In episode 12 of Kinectify Conversations, "The Promise and Challenge of Rural Casinos in Gaming," Sean Topchi delves deep with guest Alex Dixon, President and CEO of the Q Casino and DRA, to explore the intricacies and nuances of the gaming industry in rural settings. They discuss the unique challenges and opportunities that rural casinos face, especially in the wake of rapid technological advancements and shifts in the gaming landscape.

From the impact of legislative changes to the role of multinational corporations, this conversation offers a comprehensive look into the state of rural gaming, touching upon its history, current hurdles, and potential future. The episode also sheds light on the delicate balance between community interests, regulatory compliance, and business growth, offering listeners invaluable insights into a lesser-discussed facet of the broader gaming industry.

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Kinectify is an AML risk management technology company serving gaming operators both in the US and Canada. Our modern AML platform seamlessly integrates all of the organization's data into a single view and workflow empowering gaming companies to efficiently manage risk across their enterprise. In addition, Kinectify's advisory services enhance gaming operators' capacity with industry experts who can design and test programs, meet compliance deadlines, and even provide outsource services for the day-to-day administration of compliance programs.

To learn more about Kinectify and book a demo, click here.

Transcript

[00:00:00] Sean Topchi: Welcome to Kinectify Conversations. My name is Sean Topchi, and I'm the Director of Business Development at Kinectify. Our mission is to share the experience, expertise, and insights from gaming industry leaders that comes from years of navigating the complexities and impact of compliance. On this episode, I'm joined by special guest:

[00:00:20] Alex Dixon: Alex Dixon, President and CEO [of] Q Casino and DRA.

[00:00:23] Sean Topchi: Thanks for joining us today and remember to like and subscribe to the podcast. You can also learn more anytime at Kinectify.com. That's K I N E C T I F Y dot com.

Alex, thank you so much for joining us on this week's episode of Kinectify Conversations. I really want to start off for, for those people that may not know you...a little bit of an intro background on yourself and your path in the industry.

[00:01:08] Alex Dixon: Great. No, well, thank you, Sean.

I really appreciate the opportunity. Again, my name is Alex Dixon. I humbly serve as the president and CEO at Q Casino and DRA here in Dubuque, Iowa. But my history in gaming kind of goes back three generations. My grandmother left the plantations of Louisiana to move out west as a part of the great migration to Las Vegas in the 1950s and so she was came out and got involved as a housekeeper in the industry.

My dad, he relocated from Opelika, Alabama in the 1960s. He came out to Las Vegas to become a part of the Air Force. He was stationed at Nellis Air Force Base. And so that's how he got out, but he finished the GI Bill at UNLV there. And he was able to start at the Flamingo as a porter.

So he then became a a bar back and then later a bartender. So I joke and tell people I'm a third generation casino employee. First time sitting in the offices, but it's been a been a great run. But yeah, born and raised in Las Vegas. I went to Durango high school played a lot of sports and had an opportunity to attend Howard University in Washington, D. C. where I studied finance and really caught caught in the investment banking bug. I started out when I was 19 years old. I can remember working, I was living in Hoboken, New Jersey at the YMCA in turning down on Wall Street and in Vegas, you know, we didn't really have a great deal of public transportation.

So riding the subway was a big deal for me and but we made it through. And so I ended up getting the internship with Goldman Sachs my junior year and moved to Brooklyn, New York stand up Brooklyn. And had a great time while I was there working within mergers and acquisitions focused on oil and gas.

But had an opportunity then to to move to London. And one day my kind of associate at the time said, Hey, look, we need folks over in London and packed up. And this was 2005 and we're still focused on oil and gas in Middle East in North Africa. But I had made a commitment to move to LA to be in the mergers and acquisition groups within the media and entertainment space.

And so we were advising Disney when they bought Pixar. And so that was just an amazing time of my professional life. But while I was there in lowa, I met my wife, we were expecting and we moved back to Vegas to start up the family. And this was 2006. And I was working at a boutique investment bank where we were raising capital for developers who wanted to build these big master plan communities.

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