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Raphael Arnold is the Founder and CEO of NetRefer which is located in Malta and part of the Arnold Media Group. Raphael has over 9 years of experience in the iGaming industry. Mainly serving as a Consultant to many small, medium and large sized iGaming companies, his expertise lies in setting up operations and management consulting.
Prior to NetRefer, Raphael was responsible for setting up the Gaming Division for the Austrian Sports Book Interwetten for which he is still a Gaming Consultant. NetRefer was started in November 2005 and was specifically aimed at the iGaming market in order to fill the need for highly customised and feature rich Affiliate Software. Raphael and the NetRefer Team aim to make its Affiliate Software the Gold Standard in the industry.
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Santiago is partner of Asensi Abogados, a law firm specialising in the Gaming, Audiovisual and Entertainment sector with offices in Spain.
Santiago was the in-house lawyer for an online operator for three years. His firm provides legal advice to a large number of slot suppliers, software providers, sports betting, casino, bingo and skill games operators and gaming jurisdictions with interests located in Spain/Europe.
Santiago is the General Member for Spain of the International Masters of Gaming Law. Asensi Abogados is a co-partner law firm of the portal, Gaminglaw.eu.
Santiago has collaborated on the Spanish Gambling Market Report for the Media Entertainment Consulting Network. He is a frequent speaker at gaming conferences and publishes articles about the Spanish gaming industry on a regular basis. He has been a member of the Studies, Reports & Projects Commission of the General Spanish Bar Association.
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The established entities in the online casino world understand that Casinomeister makes a difference. Casinomeister is one of the first portals established (June 1998).
Bryan Bailey, the owner operator, is known for his arbitration skills and for pointing the finger at the evil casinos and scam operations. Besides writing one of the most prolific newsletters available online, he produces a weekly webcast that both informs and entertains listeners concerning the "dos and don'ts" of online gambling.
Casinomeister was awarded "Watchdog of the Year" for the years 2002, 2003 and 2004 by Gambling Online Magazine's reader's poll for his untiring efforts at mediating player problems.
He has a background in teaching English and Creative Writing at numerous colleges and universities in the Southern California area. He also has a military background and was decorated during the First Persian Gulf War. Presently, he resides in Germany. |
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The Betsson group is a Swedish gambling company with over 40 years in the business. The group is specialises in Internet gambling and has 150 employees. It is listed on the stock market in Stockholm as "Bets-B".
Betsson Online offers a wide range of first-class online gambling products and games in a safe and user-friendly gaming environment. The company’s product portfolio currently includes: - Sportsbook, Exchange betting, Casino, Poker and Scratch.
At the end of the second quarter of 2007, the number of registered customers exceeded 700000
Björn Bergström is responsible for bridging the world of product development and technical development, making sure that Betsson’s products stay, sharp, exciting and very user friendly. He recently launched Betsson Bingo and has also worked with Betsson’s Live Betting client and their Sportsbook betting service. Bjorn is committed to improving the player experience and this includes adding new and exiting games as well as improving Betsson’s already successful games.
Previously, Björn worked as a usability & user experience specialist for 15 years, working for companies such as TeliaSonera, Framfab, and Adcore/Connecta in Sweden and Icon Medialab Asia in Singapore. He holds a University Diploma in Psychology from Uppsala University, Sweden.
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Brandon is an industry leader in the affiliate community having written numerous articles on affiliate marketing. He helped build the largest poker affiliate community at PokerAffiliateWorld.com and has become a mentor for hundreds of affiliates.
ChanPoker recently launched on the OnGame network. Brandon’s responsibilities are to create, manage, and grow the ChanPoker Affiliate Program. These duties involve software creation, account management, marketing the program as well as other duties. Brandon has just completed the creation of ChanPoker’s new affiliate software set to release in July 2007.
Brandon is very excited for the ChanPoker launch, and the company aims to be a centre point in the poker industry. Having one of the greatest poker players in the history of the game, they believe, gives a very strong brand which they are looking to capitalise on.
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Phill Brear was appointed as Head of Gambling Regulation for Gibraltar in October 2007 following two years as Director of Operations with the British Gambling Commission. His involvement in gambling regulation arose in the last years of his police service as Deputy Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police when he acted as the police advisor to the former Gaming Board of Great Britain.
Having played a leading part in the roll out of the UK Gambling Act and the establishment of the Gambling Commission, and having gained experience across the breadth of the British gambling industry, the switch to Gibraltar, ‘home to the world’s leading online gambling operators’ has brought a new set of challenges, as Gibraltar adopts its own new Gambling Act and the codes and guidance that flow from it. Whilst the contrast of regulating the many thousands of operators in the UK compares starkly with the 20 licence holders in Gibraltar, the most noticeable difference is the immediate proximity and access ‘the Rock’ provides to the management, staff and gambling facilities of its licence holders.
Despite the number of licence holders in Gibraltar being constrained by Government policy, the industry and its support services continue to expand both their offer and the essential infrastructure. This ensures that the widest range of services are accessible to an expanding range of customers, as the wave of legal challenge and change spreads across Europe and elsewhere in the world.
Phill holds a first class Management degree from Manchester University, a diploma in Criminology from Cambridge University and the Queen’s Police Medal for distinguished service.
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Michael Caselli has been involved in the gaming industry since 1996 when he completed his Masters work at the University of London (Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) analyzing the viability of gaming on the Internet. Since then, Michael has helped to successfully launch several online and print gaming publications. Current publications include onlinecasinonews.com, iGaming Business, CAP Magazine, Bluff Magazine, Bluff Europe and Gambling.com Magazine. Michael Caselli is considered one of the world’s leading experts on online gaming and has served as chairman of numerous International forums and conferences that focus on interactive gaming throughout Europe, Asia and America. |
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Frank Chan is the Director of Samvo Group which is comprised of Samvo Asia Pacific Inc. and Samvo Entertainment Ltd. Frank and his team at Samvo Entertainment Ltd focus on the development of online entertainment specifically in the areas of Sportsbook betting and Casino gaming.
Before assuming his current position, Frank worked as an Investment Banker gaining over 10 years of experience in the fields of Corporate Finance and the Equity Capital Market in Asia.
Frank obtained a B.Sc (Hon) degree in Finance from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST), followed by a Masters degree in Management from the University of Bristol and a second Masters degree in International Business from Ecole Nationale des Pont et Chausees in Paris, France. He also attended Executive programmes in Business Valuations & Analysis and Financial Markets at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
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Gambling911.com is one of the premiere news and information web sites catering to the international online gambling market.
Publisher Christopher Costigan started the site in 2000. Gambling911.com covers the whole gamut of the gambling industry from sports to poker to entertainment and political betting. Christopher Costigan has appeared on such diverse mediums as Fox News, CNBC and The Weather Channel (discussing, what else? Hurricane betting). Additionally, Gambling911.com has been mentioned in dozens of leading publications and press outlets: everything from Playboy to the Wall Street Journal.
Gambling911.com remains one of the primary resources for news concerning developments in the legal climate of online gambling in the US. It has reported extensively on the court challenge filed by independent trade organization iMEGA.org and has interviewed US Presidential candidate Ron Paul, the only candidate who voted against the UIGEA.
Mr. Costigan resides in Miami Beach. The Gambling911.com web site is hosted out of a state-of-the-art facility in Lloydminster, Alberta Canada.
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Louise Croft Baker joined Betfair as Head of User Experience in October 2006 where she leads the team responsible for usability, information architecture and design. Louise holds a PhD in Consumer Behaviour and has previously worked as Head of User Experience for companies including O2 and Avenue A | Razorfish UK. |
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Previously ATE, Clarion Gaming is the world's leading provider of business information and services to the international gaming, gambling, coin-operated and electronic amusements and leisure industries.
Clarion Gaming provides independently researched, timely business information in the most relevant format, from major international gatherings such as ICEi to small, focused seminars. Clarion Gaming works with industry leaders and influencers to provide delegates and speakers alike with first class debate, information exchange and networking opportunities. For more information, please visit www.clariongaming.com.
Using wide-ranging knowledge through indepth research on industry trends and developments, Justina writes the programmes and sources the speakers for Clarion Gaming conferences, including EiG 2007. Justina also conducts business development projects at the company. |
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Scott Davies is managing director of Million 2-1, the UK’s leading interactive competition, lottery and games company. Together with co-founder, Chris Sheffield, Scott has been instrumental in obtaining a UK lottery licence for the business. Scott is at the fore front of industry regulatory issues, ensuring that the company operates in a compliant and socially responsible manner.
Scott was formally the creative director and co-founder of Eunite LTD, the head of design at Sportal and also ran the internet solutions team at Mason’s Communications. Scott is also a qualified graphic designer and experienced in brand development for all media channels
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Jon received a Dphil in Visual and Computational Neuroscience from Oxford University and later worked there as a post doctorial researcher – his research looked at the ways the brain processes visual information and how people make decisions based on that information.
In 1999 he left academia to co-found Bunnyfoot – initially as a web usability consultancy, but with a view to developing it into what it has now become – a behavioral research consultancy that uses the principles of psychological knowledge and research to empower commercial organizations to communicate more effectively with their customers (regardless of the communication channel). A key factor in this development has been the adoption and innovation in the use of remote eyetracking technology, which unlike in his academic days, frees the test participant to behave naturally without feeling that they are a lab rat.
Jon has recently headed up projects for Microsoft, Dyson, Virgin holidays, The Times, MSN, BOC and O2 and is working in partnership with BetFair to deliver cutting edge insights into the behaviour of online and offline gamers.
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Justin started his career as a croupier in the casino industry while he studied both law and philosophy at the Universities of Leuven (Belgium), Maastricht and Amsterdam. Before he was admitted to the Bar, he worked as legal counsel in Amsterdam and New York for a gaming software company.
Justin founded the European Gaming and Entertainment Services Group, a multi-disciplined group within the international KPMG network. He later established a dedicated gaming betting and licensing practice group. He also recently co-founded GAMINGLAW.EU, the European portal on gaming law and regulation.
Justin currently works as an attorney at Van Mens & Wisselink attorneys-at-law, tax attorneys and civil law notaries where he focuses entirely on the gaming and gambling market. Van Mens & Wisselink are engaged in the majority of past and pending proceedings on (cross-border) gaming before the Dutch courts. Justin has advised the Dutch Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Economic Affairs on the regulation of the casino industry in The Netherlands and he contributed to the EC report “Study of Gambling Services in the Internal Market”.
Justin is the elected Dutch General Member of the International Masters of Gaming Law and a member of the International Association of Gaming Attorneys. He was awarded a “band 1” ranking in Chambers Global Edition 2008.
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Richard is Chief Executive of the Sporting Index Group, the world’s largest sports and event spread betting company with an estimated UK market share of over 75%. Sporting Index offers spread bets on a wide range of international sports and on media, television and world events. The company transacts predominantly through its websites and also offers customers the ability to bet on mobile phones and via telephone. Uniquely, over 50% of all bets are taken ‘in play’, i.e. during the event.
Sporting Index has also developed a wide range of on-line, proprietary gaming products, utilising its compelling higher/lower mechanism.
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GamblingUA is the source of effective decisions and all-round professional services in the field of development, forma¬tion and growth of online gambling business oriented to a very specific audience – Russian-speaking gamblers.
In November 2006, GamblingUA was founded by a group of professionals with more than 10 years experience in de¬veloping the offline gambling industry in the Ukraine. Now we provide comprehensive assistance in creation, registra¬tion, licensing, and further development of online activities either directly or indirectly related to gambling business.
Retrospective analysis of the E-commerce world shows the major keys of success as plasticity, mobility and ability to react timely and sufficiently upon Internet dynamics and traits of customer’s demands. We provide assistance in launching new projects, taking proper account of the necessity to coordinate original aims. In other words, our goal is to ensure success of the customer’s enterprise under any conditions, to build development and self-preservation mecha¬nisms inside.
As the one and only business resource in the Ukraine for the development and back-up of the online gambling industry, we offer full or partial development cycle and support with professional marketing research and analysis, physical and legal address, jurisdiction and financial reports.
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GameVillage was the vision of founders Lawrence Gouett (CEO) and Juan Murillo (CTO).
Since 1999, Gouett has been building large-scale community sites and ground breaking product platforms. He has an International reputation for original and innovative solutions and his past clients include industry leaders in their respective sectors including JackpotJoy, Bingoworkz and SportingBet to name a few.
“We see the European marketplace ready for our new breed of games. Players clearly want more variety and original game choices beyond the tried and true products of the past. Estimates indicate that over 200,000,000 existing online casual gamers play these style of games every month!
GameVillage’s mission is to create ‘breakout’ hits that have the potential to not only compliment an online bingo/slot operation but to exceed these traditional sales channels.
Lawrence’s team has spent three years crafting live games and a library of over 250 new game styles to continue to lead the sector in the years to come.
His personal mission is to create brand name games that become widely recognised consumer favorites online. “In the future players won’t ask if you have 90Ball bingo, but instead if you have our Dingo or SuperGems games.”
GameVillage is the ultimate social network for gamers! When players join, they are immediately welcomed into an extended family of online friends and competitors. Players are issued their very own home on a specific street and house number in the village. Over time players are introduced to advanced networking and virtual features to bring the village more to life for our players.
For Lawrence, the company’s biggest Challenges are balancing free play interests with cash player value and extracting maximum value from players in a market with highly competitive progressives and payouts. GameVillage aims to launch our brand in new locations feeding centralize progressive pots.
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Gabriel Gresta is Deputy Chairman of Digital Magics Group and President of Bibop Research, the TV company of the group engaged in the development of new interactive formats for broadband TV and participation TV. Born in Terni in 1971, Gresta began to work at a young age in the software field.
At the age of 15 Gresta was already Director of Software Development in a multinational company (Alpha Center in Arezzo) and at 16 he created the first superlearning system in Alpha. Not having yet turned 20, after various technical internships in the UK, US and Australia, he unleashed his musical creativity making the most of the digital revolution brought about by computers. At the same time he continued his activity of consulting for Italian and international software societies.
Passionately fond of music, Gabriele Gresta experienced the first interactions between art and technology with the Mato Grasso project: digital rap music. It reached first place in the dance parade in Italy with 6 European hits and an album.
Later, he ended up on television as presenter, author and producer of hugely successful programs on national channels such as Tmc 2 and MTV Italy. Between his usual activities he presents programs and live events, coordinates Telecom Italia's communication linked to special events and brings the concept of Infotainment to life.
In 1995 he founded Bibop Research one of the most important crossmedia agencies that realizes events and projects of interactive communication online and offline. In the meanwhile, Bibop Research followed very important projects such as: the realization of the portale Mediaset (Mol), the production of format "2008" for Italia 1, Futurshow 2002 for Telecom Italy, Tim Tour 2002.
In January 2001, he held a speech on the role of young intellectual leaders in Conference Room One at the United Nations in New York in a conference about "Intellectual leaders striving for the stable development of mankind".
Since January 2003, Gresta was engaged in ideation and production of Alice Live, the first example of interactive web TV on www.rossalice.it by Telecom Italia. As an expert on new technologies, he is a speaker of various conventions and seminaries.
At the beginning of 2004, he founded together with Enrico Gasperini, Digital Magics Group a digital media company focused on the conception, production and distribution of interactive crossmedia contents, events and original formats for different technological platforms: Broadband, mobile, DTT, DVD, i-TV and broadcast. |
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Ebbe Groes is CEO and founder of BetBrain.com, one of the World’s most visited odds information services. He has a masters and a Ph.D. degree in economics, with a research career into decision making and game theory, including one-year stays at London School of Economics and Harvard University. In 1997 he co-founded Kapowtech, now a world leader in advanced Internet robot technology. Ebbe was CEO there until February 2001, when BetBrain.com was founded. Since then BetBrain has grown steadily to now become one of the largest suppliers of high end customers to bookmakers. In October 2007, BetBrain launched AdFactory88, a banner service for the bookmaking industry which allows for very rapid creation and editing of advertising banners with odds. |
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Partner and founder with Julian Harris of the first ever niche gambling and leisure law firm in the UK, located in the City of London. John qualified in 1993 and specialises exclusively in gambling law. The firm represents many of the world’s largest gambling and leisure operators, as well as UK operators in all areas of land based and remote gambling and was a finalist in the “Niche Law Firm of the Year” category of the prestigious Lawyer Awards 2006. The firm is frequently instructed by other leading City and overseas law firms to provide specialist gambling and leisure expertise in relation to substantial transactions. John is an experienced advocate, a frequent and respected conference speaker and a regular contributor of articles to national and international gaming publications. |
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Wulf is a partner and co-founder of the law firm Hambach & Hambach Rechtsanwaelte, (www.timelaw.de), a specialised law boutique for advice on German and International Law of the TIME-Industries / Telecommunication - IT - Media & Entertainment, with a special focus on Gaming Law.
For several years, Wulf has been a General Member of the International Masters of Gaming Law as well as a Member of the International Association of Gaming Advisors. Furthermore, he is co-founder of the European portal on gaming and gambling law www.gaminglaw.eu. In 2008, he was recommended as No. 1 in German Gaming Law by the independent ranking commentary “Chambers and Partners”. Recently he was awarded “Lawyer of the Year 2008” by the World Online Gambling Law Report, the leading sector publication.
Wulf can be reached at info@timelaw.de
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Recognised as a leading expert in national and international gambling and licensing law, Julian Harris is highly regarded by both operators and regulators throughout the world. He and John Hagan are the founder partners of Harris Hagan, the first UK law firm specialising in legal services to the gambling and leisure industries. He, John and other members of the firm have been at the forefront of those advising UK and international operators alike on the opportunities presented by the UK Government’s major reform of gambling law.
With over 20 years experience of gambling law Julian has advised some of the world's largest gaming and entertainment industry corporations, He and his team have also advised trade associations, including the British Casino Association and the Casino Operators’ Association of the UK. Julian came to specialise in this area representing the Gaming Board for Great Britain (the UK regulator) for five years early in his career.
Julian is an experienced advocate, a respected and sought after conference speaker and the author of numerous articles and papers for gaming and legal publications and in the national press. He is recommended in all sides to the legal profession, and has been described by Chambers Guide as “astute” and “never misses a trick”. Julian is a Trustee of the International Association of Gaming Attorneys.
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In his position as an MEP, Joel takes part in the following: the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection; the Scientific Technology Options Assessment Panel; the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs; the EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee; the EU-Russia Joint Parliamentary Committee; and the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly.
Joel has a Doctorate in management sciences (Jean Moulin University, Lyon) and is a Graduate in civil engineering (Technical University of Lisbon). He is a Professor at the New University of Lisbon.
Joel has been a Member of the Portuguese Parliament for over 15 years and, during that time, he has been President and member of the board of several companies.
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Clive Hawkswood has been Chief Executive of the Remote Gambling Association (RGA) since its establishment in August 2005 following the merger of the Association of Remote Gambling Operators (ARGO) and the Interactive Gaming, Gambling and Betting Association (iGGBA). Before that he was the General Secretary of ARGO.
Clive was formerly head of the Betting & Racing Branch at the British Department for Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS). Prior to that, he was at the Home Office, spending time in both the Gambling Section and the Horseracing Policy Team. Earlier in his career he spent several years working in the bookmaking industry.
He is also a Director of the Responsibility in Gambling Trust (RIGT), the British charity that raises and allocates funds for problem gambling related research, education and treatment.
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Operating in London and Brussels, Wes advises clients on a range of gaming and gambling public policy and commercial issues. He maintains effective relations with key Parliamentary decision-makers in London and Brussels, the European Commission, the Member States and regulators.
Wes provides information services and strategic advice on EU public policy issues to the Remote Gambling Association (RGA). Through this, he has worked with large gambling operators in the areas of online gambling, betting, gaming and amusement. He is also involved in offline casino development and regulation risk control.
Wes worked for a number of years in Washington DC as Director of State Development for the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). In this capacity, he worked with state legislative leaders throughout the United States and major US corporations. Wes moved to Europe to work as the Brussels Representative for the European Policy Forum and as an aide to a member of the European Parliament. He gained a Masters of Business Administration from the Katholieke University Leuven, Belgium - one of Europe's top business schools. Wes oversees all practices within the firm and has particular experience in strategic and commercial advice. |
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Luisa Hoffman is a senior associate in the Media, Communications and Technology team at law firm Olswang. Her work primarily focuses on the gambling, sport, media rights and advertising sectors. In contrast to many other gambling specialists, she advises on both commercial and regulatory matters across all those sectors, drawing also on the firm's particular expertise in new media.
Luisa's gambling clients include Sportech, PartyGaming, Boylesports and Jaxx. She also frequently provides gambling-related advice to a broad range of non-gambling clients, including sports rights-holders such as the Rugby Football Union and Tottenham Hotspur plc, broadcasters such as Channel 4, ITV and Setanta, publishers such as The Guardian and ISPs such as Microsoft.
Olswang is a leading business law firm with a distinctive approach. It aims to distinguish itself by offering informed and practical advice across the full range of service lines. Its Gambling Team comprises lawyers from its Corporate, Media/Technology, Tax, Litigation, Competition, Intellectual Property and Real Estate practices
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Matt is responsible for rolling out the Bodog offering into Europe in conjunction with Bodog Music, Bodog TV and Bodog Fight. Currently he is putting together European teams and core operational competencies.
Founded in 1994, Bodog.com Entertainment, with its head office located in the Caribbean nation of Antigua, is one of the world's fastest growing media and digital entertainment giants. Bodog.com offers a host of entertainment services, including: online gaming; an international record label, Bodog Music; a million-dollar band search competition, Bodog Battle of the Bands; a publishing division (with an online magazine, Bodog Nation, and blog, Bodog Beat); and an international television production division (BodogTV), which has produced reality television series, such as BodogFight, Calvin Ayre Wild Card Poker and Bodog Salutes the Troops.
Recently Bodog has diversified internationally and is moving into Europe and Asia.
Bodog believes its unique product offering and business model is going to be very successful in Europe and be a challenge to existing operators in this space.
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Anton Kaszubowski has been working as a senior executive in the iGaming sector since 2002. Anton was Managing Director of AIM listed FUN Technologies plc until it was sold to Liberty Media Corp in 2006 and is currently Chief Executive of the multi-platform TV and online gaming business, Pitchgaming.com. Prior to 2002, Anton specialised in providing mergers & acquisitions and financing advice to media, technology and leisure companies for Longacre Partners, Fleet BancBoston and JP Morgan Chase. Anton is also a Director of Scandinavian operator BetonBet and UK based 3D social networking platform developer, Dubit Limited. |
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Kingstone has been President of WMF(World Mahjong Federation) since 2001. In this capacity, Kingstone published "World Mahjong" in English earlier in 2007. The book presents a new mahjong rule which is well recognized by many mahjong professionals worldwide. In the same time he launched the mahjong portal, www.worldmahjong.net in which people can play a class of online mahjong games with highly intelligent cyber players and scientific time control system. Kingstone has also been the Chief Executive Officer of TankSoft Inc. since 1998 and obtained patents on the mahjong gamin machine(including software) from Japan, USA, Taiwan, Korea and China(May 2001 – November 2003). Kingstone is now preparing some world mahjong championship tournaments which could lead the mahjong to be the world pastime. Kingstone obtained a Doctorate degree in developing algorithms at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1985 and has lectured as an instructor/professor to some Korean colleges. |
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John Lancelet is 36 years old and he has been working on different projects in software development field since 1991. In 2004 he has started to design and lead the development of the new mobile gaming platform, which is now explored by two online casinos Slotland and GigaSlot. Their world-wide mobile services are offering unique slot and video poker games for over 1200 different mobile phone devices supporting Java. The total number of registered players has reached several tens of thousands. Rich initial experiences with introduction of mobile casino services into the fragmented mobile market have been gained. The main direction for the future progress is to try to expand mobile services on a larger player base and to increase the overturn generated from mobiles to the level of at least 10% of the online overturn. |
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Gigi Levy serves as the CEO of 888 Holdings.
Prior to his current role, Gigi worked for Amdocs, one of the world’s largest software providers and systems integrators for the Telecom market (NYSE: DOX), where his last position was Division President managing Amdocs’ activity in Europe (except Eastern Europe), Central and Latin America. In his previous role Gigi was the VP in charge of Amdocs’ activity in Western Europe.
Prior to joining Amdocs, Gigi held several Interim Management and consulting roles in various companies in Israel and the UK.
Earlier in his career, Gigi served as the CEO of Giltek, a telecommunication systems integrator serving major Telecom operators around the world, specializing in turn-key network infrastructure projects. Before that he headed Girit telecommunications, an Israeli ICT systems integrator.
Gigi holds an MBA from the Kellogg school of management in the Northwestern University. |
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Mr. Leyden is the president of the Interactive Media Entertainment & Gaming Association (iMEGA) in Washington, DC. A seasoned litigator in federal and state courts, Ed currently serves as Vice Chairman of the American Bar Association (ABA), Section of Taxation, and the Committee on Employment Taxes. Ed is also a Contract Advisor for the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA). Ed is a graduate of Drexel University, and earned his law degrees at the University of Baltimore and Georgetown University. |
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Scott Longley has been editor of eGaming Review for two and a half years. Previous to that he was deputy editor of UK personal finance magazine Bloomberg Money. He has over 10 years experience in the field of publishing, and has previously contributed to a number of other magazines and newspapers. In his time at eGaming Review he has represented the magazine both on TV and radio and in print. |
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Wayne Lurie is a South African attorney and director of Lurie Incorporated in Johannesburg, specialising in advising clients on all aspects of general commercial, information technology and gambling law. In providing its services to a large variety of enterprises and individuals, Lurie Inc has developed a niche expertise in online gambling law and consults clients all over the world with regard to various aspects related thereto.
Wayne is a general member of the International Masters of Gaming Law organisation. He also frequently lectures and writes articles on IT and Internet law and assisted the South African National Gambling Board on its report pertaining to internet gaming regulation in South Africa.
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YooMedia has been a leader in innovative interactive gaming on multiple platforms in the UK and is the one of the most experienced operators on TV, mobile and internet. The world’s first live-presented interactive TV gambling channel, Avago, was launched in 2002 and the company has gone on to work with William Hill, Gala and Playboy, amongst others. YooMedia operates under a UK licence and offers fixed odds gaming on TV, mobile and web platforms. In December 2007 YooMedia announced a proposed merger with Spain’s leading interactive business Fresh to form a new multinational specialist interactive business which will be called Mirada plc. Neil MacDonald was appointed Group Managing Director in June 2005, and will become the Chief Operating Officer of Mirada plc on its formation. Neil has extensive experience of the interactive and multimedia industries having held roles as CEO of Sportal, General Manager of Internet services for British Telecommunications plc, and VP Europe for Fujitsu ICL Computers. Before these online sectors emerged he was in the retail industry, latterly as Marketing Director at Dixons Stores Group. |
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Quirino is a Partner at Sinisi Ceschini Mancini (www.scm-partners.it), a general practice firm with offices in Rome, Milan, Genoa and Republic of San Marino. The firm’s main areas of practice are telecommunications, new media and sports & entertainment.
Over the past decade Quirino has developed an almost unique knowledge and practice in matters related to national/EU gaming and betting legislation, assisting several Internet and land-based casinos, gaming houses and sportsbook companies in connection with their Italian operations and market entry projects as well as advising on all related licensing, regulatory and compliance aspects
Quirino has been involved in various phases of the flotation of some of the largest online gaming companies on the London Stock Exchange as well in most acquisition, joint-venture and licensing deals recently entered into between foreign-based gaming operators and Italian licensed ones. He also acts for and advises many operators who entered the terrestrial and online Italian betting & gaming market following its recent liberalisation (Summer 2006).
In October 2006, Quirino was massively involved, on behalf of various foreign-based bidders, with the licence tender called by the Italian gaming regulatory authority
Quirino is General Counsel to the Interperformances Group, the biggest European basketball players agency with offices in Italy, San Marino and the USA. He is a member of the editorial boards of the WorldOnline Gaming Law Report and World Sports Law Review and co-founder of www.gaminglaw.eu. He is a fellow member of the International Masters of Gaming Law, the International Association of Gaming Attorneys, the Sports Lawyers Association and the International Bar Association
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Dominic joined the NetPlay board in April 2008 as CEO of Bingos.com.
Dominic was the Managing Director of Bingos.com for the 4 years prior to the acquisition of the business by NetPlay TV. Under Dominic’s direction, Bingos.com went from investment to profitability in less than 4 years and generated £1m EBIT in the 12 months to March 2008. More recently, Dominic was responsible for selling the business to NetPlay.
Dominic was previously the Managing Director of GlobalCom London, where during his employment he established the business throughout Europe and the Middle East and launched the company's bingo software product (which was recently sold to 888). Dominic has a degree in Business Studies (Licence IUP-MGE) from the Universite de Savoie, Chambery, France and a BA (Hons) degree in European Business Studies from Manchester Metropolitan University. |
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With extensive management experience in service, outsourcing and high growth software firms, Mr. Martin joined the NETELLER Group in July 2005 as Chief Operating Officer and was appointed to his current role in January 2006. Prior to joining the NETELLER Group, Mr. Martin held senior executive positions with companies such as The Franchise Corporation, a subsidiary of the FirstService Corporation, Job Advantage.com and Salesnet Inc. Most recently, Mr. Martin held the position of Vice President, North America where he was recruited by Benchmark Capital to lead all aspects of Globoforce’s North American operations with a focus on rapid top line growth and sound product development. |
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Debbie Mason is an industry authority and leading pioneer within the TV/gaming arena. She has 25+ years broadcast television and content creation experience. MM Media Matrix advises clients on development and creation of interactive digital TV channels and programmes.
As founder of DITG, and Group Creative Director and Managing Director of subsidiary Digital Television Production Company (DTPC), Debbie created and launched AVAGO (now Gala TV), the first ‘gambling’ and fully interactive play channel onto the Sky platform in 2002, and a further 11 interactive TV channels including iSports TV (purchased by William Hill). AVAGO received a BAFTA nomination and won New Media Age’s Award for most innovative interactive use. Following DITG Debbie was Interactive Commissioner for ITV, responsible for the development of new interactive formats and the enhancement of existing formats.
Debbie’s JV with Elisabeth Murdoch’s company Shine launched MyGamesFever, the first ever daily afternoon PTV show for the US market, on My Network TV (31 M homes) in December 2006 followed her success with the creation and launch of Quizmania for Fremantle in the UK.
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Eric is responsible for all products and offerings that Boss Media sells and markets.
Boss Media was founded in 1996 and is leading software and systems developer digitally distributed gaming entertainment. The Company offers Casino, Poker and Bingo solution for both Private operators such as Sportingbet and William Hill, as well as for State operators such as Svenska Spel. Before joing Boss Media, Eric work with Media and Entertainment clients at global consulting and technology firm Accenture.
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Andrew McIver, aged 44, formerly Group Finance Director, took over as Group Chief Executive in October 2006. Andrew qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Arthur Andersen. Following two years in the Corporate Finance department at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, he held senior positions at Signet Group Plc, Ladbroke Group Plc and British Telecom’s Internet division. He was then Director of Finance with House of Fraser Plc for four years, before joining Sportingbet in December 2001. In October 2006, after four and half years in this role, Andrew stepped into the shoes of Nigel Payne to become Group Chief Executive for the Sportingbet Group. Nigel has since become an Non-Executive Director of the company.
Andrew took on this role during a challenging period for both Sportingbet and the industry as a whole. Since the passing of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 by US congress on 29 September 2006, Sportingbet has closed its various US facing businesses, concentrated customer services into one location, moved licensable activities from the UK to the Channel Islands and merged two poker platforms into a single Boss platform.
The business is now in a robust shape to focus on its future of being a mass market customer champion of online retail gaming.
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A partner in Jeffrey Green Russell's Company and Commercial department, Nick Nocton specialises in gaming and betting law, acting for a number of the
world's leading online and terrestrial gambling companies.
Nick is a regular speaker at international gambling conferences and a regular contributor to leading trade publications, including World Online
Gambling Law Report, e-Gaming Review and iGaming Business. Nick is an active member of the Remote Gambling Association and the Society for the
Study of Gambling and a member of the International Masters of Gaming Law.
Nick Nocton can be contacted on +44 207 339 7000 or njn@jgrlaw.co.uk. |
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Petter joined the Unibet Group in 2005. Prior to that date, he was CEO and Managing Partner of OMD Sweden AB, which is part of the international Omnicom Group. From 1994 to 2003 he held various senior positions within Swedish-listed Modern Times Group MTG AB. These included CEO TV3 Sweden, CEO TV3 Scandinavia and VP Global Broadcasting.
Petter was a Member of the Board of Cherryföretagen during 2001-2003 and Ongame e-solutions during 2004-2005. He holds a BSc (Econ) from Stockholm University, Sweden.
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Jonas Ödman is Managing Director of Gnuf, an online gaming site that was launched in January 2007. Ödman has played live poker for more than twenty years, and online since 2000. He has worked in the Internet industry since 1998, and in the online gaming industry since 2004.
One of the earliest demands from the people behind Gnuf was to go against the flow and focus on user based content. Gnuf was not just going to be another gaming site, but also a place to meet on a more personal level.
The idea of having an active online social life may have been dismissed as plain nonsense ten years ago, but the rules of interaction hun changed. Today, being online is being social. Millions of people around the world interact through forums, communities and blogs everyday.
Surprisingly, there are still user-driven Internet based industries who are yet to discover this movement, and continue to run their sites with very limited possibilities for their users to interact with each other. The online gaming industry is one of them, but Gnuf is about to change that.
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Scott is a recognized thought leader in Security. He has had articles published in such publications as Computerworld and has spoken at security events such as RSA and Digital ID World. Most recently, Scott headed the marketing team at Mirage Networks a provider of Network Access Control solutions. Prior to Mirage Networks, Scott ran marketing at WholeSecurity, a behavioral endpoint security solution provider, which was sold to Symantec in 2005. In addition to other marketing leadership roles at NetSolve and productmarketing.com, Scott co-founded WheelGroup Corporation, which produced the first commercially viable Intrusion Detection System (IDS), known as NetRanger. In 1998, WheelGroup was acquired by Cisco Systems and NetRanger became the backbone of their IDS technology.
Scott started his career as an early member of the Air Force Computer Emergency Response Team, where he tracked hackers and protected, tested and monitored Air Force sites.
Scott holds a B.S.E. in Electrical Engineering from Duke University and an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin. In 2007 Scott received the Distinguished Young Alumni award from the Duke University Pratt School of Engineering. Scott is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP). |
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Mr. Owens is a California attorney specializing in the law of Internet and interactive gaming , and related issues worldwide since 1998. He co-authored INTERNET GAMING LAW with Professor Nelson Rose, America’s senior authority on gambling law ( Mary Ann Liebert Publishers, 2005, second edition due 2008), as well numerous other articles. He currently serves on the Editorial board of Gaming Law Review magazine.
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Roger Parkes has been involved in the gambling industry for over twenty years. He has been both regulator and operator in the remote and terrestrial sectors in areas including Australasia, Egypt, Greece, Alderney and the UK. He was closely involved in developing the risk-based compliance model for the New Zealand casino regulator, the regulatory testing of internet based gaming systems and also involved with developing the Alderney remote gaming standards.
Immediately prior to joining Betfair, Roger was a consultant to the UK Gambling Commission to assist them in developing the internet gambling regime. Roger joined Betfair in May 2007 where, as Head of Regulatory Compliance, he leads a team responsible for the compliance of an expanding portfolio of all Betfair’s products around the world.
Betfair was launched in June 2000 and is the world’s leading betting exchange. In its first month Betfair matched less than £50,000 of bets a week. Within a year that weekly figure had risen to over £1 million, and by August 2002 that passed £50 million. Since then Betfair has revolutionised the world of gambling and has expanded year on year. Betfair now has more than 2 million registered customers worldwide and handles an average 6.4 million transactions a day, more than all of Europe’s stock exchanges combined.
The main exchange is based in the UK, but there are also casino, poker, exchange games, multiples and TaiKai (tournaments) based in Malta. There is an Australian licence based in Tasmania offering bets on Australian markets and events, and licences in Austria and Germany. In addition, Betfair is licensed in Italy to take bets on Italian sporting events, holds a restricted e-gambling licence in Alderney, and owns TVG, an American pari-mutuel wagering business and TV channel which shows races on which its customers can wager.
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Lorien works as an analyst for Global Betting and Gaming Consultants in its Isle of Man office.
He is involved with the publication of GBGC's Global Gambling Report as well as its various consultancy projects.
Prior to this he was an adviser to a fantasy sports company and in 2007 he spent several months in China investigating the country's gambling market.
He has also worked as a racing journalist and in the business development department of a leading UK gambling firm.
Lorien currently serves on the committee of the Society for the Study of Gambling and writes for Interactive Gaming News.
lorien@gbgc.com
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Francesco is a founding partner of Portolano Colella Cavallo, where he counsels clients on the legal aspects of starting and operating a Media business.
In over 10 years of work with Media industry clients Francesco has gained an understanding of the technologies and business models used within the Media industry across the different platforms. With respect to the games and gaming sector, Francesco has advised clients on the legal and regulatory aspects of games and gaming online and on television, has worked on setting up call-TV shows, etc.
Thanks to his Media industry focus Francesco is recognized as a leading Media/E-Commerce lawyer in Italy by legal publications Legal500, WhichLawyer and European Chambers.
Francesco is also a corporate lawyer, with experience of large and small M&A and private equity transactions, joint ventures, restructurings, etc. In the M&A field Francesco has been recognized as a leading lawyer in Italy by WhichLawyer.
Portolano Colella Cavallo is an Italian law firm focusing on Media industry clients and on M&A and private equity transactions. Portolano Colella Cavallo is among a handful of Italian law firms recognized for their Media expertise by all of Legal500, WhichLawyer and European Chambers. Portolano Colella Cavallo is also recognized by legal publications for its expertise in M&A; Dispute Resolution; and Employment
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Almir Ribeiro is the CEO and founder of Betboo, an online gaming and sportsbook website focused on the Latin America's way of betting, launched in January 2007.
Ribeiro has played an important role in the Brazilian internet industry since 1999, when he started up the first Brasilian remote training website, using innovative streaming and animation concepts. He has worked in the online gaming industry since 2002, when he conducted a winner local online bingo project - #1 in Brazil since then.
It is known that it isn't easy at all doing business in Latin America. An important critical success factor is the culture: Latin America's customers have particular gaming habits and customer service needs. |
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Mr Sbordoni has a consolidated and exclusive reputation in the Reinsurance and Insurance field, and in the Gaming and Betting sector in Italy and at International level. Before being a professional, he was Underwriter of Reinsurance business specialised in Aviation, Fire and Credit.
From 1986 till 1989 Mr. Sbordoni was responsible for the Italian portfolio at a major Reinsurance company in London and later he became the Head of Legal and Claims of their London subsidiary.
Mr. Sbordoni is a joint Professor at the Italian Superior School of Economy and Finance, and has been teaching at the University of Malta to Italian Public Concessionaires.
Mr. Sbordoni is a consultant to AAMS (Monopoly of State – Italian Ministry of Finance) on legal administrative matters related to the Gambling and Lotteries sector.
His activity in the Insurance and Reinsurance sector and in the Gaming and Betting sector includes:
* Managing Reinsurance disputes
* Insurance and Reinsurance contracts interpretation
* International arbitrations
* Joint-venture Agreements
* Writing of Law projects and proposals in Gaming and Betting
* Handling relations between primary companies and national authorities in introducing and utilizing property rights on Games and Lotteries
* Studies and researches on new games projects (bets, lotteries, pool games). Consequent technical and juridical advices to all major gaming concessionaries in Italy and abroad.
He is currently working on a project of coordination of the new Italian Penal Code (artt 718-721 on hazard Gaming) with the existing Gaming regulation (Laws and Decrees).
Mr Sbordoni has attended as a speaker many important meetings on Gaming and Betting organised by AAMS.
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Wolfgang Schwens, Mag. theol., M.B.A., is the corporate social responsibility manager of bwin Interactive Entertainment AG ,one of the world's leading platforms for online entertainment. After several years of university teaching and nonprofit work, Schwens joined bwin to set up the department of corporate social responsibility (CSR). To strengthen the CSR’s work in responsible gaming, he has been involved in the implementation of a research study by the Division on Addictions at Cambridge Health Alliance on the gambling behaviors of bwin’s online gaming customers. |
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Over the course of a diverse 17-year career specializing in marketing and public relations, Nicky Senyard has proven to be a visionary entrepreneur and accomplished corporate leader.
She is a strategic communications specialist, parlaying her start as a media relations consultant and marketing manager into a CEO role at one of Australia’s leading communication and marketing companies.
Recognizing affiliate marketing’s huge growth potential, Nicky launched Ecom Access in 2002 as owner and CEO, driving notable enterprise growth and profitability every year since. Her ability to work closely with clients to understand their environments, issues and required outcomes helped to shape two successful sister affiliate networks, employing 40 staff: gaming-focused Income Access and ecommerce-driven Share Results.
Under Nicky’s leadership, Income Access works with over 50 of the industry’s leading brands. Built by affiliate marketers, Income Access is the trusted partner for Bingo, Casino, Poker, Soft Games and Sportsbook operators. The motivation for our software platform and affiliate management solutions is to give our merchants and affiliates the tools they need for success.
Nicky continues to develop profitable strategic partnerships, monitoring industry changes and responding with new affiliate marketing technologies, products and services to proactively serve client needs.
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Originally from Durban, South Africa, Rolf now lives in Oslo, Norway, where he graduated with a law degree from the University of Oslo in 1995, specializing in intellectual property and international human rights. He has previously worked on land concessions and area planning at the Ministry of Agriculture. He has also handled legislation and individual cases related to oil pollution in the North Sea at the Norwegian Pollution Control Authority.
Since 1998 he has worked as a gaming regulator, first with the Ministry of Justice and Police, and since 2001 with the Ministry of Culture and Church Affairs. In his previous and current position within gaming his scope of work has encompassed EU/EEA-law, all aspects of legislation connected to gaming machines (including drafting of new legislation, technical regulations, testing and type approval of machines), I-gaming, bingo, provisions and regulations on lotteries and sportsbetting. He has also supervised the administration of Norsk Tipping, the Norwegian state-owned gaming company as well as the establishment and administration of the Norwegian Gaming Authority. At present he is particularly involved in the Norwegian gaming machine monopoly case and the question of Norwegian gaming legislation`s compatibility to EU/EEA-law.
Contact Rolf by emailing rolf-francis.sims@kkd.dep.no |
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Subsequent to selling his previous data collection business, Patrick co-founded Cashcade in 2000. Since that time he has been responsible for running the business and in charge of the marketing. The business has grown to a multimillion pound turnover and is one of leading forces in online bingo. |
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In 2005 Paul Sulyok founded TNWA Group. The Group provides a number of brands for online gamers and is one of the three largest gaming communities in Europe and the largest in the UK. Brands owned by the group include devotii (www.devotii.com) a mass market online gaming community, Enemy Down (www.enemydown.co.uk) an online tournament community for hardcore gamers and Prizefight (www.prizefight.com) the first website to offer mainstream online games for cash prizes.
Paul is the CEO of the TNWA Group, responsible for strategy, growth and development of the organisation. Previously Paul worked in the City after a career in HM Forces.
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Ongame Network is the world’s largest online poker network and Daniel Svard has been at the company since its inception 3 years ago. Over that time the network has grown from 2 to 24 operators.
As Head of Product Management, Daniel's task is to strive to have the leading innovative products offered to customers and manage smooth product lifecycles aiming for perfection. The role includes taking an active role in management and, through 6 direct reports, ensuring high profits from products delivered by 200+ staff in IT, payments and customer support.
Previously Daniel I worked in web/IT business development and telecommunications.
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David Szetela, Chief Marketing Officer of CyberArts Licensing, began his career as VP of Operations at MindCraft Inc., one of the earliest successful publishers of PC magazines, software and books. Next was a seven-year stint with Apple Computer, building and managing Apple's Evangelism department, the Worldwide Developer Conference series, Developer University and several award-winning print and multimedia publications.
Szetela's Apple career included 3 years at Apple's European headquarters, based in Paris, where his responsibilities included management of European Developer operations and Apple's online services business. He then became European General Manager for a Ziff-Davis Publishing division. Returning to the U.S., Szetela presided over several companies, including his start-ups, Paperless Technologies, docsonfile.com and Clix Marketing. Szetela has been a regularly featured speaker at PC industry conferences like MacWorld, and Search industry conferences like SES.
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Netanel is a pioneer in the field of cross-platform multiplayer skill and gambling games on mobile devices. End Game provides superior user experience where, for example, users playing Texas Hold'em Poker - some on their PCs and others on their mobile devices or television - can seamlessly compete against each other while enjoying a vibrant social network community.
Prior to founding End Game, Netanel served as a product manager for Real Dice, the market leader in multiplayer games on smartphone's. At Real Dice, Netanel managed the product and business development of award winning games and operated the biggest cross platform gaming community.
Netanel holds a computer science degree from The Academic College of Tel-Aviv-Yafo and he brings a wealth of information on many of the hottest topics in the gaming and gambling industry today. Ask him about developments in advertising, cross platform gaming and social networks and you are assured an insider's perspective.
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Leon Thomas is the Head of Regulatory Compliance at PartyGaming Plc. In this role, he has overall responsibility for PartyGaming’s regulatory compliance and Social and Responsible gaming initiatives.
He has experience of formulating industry leading responsible gaming policies which cover amongst other things, consumer communications, player protection and advertising and in this role liaises with various stakeholders including academics, healthcare professionals and regulators.
He also Chairs the Responsible Gaming and Compliance Committee of the European Gaming and Betting Association. He is Secretary to the Gibraltar Betting and Gaming Association and has Chaired Gibraltar Betting and Gaming Association Sub-Committee's on Compliance. |
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Justin Thouin is the Vice President of Casino at CryptoLogic Inc., and has been with the company since July 21, 2003. Mr. Thouin leads the strategic direction of CryptoLogic's Internet casino suite to ensure that the company continues to lead the market in innovation. He is responsible for player research to drive game development and for developing strategic partnerships with such top brands as Marvel, Bejeweled and Cubis. Prior to his tenure at CryptoLogic, Justin worked at Maple Leaf Foods, Canada's largest food company, in a variety of roles including consumer marketing, sales, and finance. Justin has a Commerce (Honours) degree from Queen's University in Kingston Ontario, a leading Canadian business school. |
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MR. TONY TONG, age 40, is the Chairman, CEO, Executive Director, and co-founder of PacificNet.
Prior to founding PACT, Mr. Tong worked at Andersen Consulting (now Accenture, NYSE:ACN) and ADC Telecommunications (NASDAQ:ADCT), a global supplier of telecom equipment. Mr. Tong's R&D achievements include being the inventor and patent holder of US Patent Number 6,012,066 (granted by US Patent and Trademark Office) titled "Computerized Work Flow System."
Tony is a frequent speaker on Asian gaming technology and was invited to present at the G2E (Las Vegas), G2E Asia (Macau), European iGaming Congress - Barcelona (EiGexpo.com), Casino Affiliate Convention - Macau (CAC2007.com), Asia GEM Gaming Expo – Philippines, and China 3G Summit. Tony is also a frequent speaker on technology investment in China, and was invited to present at the APEC International Finance & Technology Summit, China Venture Capital Forum, and China Hi-Tech Fair, and a Fellow of Hong Kong Institute of Directors. Tony graduated with Bachelor of Mechanical/Industrial Engineering Degree from the University of Minnesota and served on the Computer Engineering Department Advisory Board and was an Adjunct Professor at the University of Minnesota, USA.
Mr. Tony Tong was named to the 2008 "25 People to Watch" List compiled by Global Gaming Business Magazine, the leading global gaming magazine which annually honors 25 top individuals with major impact on the gaming industry.
At the 3rd Annual Euro-Asian Summit of Leaders at the Asia GEM 2008 in Manila, Philippines, Mr. Tony Tong was elected member of the Euro-Asian Cooperation on Gaming Association Limited (ECG, http://www.ecglimited.com ), a leading gaming association for gaming operators, suppliers, and regulators which promotes the development and growth of the legitimate gaming industry. |
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Thibault is a founding partner of the law firm ULYS (www.ulys.net). He is a member of the Bars of Brussels and Paris, and a recognised specialist in international gaming law: professor at the University of Paris I Sorbonne teaching European gaming law and and General Member for France of “International Masters of Gaming Law”.
Thibault is co-author of the Internet Gambling Report (Las Vegas) and founder of the EU portal www.gaminglaw.eu. He is also advisor for the Belgian Gambling Commission and expert at the Belgian Federal Parlimanent for gambling matters. Thibault speaks French, Spanish, English and Dutch.
The Law Firm ULYS is one of the leading gaming law firms in Europe, representing major European casino groups and bookmakers.
Thibault can be reached at thibault.verbiest@ulys.net.
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Gottabet.com is the premier site for social betting. It’s a totally new concept as users can create their own bets and are also responsible for settling the outcome. Gottabet aims to provide a betting platform for a mass audience and not just hardcore punters. They call it ‘Social Betworking’ and users market their own bets through the various widgets that Gottabet has on offer (e.g. for Facebook or MySpace). Trust is based on a feedback rating similar to eBay and people can bet for peanuts (a virtual currency), prizes or money. The site is truly international with users from over 150 countries that are placing fun bets with their friends or use it to set up challenges for charity. There is also a VIP section where celebrities as big as 50Cent create bets for their fans.
Before Gottabet, Wim worked in the M&A department of Morgan Stanley in London. Starting a business from scratch and finding the right people was his biggest challenge so far. The goal now is to build a large community that enjoys fun bets and to make ‘Social Betworking’ as large as social networking.
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Laurant Weill is the founder and executive Chairman of Visiware, the world leading interactive TV game company. After studying Biochemistry and Computer Science at Paris 6, this interactivity specialist was co founder of successful video game companies, and professional software house. From 1995 when he founded Visiware, Laurant was the evangelist of the games as an iTV killer app, the subscription model, and the importance of running iTV channels with quality and refreshment of content as keys.
Laurant was President during three years of the AFDESI, the Interactive TV association.
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Expekt.com was founded 1999 and is an online gaming company with main office in Malta. Expekt.com has license in England, Austria and Malta and is one of Europe’s leading online gaming companies. Expekt.com offers its services in 26 languages through www.expekt.com.
Per Widerström joined Expekt.com as the new CEO in April 2006. Per is 41 years old and originates from Sweden. Per has extensive international experience of managing business operations and leading high complexity start-up projects from the FMCG and ICT industries. Previous employers are e.g. Telenor, The Coca-Cola Company and Procter & Gamble. His latest assignment prior to Expekt.com was as the VP & COO of the leading Ukrainian mobile operator Kyivstar. Per has an MSc in International Accounting and Finance from The London School of Economics.
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Ola was born in 1962. He is Partner and Head of the EU/Competition Law Group at Wistrand Advokatbyrå, Stockholm. Formerly he was Head of EU/Public law department at Advokatfirma DLA Nordic, Stockholm. He is a Member of the Swedish Bar (advokat). Ola has served as Legal Secretary at The Court of Justice of the European Communities, Luxemburg. He has been Visiting Professor at the European University Institute, Florence and Research Fellow at Université de droit, d’Économie et des Science d’Aix Marseille. He has also experience from service in the Swedish judiciary.
Ola was appointed Associate Professor (docent) in European Law at Stockholm University, he earned the degree Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) at Stockholm University, and has upheld a tenure in European Community Law and Constitutional Law at Stockholm University.
Ola has acted as counsel in proceedings before the Court of First Instance of the European Communities and the Court of Justice of the European Communities. He has represented clients in administrative proceedings at the European Commission and the Swedish Competition Authority. He is acting for clients in a number of pending high profile monopoly EC law suits (gaming and alcohol) against the Swedish Government. He is advising public and private clients on Public Procurement law. He is also responsible for Public Affairs at Wistrand in Stockholm.
Ola is a Member of the Swedish Bar and the Faculty of law at Stockholm University. He is also a member of the editorial board of Europarättslig tidskrift at Stockholm University. |
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Andre has been the CEO of the Alderney Gambling Control Commission, since 2002. This is an independent and non-political regulatory authority in the Channel Islands, established to license and regulate interactive gaming and betting in Alderney. Andre also renders advice and support services to the Guernsey Gambling Control Commission, which is a separate body established to license and regulate terrestrial casino gaming in Guernsey.
Andre is an economist by training and worked for the Africa Institute of South Africa, the Development Bank of Southern Africa and Ernst &Young, South Africa from 1982 to 1994.
In 1994, Andre was appointed as a member of the Commission that investigated and recommended the legalisation of gambling in South Africa.
During the period 1995 to 2000, Andre was the CEO of one of the South African provincial gaming boards and a member of the National Gambling Board of South Africa.
In 2001, Andre was appointed as the CEO of Zonke Monitoring Services, a private company established to render electronic monitoring services to the National Gambling Board of South Africa.
Andre is a member of the International Masters of Gaming Law, the Steering Committee of the International Association of Gaming Regulators, the Gaming Regulators European Forum and former Chairman of the Southern African Gambling Regulators Association.
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Graham Wood has been involved in the international betting and gaming market for 15 years. He has worked with some of the key players in the business both in the UK and overseas, was responsible for creating the new sports betting product in Italy in his time as consultant to the italian operator SNAI in 1998, and previously had established the first CTD - the name given to the agencies transmitting bets overseas - in Bologna, Italy in 1994 when he was International Marketing Manager for pioneering cross-border bookmaker SSP.
Graham Wood is presently a consultant specialising in market entry and market development particularly in Italy and his clients past and present include Betfair, Bet365, Ladbrokes, Pianeta Scommesse, Paradisebet (now rebranded 1128) and SNAI Servizi. He was also a director with pioneering bookmaker Victor Chandler for a number of years and ran his own specialist betting software business.
Further information is available on www.gwegc.com
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