The CalvinAyre.com team returned to the ExCeL today to begin coverage of the London Affiliate Conference or LAC, the largest event of the year dedicated to the online gambling affiliate industry.
Known for its lively expo floor packed with open bars, DJs, football stars, freebies and other creative activities, this year’s installment of the LAC did not disappoint. Everyone loves the warm, friendly atmosphere of this event and CalvinAyre.com would thank our friends at 24Option.com for letting us perch at their welcoming booth while we tackled our coverage for the day.
Over 5,000 delegates are expected to attend the LAC over the next two days and football fans in particular were in heaven as two big names were in attendance on Day 1. Betsson Group Affiliates invited their long-term brand ambassador John Arne Riise to their stand to mingle with partners and conduct interviews with star-struck fans such as ourselves.
“I’ve been working for Betsson for seven years now and last year I said I want to be more involved with the business and how they do things and not just be an ambassador, so they invited me to this one and its massive. I enjoy being here, its busy but enjoyable”, Riise shared with CalvinAyre.com in an exclusive interview.
“We started six and a half years ago, [Betsson] contacted me, I wanted to get in the business, I like to play poker and I just wanted something different to do. We hit it off straight away from the first meeting and we’ve been in a close workingship for many years. I just enjoy the people working at the Betsson, traveling around, doing the events, meeting new people”, he added.
Easily recognized by his notorious hair ‘do, Columbian football star and Codere ambassador Carlos “El Pibe” Valderrama cruised the expo floor with his hosts, graciously shaking hands and having his photo taken by the dozen. Codere, a dominant brand in the LatAm and Spanish markets, are at LAC this year to announce the launch of their affiliate program, a ticket into the coveted LatAm market for interested iGaming Affiliates.
“Codere is a giant in the LatAm market and in Spain, for many years running shops in these regions and now we are bringing basically everything to the digital world and launching the affiliate program and bringing all the affiliate marketing capabilities into this brand”, revealed Aviv Sher, Codere’s Digital Sites Director.
“We signed a deal with a brand ambassador called Carlos Valderrama, he’s very famous in Columbia, he’s led the Columbian team to a few victories. He’s a great guy, a great ambassador, he’s aligning with our brand and he will be our brand ambassador in Columbia”, Sher added.
Today’s “The United States of Affiliates” panel featured experts in the American market such as Melissa Blau, Steve Ruddock and Seth Young. Young has been in the gaming industry for 15 years and now serves as the Chief Innovation Officer of PointsBet, an online bookmaker and technology company with a focus on the regulated US market. Young shared his top advice for affiliates looking to get involved with America’s market today.
“Start now if you’re looking, it’s a great time to try and enter what is going to be one of the greatest gambling markets in the world. It is liberalizing, with the liberalization of the sports betting market we should see more doors open in this country”, he said.
“Find yourself a good lawyer, make sure you understand the law and when you’re thinking about content, it would be great to create amazing educational content to help educate those that don’t understand how sports betting works and make them smart about what this is, how to bet responsibly and enjoy themselves”, Young added.
Relationship building, especially on the affiliate side of the iGaming industry, is at the core of our businesses. For this reason, attending events such as the LAC are of upmost importance and why the event continues to grow year after year. iGaming affiliate industry veteran Lee-Anne Johnstone is a huge believer in relationships and she founded AffiliateINSIDER several years ago with this mantra in mind.
“We’ve actually just launched a little series on Facebook which is free to watch every Wednesday morning where I talk about effective relationship building techniques, what affiliates need to do in order to reach affiliate managers professionally and also to sell their businesses”, Johnstone shared.
“So coming prepared to meetings, just simple business practices and sales techniques that they can use in order to get the deals done”, she said.
“Building relationships very key, everybody is interconnected in this industry, so we like to give and build that community value. Our social media channel is free, you can join our newsletter and just get connected to people in the industry and make use of the network and the relationships that we have”, she added.
