WhiteSand Custom Book - (Page 9) without a hitch TECHNOLOGY WhiteSand led management through an exhaustive search for the best systems. “We did the RFPs and evaluated the responses and provided our expertise on the different products,” Nickerson said. “But ultimately the decision was left to the tribe. That’s important, to leave the ultimate decision to the tribes. “That’s the key component to consulting,” he said.“You never want to be in a position to make a decision for your client, whether it’s tribal or commercial. Our role is be a consultant and provide recommendations” The Mohegan Tribe also asked WhiteSand to integrate the player card system so points for slots and pari-mutuel play could be redeemed at the tribe’s Connecticut casino. Working with the regulators ennsylvania was a new gaming jurisdiction. And WhiteSand found itself working closely with the newly appointed state regulators. “It was a required process for them to understand and examine each aspect of the operation,” Scheri said. Opening dates were set back as regulators and state legislators revaluated and modified the state licensing process. Finally, there began a 90-day drill to get the property open. And it had to open on time. Fortunately,WhiteSand team members have years of experience opening some of the largest and most prominent gaming operations in the country. “When you get an opening date, you have to plan backwards.‘What do I have to do to make all this happen on time and on budget?’ If the facility didn’t open on that date it wasn’t going to be our fault,” Nickerson said. “When you’re talking a million a day to the bottom line, if you’re two days late that’s $2 million. I knew it wasn’t going to be us that caused a delay.You don’t want to go up to the tribal leader and say, ‘We’re not going to be ready. The slot system is not ready. Point of sale is not ready.’ WhiteSand works hard to avoid the pitfalls of casino openings for our clients, and maximize their revenues.” “When you put the WhiteSand team ‘It was smooth’ We opened Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs in November 2006. It was Pennsylvania’s first casino. Everybody was nervous and excited. We hired WhiteSand to do our IT (information technology) and systems. We didn’t do any competitive bidding. It was by reputation. We had heard good things about WhiteSand. They’re experienced. They’ve done a lot of openings. They were on the property for several months. We had the track and 1,100 machines. They did everything: wiring, installing the systems, everything. They know the business. They worked well with the state gaming regulators. It was, as I said, Pennsylvania’s first casino. It was a learning process for everybody. With any opening there are glitches. But there Robert J. Soper was nothing serious. It (opening) was smooth. That’s important. The most important impression is the first impression. This property is run as a commercial operation, but, yes, it is owned by an Indian tribe, the Mohegan Tribe. WhiteSand is sensitive to that. They’ve worked for both commercial companies and Indian tribes. I’d use them again. Certainly.’ — Robert J. “Bobby” Soper, president and CEO, Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs “ P together, we’ve probably opened dozens of casinos,” Scheri said. Another successful opening embers of the IT SWAT team sat on their hands. “We had people ready in the event something happened,” Nickerson recalled.“It’s never what you expect. I’m sure we would have addressed any issues. But there weren’t any issues. It was probably the smoothest opening encountered by us and the operator. “Mohegan Sun are fabulous operators. They have a great property up in Connecticut and they’re really, really smart. They had full confidence in us.When we told them things, they trusted us. I think that relationship between the tribe and WhiteSand was one of the reasons we were so successful and why we had such a stress-free opening.” The people with the hand-held radios, waiting for a technical emergency, just watched the action. “It was boring,” Nickerson said. And, he said, it was exciting and challenging, as casino openings always are. Partners in Progress ” M 9
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