I travelled to Barcelona, Spain, last Tuesday to attend the
EIG Expo from Wednesday to Friday.
We stayed at
Hotel Majestic which is right in the middle of town, a short walk from Las Ramblas, the main shopping mall or walkway.
Well the place is a lovely part of the world and I would def. want to go back again at some stage.
A quick rundown on what I got up to:
Tuesday 10th - Flew out of London Gatwick to Barcelona Airport around 9am. Went for lunch somewhere in town then met up with my collegues and had dinner (tapas) in a traditional Spanish Restuarant later that night.
Wednesday 11th - We made our way to the Forum hall for registration. I attended the Microgaming Poker meeting at the Hilton which was a brief on things to come on the poker network.
I helped the boys setup the
VegasAffiliates.com booth for the Expo. It looked pretty good as we weren't sure how to put the darn thing being our first time.
The booth next door was Creative Arts, the poker software company behind
Mansion Poker and
Tony G Poker. Tony G was there promoting their software and poker rooms. Apparently he has an official role there, Head of Gaming.
He also owns
Poker News, which is one the most popular sources for what is happening in the world of poker. I had a chat with him about listing the Vegas Affiliates Casinos on their Casino section. He didn't mince words, a straight shooter, I want this $$ and you get this, lol.
Thursday 12th - I manned the booth with the boys from 1pm till 7pm. It was very interesting talking to all the people about what's happening in the Gaming Industry. The conference wasn't targeted towards affiliates, which is what our booth represents but the bosses wanted a presence there. We did meet with a few affiliates and lined up some new partnerships.
The evening included drinks and nibbles for all attendees at the
Carpe Diem club. This was a fun night, I hit the dance floor and showed everyone the 'Morto' dance. It was a big nighte and ended in the early hours of Friday.
Friday 13 - How ironic! President Bush signs a new law which makes it illegal for Banks operating in the US to accept funds used for online gambling. All the major gaming execs were in Barcelona to hear the news placing the whole industry in kaos.
Public companies are forced to shutdown their US operations causing billions to be wiped off their value. Private gaming companies declare that will still accept US players leaving the market wide open for them with US players flocking to join.
I was very slow Friday morning, made a late appearance at the booth, just in time to pack it up and send it back to London.
Saturday 14 - Our flight wasn't till after 6pm, so I hung with the boys and did some touristy things. Took a few photos around town which you can see in the
photo album. The weather was amazing, clear blue skys, light breeze and around mid 20's.
We had lunch and a few beers outside a restaurant and did some people watching.
We headed to the airport only to find our flight has been delayed till around 8pm. Oh well, Barcelona was great, a place to remember.
