If you play the televised national lottery draw in Malta, chances are you’ve seen the Studio 7 building in Birkirkara – or at least a bit of it. Studio 7’s Timothy Bartolo Parnis talked to iNTERGAMINGi about the lottery, the i-gaming scene in Malta and working with live casino environments, including Net Entertainment.
STUDIO 7 has a rich history, stretching back nearly four decades. In a room high up in the company’s Birkirkara offices, iNTERGAMINGi is somewhat distracted by the relics of a bygone broadcasting age.
Displays of old microphones and camera paraphernalia give the meeting room a slight museum feel – and there’s no doubt that Studio 7 has a proud, distinguished history – but the company’s Timothy Bartolo Parnis has far too much to do to afford himself the luxury of looking back. Studio 7 is a thriving audio-visual and broadcasting business and also a prosperous adjunct to the island’s buzzing gaming scene.
Bartolo Parnis is enthusiastic about business life in Malta and the i-gaming community in particular. “I think there is a different philosophy towards gaming in Malta than there is in, say, the Isle of Man or Alderney. We offer the weather, the close environment – a very small community.
“If I need to speak to Reuben [Portanier], I just call him on his phone. I’m not sure where else you just can call up the CEO of the gaming authority on the phone.” Other gaming authority CEOs may well offer an open-door policy but the point Bartolo Parnis makes is the open texture of the gaming fraternity in Malta.
The sense of camaraderie even extends to competitors, it seems. “I think that kind of stiff competition doesn’t really make sense in a small community,” he says. “You don’t share business secrets and plans for the future, of course, just be polite and professional.
“I’m not saying there isn’t any competiveness but I don’t think they’ve reached a stage where there is any backstabbing. I’m not saying it doesn’t ever happen but it’s different here, definitely.”
source : www.intergameonline.com
