vegas Weekly in 2008 and the "Minor- ity Business of the Year" award from The Women's Chamber of Commerce in Nevada. The venture would only prove to be the beginning of many more accomplishments on the business front. Low's networking and social skills propelled her into the event planning business as well. Forming another company, Golden Catalyst, which produces special events for political and international business clients, was a natural extension of the many people she was meeting through her restaurant business and in Las Vegas in general. With growing Chinese and Asian investment in Las Vegas, Low's ability to bridge the cultures and help create strategic partnerships for Asians abroad with local businesses and individuals was in high demand. "I would say I like to connect the east and the west," she said with a laugh. Low, in cooperation with the Las Vegas Conven- tion and Visitors Authority, with whom she does con- sulting work on the Chinese market, and the Fremont Street Experience, has planned downtown's Chinese New Year 2012 – Dragon in the Desert fi ve-day event held this month. She has also been involved with creating strategic business partnerships for major conventions such as MAGIC, ConExpo, and World of Concrete. Low's abil- ity to make business relationships tick comes from an inner belief that simply marketing is not enough. Delivering on promises and getting results is key. "We can all be busy and take a lot of phone calls and go to mixers, but if you don't create results at the end of the day that busy work was useless," she said. This year, Low's goal is to do her part in promot- ing Las Vegas to Asia for tourism and investment. She also will champion the Foundation for Positively Kids, for which she's helped raise more than $55,000 in the past two years. —Brian Sodoma Katie Lever General Counsel, Executive Vice President | Shuffle Master Inc. atie Lever says she plans to devote a good portion of her time in 2012 to helping promote responsible gaming. "One of the things that Shuffl e Mas- ter hadn't done previously was have its own responsible gaming initiative," Lever noted. "Like a lot of gaming ven- dors, we've really appropriately sup- ported the national responsible gaming programs. One of the things I've looked at is having Shuffl e Master really stand out on its own with its own responsible gaming initiative." Shuffl e Master is a Las Vegas-based supplier of automatic card shuffl ers and proprietary table games. In her role, Lever is responsible for all legal and regulatory matters related to Shuffl e Master's multi-faced opera- tions, including managing its legal, intellectual property, and compliance departments and providing strategic legal advice for the company's newly introduced iGaming business. Prior to joining Shuffl e Master, she was the fi rst General Counsel to Global Cash Access, the gaming industry's largest cash access provider, and was previously a partner of at the law fi rm of Schreck Brignone (now Brownstein Hyatt Far- ber Schreck). In recognition of what Lever calls a "revolution" in communication, infor- mation access and health, Shuffl e Mas- ter's "Health-E Gambling" project will provide a unique app that can help locate the nearest resources for problem gambling, assist with self-monitoring of gambling behavior and teach about responsible gambling strategies. "Research suggests that similar smart phone-based e-health approaches yield surprisingly benefi cial outcomes in areas as diverse as diabetes, schizo- phrenia, obesity, alcohol abuse, and smoking cessation," Lever said. "Mov- ing forward, this project provides an exciting new responsible gaming oppor- tunity, especially with younger popula- tions who increasingly rely on the tech- nological applications we will engage" via e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, text mes- sages, web sites and phone apps). The project has benefi ted from a ground-breaking partnership between the UNLV International Gaming Insti- tute and the Cambridge Health Alli- Lisa Marchese Chief Marketing Officer | The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas A s CMO for the Cosmopoli- tan, hospitality and manage- ment consulting specialist Lisa Marchese oversees the marketing strat- egy and brand vision for the luxury resort, and is recognized as a driving force behind the property's success. "I started with The Cosmopoli- tan on April Fools' Day in 2010, about eight months before we opened," said Marchese, who previously served as vice president of brand management for Harrah's Entertainment Inc. and was also an associate partner with Prophet, a brand-strategy consulting fi rm where she worked with companies such as IBM, AT&T and Universal Studios. "My boss likes to say that when you grade your own paper you always get an "A," but I think we've had a great fi rst year, and in 2012 we really want to solidify the leadership position that The Cosmopolitan has established. But fi rst and foremost, we need to encourage the team so everybody stays motivated and excited. Being part of an opening in emotionally exhausting, so it's also about refueling and reenergizing." In addition to promoting the resort's "pop-up" wedding chapel, which allows couples to get married on the fl y while tourists look on at the ceremony, Marchese is also promoting the Cos- mopolitan's 2012 entertainment lineup, which so far includes musical head- liners David Gary, The Shins, Justice, Snow Patrol and Foster the People. This year she also plans to continue to push the resort's Artists-in-Residency, which features emerging artists, as well as the Cosmopolitan's numerous restaurants, lounges and nightclubs. Marchese is also poised to unveil a new creative advertising campaign in February, the same month that the resort will be sponsoring the South Beach Food & Wine Festival—an annual destination event in Florida—in order to introduce that demographic to the Cosmopolitan brand. Closer to home, Marchese will also focus on promoting the Cosmopolitan's Identify Membership Program. "I'd really like to see us getting more meaningful traction with Iden- tity Membership," Marchese said, add- ing that the program is a little differ- ent than other basic gaming rewards initiatives. "At the Cosmopolitan you can earn points for everything you do at the resort, not just for gaming. But of course there's an adoption period for something new, so we hope to get momentum in 2012 and make sure the program is a success, because it's about engendering loyalty and not just dis- counting the brand." —Danielle Birkin ance's Division on Addictions. This partnership will continue through the development of the smart phone appli- cation with the fi nancial and technolog- ical support of Shuffl e Reach, Shuffl e Master's outreach program that encap- sulates its core values while providing corporate sponsorship of philanthropic community efforts. "I believe this is the fi rst of its kind; it's very unique," Lever explains. "Responsible gaming is that something, I think, that when you are in our indus- try is very much hand in glove." From this app, she adds, "you will be able to effectively fi nd the nearest Gamblers Anonymous meeting. You will have resources on the app in order to reach out to counseling, to online groups. There isn't an app like it." —Howard Riell