Its that time of year again and oh how I love to reminisce as I put together my annual top 10 most viewed list for Becky’s Affiliated.
As we are all painfully aware, this year has been completely different than all the rest, yet the gambling industry soldiers on, finding solutions rather than lamenting about the situation. As I’ve said before in various panels and interviews throughout the year, I’m so incredibly proud of our industry and sincerely look forward to what 2021 will bring.
As you peruse the list below, you’ll note four of the 10 pieces are related to industry events which reflects what an important part they play within our community. I’m delighted to see two BitcoinSV pieces make the list as I predict there will be an explosion of BSV blockchain within the gambling space shortly, perhaps 2021 will be the year.
The rest of the pieces on the list are also fantastic watches and reads, so please check them out if you have not already and thank you so much to all my Becky’s Affiliated interviewees, we all appreciate your time and expertise.
10: How BSV “Bridge” tech fulfills the push for cashless casino ecosystems
Matt Dickson of Bitboss is one of the pioneers at the intersection of the blockchain and gambling industry space, developing technology and platforms servicing both land-based and online operations, all using the superior BitcoinSV blockchain. In this interview, Dickson dives into his “Bridge” technology which offers an innovative cashless payment system for casinos, enabling customers to fund their accounts with ease, inside and outside the casino floor.
9: BetGamesTV Eddie Morales talks on Latin America strategy
Opportunities within the emerging LatAm market have been discussed at length this year, with experts such as Eddie Morales of BetGamesTV popping out of the woodwork at our digital industry events. As we all wait for regulation to push through in Brazil, operators are eager to identify product offerings that will appeal to Brazilians and other cultures within the continent. In this interview, Morales explains what BetGamesTV has to offer and shares his knowledge within this exciting geographical region.
8: Your guide to industry conference reschedules amidst COVID-19 outbreak
Reviewing the wishful thinking emulating throughout this piece melts my heart a little! Published on March 19, 2020, this guide to “industry conference reschedules” was released shortly after the U.K. went under its first lockdown. At this early stage of the COVID pandemic, conference organizers and industry professionals were hopeful that we’d be in the clear for the usual in-person events by the summer, but clearly that did not happen. Fingers crossed for 2021!
7: The state of event and how we can help with Shona ODonnell
Fast forward seven months to October and we’re still stuck with digital-only events and a much larger dose of reality. In this interview with event organizing guru Shona ODonnell of Bettor Collective, we discuss what conferences organizers are going through during this time and how the industry can help them stay afloat. ODonnell also shares her insights into how we can improve our digital event offerings in the future, perhaps even using them to compliment in-person events when they are able to come back.
6: SiGMA’s first digital summit to bring unique Asia and tech focus
In this interview with the mighty Eman Pulis, Founder of the SiGMA Group, he uncovers the details of his squad’s first digital event and provides some insight into how SiGMA plans to tackle the unpredictable COVID landscape. Making a move to digital was an especially big leap for SiGMA, an organizer notorious for their highly anticipated networking opportunities including massive dinners, pool parties, sunset cruises, wild closing parties and more, opportunities that we are all praying will return in the new year.
5: Long live the phone call- how to keep customers engaged without sports and bonuses
This interview with Enteractive CEO Mikael Hansson was filmed during a time when almost zero sports matches were taking place due to the pandemic. Hansson reveals ways in which operators – especially sportsbook operators – can keep in contact with their customers even when books cannot offer sports wagering or even bonuses in some jurisdictions due to problem gambling concerns during lockdowns.
4: How Gap600 enables instant transactions for iGaming payment processors
As our loyal readers are already well aware, we at CalvinAyre.com see massive potential for blockchain technology within the gambling space and payments is one of the areas that is ripe and ready to go. Gap600 does just as the title says, enables instant bitcoin transactions for iGaming payment processors, by taking all of the risk. In this interview, Gap600’s CEO and Founder Daniel Lipshitz explains the technicalities behind his company’s service and reveals why gambling payments are a perfect fit for bitcoin.
3: How social video games are filling the in-person interaction void
We are all craving in-person social interaction by now as it’s a basic human need, no matter how introverted one is. In this interview with Derek Morton of FlowPlay, he discusses how social video games are filling the in-person interaction void during lockdowns and while travel restrictions are in place. In particular, he covers FlowPlay’s “Live Poker Night”, an online poker platform integrating live stream video, enabling all players to see each other in real time and socialize with each other during the game.
2: Gartner-recognized Xtremepush gears up for apocalypse of the cookie
Perhaps it was the “apocalypse of the cookie” in the title that pushed this piece up to the number two position, a term Tommy Kearns of Xtremepush used during his G2E Digital 2020 panel and also in this video interview. Kearns is the proud CEO of Xtremepush, a customer engagement, personalisation and data platform, recently included in the latest Garner “Magic Quadrant”. The importance of smoothing out the omni-channel process, how targeted customer messaging can help with retention and safer gambling plus how to manage adverting after the “apocaplyse of the cookie” are all covered by the enthusiastic Kearns.
1: Rory Credland reveals his vision for ICE North America Digital
Conferences are vital to the growth, education, networking and enjoyment of gambling industry professionals, something that has been underscored about a thousand times during 2020. Attending industry events is part of our DNA as an industry and learning how to execute digital events as organizers and attend them as delegates has been an interesting process this year and will continue into 2021. In this most viewed Becky’s Affiliated piece of 2020, Credland talks on Clarion’s first digital event, ICE North America, that took place in May.
