Public Gaming November/December 2020

14 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020 PGRI ROUNDTABLES B usinesses have been using SWOT – Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportuni- ties, reats – analyses for decades to help them develop an awareness of all the factors in making business decisions. Often, this takes place over the course of many months, perhaps even a year. But in 2020, when our entire existence has shrunk to the four walls of our houses (or at least our home o ces), a SWOT analysis for the lottery industry can apply to a time- frame of just a few days and change just as frequently. Such is the nature of a business that relies on people being mobile and visiting retailers as well as staying at home and engaging on their phones or computers. On the surface, identifying the points under each SWOT attribute does not seem too di cult. But truly dissecting a SWOT analysis of the lottery industry requires a view from the trenches AND from 30,000 feet. Often it is lottery directors who work on both their individual lottery issues and industry-wide issues who can provide the greatest insight. “ is has certainly been the most challeng- ing year I have seen in my many decades in the lottery industry,” said Rebecca Hargrove, President & CEO, Tennessee Education Lottery Corp. and President of the World Lottery Association. “One of the strongest assets of this business is our ability to collaborate and that has certainly been altered since March. We’ve lost that face- to-face contact which has always worked so well for us. “But if anything, this business is resilient. We have fought back from economic downturns and attacks on our products and how we earn revenue. One of our strengths is working together and we have managed to do that, even if we’re not in the same room.” As President and CEO of the Georgia Lottery, Gretchen Corbin has encouraged teamwork to her employees during these unprecedented times. It’s a di cult message to convey when your employees are spread across a large state, but they have responded admirably. And Gretchen sees a similar “we’re all in this together” attitude as one of the strengths of the larger industry. “We all share the common goal of raising revenue for our states’ bene ciaries which makes information sharing much easier,” she said. “And of course, we’re joined by various multi-state games and we really need those to work to help with our success. So we have more in common than not. “One of the things that helps me is the ability to call a colleague in another state HOW DOES THE LOTTERY INDUSTRY LOOK THROUGH A SWOT ANALYSIS? Roundtable Leader May Scheve Reardon introduced this session with a discussion about the renewed importance of strategic planning in these challenging and uncertain times, engaging panelists to address: How can the SWOT method for systematically assessing the lay of the land and designing action plans to optimize performance and results, be applied to guide us in the post-COVID19 world? How might Team Lottery identify and leverage its strengths and mitigate its weaknesses; capitalize on opportunities; and prepare for threats to its business model? And how might SWOT be applied to optimize performance of the National Games – Powerball and Mega Millions. PGRI LOTTERY EXPO & POST-COVID19 LOTTERY: THE MOVIE Executive Summary of SWOT: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats Roundtable SWOT ROUNDTABLE LEADER: May Scheve Reardon, Executive Director, Missouri Lottery, Chair of Powerball Group PANELISTS: Gretchen Corbin, President & CEO, Georgia Lottery Corporation Rebecca Hargrove, President & CEO, Tennessee Education Lottery Corp. and President of the World Lottery Association Gordon Medenica, Director, Maryland Lottery & Gaming and Lead Director of Mega Millions Drew Svitko, Executive Director, Pennsylvania Lottery Bret Toyne, Executive Director, MUSL (Multi-State Lottery Association)