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The Do's and Don'ts of Online Gaming Conferences in Barcelona

30 September 2008

By Rebecca Liggero

I learned many lessons during my very enjoyable and very informative trip to Barcelona for the GPWA Conference at EIG and CAP Euro. As a 3.5 year online gambling conference attending vet, I hope you take my advice into consideration as you can potentially learn great things from me. I sincerely hope you enjoy my words of wisdom below and don't laugh! I'm being serious.

The infamous Casino City booth

The infamous Casino City booth

DO expect to hand carry your booth and boxes if you work for Casino City/GPWA.
At this point I'm used to it. If you go to conferences with Casino City, you will carry the booth and multiple boxes on the plane and you will be responsible for finding a way to get those babies to the hotel and conference venue. It's even more fun on the way home, by the way.

DO NOT set up a poker tournament in the Princess Sofia Hotel unless you want to get arrested.
Have you heard this story yet? The Spanish police raided our conference, took away the poker tables and chips, and arrested Alex Pratt, the conference organizer. Rumor has it Alex is still in jail! Is that true? I haven't seen him since Friday.

The fabulous Affiliate Lounge crew

The fabulous Affiliate Lounge crew

DO become an affiliate of Affiliate Lounge and be sure Henrik H. is your affiliate manager.
The Affiliate Lounge team will always remain very special to me. These Swedish, Maltese and Sicilian boys took great care of me at the clubs, they invited the entire Casino City/GPWA team to dinner, Franco and I discussed life's lessons over a cab ride, and Henrik H. brought me a custom blend of Swedish coffee to share with my parents back at home. Now how is that for some great customer service!!??

Addicting Scandinavians

Addicting Scandinavians

DO NOT expect to get home before 6am if you're hanging with the Fins and Norwegians.
Unbelievable. EIG, GPWA and CAP, can you please ban these countries from your conferences? I cannot handle it! They are too friendly, generous and fun. These boys are absolutely addicting and treat their business partners and friends to some fabulous late nights out that are unmatched by anything I have ever experienced. God, I love these guys.

Fun with Franco's roses

Fun with Franco's roses

DO allow a Sicilian to buy you roses from a lurking Spaniard outside of the club.
While chatting with Affiliate Lounge's signature Sicilian outside of Opium, we were accompanied by an annoying Spanish man selling roses. To get rid of the guy, Franco took him up on a few roses which I happily proceeded to use as a prop for a night full of pictures. Or maybe it is a sign of Franco's true love for me? Probably not. Oh well.

DO NOT schedule any meetings before noon. Ever.
If at all possible, do not make the infamous rooky mistake! When you are in a country that has dinner at 11pm and parties until sunrise it is not OK to schedule important meetings before noon, unless you are prepared to die.

Mark Walker, the new legend

Mark Walker, the new legend

Working hard at the conference

Working hard at the conference

DO start working with Clarion's Mark Walker as he is the industry's newest legend.
I met Mark for the first time this past August while attending the Affiliate Summit Boston. This industry-fresh young man worked, socialized and partied like a complete rock star in my hometown and his reputation was fully reinforced after an impressive performance in Barcelona. Hats off to you Mark, you have passed. You are officially an online gaming legend.

DO NOT assume online gaming conferences involve partying only. We work hard at these things!
I realize that many of you draw conclusions about my job description and conference responsibilities based on my articles and Facebook pictures. Your conclusions are totally wrong- I only write about and post pictures of the fun stuff! During the day we have a conference to attend and meetings to show up for, thank you very much.

DO request air conditioning for the GPWA Conference at EIG presentation room.
I would like to send out a personal thank you to all those involved in the GPWA Conference at EIG presentations- your support and presence was greatly appreciated and we will never forget it. I would also like to send an extra special thank you to all of you for dealing with the 200 degree presentation room. This was not ok.

Tequila obsessed South Africans

Tequila obsessed South Africans

DO NOT get talked into tequila shots with the South African bingo boys.
This is just a bad idea altogether. I first fell into this trap when I was young and naïve, back in 2005 at Ad Tech New York City. Thanks to Bingo Café's Grant and Bingo Liner's Larry, I don't remember anything from that night and now I don't remember anything from this one either. Sweet guys, thanks.



Erin's Argue's beauitful big hair

Erin's Argue's beauitful big hair

Waiting for keys in the rain

Waiting for keys in the rain

DO add a "biggest hair" category to the next installment of GPWA Superlatives.
The feedback I received on my article in the Barcelona edition of the GPWA Times magazine was very positive except for one complaint- I forgot the "biggest hair" category. Sigh, I really let you guys down this time. To try and make up for it, I would like to award Richard W. from PDC Affiliates and Erin Argue from BetUS.com for having the biggest hair. Congrats you two! You really deserve it.

DO NOT expect anyone from Barcelona to be on time for anything.
How about that customer service in Barcelona? Horrible! Service at a restaurant takes about 10 hours. Ordering a beer from the bar takes about 9 hours. Eric and I were supposed to meet the owner of our Barcelona apartment at 3pm for keys and he did not arrive until 4:30. No problem buddy, we'll just wait outside in the rain with all our bags until you get here.

Fintan the boyfriend hater

Fintan the boyfriend hater

DO discuss your ex boyfriends with Paddy Partner's Fintan. I promise he will make you feel better.
There is something about the Irish accent and delivery that makes several choice derogatory expressions absolutely hilarious. Some of these expressions do not even exist in American English, but I will tell you right now, I'm going to begin using every single one of them...right now.

DO NOT go out at night in Barcelona without an umbrella and personal chauffeur.
Barcelona kills me. It is beautiful and sunny when you leave your hotel for the night, but without fail, it somehow manages to POUR rain when you want to leave the club and head home. When this happens, every single cab in the city mysteriously disappears, and if you are lucky enough to find one, the driver demands 40 Euros regardless of where you are going.

Timo, my fake boyfriend

Timo, my fake boyfriend

DO convince a handsome, successful, and kind Finnish boy to accept the "in a relationship" status with you on Facebook.
Ok. Everyone calm down. Please! I am not really "in a relationship" with Pokerisivut.com's Timo- we just thought it would be funny after reviewing all the coupley pictures we somehow accumulated during the Barcelona experience. However, now I'm kind of wishing that I was in a relationship with him! I have never in my life received so many congrats and kind words from around the world. This is fun. Timo, will you marry me?

< Gaming News
Rebecca Liggero

Rebecca Liggero, a native of Wellesley, Massachusetts, has always loved meeting new people, building relationships, and traveling the world – perfect qualities for someone who, since early 2005, has won many friends and influenced countless people in the worldwide online gaming community.

After graduating from Bates College with a degree in psychology, Rebecca spent four years in Washington, DC, working in relationship management, dreaming all the while about someday making it big in online gaming. After turning down an opportunity to live in New Zealand, she moved back to Boston and signed on as Senior Account Manager for Casino City – the beginning of a dream come true!

Rebecca’s work on behalf of Casino City (and later for the GPWA as well) took her to trade shows and conferences everywhere – Amsterdam, Barcelona, Costa Rica, Montreal, London, Las Vegas, Macau and many other ports of call – and along the way she began chronicling her incredible around-the-clock adventures in a wildly entertaining and industry-savvy weekly column that quickly became – and still remains – must reading for everyone who is anyone in online gaming. Following almost three years with the Casino City team, Rebecca spent a few months at Everest Affiliates where she was the Brand Manager of the affiliate program. While working on “the other side,” she realized that she truly missed her weekly column and the affiliate side of the business and decided to return to the Casino City family.

One and a half years later, Rebecca resigned from Casino City and joined industry icon Calvin Ayre to serve as the Bodog Global Brand Ambassador and the head on-site reporter for the online gambling industry tablog, CalvinAyre.com. In her new capacity, Rebecca continues to travel the world, and when asked where she is based, her response is usually "on an airplane."

Contact Rebecca at rebecca@liggero.net. Be careful, though – she might quote you.