GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 34 - February 2016

Meet Rachel Brown, head of casino at TradaCasino, and James Boran, affiliate manager for mFortune Partners. While they work for different properties, they have quite a bit in common. Both say affiliates are essential to their company’s success, both have had their share of piano lessons, and both are looking forward to meeting affiliates at the London Affiliate Conference. If you’re there, be sure to track them down and say hello! MEET THE AFFILIATE MANAGERS You’ve been the head of casino at TradaCasino for almost a year now. What drew you to this position, and how do you think things have gone over the last year? There were so many factors that seemed to just click into place for me when I was approached about the role at TradaCasino. TradaCasino was — and still is — a startup company that is rela- tively new to the market. It was really the excitement of a startup environment that grabbed my interest straight away, along with the responsibility of an entire busi- ness being on all our shoulders, relying on decisions we make on a daily basis. Location was another factor for me. I was living in Malta at the time, while my fian- cée Marion was still living back in Dublin so we were traveling back and forth regu- larly. I had never planned to stay in Malta forever, but I was adamant that my return would have only been facilitated by the right job at the right time and I am over the moon that I found that. I believe we have created a world-class product. We base every decision we make on the best interests of both our players and our affiliates. Creating rewarding partnerships is what we’re all about, and feedback from our partners so far has been really positive. With a blank can- vas, we are dedicated to getting it right from the onset and since joining, I haven’t looked back. You left the Dublin Institute of Tech- nology to co-found Betbidder.com. Can you tell us about that site and what you learned in the launch process? In fact, I left college with only one semester to go before completing my degree and we started Betbidder. Betbidder was a penny auction site with a sporting twist. It was the brainchild of my father and some of his former colleagues. It may have seemed a little reckless at the time to walk away from school, especially having com- mitted so long to the world of academia! When we talked through what would be involved in the running of the business I found that I had genuine interest, and I felt that it was something I would have a natural aptitude for. It was something that I would have always regretted had I not given it a go, and the experience was without a doubt the biggest learning curve of my life. We managed — without any experience in the industry — to design and launch the world’s first sporting penny auction site and built up a very healthy customer base. Unfortunately, we underestimated the costs of running the business, and eventually it became clear that the over- heads were becoming unsustainable without a significant investment of capi- tal. We wound down after six months in operation, but the silver lining is that the experience introduced me to the gaming industry and I have no regrets that I took the chance. You also worked as a product manager with Boylegames and GVC/Sportingbet and as an account manager for NetEnt. What did you learn from your time as both an operator and a supplier? I ar- rived at Boylesports having never played at an online casino in my life, and my role was to manage the Boylegames product, so you can imagine how quickly I had to learn! It was a fantastic place to work and the role kick-started my passion for the iGaming industry. When I moved to the supplier side of the industry (NetEnt), my role focused on working with a number of clients, helping them maximize their revenues generated through the NetEnt portfolio. This process focused on build- ing and maintaining a broad contact base within each account, fromCEO to custom- er service, and this experience gave me an insight into the business that wouldn’t be afforded to many. Working in conjunction with clients of all shapes and sizes — not literally! — the biggest lesson I took away was that one size doesn’t fit all in the gaming world. Starting out with NetEnt, many of the clients I was assigned to were startup companies operating in varying markets to a diverse client base. I had to learn very quickly that different markets, with different unique selling points and RACHEL MORGAN Affvantage/TradaCasino AFFILIATE MANAGER INTERVIEW SERIES Affiliate Manager Interview Series