“Events are a great way to solidify relationships”
(Exclusive interview).- London Affiliate Conference offers an exclusive preview of the event to Focus Gaming News.
The iGaming industry worldwide will be taking its next step to the future during this year’s London Affiliate Conference, from February 9-12 at ExCel convention centre in London. The year-to-year growth of the event focused on the affiliate sector for gaming companies is bringing unique opportunities for 2017’s London Affiliate Conference, including the iGB Affiliate Awards, the Financial Partners Expo and a complete examination on further technology. As shared by Tracey Daniel, head of Marketing of iGaming Business, the preview of the Conference explains why LAC is a must-go event for the gaming industry.
This year London Affiliate Conference proved its spectacular growth by moving to ExCel convention centre. What are the biggest challenges for this extended edition?
Moving to ExCeL wasn’t a decision that we made lightly, we did a lot of research into where our delegates come from and how the move would impact our delegates. The fact that we have outgrown Olympia was a big deal for us as a business and really indicative of the growth of the event. As always, moving to a new venue always brings new challenges but as a team we have been really excited by the move and I hope that this has resonated with our sponsors, exhibitors and delegates. ExCeL is a world class venue and allows us the opportunity to grow the show, as well as invest in the delegate experience.
What issue of the affiliate sector of the gaming industry will be under the spotlight this LAC?
During the London Affiliate Conference we will be discussing new trends, be giving regulation updates and looking at disruptive technologies like artificial intelligence, virtual reality and augmented reality which will fundamentally change the landscape for marketers over the next 5 years. We will also be taking a good look at mobile – analysing at the impact of Google’s launch of the new mobile index, which will become the primary index. Once again, 2016 saw another rise in the popularity of eSports and consequently eSports betting. We have a session that will look at this growing vertical and how it attracts millennials to betting but also demonstrates the possibility for huge financial revenues over the next few years. We will also look at new aspects of SEO, social and paid media – which are at the heart of affiliate marketing.
LAC 2017 will be co-located with Financial Partners Expo. What are the expectations for the shared event?
The 2017 edition of the London Affiliate Conference and Financial Partners Expo promises to be a big one! We know lots of our clients are bringing celebrities, so there will be lots of opportunities for selfies with them. We have created a special LAC Snapchat filter, so make sure you use that on your selfies and look out for our interviews on Facebook Live. I am also looking forward to the awards, which are happening on the 11th February at the Brewery. The theme is 1,001 nights so you can expect a lot of snake charmers, belly dancers and an immersive theatre company acting out different tales from the story.
From a conference point of view this year’s conference rooms will no longer be split by industry, and will instead be organised into themed tracks which run across both conference days. The sessions will be led by industry experts and will be tailored to meet the specific challenges that affiliates encounter through a series of interactive and practical examples. Among the speakers at LAC 2017 will be SEO guru Christoph C. Cemper , the CEO of digital marketing agency 10 Yetis, Andy Barr and Lukasz Zelezny, head of organic acquisition, uswitch.com. The conference themes include: Affiliate business tools, SEO strategies: Data, links and technical SEO, industry insights, paid media and social media.
During the London Affiliate Conference we will be discussing new trends, be giving regulation updates and looking at disruptive technologies like artificial intelligence, virtual reality and augmented reality which will fundamentally change the landscape for marketers over the next 5 years.
Is the contact with the public a good way to keep boosting the sector? How do you assess the growth the Conference is experiencing?
Events are a great way to solidify relationships – nothing beats meeting someone face to face and having a conversation. In terms of assessing growth, obviously we look at things like delegate numbers – analysing the number of new affiliates attending, number of exhibitors and repeat visitors. But what is really important to us is feedback from people attending the show. We always have a survey after the event and we personally reply to comments so that we can ensure that we deal with anything that comes up during the event. As a team we try and talk to as many exhibitors, sponsors and delegates as possible through the four days of the show. We take feedback really seriously – our clients and delegates are of utmost importance to us and we strive to provide an amazing experience for anyone that interacts with our products.
What will be LAC’s impact in the gaming industry during 2017?
The event is a must-attend for anyone in the iGaming or finance affiliate industry. For many delegates being able to network with existing business partners and create new meaningful partnerships at the start of the year is incredibly important, it sets the tone for the rest of the year. With this year’s show set to attract around 5,000 people we are aiming to deliver not only the biggest, but the best event in the affiliate industry.
