eGaming Summit - God did his best but sadly it didn't work!

I’ve done my bit today for income distribution as (fortunately) following the storm the window cleaner came which was a godsend. My ‘home laundry’ is in full swing as well as I am defo into my ‘arts domestic’ autumnal period and the electricity thus consumed should please Popeye (aka Alex Allinson MHK).

A modest repast consumed I settle down for a second helping with MTTV which is still at the eGaming extravaganza. A took a sideswipe at the media's lack of balance in the Howard post earlier so just to prove there is balance MTTV are back with more of the same.

This time MTTV are talking to Micky Swindale who I christened ‘wassername’ when she was ‘head honcho’ at the Chamber. However some Chamber bod got onto me and complained I was to personal so in this piece I’ll be objective. I’ve adopted Sir Thomas More’s mantra about individuals these days. I might not like the institutions to which they belong or work for but to quote the great man:

“I say none harm, I think none harm, but wish everybody good. And if this be not enough to keep a man alive, in good faith, I long not to live”.

Or to paraphrase ‘no more taking the Micky’.

The MTTV item starts by reminding me of a curious phenomenon before a previous eGaming summit the venue of course was the Mount Murray and just days before its kick-off - the placed burned down.

Again for some reason I’m reminded of ‘A Man for all Seasons’ and this time a quote ascribed to Henry VIII:

‘I never saw the hand of God so clear in anything’

This time things seem to have gone alright possibly because the industry is embracing all the good things that ‘Christopher Lee’ (I mean Howard Quayle MHK) was averring earlier.

Micky chats away to Moulton and smiles a lot then he cuts away to the conference and she’s there still smiling. I muse I should smile more it puts years on your life they say.

I’m less interested in the Moulton and Micky discourse however than in the backdrop. There are all manner of signs saying things like ‘Inspire Confidence’ or ‘ Reliable Innovation’ or the slightly more complex ‘A comprehensive suite of management hosting solutions tailored specifically for eGaming’ - try and get your tongue or teeth round that. They talk about ‘Raising Standards Together’ and ‘Diversity - #We Want to Play’. It sounds like a cross between the WI and Sesame Street but you just need to look round the room to disavow yourself of that.

I find it Orwellian. If this ‘the new world order’ I don’t think I will smile more I don’t wish to prolong my stay here by trying to ward of mortality. In any case you just know there is another KPMG eGaming bash already being planned for next year and the same old tired cliches - albeit with a smile - will be trotted out.

Micky mentions the amount of people who fly in from far and wide to attend the event and apparently the bad weather caused difficulties. I think what with the fire all those years ago god is ‘defo’ signalling that he’s not a happy bunny about these ‘modern money lenders in the temple’. Even the tone becomes biblical with talk of the industry needing to ‘Come together’ - give my head peace!

It drones on with reference to the fact ‘We have some very significant players that have their foothold on the Isle of Man’. I start thinking of Orwell or Huxley again is this ‘the brave new world’ we aspire to? Apparently so Howard says it's a good thing and now the world (or the UK) is following where he led.

There’s talk about the regulators (both UK and Manx) being there and also the charities that assist those hopelessly addicted. It strikes me it's a little cosy but then I was always a bit jaundiced.

At 3.49 minutes I cut it - I can’t take anymore - I simply smile to myself. How I wonder can ‘fake news’ compete with this!

Image: Mickey with Howard (aka the Patron Saint of eGaming)

Link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MM2iP5UzM1U&feature=youtu.be

Bernard Moffatt