Dennis Conrad: A Progressive Innovator in the Casino Industry at COS 2026

Dennis Conrad has been in the casino industry for over 50 years and during that time he has sought to insure that his experiences would make him a progressive thinking innovator instead of a dinosaur. He believes his value to the gaming industry stems from the various and unique perspectives he has had in it: Frontline employee, supervisor, property director, corporate Vice President, Conference organizer, Consulting Company developer and owner, long-time columnist and industry observer, and of course, casino player. He has worked with casinos all over the world and has been a featured speaker at major conferences in the United States, Canada, Australia, England, South Africa, Bulgaria, Peru, Puerto Rico, Denmark, and Italy.

Dennis is a graduate of Stanford University and has completed programs at Harrah’s Excellence in Management, University of Nevada Reno’s Executive Development, Peter Senge’s Systems Thinking, and the Disney Institute. He is known for his creativity, industry innovation and fierce devotion to the business and marketing principle of bringing more value to casino players, instead of less. Dennis has received the Casino Marketing Lifetime Achievement Award and three different Harrah’s Chairman’s Awards (Innovation, Outstanding Performance, and Community Service).

Dennis Conrad’s Personal Gaming Industry Achievements

Dennis Conrad personally considers his greatest gaming industry achievements to be:

• The founding of Raving Consulting Company, a successful consulting company now for over 25 years.

• The development of learning events (Harrah’s Institute, Casino Marketing Conference, Table Games Conference, Host Conference, and others) that have helped educate and inform over 10,000 gaming industry attendees.

• The creation of gaming award programs (The Romero Awards, The Barona/VCAT Award for Excellence in Indian Gaming Marketing, and others) that have recognized truly important contributions to the industry.

• His tongue-in-cheek annual column and conference presentation on The Best (and Worst) Casino Promotions of the Year.

• His 30+ years of columns with a never-ending focus on the casino customer.

A Loud and Staunch Advocate for Casino Customers

Dennis Conrad may be the loudest and staunchest casino customer advocate in the gaming industry. His signature column series “I Am Your Customer” and “Stop Doing the Stupid Stuff” have for decades pointed the way for the simple formula of finding out what your casino customers want, then giving it to them.

In Dennis’ Opening Keynote Session during COS 2026, he will use candor, humor, relentless logic, and out-of-the-box thinking, as he shares observations from his 50 years of work and play at hundreds of land-based casinos around the globe. He will highlight the casino operators who really “get it,” what they have done and what you can learn from it to thrive in the digital era of customers having numerous new choices!

For more insights, check out Dennis in the podcast: Vegas Unveiled: Insights from Casino Veteran Dennis Conrad by pressing the button below!