Inside Asian Gaming

IAG MAY 2019年5月 亞博匯 72 INDUSTRY PROFILE Ben Blaschke: Thanks for chatting with us Mark. Can you start by telling us a bit about your background? Mark Howell: I grew up in Johannesburg, South Africa and went to an all-boys school in Sandton called St David’s Marist Inanda which laid the foundations and contributed to my future substantially. I played a lot of sport at school and memories of that are some of my best growing up. As a result, I formed many great relationships and went on to do the same at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. BB: How did you come to work in the gaming industry? MH: Straight out of University I worked in marketing at a local agency in Johannesburg until I was lucky enough to be given a position at a company called MP Gaming where I sold bill validators and slot machine parts. I worked for Markus Prader who taught me a great deal about the industry and laid the foundations for my future in gaming. In 2013, the late John Whiskin offered me a sales position at the TCSJOHNHUXLEY Africa office where he trained and invested a lot of his time in me. As a result, I gained the experience and knowledge I needed to make the move to Asia in 2016, reporting to Rebecca Kingswell. “Working in these markets can have an incredibly positive impact on you, both professionallyandpersonally, when you go out there with the right attitude.” 「只要以正確的態度面對，在這些市 場工作無論是對你的專業亦或個人， 都會產生良好的積極影響。」 本思齊：非常感謝您可以抽空和我們對談。可以請您先介紹一下自己 的相關背景嗎？ Mark Howell： 我在南非的約翰內斯堡長大，就讀於桑頓的一家名叫 St David’s Marist Inanda的男校。這段讀書經歷為我之後的發展打下 了堅定的基礎。我在學校裡會做很多種運動，留下很多美好的成長的 回憶。後來我進入約翰內斯堡的威特沃特斯蘭德大學就讀，依舊保持 這樣的習慣並和很多人保持了很好的關係。 本：您是如何進入到博彩行業的？ MH： 大學畢業後，我直接就職於約翰內斯堡的一間中介機構做市場， 之後很幸運的，我在一家名為「MP Gaming」的公司找到了一份銷售票 據檢驗及老虎機零件的工作。我曾經為Markus Prader 工作過，他教 會了很多關於這個行業的知識，為我在博彩行業的進一步發展奠定了 基礎。2013年，John Whiskin向我提供了一份在TCSJOHNHUXLEY非 洲辦公室做銷售的職位，在那裡他培訓並投入很多時間在我身上。也 是跟著他，我學會了足夠的、可以讓我在2016年移居亞洲所需要的經 驗和知識，那時我開始向Rebecca Kingswell匯報。 本：您第一次遷居澳門所面臨的最大的挑戰是什麼？ MH： 當我第一次來亞洲時，我先在新加坡工作了18個月左右，這令我 更容易適應文化的變化。當時我經常從新加坡來澳門，所以逐漸的開 始對澳門市場也有更好的了解，這些都為我2017年搬來澳門做了很 好的準備。