The next event will take place in 2008. Austria and Germany, who have been carrying out players’ events repeatedly for years, lead the way in the preparations. “The selection mode differs”, explains Öhlinger, “Usually players qualify themselves for the final events in the Global Masters.” Cross-border events and player meetings are no rarity in the German-speaking countries. The last club-championships in August were held together with Switzerland. The qualifying games for the next German championships in October 2007 are well on their way with club valuations already completed and participants currently being individually ranked. In March, the Finnish championships took place in Helsinki for the second time. With over 2,500 linked Photo Play terminals, Finland has the second-largest player community. The over one hundred qualified players’ ambition to come out top was correspondingly high. “We totally count on our national Photo Play distributors where national events are concerned,” says Öhlinger. “Our marketing and sales department does however support our partners in the planning, organisation and execution of the events.” Meanwhile regular national player events have become just as popular amongst Spanish and Italian players as they are in Greece and in Cyprus. “The sports positioning has enabled us to promote consciousness for the meaning of solidarity amongst players in the countries. None of our competitors has such an active, large and international player community,” is how Öhlinger describes the consequence of regular player meetings.

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