iGaming NEXT Valletta: Malta Matters As Legend Lahcene Merzoug Of PressEnter Gives iGF Exclusive Preview
Next week on the 21st June, the global iGaming community will come together in Malta for one of the most disruptive events of the year, iGaming NEXT Valletta.
Leading lights of the iGaming community will all be descending on the world-leading Mediterranean Conference Centre. With over 4,000 senior delegates expected to attend, they will be able to enjoy two days of high-level networking, world-class content and great hospitality in, arguably, the most beautiful venue and city conference combo in Europe.
They will experience a top line-up of speakers sharing their expertise on strategies, investments and areas of focus for the coming year. And there’s no shortage of topics to talk about.
One of these amazing speakers will be Lahcene Merzoug, Chair and Chief Executive Officer at PressEnter Group Ltd.
iGamingFuture had an exclusive catch-up with the legendary Lahcene to get the inside guff on the event and, in particular, his eagerly-awaited session.
With so many new iGaming conferences emerging in the industry, how do you decide which are the best to visit? And why is iGaming Next Valletta so important to attend for you?
As someone who does not always have the time to attend all the industry conferences on the calendar, and who needs to decipher which ones will be the most useful to attend, I think it’s important to thoroughly assess the potential value and return on investment for each show before adding them to my schedule. And this doesn’t just apply to myself, because it’s something every department within our team takes into consideration.
“When it comes to iGaming Next’s shows, we’ve always found them to be well-organised, professional, insightful and, crucially, valuable.”
The speaker lists are always full of high-profile names from diverse backgrounds covering all bases for the iGaming industry. It’s helpful to hear from senior management professionals in this space, so that we can compare ideas and think about how we can apply some of their thinking to our own operations.
The atmosphere of a conference is always something we think about, and the casual setting you get at iGaming Next’s shows means people are comfortable when it comes to the conferences and the networking. It’s been exciting to see a new gaming events company come into the space and shake things up a bit.
I’m sure the show in Valletta will be the perfect use of our time and in such a busy online gaming hub like Malta there’s no doubt there will be plenty of people for us to see, and I’m guaranteed to bump into dozens of people I know. So this will be the ideal setting.
During your CEO Hot Seat Session you will some face tough questions and no topic is off-limits! Why have you chosen to format the session in this way? What will the audience gain from this?
I’m sure many of us in attendance at iGaming Next Valletta will have been to many industry shows where it was difficult to really learn anything from the CEOs in the panels, because the speakers either didn’t want to say too much or were simply using the opportunity to advertise their product rather than provide genuine insight.
I would like to think that at this conference, and in our session in particular, this will not be the case.
Transparency and honesty are vital components of a conference. In our industry it has been taboo to talk freely at times, and people sometimes feel like they have to say the right things, even though this doesn’t provide attendees with anything useful.
I want to change that and show we’re all humans. It’s about conveying that in the most professional way, and in doing this we can make sure everybody in attendance can leave the show feeling they know more than when they arrived, and that their time was not wasted.
The audience will see who the leaders of gaming companies really are and how they go about things. We don’t just want to focus on generic topics either, and we welcome the opportunity to interact with the audience, discussing whichever topic they wish; within reason of course!
Are there any other conference sessions happening at iGaming NEXT Valletta that you’re looking forward to attending, and why?
I always find the conferences and topics very interesting, so I will personally try to attend as many sessions as possible.
When looking at the schedule, one conference that really stands out to me is the “Predictions: Re.Visited” panel on the Wednesday morning, where I believe iGaming Next founder Pierre Lindh will be involved as a speaker.
It will be very interesting to hear from some of the best minds in the industry discussing the future of iGaming, and to see how this compares with what people predicted at this point last year, because this will be important for all delegates in attendance.”
Editors Note:
Afetr catching up with Lahcene, its hard not be super excited for next week’s event.
It will be a fantastic opportunity find out the latest trends in the market, hear top level industry perspectives and, crucially, connect with industry peers. Clearly it’s an event not be missed.
Tickets are still available from the iGaming NEXT website. So if you haven’t already, make sure you get yours ASAP. Catch you all there!
