BARCELONA, Spain – (PRESS RELEASE) -- "One offline event that is a 'must attend'" is how Mitch Garber, CEO of PartyGaming is describing EiG 2006. The fifth annual European i-Gaming Congress & Expo, taking place at the CCIB in Barcelona, Spain across 11-13 October, is set to be one of the most incisive and influential talking shops to date, with organisers Clarion ATE unveiling a host of senior executives drawn from the world's leading operators and suppliers amongst its long list of speakers.
Making keynote presentations alongside Garber will be Jon Anderson, CEO of 888.com, Yishai Habari, CEO of 777Mobile, Detlef Train, CEO of Intertops, Brian O'Sullivan, CEO of Batdaq, Douglas Roos, CEO of Ladbrokes/Sponsio, Mark Blandford, Executive Director of Sportingbet and John Delaney, Director of TradeSports Exchange.
Joining the strong line-up of operators are some of the biggest supplier names: Roger Raatgever, CEO of Microgaming, Michael Starzynski, Chief Technology Officer at CryptoLogic and Robert Riopelle, Vice President – Business Development at LiveHive Systems.
High on the agenda of hot topics will be discussions on legal/regulatory frameworks, with specific reference to recent arrests in the United States, and the industry's reaction and concerns. In-depth debate will also cover a diverse range of areas including iTV, promotion through sporting events, the latest market intelligence gathering and analysis techniques, affiliate marketing, payment processing, combating fraud, mobile gambling, sports betting, racing updates, cross-border gambling in the EU, state monopolies, casual games, post-boom poker, IPO trends, igaming/entertainment industry convergence and multi-platform lotteries.
Mitch Garber commented on the forthcoming congress: "The success of last year's EiG conference, attended by scores of executives, tells us something about the global licensed and regulated online gaming industry. Online delegates have an excellent opportunity to hear from and meet with operators and regulators from across the industry and around the world. Networking is of paramount importance in any industry and EiG is a truly valuable event for online gaming."
Jon Anderson added: "The EiG Congress is the most important industry event as regards Europe. It's a great opportunity to meet all the industry leaders and keep in touch with the latest technology, ideas and opportunities."
With a projected attendance of 1,000-plus drawn from more than 25 countries and representing the majority of the industry's top 50 companies, EiG 2006 will offer visitors its largest showcase to date with over 50 exhibitors taking space in an area almost twice the size of last year's expo component.