The Adriatic Web3 & iGaming Awards is breaking new ground in Montenegro, blending two of the most dynamic industries, Web3 and iGaming, into one unforgettable event. At the helm is a seasoned organizer with a PhD in Sociology and the title of FIDE Chess Master, whose strategic mindset shapes every project he undertakes.

Over the past decade, he has created and curated more than 20 large-scale conferences across Turkey, Kazakhstan, and Russia, while also producing car shows and concerts for international stars like DJ Paul Van Dyk.

Drawing on his background as a digital marketer, strategist, and sociologist, Meet Alex Nasybullin — the visionary behind the Adriatic Web3 & iGaming Awards. He sees the Balkans as a promising yet underexplored hub for innovation. In this exclusive interview, he shares the vision behind combining Web3 and iGaming, the lessons learned from organizing 20+ IT events, and why the Adriatic Awards is designed as much for high-value networking and deal-making as it is for thought leadership and recognition.

What was the original idea that led you to create the Adriatic Web3 & iGaming Awards, and why combine Web3 and iGaming into one event?

Since 2016, I have held 20 IT conferences in 3 countries: Turkey, Kazakhstan and Russia. I have also been a speaker 10 times, including in Dubai, Istanbul and Kyiv. In addition, I have organized car shows and concerts of stars such as DJ Paul Van Dyk. I consider the Balkans as a new promising region, where web3 is just gaining momentum, but iGaming is quite developed.

In Antalya, Turkey, I just did similar conferences by the sea in a lounge format: guests are relaxed, inclined to networking and teambuilding, beautiful views, shows and drinks. This is not a purely content conference, it is more about business on vacation. In Turkey, I held separate conferences on blockchain and traffic. However, this time in Montenegro I decided to combine two areas – web3 and iGaming, because the audiences are close. I know this for sure as a digital marketer with 10 years of experience. When our team drives traffic to gambling, betting or crypto projects, the audience and algorithms are similar.

It is also well known that online games are interested in crypto payments, so crypto processing is now constantly looking for new gaming services. At the same time, I did not notice any conferences with awards in the Balkans. And in general, there are very few conferences in the region in the field of web3 and gaming. We need to develop this, and not just look at events in other countries. That is how the idea of ​​holding an award and in two directions at once was born.

This is something new, and repeating other old formats is no longer relevant and interesting. As a scientist and a chess player, I think strategically, developing this game step by step.

What was the single biggest logistical or conceptual lesson you learned running similar events in other markets — and how did it change how you built Adriatic Awards?

The main thing is people and networking. Connections decide a lot. Even one useful business acquaintance in a relaxed atmosphere at sea over a glass of wine can radically change your whole life. A person needs a person! People want live communication.

I realized this during the pandemic, as well as when I launched my metaverse project. Nothing can replace live communication in a pleasant lounge atmosphere!

What type of people or companies should absolutely not miss this event?

Start-ups, investors and marketers, as well as traders and people who want to make new useful contacts with industry leaders in order to grow themselves. This time at our conference Adriatic web3 & iGaming Awards there will be several start-ups and as many as 5 funds, including VC from London and TON foundation.

In general, I would like the conference to eventually become a kind of accelerator, where brilliant idea generators, startups, investors who can support bright minds, and marketers who can package projects and promote them to the international arena meet. I have already done a similar project, Blockchain Factory, in my hometown of Kazan, where 50 start-ups gathered, and the winner (a gaming project, by the way) eventually went to Hong Kong, where millions of dollars were invested in it.

Organizing an event like this certainly isn’t easy – what did you struggle with behind the scenes that the audience never even knew about? Is there an anecdote that particularly sticks in your memory?

Over the past 10 years, there have been many tragicomic situations at events. However, I always managed to get out of such situations with honor – it’s a whole adventure! For example, in Antalya, the largest 5-deck “all-inclusive” ship was rented for the CPA Saloon conference, but it did not want to sail at the beginning of the event, because, as it turned out, the owner of the ship did not pay the captain.

We managed to quickly resolve the issue on the spot, the guests did not know anything about it. Before this incident, for example, in Moscow, the music equipment burned down in a famous nightclub on the day of the afterparty of an IT conference, a couple of hours before the start of the show, they had to clean up and re-prepare everything. But the guests did not know about it and everything went well. In general, human factors and technical problems can occur at any event, and both the organizers and guests need to understand this.

What last-minute advice would you give to a startup that wants to make the most of attending (one-page pitch, demo readiness, people to meet)?

You need to have not only a brilliant idea, but also be able to package it beautifully and sell it, which is what marketers usually do. If you make an interesting product, prepare tens of thousands of dollars for promotion. These are the budgets in my experience. And if we talk about token sales, then you need 200-300 thousand dollars for complex marketing for 3 months to raise, for example, 2-3 million dollars. We did such cases.

As for the pitch to investors, you need to present a strong team, MVP and a real roadmap. It is important for the investor how the project is developing and when it will bring profit. You must be able to tell the main thing about the project quickly and briefly in 3 minutes so that this speech will hook the investor. I personally conducted such negotiations in Dubai and in a few minutes convinced the banker to support a startup for half a million dollars.