GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 6 - September 2008

GPWA Affiliate Interview Series 64 GPWA Times | What does your family think about your work as an affili- ate? And as an admitted work- aholic, what tips can you offer your fellow GPWA members on balancing work and fam- ily? It’s a bit difficult giving tips on this one as I don’t do a very good job of managing my own family life and work as I am a workaholic, sorry to say. Luckily Andy and I work side by side so we are still together all the time and the two older kids are basically already out of the house as one has his own apartment and the other one spends most of his time at his girlfriend’s house. My daugh- ter is a teenager so also spends a lot of time with friends. However, we do make a point of taking the whole family out to breakfast or dinner at least once a week to catch up on all the news and yesterday we took my daughter and her friend on a helicopter ride which was enjoyed by all of us. We also take some time out at least once a month and book into Sun City for a few days. A few months ago we took all our kids and their girlfriends to New Zealand on holiday with us so a lot of quality time was spent together as a family. On a normal day when the kids are at home they tend to conglom- erate in the study and we just talk while I type on the com- puter. Remember that women are pretty good at multitask- ing!!! In addition to a husband and kids, you have six parrots and four dogs. How do the dogs and the parrots get along? How do the humans and the animals get along? I have been an animal lover all of my life, and so are Andy and the kids, so from that point of view we all get along with the dogs and parrots. Andy is not too fond of my cockatoo, Pooky (the one on my shoulder in the photo), as he has a loud screech and is therefore always being threat- ened with being turned into parrot pie. Our menagerie consists of Sheena and Benson, two old German Shepherds that we have had since they were pups; Dobey, our Boerebull (a South African breed similar to a bull mastiff); and Dinky, who is our baby. She is a miniature dachs- hund that rules the household. Our parrots are Pooky, a white cockatoo; Baloo, a blue and goldmacaw; Frikkie andMona, male and female green ama- zons; and two African greys, Google and Beebee. All six parrots speak, but the African greys speak the most: Google refuses point blank to swear, but Beebee has the mouth of a sailor on him and we have to keep him away when visitors come, as he swears so much that it gets a bit embarrassing. They all get on pretty well with the dogs – except Pooky and Dinky, who chase each other around the garden, both bark- ing. (Pooky imitates Dinky’s bark.) The pets are so used to seeing us at the computer that they generally sit underneath it or in their baskets, which are in the study. If the parrots make a racket, we just pop them on our shoulders and carry on working! What are your favorite games at a live casino? What are your favorite games online? Is there any crossover? Feature Slots are my favorite – both offline and online. My current favor- ite online games are Hitman and Tomb Raider and I enjoy Frog Prince at land casinos. I also enjoy a flutter on the video poker machines now and again – Aces and Faces Power Poker has been quite generous to me. I have started to find that there are a lot of the same games both online and offline now – especially when one looks at the WagerWorks software, which can be found in many land based casinos under the IGT label. What prompted you to join the GPWA? And how has it helped you so far? I stumbled upon it quite by chance quite a few years ago and it has been an invaluable source of informa- tion for me in every aspect and I have met a lot of fellow web- masters. How does the recent deci- sion by South Africa to create a regulated environment for online gambling affect your business? This is very good news for us because it has now opened the doors for more overseas operators to offer the rand currency option, which gives us a broader spectrum of casinos to promote to South African players. The regula- tions should also weed out the seedy operators and hopefully remove the undesirable stigma associated with online gam- bling. If you could change one thing about the online gaming in- dustry, what would it be? The removal of free bonuses. I believe that if free bonuses were removed from all casi- nos across the board, everyone would be on a level playing field and there would be no such thing as bonus abusers causing headaches for the ca- sinos and affiliate programs. If someone were visiting you in South Africa, what’s the one placeyouwoulddefinitely take them to see? And why? Sun City. This is my favorite local destination because there is so much to offer in one place. The casino is the main attraction but there are loads of things for kids to do — game viewing, water sports, shows, restau- rants, shops — you name it, and Sun City has it. What’s your favorite vacation spot? And why? New Zealand. We used to live in New Zealand and still have very fond memo- ries of the scenery, beaches, and fishing. We are fortunate enough to own a small holiday home there, so we make an ef- fort to go at least once a year. If you could have one “super power,” what would it be? The power to read people’s minds and know what they are think- ing. I would probably be in for a huge shock and have no friends left – but it would be fun for a week or two. If you were going to choose any five people, living or dead, to go on a gambling holiday with you, who would they be? Aside frommy family and pets, it would have to be: 1. Larry Page and Sergie Brin so that I could irritate them so much that they would eventu- ally give me the Google algo- rithm!!! 2. Sir Richard Branson, as I have always admired him for his achievements and his ability to ensure that he is always hav- ing fun while making money. 3. The guy who sits in the slot machine and switches on the “Don’t Pay” button as soon as you start winning. If he is gam- bling with me, then my hus- band could win lots of money while I am away. 4. MacGyver – To tamper with the slot machines to ensure they pay out. 5. Calvin Ayre – To ensure we get the best treatment at every casino we visit. And finally, what are three things that nobody knows about you? Now that would be telling … and then there would be nothing left that nobody knows about me. OK. Just one thing….When I lived in New Zealand I caused a traffic jam by freeing a whole bunch of cows that were on their way to the abattoir. I was traveling behind the truck and waited until the driver pulled into a petrol station to fill up and then I sneaked up to the back of the truck and pulled up the latch to let them free. In hindsight it was a pretty dumb thing to do, but they just looked so sad that I figured maybe one or two would be able to escape and be saved from the slaugh- terhouse!!