iGaming Youtuber Disa Stigh invites SiGMA founder and CEO Eman Pulis for an interview about his journey from being ‘just an events guy’ to becoming CEO of a company reaching all time zones
Eman Pulis joined Disa Stigh, iGaming Youtuber at the Casino By Her, to get to know the man behind the company, and to ask him some questions about how it all started. Immediately Eman went on to say how was, and still thinks of himself as, ‘just an events guy’ whose passion is putting on great events where people can connect, have a great time, and do some great business together.
Eman then quickly moved on to explaining what sparked the shift from general events planning to more industry-focused events, by saying essentially he realized that the gaming crowd, which were regulars of his parties, were the only people who were really spending money at these events, which naturally made him trail that initial instinct and follow this crowd, until he eventually ended hosting events for the sector.
Quite frankly out of this thought came the Malta iGaming Summit.’
Putting things into perspective, the Gaming regulator was established in Malta in 2004, and Eman had started doing parties in 2003, and in the years 2011/2012 he was pondering on the idea of doing an expo instead. At this point, he said, ‘I couldn’t tell between an affiliate and an operator’ and so he started to do research in the way one does in the industry: by attending conferences and events. This made him realise a parallel between the iGaming industry and the events-planning industry, which lead him to apply the same methodology, with a few tweaks.
Let’s say the there’s the operator, Gianpula, who relies on affiliates which are the promoters. Naturally he doesn’t promote his own drinks, lights or sounds, since he relies on suppliers to do that. The gaming industry works exactly the same. That was the eurika moment for me!’
Watch Eman’s interview here:
Stigh then replied to Eman with another interesting question about competitive struggles in Malta, to which he himself listed a couple of disadvantages which the country faces in relation to other countries. But he then added that apart from the fact that from his experience the delegates that visit the country for the events understand the circumstances of the island, all of this is put aside when one experiences the vibrant community of the events, and he believes that Malta deserves the spotlight it gets.
He backed this statement instantly by saying that the November summit is quite unique because for starters, Malta’s climate reaches a beautiful impasse between Summer and Winter, offering the island’s Mediterranean warm sunny mornings and enjoyably breezy nights, saying how in the end ‘the place lends itself for such an expo’.
Stigh expressed to Eman how he is considered to be an individual who really put Malta on the map, and asked him to address young generations of innovators and entrepreneurs, to which he said
If you put your mind to it, if I could pull it off, anyone can pull off what they put their mind to.’
The key, he continued to say, is that all it takes is to get a bit out of your comfort zone. ‘Quite frankly’ he added, ‘when i started in gaming, I knew no one in the industry. Today, my best friends, my greatest mentors, everyone is coming from gaming. I received so much from the industry that i can’t explain it in words.’ Complementing this, he then said that gaming in general is such a great environment and that his experience with both industry-colleagues of his and with his employees at SiGMA, is one that enables people to form friendships and relationships that last.
Check out Disa’s great work over at https://www.casinobyher.com
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