It’s great to be back in Cape Town where CHEETEYE was born 7 years ago. We’ve had a great year and I’m enjoying our traditional time of planning over December. Our decision to exhibit at 4 gaming expos was a highlight for me this year as we were able to get further into the world of our users and find out what matters to them. We will once again be exhibiting at 4 gaming shows in 2013, namely ICE (London), WGPC (Las Vegas), NIGA (Phoenix) and G2E Asia (Macau). I look forward to meeting old and new friends!
As we plan for next year, what matters to our users will remain top priority at CHEETEYE. We will continue to make extensive site visits in order to get deep into the world of our users so that our software remains relevant. We will continue to innovate by remaining entirely focused on the gaming industry even though we get numerous requests from other industries to do for them what we’re doing for the gaming industry.
As we move into our 8th year of operation, we will continue to treat this journey as a marathon and not a sprint. Two weeks ago I had the opportunity to spend a few hours with Bruce Fordyce, one of the world’s greatest ultra-marathon runners and the greatest Comrades Marathon runner of all time. The Comrades is an ultra-marathon of approximately 89 km (approx. 56 miles) run between the cities of Durban and Pietermaritzburg in South Africa. Runners from all over the world descend upon Durban in May every year for this famous grueling event. I remember my dad taking me to watch the 1979 Comrades which was won by Piet Vorster with Johnny Halberstadt coming second. Bruce came from behind, which was his tactic – he was way back at half way and whipped through the field to finish third. He came second in 1980 and then from 1981 to 1990 he was unbeatable. I ran my first and only Comrades in 1992 and appreciate all the planning and preparation that precedes an ultra-marathon like the Comrades. I’ve applied my Comrades experience and marathon running to the world of casino protection software. Marathon running requires focus and stamina. Developing casino protection software requires us us to stay focused on the casino industry. It was a huge privilege to spend time with a Comrades legend and I came away inspired by his unbeatable spirit.
I’m extremely thankful to all our CHEETEYE clients who have been running this “business marathon” with us and our new clients who joined the race this year. To our teams in the USA, Europe, Africa and soon to be Asia, thanks for the dedication you’ve shown to our vision. Team work makes the dream work and we look forward to making many dreams come alive next year. Happy holidays and all the best for 2013!
