<strong>Public</strong> <strong>Gaming</strong> Jim Scroggins Executive Director, Oklahoma Lottery Recipient of the Major Peter J. O’Connell Lottery Industry Lifetime Achievement Award Jim Scroggins was hired in June 2005 to direct the startup of the Oklahoma Lottery. Prior to that, he served as Executive Director for both the Missouri Lottery (1992–2005) and the Pennsylvania Lottery (1987–1991). Over 30 years in the lottery business give him an important historical perspective with which to analyze the events and issues of today. As the following discussion shows, our constant push for change, innovation, and progress really does need to <strong>be</strong> informed by an awareness of how we got to w<strong>here</strong> we are at today. As host to NASPL ’09 in Oklahoma City, Mr. Scroggins welcomes you to participate in North America’s most important lottery conference and trade show of the year. Visit www.Naspl.org for complete information. <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Gaming</strong>: You’re hosting the NASPL conference and trade show in Oklahoma City Octo<strong>be</strong>r 6-9. What will <strong>be</strong> special about this conference and trade show? Jim Scroggins: <strong>The</strong> lottery industry is in a very interesting situation right now. <strong>The</strong> state of the economy is on most peoples’ minds and that is the focus of our conference. That is…how will lotteries grow and prosper in an industry that <strong>be</strong>gan to change long <strong>be</strong>fore this recession and will continue to change long after the recession is over? We will <strong>be</strong> looking at the world and our industry in a positive forward-looking way. <strong>The</strong> changes our industry has <strong>be</strong>en going through are presenting lotteries with tremendous opportunity to reinvent their approach to business. <strong>The</strong> unifying theme of the conference is… W<strong>here</strong> is our industry going and how do we as lottery organizations position ourselves for success? <strong>The</strong> keynote speakers and breakout sessions will focus on topics that will help drive that success. For example, we have scheduled keynote presentations on “<strong>The</strong> State of the North Ameri<strong>can</strong> Economy,” “Current State of the Lottery Industry”, and “State of the Lottery Consumer,” to name a few. Breakout sessions will include such topics as “Advertising Return on Investment,” “Interactive <strong>Gaming</strong>,” “Customer Service,” “Managing the Stress of Change,” and numerous other timely subjects. And since the trade-show and our commercial partners are always a tremendous source of innovation, they will <strong>be</strong> presenting their visions for the future in various sessions as well as in their exhibit booths. <strong>The</strong> tradeshow itself is a fabulous source for insight into w<strong>here</strong> we’re going as an industry and how we’re going to succeed as a business. <strong>The</strong> focus is on timeliness and topics that are impacting our business right now. J. Scroggins: Exactly. We’re bringing in experts from outside the lottery industry to talk about trends in retailing and marketing and applying those perspectives to the lottery and our own businesses. To some extent, those of us in the industry are already aware of much of what our colleagues are doing and thinking about. One of the main objectives of the breakout sessions is to ‘break out’ of the “preaching to the choir” syndrome. Our speakers, panelists and moderators have all <strong>be</strong>en challenged to really take it up a notch, delivering a conference and educational experience that is fresh, bold and informative. It sounds like a push for a little edginess, too. It seems to me that we’re entering the second half of the recession, and that now is exactly the wrong time to cut back on advertising and promotion. It’s a mistake to wait too long to position our brand and product awareness for the return of consumer confidence and economic health. <strong>The</strong> time to ramp up the advertising and promotion machine is early in the recovery stage. Do you think we are in the second half of the recession and do you agree with that line of thinking? J. Scroggins: Yes and yes. We should not allow our brand awareness to diminish, ever. And now is an especially important time to make sure we keep our name, our products and brand awareness at its peak. But as you know, state governments operate on budgets that don’t necessarily get adjusted according to strategic decisions like we are talking about. <strong>The</strong>y should, but often they don’t. I’m curious about the notion that lottery players don’t play slot machines and slot players don’t play lottery. I’m wondering if that notion isn’t based on presumptions that no longer apply. Like the presumption that you have to get on an airplane and fly to Las Vegas Atlantic City to play in a casino. Like the presumption that players don’t compare the value propositions of different games of chance. Presumptions that may have <strong>be</strong>en true five years ago but are not as true now. J. Scroggins: It is still the case that different people play for different reasons. <strong>The</strong> …continued on page 22 <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Gaming</strong> International • Septem<strong>be</strong>r 2009 8
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