10 / 76
10
// PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL // July/August 2016
From the
Publisher
It is with profound sadness that we report the passing of
Arch
Gleason
, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Kentucky
Lottery Corporation (and former president of the WLA, NASPL,
and MUSL along with many other accomplishments) on July 1.
Arch’s role in this industry and remembrances of his friends will be
commemorated at Lottery Expo Miami on September 13, as well as
recounted in all-to-brief fashion on page 12. Our prayers and condo-
lences go out especially to Arch’s family for their loss.
Congratulations to the recipients of the 2016 Lottery Industry
Lifetime Achievement Award!
Tracey Cohen
(D.C. Lottery),
Car-
ole Hedinger
(New Jersey Lottery), and
Vernon Kirk
(Delaware
Lottery) have served our industry for decades with dedication and
distinction and we are so pleased and honored to recognize their
tremendous contributions. See their biographies on page 14.
Gardner Gurney has been at the helm of the New York Lottery for
many years, in top officer positions for the last 27 years, as Acting
Director since 2012, and as Director since 2015. Guiding one of
the largest lotteries in the world (fourth largest I believe) presents a
unique set of challenges. One of the topics we focus on is the risk
assessment models applied for driving rapid innovation in an en-
terprise of this magnitude. It inspires a vision for how our industry
does have the ability to be the leader in the games-of-chance indus-
try, to modernize in the face of changing consumer behavior that is
driving quantum changes in the market-place, and to drive growth
in a hotly contested competitive environment.
The panel discussions held at PGRI Smart-Tech NYC were more
poignant and substantive than ever. We have included edited ver-
sions of four of those discussions in this issue. Three of these focus
on the business of retail marketing and merchandising. Retailing has
not changed as much as most industries over the past two (or more!)
decades. The status quo won’t continue, though, as CPG brands
and retailers are innovating in rapid fashion. Consumer behavior
has been evolving rapidly over the past few years especially, and
retailing is finally resolved to catching up with its customers. This is
very exciting for an industry like Lottery which depends so much on
the retail channel. Let’s be the leaders in Retail Merchandising and
Marketing modernization!
Another panel discussion included in this issue focuses on the im-
portance of API’s—Application Program Interface. The technology
that enables seamless communication compatibility between multi-
ple IT systems is key to so many lottery industry objectives. For one
thing, multi-state retailers require standardization of reporting and
auditing across all jurisdictions, and this requires an API. But that is
just the tip of the iceberg. Cost-effective and timely deployment of
new technologies and games and innovation of any kind depends on
the enabling technology of API’s.
Initiatives like cashless transactions, for instance, depend on en-
abling technologies like API’s. Andrew Crowe of IGT gives a de-
tailed analysis of the benefits (and costs) of enabling consumers to
play the lottery with cashless media like credit cards.
Scientific Games, IGT, Novomatic Lottery Solutions, and Camelot
Global have all contributed to this dialogue on how Lottery can take
the leadership position in the modernization of retailing. These edi-
torial contributions focus on the issues in ways that help all of us to
understand how the market-place is changing, and how Lottery can
adapt to, and lead, the fast pace of modernization in retailing. The
future is ours to claim!
Motley Fool editorial contributor Jeff Hwang is a game inventor
and analyst who penned a most interesting article that drills deep
on the topic of why people gamble, and assesses the challenges for
the gambling industry to maintain growth into the future. He does
not talk about Lottery, but does talk about all forms of casino gam-
bling, online gambling, Daily Fantasy Sports, skill-based, etc., and
the play-styles and recreational preferences of Millennials (anyone
born between 1980 and 2000, a population of 87 million in the U.S.,
a group which outnumbers Baby Boomers and will account for one-
third of all retail spending within the next five years). It is not a
wholly optimistic picture, and I cannot attest to its accuracy or the
prescience of its conclusions. Still, it is a most interesting analy-
sis that makes it a must-read for those of us trying to understand,
and figure out what do about, the direction of consumer markets
in the broader games-of-chance industry. Google: Motley Fool Jeff
Hwang The Millennial Problem.
Please join us at
Lottery Expo
,
to be held at the Eden Roc Mi-
ami Beach Hotel on September 12, 13, and 14.
Three receptions
and two luncheons make it easy to visit with your colleagues from
around the world. We hope to see you there! Visit
PublicGaming.
org
for conference info, updates, and registration and room reser-
vations links.
■
Paul Jason, Publisher
Public Gaming International Magazine
Consumer behavior has been
evolving rapidly over the
past few years, and retailing is
finally resolved to catching up
with its customers.