Eman Pulis: “Nothing compares to physical events”
Exclusive interview.- Focus Gaming News catches up with Eman Pulis, Founder and CEO of SiGMA Group.
Eman Pulis is a man who never stops. Having run the SiGMA iGaming show in Malta for 7 years, he and his team have now launched shows for every market.
In conversation with Focus Gaming News, Pulis talks about SiGMA’s achievements and what lies in store for the future.
“We realised our delegates are hungry for other markets.”
Eman Pulis, Founder and CEO of SiGMA Group.
“Covid gave us a lot of time to step back and reflect on what we’re doing and we realised our delegates are hungry for other markets,” he says.
“Not only in Europe but they’re hungry for Asia, they’re hungry for Africa, they’re hungry for Latin America and all the Americas.”
SiGMA Latam is due to kick off with a virtual event this year and then a live event in Sao Paulo in 2021, while as of next year SiGMA Africa will rotate each year around three host cities: Cape Town, Accra and Nairobi.
“Nothing beats person to person.”
Eman Pulis, Founder and CEO of SiGMA Group.
Although Pulis says digital events are useful for maintaining contacts, he’s looking forward to getting back to physical shows.
“The energy, the networking, the handshakes. You cannot replicate that with any virtual conference,” he says.
But as well as expanding the events geographically, Pulis aims for SiGMA to increasingly put tech on the agenda.
He began pushing in that direction with the launch of SiGMA DeepTech – events designed by techies for techies – this year.
“All those guys are usually neglected at conferences because we’re always focusing on the commercial side and the marketing side, and we rarely focus on the technical side,” Pulis says.
“It’s important for smaller companies to start from day one on the right platform, so we want to address this lacuna.”
“Expect a lot of cross-pollination to happen at our shows.”
Eman Pulis, Founder and CEO of SiGMA Group.
Now he’s going further. In Malta this November, Pulis will bring together for the first time the SiGMA gaming show and the emerging tech summit AIBC under the same roof on the same dates.
“To the folks in emerging technology, whether you’re in blockchain, AI, big data, quantum technology, internet of things, we’d like you to also consider the vertical of gaming,” Pulis says.
“I see a lot of misunderstanding between the two. Usually, the gaming scene doesn’t really want to know much what’s going on in artificial intelligence and blockchain.
“They think that what we have is enough and we don’t need to do more. At the same time, I meet a lot of puritans from blockchain and AI who tell me we don’t want our products to be touched by the gaming scene.
“I would love my events to act as a catalyst for those two verticals to understand the potential that lies in each other, learn from each other and do more business with each other.”
He adds: “If you put all of [the emerging technologies] together behind gaming, that’s the rocket fuel I believe the industry needs to become truly global.”
Check out the full interview with Eman Pulis above or on the Focus Gaming News YouTube channel. Don’t forget to subscribe!
