Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/750768
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 13 NOVEMBER 2016 IV Gaming This is the third year for SiGMA. You are promising, once again, an even bigger show. How are you going to live up to that promise? This year we have gone glob- al. From a little expo dominated by Malta-based companies, SiGMA has this year become a multi-national show with the likes of Golden Race, Marathon Bet, Trustly, NMI, Pragmatic Play, Ganapati, Betradar, GLI, Aliquantum, Paysafe, W2Glob- al, Pegasus Gaming and others gracing our floor plan. These brands have little or no op- eration in Malta, yet believed in having a solid presence at the show. Having a sold out floor plan since last April meant that we could focus on building a truly 360⁰ showcase based on networking all year round. Win- ing and dining goes a long way in this industry so we treated sponsors, exhibitors and top c-level executives to a string of lavish dinners throughout the year, branded iGatherings. The expo floor and conferenc- es take place on the 17th, 18th November – but with so many networking events taking place on the 16th and 19th, we en- couraged top c-level attendees to fly in early. The BiG Founda- tion Dinner, a networking poker tournament, networking drinks and a welcome night to name a few activities on the 16th. In addition, in an unprecedented move, we have secured 300 booked flights for affiliates at our own expense, no expense saved, most of whom will be fly- ing in on the 16th or earlier. We're signing the brightest, most experienced speakers from within and outside the industry, covering a range of themes: sports, affiliation and SEO, regulatory, payments, disruptive technology and HR will pave the way for some ani- mated panel discussions. We also have new confer- ence partnerships with the likes of KPMG, who is adding a third esummit in Malta on top of their Gibraltar and Isle of Man esummits. Other partner- ships have been cemented with the BiG Foundation, iGaming Academy and the MGA as well as Random Consulting's Mario Galea and Aideen Shortt. The latter two will be co-organising an igaming booth camp for top executives. You are also flying in 300 delegates to the show… Correct. We are anticipating a turnout of 3,000 delegates this year and in order to guarantee a fresh influx of good delegates, we embarked on this initiative to personally invite top igaming people, mostly affiliates, from all corners of the world. These are top decision makers, lead generators, from various gaming companies. Who knows? Some of them will fall in love with the gaming ecosystem in Malta and may easily decide to relocate business here or set up an of- fice branch in Malta. We have some 300 gaming companies based here, all within a five mile radius. It's a bit like going fish- ing in a fish farm. You're guar- anteed a better catch in Malta. And there will also be a Careers Convention dur- ing Malta Gaming Week at SiGMA… Hundreds of locals would love to understand the industry a bit better in order to understand whether they could embark on an exciting new career in gaming. So for the first time ever, we are also opening the SiGMA doors during the last few hours, on day two between 2pm and 6pm, for a careers convention. Anyone who has been to any expo can attest that numbers tend to dwindle down a bit towards the end. So the timing seemed right for a careers convention to help meet the increasing demand for talent. Graduates from the University of Malta, MCAST and various private institutes will be personally invited to this careers convention. We've quite literally embarked on a three month head-hunting mission for all. Who knows? They might likely meet their best employer to date! The mantra "As strong as your weakest link" never applied better than in the case of Hu- man Resrouces. Many gaming companies based in Malta have set up their own department for head hunting and recruit- ment, making sure that the best talent fills each and every vacancy available. So this year at SiGMA, during the last few hours, on day two between 2pm and 6pm, the doors will open for talented graduates and IT developers, but strictly by invite, for a careers convention. Between 2pm and 6pm on Day Two of the expo, the doors will open to graduates and IT developers who are looking at the possibility of a new career in iGaming. Partners MyEvetnt- sPlanner have secured solid partnerships with student faculty organizations ICTSA, ELSA, ASCS, UESA, GHSL and oth- ers. And you are launching a Startup Pitch. Is there a de- mand for it? Initially we thought that the idea of a 'SiGMA Pitch' would go down well with the industry. Little did we understand that response would be overwhelm- ing. All throughout 2016 we flew to a number of big expos for startups to hunt down the gaming-related ones with poten- tial. We made particularly good connections at Viva Conference in Paris and persuaded some of these startups to take part at the SiGMA Startup Pitch. Many of these startups have little or no knowledge of the Maltese ecosystem. So we see this as a great opportunity, not only for the investors and the startups, but also for Malta. I would love to see more bright minds with a great entrepreneurial spirit base their operation here. With so many start-ups, in- novators and investors, and with so many mergers and acquisi- tions, expect some serious deals to be made in a 'Dragon's Den' -like environment. We worked hand in hand with the Maltese government, the MGA, Gaming Malta as well as GamCrowd to create a startup pitch on Maltese shores for the first time ever. A number of seasoned investors and bright startups will meet in a Dragon's Den like environment. What are your plans moving forward? We were tempted to emulate the success of SiGMA with a second show outside Malta, however decided that we didn't want to take away from the strength of the show in Malta. We spend an entire twelve months curing this one show and, for the time being, we want to keep it this way. We do, however, organize a good number of networking dinners, all aimed at fostering a networking environment in time for SiGMA. We labeled these networking events iGatherings. A select crowd of 200 execu- tives is invited and seated stra- tegically to maximize networking in a pleasant environment. On top of that, we publish our SiGMA magazine twice yearly. That too is fast becoming a well respected publication in the industry, where the focus is on Malta, yes, but also on different personalities within the indus- try. For instance, our last cover story dealt not only with Bit8's acquisition by Intralot, but with the person behind the brand, Dr. Angelo Dalli, and his love for IT and mathematics. Business is ultimately done between people, not among companies, and this publication sheds light on the persons behind successful brands. We've lined them up for you: 100 speakers, 150 sponsors/ exhibitors and 3,000 quality attendees. I personally look forward to welcoming you at this show, in the heart of the igaming industry, and have little doubt that everyone will walk out a winner. For further details about this yearly show or to book your delegate pass call 77773092, or visit www.sigma.com.mt and www.maltagamingweek.com The man behind SiGMA Bigger and better: Eman Pulis tells us what we can expect at SiGMA's third outing Eman Pulis