NEWTON, Massachusetts – (PRESS RELEASE) -- Casino City, the world's largest
provider of casino and gaming information, today announced its acquisition
of the Gambling Portal Webmasters Association (https://www.gpwa.org), the
largest webmaster forum of its kind on the Internet.
In announcing the move, Casino City CEO Michael Corfman described the
GPWA as an important resource for online gaming portal site owners that
will continue to thrive and grow under Casino City's leadership. "I look
forward to working together with the GPWA membership, and with my
colleagues at Casino City, to create an association that is vibrant and
that has the relationships and resources necessary to make a difference,"
Corfman said. Casino City has been involved with the GPWA for four years,
and Corfman himself has been a member for two years.
The GPWA was founded in May 2001 by Cynthia Carley, who wanted to
create an organization that would strengthen relationships between
affiliate program managers and portal webmasters. In May 2004, Carley sold
the GPWA to husband and wife team John and Marlene Derosset, under whose
leadership the organization's membership increased by 50 percent (now over
3,300 members) and the sponsor base doubled in size.
Carley, who is still an active GPWA member, gave a ringing endorsement
to Corfman's acquisition, stating that his "ethics and values are sound,
and his business expertise and acumen far surpass mine. I will be there to
help in any way I can."
John Derosset, who along with his wife will also remain active in the
GPWA, expressed his confidence that the organization will continue to grow
and thrive: "Casino City has the resources and man/woman power to take GPWA
to great heights. Under Michael's leadership, GPWA will move forward and
become stronger than ever." Marlene Derosset added, "John and I have a lot
of faith in Michael and will be there to support him in any way we can."
Casino City has already taken over the hosting and maintenance of the
GPWA website, and earlier today rolled out an upgrade to the site with
significant enhancements to its usability. New features include intuitive
site navigation, more informative section introductions, and a greater
focus on the extensive forums available on the site. GPWA's 70+ public and
private forums feature nearly 24,000 threads and over 170,000 posts with
invaluable news, information, and advice for seasoned, rookie, and aspiring
webmasters.
Corfman, who is now the GPWA's Executive Director, plans to concentrate
on enhancing the organization's role in increasing transparency in the
gaming industry as a whole. "I think of the gaming industry as a public
garden," he said. "If we want people to visit so we can be successful, we
have to get rid of the weeds. I believe communities like the GPWA can
support the good industry players and expose the bad industry players if
they have the right infrastructure in place. We will direct our energy,
passion, and resources to build tools that will be of the greatest benefit
to the GPWA community."
Casino City is a publisher of directories and almanacs for the gaming
industry including Casino City's iGaming Business Directory and the
operator of a network of websites including https://www.casinocity.com and
https://www.casinocitypress.com.