AGEM created the unique annual awards program to acknowledge Halle’s and Mead’s lasting impacts on gaming. AGEM formally recognizes the honorees each year at the Global Gaming Expo (G2E) in Las Vegas, and this year’s awards ceremony will take place on Wednesday, Oct. 9 at 2 p.m. in the G2E Networking Lounge on the exhibition show floor.

Steve Sutherland, from his roots in upstate New York, has spent more than three decades in the gaming supplier sector, including his nearly 25 years at Konami Gaming, where he continues to currently serve as its President and Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors. Steve also maintains a presence with key industry associations such as the American Gaming Association and others. Since coming to gaming after roles in the technology industry, Steve forged immediate and strong relationships with others who helped grow the supplier sector into what it is today, including the award’s namesake, Jens Halle.

AGEM Board of Directors Chair Bob Parente, who also serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Business Development Officer for Light & Wonder, said, “Throughout his entire career, Steve has been someone with an executive mindset who knows how to lead, manage and operate a business at an extremely high level. He brought his knowledge from the technology industry into the gaming supplier sector and made a lasting impact on the companies he has led, all while helping mentor countless other commercial executives who now are themselves leaders of gaming supplier companies with global reach. He’s the real deal when it comes to our industry and epitomizes excellence in commercial gaming professionalism. Our supplier sector salutes Steve for all he continues to accomplish and happily presents this year’s Jens Halle award to him.”

Lori Nelson-Kraft, now the Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs for the Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix, has been a leading voice for gaming for nearly three decades. After starting her career advocating for gaming interests at R&R Partners, Lori was the leading public spokesperson for Station Casinos (now Red Rock Resorts) on all its corporate and community efforts inside and outside Nevada for nearly 15 years before joining the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority as its Senior Vice President of Communications in 2019. Throughout her entire career, she has delivered a strong, passionate voice for the benefits of regulated gaming and helped show how the gaming industry positively impacts the communities it serves.

AGEM President Daron Dorsey said, “Lori and her stewardship of our gaming industry message has benefited gaming suppliers, operators, employees and communities in countless ways over the last few decades. We have been so fortunate to have her energy, creativity and drive throughout our ongoing journey for both legitimacy and respect. In fact, we see just how far we have come within our industry when tens of thousands of attendees come to G2E in Las Vegas each October to see tomorrow’s gaming innovations and experience world-class hospitality, leisure and entertainment in multibillion dollar properties along Las Vegas Boulevard, all within a short trip from an international airport hub. We needed champions like Lori as our industry matured and now rely on her and others like her to help tell the next chapter of our growth. We are proud to honor Lori with this year’s Peter Mead award.”

Previous winners of the Jens Halle Award are Len Ainsworth, Rick Meitzler, Gavin Isaacs, Tom Nieman, Robert “Bob” McMonigle, Sebastian Salat, Roy Student, and Bob Manz. Previous winners of the Peter Mead Award are Howard Stutz, Roger Gros, Frank Legato, Dave Palermo, David Orrick, Alan Feldman, Frank Fantini, and Victor Rocha.

Halle, a longtime Bally and Novomatic executive in Europe, was most recently CEO of Gauselmann Group’s Merkur Gaming before his untimely passing. Similarly, Mead was the founder and publisher of Casino Enterprise Management magazine.

Current gaming professionals were nominated for these memorial awards based on the following criteria that aim to capture the unique attributes displayed by Halle and Mead during their storied careers:

Jens Halle Memorial Award Honoring Excellence in Commercial Gaming Professionalism
Nominees must have experience working in the global gaming supplier sector for a minimum of 10 years and possess the following traits and qualities that Jens displayed throughout his working life: Professionalism; business success; international scope; attention to detail and timely follow-up; a willingness to ‘go the extra mile,’ both figuratively and literally; a sense of humanity in an oft-times cutthroat business; a recognition of the importance of a handshake and a fair deal for all; and a dedication to the health of the industry as a whole.

Peter Mead Memorial Award Honoring Excellence in Gaming Media & Communications 
Nominees must have experience working in the mainstream media, gaming trade press or individual gaming company PR/communications for a minimum of 10 years and possess the following traits and qualities that Peter displayed throughout his working life: Quality reporting and communication with an emphasis on personal contact to generate ideas and gather information; taking risks and questioning the status quo; challenging the industry to consider new ideas; and identifying trusted partners to improve the overall product.