GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 29 - July 2014

tionwhere I will be traveling all over the place. Deciding early on to pursue an in- ternational career, I prepared for it byob- taining several international degrees and workingwith international companies. So far, I have been a resident of seven coun- tries in total – a “ModernGypsy,” asmy friendRichardWanigasekerawould say. The best part of traveling to conferences is reallymeeting all the people inperson. We do a bit of work and a bit of socializ- ing.Many sharedmemories are born and relationships strengthened. The worst part must be trying to pack your suitcase while hung over andmake it to the airport on time.After a couple of days of richdinners and late-night drinks followed by earlymornings at the booth, it gets to you in the end. The last day on my way home, I look like a three-year- old girl who is about to start crying out of pain. How do you ensure that payments are sent out on time? And when do your payments go out? Oh, we have a killer workflow in place.We occasionallyman- age to get the payments out the door on thefirst of themonth, but of coursewedo not promise that. First, we identified the complete process of calculating commis- sions and sending out payments and the people involved. Then everyone is sched- uled todo their task in theworkflowwith exact timing andwithno time spill in be- tweenhandovers.We canmanage the full process and send commissions out in one to twodays.Naturally, there canbemany factors that cause delay of payments past the first of themonth; perhaps it falls on a holiday or a weekend, perhaps one of the involved people is not working dur- ing that day, perhaps we had a red flag somewherealong the linewherebywe tri- ple check everything from the start, mak- ing sure we did not miscalculate or miss something. All in all, the payments are usually out by the third business day of themonth, even thoughwe have a policy to paywithin 10 business days of the fol- lowingmonth. Where do you think the industrywill be in five years? The pop star of the ques- tions! I expect that the licensing regula- tionswill start takingfirmershapearound many countries in Europe. The affiliates will have to comply with licensing regu- lations as well, making it harder towork with programs of their choice. Let’s top the affiliate cake with the Google icing of the future updates. Mobile is going to split into tablet andmobile segments, as they do offer different user experiences; they will not be treated as same. In the next year or two, I believe we will start seeingmore “social” driven casinos com- ingout on themarket. If someone fromoutof townwere tovis- it you, where is theoneplaceyouwould have to take them? Easy one! There is a local beer brewery here in Barcelona that is called Moritz where they serve fresh, on-premises brewed beer, without any additivesorpreservatives. It isbeautifully easy to drink with just enough rich taste without going over to the bitter side. The kitchen is topnotchand thewineconnois- seur can impressively select a personal recommendation out of 400 different wines from the cellar. What is the last book you read?Did you enjoy it? And did you read it on an e- reader?Ordoyouneed tohaveacopyof thephysical book inyourhand? 1984 , by George Orwell, one of my favorites. This book definitely deserves several reads as thesymbolismandallegoryunveil further and further with subsequent reads. This time, it was on an e-reader even though I still prefer a hard copy inmy hands. For thosewho are not aware, this book intro- duced themodern concept of BigBrother and is set inadystopian societydrivenby fear and control. Very powerful psycho- logical drama and thriller. We asked youwhat your favoritemovie was last time (you said The Matrix , by theway); nowwewant toknow–what's your favorite TV show? It’sAlways Sunny in Philadelphia – a brilliant TV comedy sitcomwith a good balance of satire oc- casionally targeting theAmericanway of life aswell aspolitical and current events. A group of underachieving friends who never agree and easily betray each other at the slightest signof benefit.Hilarious. What do you use for most of your Web surfing: desktop computer, laptop, tab- let or smartphone? I am still using the laptop andmy smartphone. The tablet is somehow always farther away to reach thanmysmartphone, so Iuse itmuch less. If we picked up your iPod (or more likely, your iPhone) and pressed play, what songwouldbeplaying?Andwhere do you listen to your music? Spotify, Pandora or iTunes? Tough question. It depends on theweek; oneweek youwill hear BlueNote artists like JohnColtrane, another week youwill hear an electronic Deep House podcast. In terms of how I listen, it's on iTunes. If you could go anywhere on vacation, wherewould yougo? Somewhere far, far away, to a hammock between two coco- nut palms on a white sandy beach with few people around and plenty of cold Coronas. Can I bring a ladywithme? If you couldhavedinnerwith threepeo- ple other than Elvis, Richard Branson and David Hasselhoff (your answers last time), living or dead, who would they be? Warren Buffet, Bono and John F. Kennedy. Sure, we are all involved in the ever-hungry casino industry running after thedollaronevery corner.However, I aim that inmy later years I will be able tohelpothers, and these threeareall icons in ourmoderndaywhohave contributed to humanitarian causes, each in his own way. Legends. Andfinally, sinceweknow thatyouwere a superbaby from our last interview, what's one thing you haven't done yet that you hope to accomplish? Manage a teamof 60people. 63 AffiliateManager Interview Series