GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 16 - May 2011

niche, one product. I think it’s easier at this time. To the best of my knowledge, a bingo player isn’t a professional blackjack player and vice versa. I saw an operator at LAC 2010 which offered all gaming- related products, and this operator was brand new. I didn’t see them at LAC 2011, which I take as a sign that our belief in one product at this stage of our company is truly the way to go. One thing everyone in the online gaming industry has in common is their e-mail inboxes are always full. How long do you give yourself for responding to e-mail? And what e-mail management tips can you offer? It’s all part of time management and priorities. When I’m working on the computer in the office, I tend to respond immediately or else things get lost or forgotten. And in cases when I’m out and then my inbox gets full, I make sure I respond from bottom up. One way to keep affiliates happy is to pay them on time. What steps has your program taken to ensure that they’ll be paid on time? And when do your payments go out? For start- ers, Integra will be paying affiliates by the 15th of every month. Drawing from my personal experience as an affiliate for the last 10 years, I know that timely payments are a must! Obviously, people have bills to pay, and when you say you are going to pay someone by a certain date, you should be obligated to do so. Like I said, it’s all about integrity. What advice do you have for some- one just starting in the industry? Focus on one site only or at least one site per niche or market. I have seen affiliates, myself included, who think that if they own dozens of websites they will have larger volumes of traffic or search-engine positioning. In most cases that is wrong. It worked only for those who had a large budget that made it possible for them to invest in buying hundreds or thousands of other web- sites and create fresh content for them all. That’s rare and expensive. My other advice is to have patience. It takes time to be known and respected by Google or Bing and by your customers as well. Stick with “white hat” methods, and stick with casino brands that operate within regulated markets and have partnerships with software platforms (like Playtech) that demand account- ability from their operators. People in the online gambling industry have been known to party. What’s your best party story? Sorry if I disappoint the readers here but I actually gave up going to some of the parties. It’s not that I went somewhere else instead; it’s that I preferred staying in the hotel, alone in my room, enjoying the quiet and sleep- ing early. Did I mention being married for 12 years and raising two kids and two dogs, working hard and paying bills? Well, my party is no party. But this one time in BAC 2009, at C-Planet’s party . . . well, I sat first row next to some half- naked chicks dancing. . . . If someonewas visiting you in Israel,what are the three places you would take them to see? First would be the Holy City of Je- rusalem, a place sacred to all three ma- jor religions. Second would be the Dead Sea; imagine being in the lowest place on earth! Third would be a night out at Tel Aviv’s bars and clubs. Tel Aviv can chal- lenge NYC or Berlin any time! What’s the best movie food? How many people answered that question with “Popcorn”? What is the last book you read?Didyouen- joy it? Why or why not? I read history and business books. No romance. I love being realistic. No time for dreamers or fantasy. My last book was: Start-Up Nation: The Story of Israel’s Economic Miracle . It talks about Israel being such a small coun- try with such big achievements in so little time and under very difficult circumstanc- es, mainly wars, lack of natural resources and immigration. This book has to do with our industry as well, as I think that maybe 50 percent of the casino industry is Israeli, with Playtech being just one example of a software company, or 888.com as an op- erator and software provider. I think Is- raelis have an entrepreneur attitude and they take it all the way until the mission is complete. You can learn more about it at startupnationbook.com. What is your favorite movie? Life is Beautiful , by Roberto Benigni. It tells a remarkable, humoristic story of a six-year-old Jewish boy surviving the Holocaust at a Nazi death camp, without his knowing or understand- ing that he and his entire family are prisoners and waiting to be killed by the Nazis. In fact, he thinks it’s all a game of hide and seek that he even- tually wins when the Nazis flee just as the American tanks move into the camp to free the remaining starving prisoners late in 1945. This is truly an amazing story. If you had a theme song, what would it be? KISS – “God Gave Rock ’n’ Roll to You.” If you could change one thing about the online gaming industry, what would it be? That it would be regulat- ed and treated like any other normal business, which would do a lot to- wards weeding out darker elements and personalities from the industry. If you could have dinner with three other people, living or dead, who would they be? Hitler – I would take the opportu- nity to assassinate him. Gene Simmons – ’cause I frickin’ LOVE KISS! King David – smart, handsome and our forefather. What are three things that no one knows about you? I was once skinny. I believe my seven-year-old will one day be a rock star. I think I love Godmore thanHe lovesme. 1. 2. 3. 58 Affiliate Manager Interview Series