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US – Robert McMonigle and David Orrick honoured as recipients of AGEM Memorial Awards

The Association of Gaming Equipment Manufacturers (AGEM) announced today that the late Robert “Bob” McMonigle has been selected as the recipient of the 2020 Jens Halle Memorial Award Honoring Excellence in Commercial Gaming Professionalism, and David Orrick has been selected as the recipient of the 2020 Peter Mead Memorial Award Honoring Excellence in Gaming Media & Communications.

AGEM previously announced the creation of this unique annual awards program to acknowledge the lasting impacts on gaming by Halle and Mead, two distinctive industry veterans who died unexpectedly in 2015. Honorees are announced each year at the Global Gaming Expo (G2E) in Las Vegas, and this year’s awards ceremony for McMonigle and Orrick will take place on Wednesday, Oct. 28 at 8:30 a.m. PST during the G2E Virtual Experience.

Born in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1944, McMonigle died on March 15, 2020 at 75 following a robust life both personally and professionally. He began his business career with Reader’s Digest magazine in New York City and went on to work in marketing and circulation for Rolling Stone and Outside during a career in magazines spanning 1979-1986. McMonigle then began his legendary career in gaming when he joined International Game Technology (IGT), where he spent 17 years and helped lead the company to the top of the list of global slot machine companies. He held many positions at IGT, ultimately Executive Vice President of Corporate Relations and North American Sales, and became widely regarded as the most successful slot salesman in gaming history, with IGT routinely receiving 70 percent market share of new casino openings as the riverboat gaming boom in the early 1990s led to explosive gaming expansion in the U.S. and around the world. McMonigle was also a driving force behind the founding of AGEM in 2000 and served as the organization’s first President through 2005 before moving on to work for a variety of other gaming-supplier companies.

“Bob McMonigle helped establish AGEM and create a path for our organization going forward and all supplier companies have benefitted from his vision,” said AGEM President Luke Orchard, who also serves as Senior Vice President, Chief Compliance & Risk Management Officer for IGT. “And I can say from an IGT perspective, Bob’s presence is felt every day here based on his incredible success selling our games and machines going back to the beginning of the riverboat gaming era. Like Jens Halle, Bob’s reputation for forging positive relationships with operators throughout the industry is legendary. AGEM is honored to present this award to Bob’s wife, Joni, and his memory and impact on our industry will live on.”

An Englishman born in Dumfries, Scotland, in 1949, Orrick, 71, is a 27-year veteran of the gaming industry and currently serves as Director of Industry Relations for AGEM Gold Member Merkur Gaming, part of Germany’s Gauselmann Group. Orrick started in the gaming industry in 1993 as editor of Euroslot magazine after a 17-year career as a motorsport journalist, editor, author and publisher and also served as founder, editor and publisher of Casino International magazine before joining Spanish slot machine manufacturer Recreativos Franco, S.A as International Communications Manager in 1997. He then served as Director of Communications for Unidesa Gaming and Systems before moving to Novomatic in 2007 as Communications & Business Development Director of Austrian Gaming Industries (AGI) GmbH, where he joined Jens Halle to assist AGI’s expansion into new markets, as well as being Communications Director of Novomatic’s UK subsidiary Astra Games Limited.

“The relationship between David Orrick and Jens Halle is well-known in our industry, but David stands alone this year in deserving this award honoring the memory of Peter Mead,” AGEM Executive Director Marcus Prater said. “We always let the nominating criteria guide the selection of these AGEM Memorial Awards, and David fits the bill in so many ways as first a gaming journalist and later as the head of communications for many respected international gaming suppliers. He has traveled the world representing our industry with both a gruff scrutiny and a positive twinkle in his eye. And finally, it needs to be noted that in the aftermath of the passing of both Jens and Peter, it was David who initially brought the idea of annual memorial awards to AGEM that we launched and have expanded over the past five years.”

Halle, eżekuttiv ta’ Bally u Novomatic fl-Ewropa li kien ilu l-aktar reċentement CEO tal-Merkur Gaming ta’ Gauselmann Group ibbażat fi Florida, miet f’daqqa fl-20 ta’ Mejju 2015 fl-età ta’ 57. Mead, il-fundatur u l-pubblikatur tar-rivista Casino Enterprise Management, miet f’daqqa waħda f’Las Vegas fl-24 ta’ Ġunju 2015 fl-età ta’ 54 sena.

Il-professjonisti attwali tal-logħob ġew nominati għal dawn il-premjijiet ta' tifkira bbażati fuq il-kriterji li ġejjin li għandhom l-għan li jaqbdu l-attributi uniċi murija minn Halle u Mead matul il-karrieri storjati tagħhom:

Jens Halle Memorial Award li Jonora l-Eċċellenza fil-Professjonaliżmu tal-Logħob Kummerċjali
“In-nominati għandu jkollhom esperjenza ta’ xogħol fis-settur tal-fornituri tal-logħob globali għal minimu ta’ 10 snin u jippossjedu l-karatteristiċi u l-kwalitajiet li ġejjin li Jens wera tul il-ħajja tax-xogħol tiegħu: Professjonalità, suċċess fin-negozju, ambitu internazzjonali, attenzjoni għad-dettall u segwitu f’waqtu; rieda li ‘tmur il-mili żejjed,’ kemm b’mod figurattiv kif ukoll litteralment; sens ta’ umanità f’negozju ta’ sikwit; rikonoxximent tal-importanza ta' handshake u ftehim ġust għal kulħadd; u dedikazzjoni għas-saħħa tal-industrija kollha kemm hi.”

Peter Mead Memorial Award li Jonora l-Eċċellenza fil-Midja u l-Komunikazzjoni tal-Logħob
“In-nominati għandu jkollhom esperjenza ta’ xogħol fil-midja mainstream, l-istampa kummerċjali tal-logħob jew il-PR/komunikazzjonijiet tal-kumpanija tal-logħob individwali għal minimu ta’ 10 snin u għandhom il-karatteristiċi u l-kwalitajiet li ġejjin li Peter wera tul il-ħajja tax-xogħol tiegħu: Rapportar ta’ kwalità u komunikazzjoni b’enfasi fuq kuntatt personali biex jiġġeneraw ideat u tiġbor informazzjoni; tieħu riskji u tiddubita l-istatus quo; tisfida lill-industrija biex tikkunsidra ideat ġodda; u l-identifikazzjoni ta’ msieħba ta’ fiduċja biex itejbu l-prodott ġenerali.”

Ainsworth Game Technology founder Len Ainsworth and former Las Vegas Review-Journal gaming columnist Howard Stutz were the initial recipients of the AGEM Memorial Awards program in 2016. Since then, gaming legends Rick Meitzler, Gavin Isaacs, Tom Nieman and now McMonigle have received the Jens Halle Award, and communications leaders Roger Gros, Frank Legato, the late Dave Palermo and now Orrick have received the Peter Mead Award.