Women highlighted on the judging panel
The fourth annual iGaming Idol Awards have been recognized for their use of female judges ahead of the ceremony next month.
The event is due to be held on September 11th at the InterContinental Arena in Malta. A total of 47 judges will determine winners across 19 categories.
A line-up of 31 men and 16 women will feature on the judging panel. Each will bring a wealth of experience from various arena’s of gambling. This includes those who operate in the casino world, customer service, regulated market officials, and even developers and creatives.
50:50 split for nominations
The fact that there is an almost 50:50 split between male and female nominations is something that the industry feels is very progressive.
Commenting on the 2,000 nominations received this year, Pierre Lindh, managing director of Ambassador Events, said:
We are thrilled to see the year-on-year increase in the number of talented women amongst our finalists.”
She continued: “As an industry veteran, I’m excited to see that our traditionally male-dominated industry is now edging closer towards diversity, which is in everyone’s best interest.”
Awards began four years ago
The iGaming Idol Awards first began in 2016 while focusing on three distinct areas: individuals, charity, and entertainment.
For the Casino Dealer Group and Office Management awards, judges comprise of a female-only panel. Svetlana Birca, Valentina Pirnau, and Annabelle Galea will judge the Casino Dealer award. Together, they bring over 30 years of industry experience.
Judges for the Office Management award include chief human resources officer (CHRO) for Catena Media, Fiona Ewins Brown. She will be joined by Avril Morin, who is an HR business partner at Gaming Innovation Group (GiG).
Eight other categories also feature females on the judging panel. This includes the head of SEO at Raketech, Maria Sayapina, and Kristina Hambardzumyan, regional director of BetConstruct Malta.
Gambling fourth-highest sector for Malta
News that the gambling sector accounted for 13.2% of Malta’s overall economic activity last year paints a picture of how integral the gambling industry has become for the island.
Gambling is the fourth-highest producing sector and has risen nearly two points higher than previous figures from the year before.
That includes employment of 6,794 full-time equivalent jobs in 2018, up slightly from 6,673 in 2017.