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Green GamingThe alpha, beta and gamma of becoming an eco-friendly casino
BY Marie-Claude Boudreau and Richard T. Watson
URL : http://www.htmagazine.com/HT/archive/0607/0607_10.html

This article that I found from the hospitality Technology dealt with steps how casinos can save energy cost by going green. As the author says in this article, to go completely green takes changes on three steps, the alpha, beta and gamma change. First step, the alpha change dealt with altering products or processes. Alpha change is more directed at improving products or processes to reduce waste such as sharing servers can save the energy used to spin disks in every desktop. In addition, for casinos, another move would be to move to low energy slot machines or work with suppliers to develop such products. Beta change alters current systems or produces new ones. For example, slot machines and their associated lighting could automatically move into sleep mode when there is no human activity within specific areas of a casino. However, when the area becomes active with customers detecting system reactivates the area. Third the gamma level, the highest level of change, is redesigning physical, managerial and cultural structures. This stage requires the most cost when rebuilding a new structure. Therefore, it is more suitable when implemented in newly constructed casinos.

Reflection
By going eco friendly could benefit not only the casinos but also the whole hospitality industries. Since more and more people are awakening to the global warming, going green (eco friendly) is becoming a major trend these days in hospitality industry and regular life. More and more customers including environmentalists are demanding hotels that are eco friendly and green. By three changes that the author mentioned (alpha, beta and gamma) above casinos and the hospitality industry could definitely benefit from conserving energy (saving energy cost) and sooner the transition is made, there are more chances to achieve competitive advantage and elevate the brand image from others. It is also very important that the casinos and hotels show the customers that how much energy cost has been saved by implementing each stage of changes. As a result, that the customers would also participate in eco-friendly programs at home, such as conservation energy and waste management. However, the whole change has to be introduced gradually, slowly and distinctly from alpha change to gamma change, so that the customers would not be confused and deter by the new system (sleeping mode in slot machines and etc).