No. 2: If It's Illegal, Don't Advertise

Heidi Genoist -- Tradeshow Week, 10/16/2006

In our series of forehead-slapping cautions to show managers (see "What's With the Tinfoil Hats?" in our Aug. 7 issue), here's the second installment: If your event teaches people to make money off an illegal activity, keep it on the down-low — particularly if some of those planning to attend are wanted by the authorities.

The Casino Affiliate Convention in Las Vegas described itself as "the largest e-gaming industry event that covers affiliate marketing and advertising for the Internet wagering industry, including poker and bingo."

You can debate the finer points of the Wire Wagering Act or games of "skill" versus games of "chance" all you want, but the government's determination to crack down on online gaming became apparent this summer when a federal grand jury in Eastern Missouri indicted 11 companies and four individuals on charges stemming from online sports betting.

Not to mention: The casino industry is determined to make Internet gambling illegal, as its support for a bill now before Congress demonstrates.

Still, organizers argued, the CAC is for the people who market the illegal activity, not the people who actually do the illegal activity.

In the end, all the hair-splitting was moot. If you were Gary Kaplan (an executive from BetOnSports and one of those indicted), would you want everyone with access to a computer — including the Feds — knowing you were leaving your hideout in Costa Rica and traveling to the Stardust Sept. 14–15?

Of course not! And that's why, one by one, the CAC's sponsors dropped out of the event.