48 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2023 review and approval. Top objectives identified during the summit included continuing dialogue and collaborative efforts with the Mega Millions Consortium and World Lottery Association, investing in Powerball brand research, and developing new draw-based games and add-ons to enhance current games. “MUSL has gone to significant efforts to upgrade its digital infrastructure to support the rollout of new products and promotions,” said Barden. “The new FLEX system is a game changer for us. We can hit the ground running knowing that we have supporting infrastructure behind us.” To cap off the summit, the Directors had the option to attend opening day of the Iowa State Fair. Iowa Lottery CEO Matt Strawn guided the Directors on a tour of the fairgrounds before their departures from Des Moines. Some of the directors who attended the fair had backgrounds in agriculture or participated in 4-H as youth, while other Directors had large lottery events planned for their own state fairs later in the summer. "The motto of the Iowa State Fair is 'Nothing Compares.' The same is true for getting out of the Board room and connecting with your colleagues over a corndog or while checking out the famous Butter Cow," said Strawn. "These Director relationships form the foundation of the teamwork that is necessary for MUSL to continue successfully managing multi-state games and product development." n Matt Strawn (IA), Adam Prock (MN), Drew Svitko (PA), Sarah M. Taylor (IN), Cindy Polzin (WI), Lance Gaebe (ND), Helene Keeley (DE), Hogan Brown (SC) visit the Jackpot Lambs in the Sheep Barn at the Iowa State Fair. Strategic Planning with a Slice of State Fair continued from page 23 My oldest son, for instance, is a doctor who works in the emergency center at the hospital. Like all medical students and young doctors, he worked incredibly long hours for many years. Now he is determined to impose a more reasonable work-life balance, even cutting back to less than a full work-load. He wants more time for his family and for himself and is willing to forego some income to achieve this work-life balance. My second son is an IT programmer, and if it is a nice day, he takes the day off and works at night to get his work done. People used to take three weeks of vacation in the summer. Now many are dividing their vacation time, maybe taking one week in the summer and the other days spread throughout the year. To be honest, it takes a new way of thinking for some of us in the older generation to adapt to the expectations of the next generation of leaders. As someone who has never taken all of his vacation time, it takes getting used to the work-style expectations of the next generation of leaders! Is video-conferencing replacing in-person meetings? JL Moner-Banet: I hope not. Of course, video was a godsend during the pandemic. And I do think video-conferencing will continue to be a powerful productivity tool that reduces the need to travel as much and supports the new work-at-home schedules of many people. So, I do think we need to embrace the utility of video as a method of operation and collaboration. That said, no I do not think video-conferencing replaces in-person meetings. There is a distinct difference in tone and feeling of openness and connection between in-person and video-meetings. And so I hope that our business culture appreciates the importance of relationship-building that in-person meetings enable and doesn’t lean too much on video-conferencing going forward. For example, the European Lotteries Association executive committee meets multiple times a year. Those used to involve travelling to a place where we met in-person. We now conduct more than half of those meetings on MS Teams video. That is OK as it does save us a lot of travelling time. But we all still feel strongly that we need to meet in person as well. And as far as I can tell, most companies, including Loterie Romande, require the senior management team to be in the office at least three days a week. How might different work-styles and lifestyles affect the shopping behaviour and play-styles of lottery players? JL Moner-Banet: Now that is the important question, isn’t it. We have been talking about our own personal networks but, of course, these changes are happening in most industry sectors all across the world, certainly everywhere in western Europe and North America. We need to think about how the consumers organize their lives around completely different work and recreation schedules and how that will affect the way they play lottery. One thing is clear: the digital connection to the player will be more important than ever. Building and maintaining a world-class platform that supports a multi-faceted, feature-rich online relationship that includes dynamic 2-way communication is now mission-critical. More and more gaming and recreational options and digital strategies are competing for the attention of the consumer. Lottery will likely continue to have the advantage with our land-based network of retailers. But the battleground of the future will be on digital channels, and we simply must establish the same commanding presence online that we have always had at retail. n The IT Architecture and Strategy to Future-Proof Your Business continued from page 30
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