[P E O P L E
NEWS
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NEWS IN BRIEF
Zynga poaches sales VP from rival social operator
Zynga has hired a vice-president of North American advertising sales, poaching the executive from rival social gaming operator RockYou. Julie Shumaker spent just over a year with RockYou before moving, and will report to the company’s chief marketing and revenue officer Jeff Karp. Shumaker will take over some of Manny Anekal’s responsibilities after the former global director of brand advertising left to join advertising startup Kiip in February this year. Prior to joining RockYou, Shumaker had amassed more than a decade of experience in a variety of sales roles, including positions as senior director of video game advertising for Electronic Arts.
HILLS PR DIRECTOR LEAVES AFTER JUST THREE MONTHS
Former media director of England rugby team will not be replaced
Richard Prescott has
left William Hill after three months in his role as director of PR for the operator and will not be replaced. Prescott, who joined William Hill in January this year after more than 13 years with the Rugby Football Union, and was involved with the management team when England’s rugby side won the World Cup in 2003, left at the end of March after “the role did not suit what he was looking to do”, according to a spokesman for the ?rm. Prescott (pictured), who ran his own PR consultancy before joi ning William Hill, has returned to concentrating on his business. eGR understands he will not be replaced, and neither will any external public relations professionals who were contracted to work on various projects. The spokesman added that in future the
three-man in-house PR team would report to William Hill chief marketing officer Kristof Fahy. In October, Fahy was at the centre of an internal storm that saw William Hill’s marketing and customer service support team walkout from its Tel Aviv office in protest at their jobs reportedly preparing to move the operation to Gibraltar. The dispute also centred around former chief marketing officer Eyal Sanoff who, at the time, was reportedly suing the operator for constructive dismissal after resigning. Sanoff was in charge of online marketing operations including SEO, PPC and affiliate marketing, while Fahy acted as group brand and marketing director. However, according to a source at the time, eGR reported that Fahy and Sanoff clashed over budget and direction, leading to Fahy to ban Sanoff from signing off on deals without his approval. Upon Sanoff leaving Fahy took over his role.
Gaming Edge hires senior associates
Two highly experienced senior associates have joined specialist gaming consultancy Gaming Edge Associates. Kathryn Loewen, who previously worked for US-facing and former USfacing poker networks Merge Gaming and Cereus respectively, and Rob Gallo, a former CEO with 15 years’ experience in operating and marketing online gambling firms have joined the independent organisation. Both will work with Gaming Edge as the consultancy looks to expand into the US and “continues striving to deliver the highest quality service”, according to a statement by the company.
POCKET KINGS HIRING NEW STAFF
Full Tilt Poker’s technology company advertises with Irish agency
Pocket Kings, the Irish-based ?rm that
provided technology and marketing services for Full Tilt Poker before the company lost its operating licences last year, is believed to be hiring new staff. It has posted 14 vacancies, the majority for customer service representatives, with recruitment portal jobs, ie. offering “2-3 month contract roles [which] may become permanent”. This suggests the takeover of the company by Groupe Bernard Tapie, which eGaming Review's sources have suggested is imminent, is drawing ever closer. Applicants for the vacant positions are required to be multilingual, with roles for speakers of a variety of languages speci?ed.
These languages relate to a number of dot.com markets including Russia and Romania, while a call for Spanish speaking representatives follows GBT’s application for an egaming licence in Spain. Pocket Kings shed the bulk of its workforce last year after three of Full Tilt’s operating licences were suspended by the Alderney Gambling Control Commission last June, with chief marketing officer Lothar Rentschler resigning in August. The following month saw these licences revoked, and 180 staff at Pocket Kings’ Dublin office were laid off. Representatives of both Full Tilt Poker and Groupe Bernard Tapie were unavailable for comment.
888 signs up MMA champion
Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) champion Georges St-Pierre, twice winner of the Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight title, has signed up with 888 as a brand ambassador for the Gibraltar-licensed operator. Known as GSP, he will represent 888 in a number of live events including the World Series of Poker and the operator’s own Deepstack poker series.
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