In a slightly more bittersweet mood than usual, FTD Digital has come out the other side of yet another busy London Affiliate Conference.
The usual feelings of hungover exhaustion and “we did it, Joe!” smugness were still present, but with a third emotion plunged into the mix; a twang of premature nostalgia.
Last year, Clarion Gaming announced that ICE and iGB Affiliate would be moving to Barcelona in 2025. The promise of January sun at least some comfort in what will be quite a big change for us. At least we look forward to iGB Live coming to London next Summer, although we’re not sure of the venue yet.
ICE and iGB Affiliate were particularly busy for us in 2024. Chris Humphries, our new Commercial Executive, gamely had us booked up for three full days of meetings for the first time ever, such was the demand.
We want to thank all the partners and prospective partners who met with us. From our end, we can safely say that every meeting was in some way successful and constructive. Getting out there and meeting our Affiliate Managers face to face is such a crucial part of a productive, two-way relationship. A one-sided relationship never lasts in this industry – one of our buzzwords for the tour was “longevity.” Fostering long term, sustainable partnerships is the name of the game in a shifting sector.
We were thrilled to meet with our partners in the conference bar, at their stands or in a luxury VIP area provided by exclusive industry group, Ampersand. These esteemed partners include
- Bet365
- Entain
- OMG Affiliates
- BetVictor
- Bally’s
- Winlandia
- Fitzdares
- Tau/QIH Group
- Betway
- Jumpman
- GoGame Partners
- 10bet
- L&L
- Digital Fuel
- MrQ
- Lottoland
- Silverspin
- Betfred
Speaking of Betfred, they cordially invited two of our colleagues to join them for an exclusive dinner in central London on the Wednesday night.
On the opening night, we attended the event welcome drinks followed by SBC’s exclusive London Baby event at the Natural History Museum, a simply stunning event. Even more stunning were the Blue Lagoon welcome cocktails, which I think enjoyed quite a lot.
As always with iGB Affiliate, it was great to attend some industry panels and SEO talks from some of the sector’s most respected experts and practitioners. I saw talks by Martin Calvert of ICS Digital and Aleyda Solis, well-known SEO consultant.
The key takeaway? Google will get their head around AI generated content vs personal, experienced, first hand content at some point. In the meantime, be prepared! The four letters that we need to bear in mind at all times are E-E-A-T; Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness.
This is FTD Digital signing off from another successful conference. See you in Barcelona next year!
