Public Gaming International November/December 2021

40 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021 for our retailers, vendors, and players. Currently: • Lottery Marketing Specialists in each district office (claim center) process claims from players behind plexiglass customer service windows. • Players have the option to make appointments to redeem their winning tickets to minimize waiting times in District Offices • Each Lottery district office provides a secure drop-off method for players seeking to claim prizes, which offers minimal in-person interaction and no in-person waiting. • Retailers are visited regularly by Lottery Sales Representatives, who assist with point-of-sale materials, Scratch-Off ticket inventories, and stocking of vending machines; they also educate retailers on new games and responsible play best practices. • Through the Lottery’s mobile app, players can complete a digital play- slip, thus minimizing time spent on in-store purchases of Lottery tickets. VIRGINIA LOTTERY There is no doubt that face-to-face interac- tion is valuable, both for our players and our retailers. For obvious health and safety reasons, we needed to suspend face-to-face interaction for a brief period last year. However, we knew that we wanted to get back in person with our key stakeholders as soon as possible. We happily and safely welcomed customers into our service centers after a two-month closure at the front-end of the pandemic, with entirely new safety protocols in place. We continue to limit the number of customers in the lobby (masked only) and envision that practice to remain in place for the foresee- able future. Our social media platforms also allowed us to stay in touch with our players. We introduced live-streamed “Friday Fundays” on our Facebook page and invited our fans to join us each week to talk about products, promotions, our ongoing support of public education and, of course, to win prizes. For five months, our field sales staff connected with our retailers through phone calls, emails, text messages and virtual visits. This time allowed us to review our current model of servicing our valuable partners. While we know that some retailers rely heavily on us to activate new games, pull expired games, fill vending machines and restock supplies, we also learned that weekly in-person visits weren’t always necessary for every retailer. Our sales management team reallocated sales routes and reduced face-to-face require- ments. However, it wasn’t just COVID driving this decision. We also have a focus on non-traditional retail recruitment. Reviewing current practices allowed us to continue with a strategic focus both on growing our business and increasing our opportunities to engage with consumers in new settings. Of course, the launch of our iLottery platform on July 1, 2020, certainly supported engagement with our players when we couldn’t be face-to-face. Even without our full suite of products available, it was clear Virginians were excited to meet us in the digital space. Sales far exceeded initial estimates and represented a signifi- cant percentage of our record-shattering sales of more than $3 billion in FY21. The future of online play in Virginia is bright and will continue to serve as a valuable complement to player interaction at traditional brick-and-mortar. Pre-COVID, we regularly looked at processes to ensure that we continued to drive our business forward as efficiently, effectively and profitably as possible. That hasn’t changed and thoughtful, strategic adjustments will continue to be made as needed into the future. WHAT ARE SOME OF THE BIGGEST HURDLES YOU FACE AS YOUR EMPLOYEES EITHER RETURN TO THE OFFICE OR EMBRACE A NEW TYPE OF WORKING MODEL? NEW JERSEY LOTTERY Employees have discovered the advantage of working from home in terms of increased productivity and the flexibil- ity that it affords. While the pandemic continues, many employees are still dealing with issues regarding childcare and school closures, which require continued flexibil- ity. As we prepare to return to a full-time onsite work schedule, we are working to institute the state’s mandatory vaccination/ testing policy, along with other precautions such as masking requirements, which have naturally produced a number of challenges. FLORIDA LOTTERY Employee safety is paramount at the Florida Lottery. We have taken numerous steps to ensure that: • Our employees are educated on and familiar with safety protocols related to COVID-19 mitigation practices, including contact tracing, quarantin- ing, isolating, and testing. • We effectively communicate safety measure being taken in the office en- vironment to employees and vendors. We are clearing backlogs of delayed in-person deliverables including winning prize payments to players, point-of-sale materials, and ticket inventories for our retailers. VIRGINIA LOTTERY For many employees, remote working was a new concept. Though we quickly addressed technology needs, we still recognized that most didn’t have any type of office space carved out in their homes. We knew many were working – uncomfortably – from kitchen counters and dining room tables, so we offered a one-time stipend for employees to create more functional work areas. For those without lottery-issued laptops or MiFi devices, we issued a temporary monthly internet stipend to help offset additional incurred personal costs. With schools shuttered, there were added challenges for our working parents who became both full-time workers and home-schoolers in an instant. We regularly acknowledged these unprecedented circum- stances by making sure we demonstrated – through our words and actions – grace and flexibility. Though we were officially in a remote work posture for 15 months, some Headquar- ters employees continued to also utilize their office space. For those who chose to come into the office, we implemented a