100 delegates, representing 35 Lottery Messenger brands including the industry’s largest, travelled from 18 countries to participate in the industry’s second annual global conference, GLMF2015. It took place on board the 5-star Sunborn Yacht Hotel in Gibraltar, on 27th April.
Organised and hosted for the second consecutive year by Counting House, and this year supported by 6 sponsors, the industry made a loud and clear statement that the GLMF is here to stay.
“Less than 12 months ago, the Lottery Messenger industry had never sat in the same room,” commented Stuart Ballan, Head of Sales, Middle East, at Counting House. “As a direct result of GLMF2014, which took place in Tel-Aviv, Israel, in May 2014, many new collaborations emerged. Consequently, by GLMF2015, many people knew each other in the industry, resulting in delegates arriving with clear agendas of who they wanted to meet, and why, leading to new and strengthened business and personal relationships.”
A packed pre-event networking evening, kindly sponsored by Lottoland Solutions, set a professional but enjoyable tone for the event. The main conference was supported by the Platinum sponsor, LOTTOTECH, and gold sponsors Lottoyard, Kootac, Isle of Man eGaming, and the Isle of Man Post Office. It offered a diverse and unique combination of keynote speakers and industry panels, which kept the audience’s attention from start to end.
Paul Davis, (MD, Counting House) formally opened the proceedings, followed by Stuart Ballan who presented on how the industry had changed since GLMF2014 as well as some of the hot and controversial issues for the year ahead. Peter Greenhill, (CEO of e-Gaming, IoM) moderated a fascinating panel on regulation that included Steve Brennan, (CEO – Gambling Supervision Commission, IoM), Ofri Noier, (LOTTOTECH) and Sascha Badelt (CEO, Digidis). Stimulating out-of-the-box thinking, Bruce Cran, (CEO of Direct Focus Online), mesmerised the audience with a marketing approach that educated the majority. Steve Hickson, (Director, SidePlay Entertainment) offered his perspective of how sidegames can complement Betting On Lotteries, significantly increasing revenues.
Following lunch, Stuart Ballan moderated the insurance panel, composed of Matt Butcher (Sales Director, PIMS-SCA), Mark Robinson (Director, Bluefin) and Tom Mitchell (Director, Lottorisq), discussing the pros and cons of the insurance model, including related risks. Keynote speaker, Egidio Messito, (MD, MyLotto24), representing the largest operator at the conference, presented “Secondary Lotteries As An Asset Class”, including explaining Insurance Linked Security (ILS) and Mylotto24’s achievements in this segment. Paul Davis, (MD, Counting House), shared his many years of payment processing industry experience with a global tour of issues affecting the more complex countries. With many industry players immersed in “everything online”, Niall Carey, (Commercial Manager, IoM Post Office), presented the value of using postal services as a marketing tool; unquestionably giving some new food for thought.
David von Rosen, (Advisor to Lottoland Solutions), confirmed Lottolands’ entry into the use of Insurance Linked Securities, whilst explaining the intricacies of insuring jackpots that had probably never before been publicly discussed. To wrap up, three B2B platforms; LOTTOTECH (Ofri Noier), LottoYard (Yuval Ganot) and Kootac (Marek Mahdal), each shared diverse experiences with the audience that should help many; especially the newer operators, to steer away from a number of avoidable potholes.
The experience was completed at Le Bateau restaurant, where in addition to enjoying the food, drink and networking, everyone waited with baited breath for the announcement of the winner of the Apple Watch quiz. It’s perhaps a measure of the people attending the event that the winner, instead of choosing to accept the most sought after gadget on the planet, chose to donate the cost to the Nepal Earthquake fund.
Over the last six months, the Lottery Messenger industry, which enables the global public to participate online in non-local National Lotteries, has undergone significant growth. Following the path of many other industries it has moved towards a B2B model as it has matured, with four platforms launched in as many months. Three of the world’s four B2B platforms were sponsors at GLMF2015.
“The locations for GLMF2014 and GLMF2015, Israel and Gibraltar, respectively, were chosen because of their strong connection to the Lottery Messenger industry,” said Ballan. “Consistent with this theme, Counting House is pleased to announce that GLMF2016 will take place in Sofia, Bulgaria, another Lottery Messenger industry nerve centre, on 11th April 2016, at a venue to be confirmed.”
Pictured left to right are Peter Greenhill, (CEO of e-Gaming, IoM), Paul Davis, (MD, Counting House), Tom Mitchell (Director, Lottorisq), Marek Mahdal (Kootac), Matt Butcher (Director, PIMS-SCA), Stuart Ballan (Head of Sales, Middle East, Counting House), Steve Hickson, (Director, SidePlay Entertainment), Mark Robinson (Director, Bluefin), Steve Brennan, (CEO – Gambling Supervision Commission, IoM) and Niall Carey, (Commercial Manager, IoM Post Office)
