This is the third year for the Sigma summit of iGaming. You are promising, once again, an even bigger show. How are you going to live up to that promise?

Eman Pulis

This year we have gone global. From a little expo dominated by Malta-based companies, Sigma has this year become a multinational show with the likes of Golden Race, Marathon Bet, Trustly, NMI, Pragmatic Play, Ganapati, Betradar, GLI, Aliquantum, Paysafe, W2Global, Pegasus Gaming and others gracing our floor plan. These brands have little or no operation 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. Wining and dining goes a long way in this industry so we are treating sponsors, exhibitors and top c-level executives to a string of lavish dinners throughout the year, branded iGatherings.

The expo floor and conferences take place on November 17 and 18, together with many networking events taking place on November 16 and 19, we encouraged top c-level attendees to fly in early. The BiG Foundation Dinner, a networking poker tournament, networking drinks and a welcome night are all happening 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 flying 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 animated panel discussions.

We also have new conference partnerships with the likes of KPMG, who is adding a third e-summit in Malta on top of their Gibraltar and Isle of Man e-summits. Other partnerships have been cemented with the BiG Foundation, iGaming Academy, 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.

I would love to see more bright minds with a great entrepreneurial spirit base their operation in Malta

You mentioned that you are flying in 300 delegates to the show. Tell us more about this.

Correct. This year, we are anticipating a turnout of 3,000 delegates 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 office branch in Malta.

We have some 300 gaming companies based here, all within a five-mile radius. It’s a bit like going fishing in a fish farm. You’re guaranteed a better catch in Malta.

You are also organising a careers convention during Malta Gaming Week at Sigma. What are the aims?

Hundreds of locals would love to know 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 the second day between 2pm and 6pm, for a careers convention. Anyone who has been to any expo can attest that numbers tend to dwindle a bit towards the end. So the timing seemed right for a careers convention to help meet the increasing demand for talent.

A light moment.

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 human resources. Many gaming companies based in Malta have set up their own department for head hunting and recruitment, 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 2 and 6pm, the doors will open for talented graduates and IT developers, but strictly by invite, for a careers convention.

Between 2 and 6pm on the second day 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 MyEvetntsPlanner have secured solid partnerships with student faculty organizations ICTSA, ELSA, ASCS, UESA, GHSL and others.

You are also launching a start-up pitch. Is there a demand 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 overwhelming. All throughout 2016 we flew to a number of big expos for start-ups to hunt down the gaming-related ones with potential. We made particularly good connections at Viva Conference in Paris and persuaded some of these start-ups to take part at the Sigma Start-Up Pitch.

Many of these start-ups have little or no knowledge of the Maltese ecosystem. So we see this as a great opportunity, not only for the investors and the start-ups, but also for Malta. I would love to see more bright minds with a great entrepreneurial spirit base their operation in Malta.

With so many start-ups, innovators and investors, and with so many mergers and acquisitions, expect some serious deals to be made in a Dragon’s Den-like environment.

We worked hand in hand with the government, MGA, Gaming Malta as well as GamCrowd to create this start-up pitch, a first for Malta.

Participants from last year’s summit.

What are your plans moving forward?

We were tempted to emulate the success of Sigma with a second show outside Malta – however, we decided that we didn’t want to take away from the strength of the show in Malta. We spend an entire 12 months preparing for this one show and, for the time being, we want to keep it this way.

We do, however, organise a good number of networking dinners, all aimed at fostering a networking environment in time for Sigma. We labelled these networking events iGatherings. A select crowd of 200 executives is invited and seated strategically to maximise networking in a pleasant environment.

Sigma’s bi-annual magazine.

On top of that, we publish our Sigma magazine twice yearly. That too is fast becoming a respected publication in the industry, where the focus is on Malta and on different personalities within the industry. 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 people behind successful brands.

We’ve lined them up for you: 100 speakers, 150 sponsors and 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 more details or to book your delegate pass, call 7777 3092 or visit www.sigma.com.mt and www.maltagamingweek.com.