GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 38 - July 2017

What do you wish you could change about the industry? Aligning gambling regulations in each country, so we can operate within similar frameworks across our markets. Where do you think the industry will be in five years? On mobile, and with more regulated countries. If someone from out of town were to visit you, where is the one place you would have to take them? To Tel-Aviv’s oldest district, Neve Tzedek, where there are plenty of nice restaurants and a totally amazing atmosphere. What is the last book you read? Do you prefer an e-reader or hard copy? Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind , by Yuval Noah Harari. I prefer the physical book over an e-reader. What’s your favorite movie? The last Woody Allen movies, from Vicky Cris- tina Barcelona to Rome with Love and some more. What do you use for most of your web surfing: A desktop computer, laptop, tablet or smartphone? Smartphone, just because it’s always around. However, I prefer a tablet for online shopping and a laptop for doing research. iPhone or Android? And if we took out your earbuds, what would we find you listening to? iPhone. The radio. If you could go anywhere on vacation, where would you go? Some exotic place like the Maldives, for a week or two. If you could have dinner with three people, living or dead, who would they be? Sergey Brin or Larry Page, the founders of Google; Mick Jagger; and Queen Elizabeth. Name three things that people reading this magazine don’t know about you. 1. I am a big fan of German wheat beers. 2. I adore seafood. 3. I still watch cartoons. much different from the rest of the team, the majority of which is based in Berlin. My day starts quite early, around 8 a.m. With a first coffee, I go over the e-mails and tasks that need my immediate at- tention. With a second coffee, I go over the stats for all our brands, to make sure I am aware of all the traffic sources that we have. During the day, I am in con- stant contact with affiliate and marketing teams, as well as with the production and finance departments. Each month, I spend about a week at our main offices in Berlin. That week is more about face-to-face meetings. Describe the office culture at Merkur Interactive Services. How does your team work together? Like most of the gaming companies, our offices are pret- ty multicultural. They are situated in the heart of Berlin, next to Checkpoint Charlie. You can’t ask for a better location! The affiliate team is based in four different locations: Berlin, Austria, Barcelona and me in Tel-Aviv. We are in constant contact via phone, e-mail and Skype, so you don’t really feel the distance. Merkur Partners recently became a GPWA Platinum Sponsor. Why do you feel it’s important to support the GPWA? We are happy to be a part of the GPWA community. Having our own forum page will help us stay in touch with all affiliates who share the GPWA values. The forum is very informative, both for affiliates and affiliate managers. How do you ensure that payments are sent out on time? And when do your payments go out? According to our terms and conditions, the payments are done within 30 days after a month closure. We try to do our best, of course, to run the payments as soon as possible. It’s one thing to bring in a new person to a site. It’s another thing entirely to get them to stick around. What do Merkur Partners brands do to retain players sent by affiliates? We like to make sure there’s something for everyone, from cash back to bonuses and leaderboards. Plus, our loyalty programmeans that every time customers play, they are getting something back in return. Describe your typical work day. Though I work from home, my working day is not Affiliate Manager Interview Series Natasha Goffman Merkur Partners 64 w w w . g p w a t i m e s . o r g