“A lovely change to meet our connections in person” – Olya Shagina

Internet Vikings have long been friends of SiGMA, so we caught up with them to see what their experience in Dubai was like, and what they have in store for the future!

AIBC & AGS UAE: Dubai was a cracking success for SiGMA Group, and indeed the same for its clients and followers! Throughout the event we touched base with several exhibitors to see how they’re enjoying their time with us, as well as taking the opportunity to bring everyone up to speed on the latest changes in the industry.

Affiliate Grand Slam in Dubai

On the second day of the summit, we caught up with Olya Shagina, Head Account Manager at Internet Vikings, at their exhibiting stand for a quick vox pop! Long time friends of SiGMA, Internet Vikings have been a staple at our events, and their experience in the sector is unparalleled.

“I’m very delighted to see all our customers and friends. They’re coming in and saying ‘Hi’, and after all the years having of Skype calls and meetings, we can finally shake their hands. It’s very nice and it’s such a lovely change to be able to meet our connections in person,” Olya exclaimed.

Apart from Dubai being SiGMA Group’s first international show, it was also the first time we featured our Affiliate Grand Slam brand as a fully-fledged event! The natural chemistry that exists between the Digital Marketing and Emerging Tech scenes were a no-brainer – AGS and AIBC simply fit! Hitting both of these verticals, Internet Vikings had a great chance to make their moves.

“It’s actually a great idea, you guys! Combining two conferences under the same roof so we have such a great opportunity to network.”

Expanding Horizons

Finally being able to hold an in-person event was a breath of fresh air for all of us, but whilst the past couple of years have been hard on most, but some have made the best of the situation. Olya explained how Internet Vikings managed to expand their staff with quite a number of hires.

“We didn’t lose any people on the way and we also planned our US expansion which we are very excited about as well.”

The American market has seen massive growth as many individual states have begun liberalising their gambling market following decades of the vast majority of the industry being completely illegal. Internet Vikings have opened up an office in New York where they are focusing on getting a feel of the market, whilst simultaneously tightening bonds between their affiliates, friends and customers who get consulting on things such as how they can get into the US market and how they can receive the license, amongst other things.

Asia has also been on their radar, with them having also opened a multi-data centre in Singapore for companies looking to enter the market.

“There’s always a challenge and we’re up for the challenge. We’ll have a good challenge with our customers. Of course, there are some things we’re planning to do with the US expansion such as opening US data centres.”

See the full interview below:

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