People news 19/07/12
A round up of industry moves from the last week (13 July to 19 July 2012).
Morrisons marketing director joins Rank Group
James Condon to handle marketing for online and land-based elements of Mecca Bingo brand.
Rank Group has appointed James Condon, former marketing director for supermarket chain Morrisons, as brand marketing director for its Mecca Bingo brand.
Reporting to Mecca Bingo managing director Mark V Jones, Condon has been appointed as part of a move to bring the online and land-based arms of the Mecca brand closer together.
The bulk of his experience comes from the retail sector with marketing and brand communications roles at Walmart and Tesco. He also spent more than two years as chief marketing officer for communications company Lebara Mobile.
According to Marketing Magazine, Condon will take over the responsibilities previously held by Miles Baron for land-based and Phil Gates for online. Gates will now liaise with Condon while Baron will move into a new, as-yet-unspecified role within the company.
Seven days in people news:
BetED indictee pleads guilty to gambling charge
BetED indictee and former executive Darren Wright has pleaded guilty to conducting an illegal gambling business after being arraigned in a Maryland court this week.
Wright, who was indicted in May 2011 following the “Blue Monday” domain seizures, has pleaded not guilty to separate money laundering charges. His fellow indictee, BetED software programmer Dave Parchomchuk, was sentenced to two years probation last month after pleading guilty to conducting an illegal internet gambling business.
According to sports betting blog David Purdum Sports, Wright’s sentence is yet to be signed and released by Judge Catherine C Blake.
188bet veteran joins Boston Group
Former 188bet head of strategy Bruce Elliott (pictured) has joined financial services company Boston Group to focus on its newly formed egaming and ecommerce operations.
He joins the Isle of Man-based company as group commercial director after three years with 188bet which holds an operating licence on the island.
Before that he was head of marketing and business development with Microgaming, joining the software provider from payments company Neteller (now part of Optimal Payments) where he held the role of executive vice president of marketing and sales.
Betfair’s Bloch joins PokerStars
Betfair’s former international PR manager Richard Bloch has joined PokerStars as the operator’s new social marketing manager.
Serving under global head of social media Adam Field, he will use the experience gained both at Betfair and in previous roles at 888 and Rank Group.
Bloch spent four years with Betfair and held a prominent role in the development of the exchange operator’s @betfairpoker Twitter account, which currently boasts just shy of 20,000 followers on the social network.
Paddys exec stars in Channel 4’s Undercover Boss
Paddy Power company director William Reeve’s covert operations at the bookmaker’s betting shops will be shown tonight on Channel 4 in Undercover Boss.
The show, broadcast at 9pm, features soon-to-be head of operations Reeve working on the shop floor, in the egaming division, phone betting and customer services department in stores including Piccadilly Plaza, Manchester and Kilburn, London.
It is the first time the award-winning British version of Undercover Boss has focused on a company from outside the UK.
Email any new moves to t.victor@egrmagazine.com with the subject line ‘eGR People Moves’.