Who are you and what is your job title?
Tony Calvin, senior press officer. I started here in June 2002, and have been here for 5 years. I deal with betting related queries and liase with the sponsorship teams. I also deal with stories that break on the site, so there is a good knowledge of sport required.
Did you have any background knowledge of betting before working at betfair?
I worked with Racing Post for twelve years, from 1988 to 2000.
How did you come to Betfair?
I received a phone call having heard that the company was going places. I joined 5 years ago almost to the day. It€™s been a bit of a rollercoaster ride but it€™s always interesting.
When you came here did you start off as a press officer?
No, I joined the telephone team which at the time was about 11 strong. I think now it€™s about 80 odd strong so it€™s grown massively. I was only there for about 3 or 4 months. Mark Davies was the head of PR then and he asked me to join him so I joined there. It€™s grown massively like most other departments. There are about ten of us in the communications department.
It must have been quite fun in the early days, any fond memories from back then?
It was a work hard and play hard attitude in those days, because the telephone team wasn€™t 24/7. It was pretty much nine o clock to 10 o clock to the end of the football, but of course there were people coming back from the pub and sleeping in the office getting to take phone calls on the boxing fight in the middle of the night. I remember that happening but there was a good team there.
What are the most challenging parts of your job?
Well there are lots of people who believe that betfair is a bad way of betting. The most challenging part of my job is trying to change people and papers perceptions of betfair so that they view it in a different and better way
What is the most enjoyably part of your job?
The most enjoyable part of my job is when I am able to successfully complete the challenging parts of my job and change someone€™s perception of betfair. It€™s always nice to see someone using and supporting betfair after originally going against it.