Jan Jones Blackhurst stood in a large ballroom at the Mirage on Wednesday and showed an image that she said illustrated a critical issue for the casino industry.

The casino industry has evolved a lot since the Mirage’s transformational debut in 1989, but resorts still have room to grow to keep up with today’s customers.

It’s not a casino that makes a resort successful, but the nongaming amenities and the people running the property, casino industry leader Steve Wynn told more than 600 people gathered in Las Vegas for a major gaming conference.

There are now newer and taller resorts, but few opened with the splash that happened on the Strip in 1989. It was the Mirage.

The impact of The Mirage on gaming industry trends and designs is going to be the focus this week of UNLV’s 16th International Conference on Gambling and Risk Taking.

When Steve Wynn opened The Mirage in 1989, skepticism abounded.

How could a $630 million hotel possibly generate enough revenue daily to sustain operations while paying the debt service on construction costs?

Known as the “entertainment capital of the world,” Las Vegas has established itself as a go-to destination for world class amusement and luxury mega-resorts.

More than a quarter century after Steve Wynn kicked off a new chapter in Las Vegas history with the opening of his flashy Mirage resort, he will return to the iconic property for a public reflection of sorts.

Look for the hospitality industry to take a greater interest in hackathons in the months ahead.

Your in-room dining delivered by drone? No idea is off-limits in UNLV’s new hospitality lab.

As Nevada continues its resurgence, university partnerships that broadly support significant industries are welcome and critical to sustained success. A good example of successful partnership is the annual Executive Development Program, designed to further educate gaming professionals from around the world.

State lawmakers from gaming states have joined with the University of Nevada, Las Vegas to seek a common framework of the legislation of internet gaming in all the states.