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SMART-Tech 2012 Helmsley Park Lane Hotel, Central Park South between 5th and 6th Avenues, New York City; Opens with a Reception at 5:00 pm March 19, Business sessions March 20 and March 21, Receptions to be 5:00 to 7:00 pm all three nights (March 19, 20, & 21) Room Block is selling fast. The room rate is $220. Call 212-371-4000 or 800-221-4982 to reserve your room. Our Group Block number is 602246. Refer also to the Group Name which is Public Gaming. Please go to www.PublicGaming.org for more details and registration information. Please register ASAP. Unlike ever before, conference room space is actually filling up to a point where we may need to stop accepting registrations. Lottery and Government personnel: There is no charge to attend. please e-mail your name, title, e-mail address, and any other EA or contact info you would like to provide. Easy as that!
Non-lottery/government
registrants:
There is a charge to attend.
I promise you will be pleased with
the SMART-Tech conference experience. Thank you for your support and
consideration!
SPONSORS Call Paul Jason at U.S. + 425-449-3000 if you have any questions or concerns. Or e-mail me at Pjason@PublicGaming.com "It's kinda fun to do the impossible" Walt Disney It will in fact be a 'fun' and interesting challenge to get all lottery stakeholders to work together, to get everyone to appreciate that our goals are the same and that success depends on alignment of purpose, strategies, and implementation of action-plans. It's not impossible, but it won't be easy to harness the efforts of retailers and all our channel partners, all our commercial partners, our legislators, all our stakeholders and all our resources to work so harmoniously that it would appear that we all have the exact same mission, and serve the exact same constituents. Because we do. We all strive to optimize performance for the benefit of consumers, Good Causes, and the citizens of our jurisdiction. SMART-Tech 2012 is convening a very special group of industry leaders to capture the magic of this special time in the lottery industry and set us on a course to be the preeminent leaders that the consumer and Good Cause beneficiaries expect us to be. Lottery is now entering a business climate in which the opportunities are going to come and go more quickly than ever. The need to act decisively is critical for Lottery just as it is for all businesses everywhere. New channels of distribution represent tremendous opportunity for lotteries to bring in new consumer groups as well as excite our loyal customers. But it does also introduce new levels of complexity and new kinds of business and public communication challenges. We want to thank the SMART-Tech speaker team for helping us to wrestle down the obstacles that stand in the way of progress and forge the action-plans that keep Government Gaming on the leading edge of this industry.
Major Peter J. O'Connell Lottery Industry Lifetime Achievement Award
Ceremony The SMART-Tech Team of Speakers, Moderators, and Panelists:
Last Year, our theme was “The only ones crazy enough to think they can change the world are - the ones that do. What would happen if we were all just crazy enough to think we could make a real difference?" (an old Apple Computer commercial) Not to imply that anyone is "crazy", but 2011 did turn out to be the year in which the actions of Team Lottery truly did make a difference. The tremendous progress made in 2011 has opened doors for an even more exciting 2012. Thanks and congratulations to Team Lottery for its irrepressible dedication to optimizing the business for the benefit of consumers and Good Causes! is to build on the current momentum, to grab hold of the opportunities; to acquire the foresight to avoid pitfalls and the tools to make this be a breakout year for Team Lottery. Everyone Wins with Internet distribution of lottery products Everyone wins when the player-base is expanded, when more consumers are playing lottery. And by everyone, we mean: -- Advocates for responsible gaming: The Internet lends itself particularly to new forms of extended-play and entertainment-focused games. This takes the focus off of outcome and puts it more onto entertainment; appealing more to the impulse for healthy fun and recreation. It also creates the foundation for the kind of dynamic and interactive dialogue between operator and player that supports effective communication and implementation of Responsible Gaming tools. And lastly, it focuses the business model on increasing the number of consumers who play smaller dollar amounts for recreational purposes as opposed to a focus on selling more and more to the core player. -- Retailers: Expanding the player-base translates directly into increased store traffic and sales. The internet does not take sales away from the retail channel. The two consumer touch-points work together to serve the consumer and to mutually reinforce and support each other. This is not theory. This is demonstrable fact as evidenced in markets where retailer sales growth has been occurring right alongside of internet sales initiatives, and has been for many years (like Canada, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Austria, U.K., Australia, and many other jurisdictions). Internet distribution of traditional products brings in new consumers who become new retail store customers, and cross-sell promo's drive more store activity from current lottery customers and from new consumer groups. The land-based retailers will always be the life-blood of lottery's relationship to its players and channels like internet will augment and support that special relationship. -- Operators: Expanding the player-base is vital to the long-term viability of the business. Appealing to new consumer groups with new kinds of gaming options and making them available through the channels where the consumers live and breathe is a key part of any success plan. Giving the consumer options, making your product available through a multiplicity of channels, opening up a variety of communication links and building a truly interactive relationship with the consumer is all part of an effective Sustainable Growth plan.
-- Consumers and Players: The consumer wants options.
Successful consumer product companies do not try to limit the
distribution of their products, to make it available only through a
limited number of channels. Successful business leaders do not view the
market as a zero-sum game and we should not take guidance from
businesses that do look at it that way. The focus of sustainable
business models is on innovating and collaborating to expand the market
and consumer base. Making the product available through more channels,
innovating the product to appeal to new game styles and preferences,
these are just some of the things the consumer expects. So let us be
the ones who give it to them.
The late Steve Jobs described the mission of Apple as owning the
intersection of technology and liberal arts; marrying technology and
humanity. Others excel at one or the other but not the mission of
bringing the two together. Team Lottery can do the same for our
industry. Others may excel in one area or another; but nobody, not Big
Casino, not remote offshore i-gaming operators - nobody is in a position
to integrate as many consumer touch-points with as wide a variety of
gaming options and as broad a customer-base, as Team Lottery. And all
of that is combined with a massive land-based retail network that nobody
else has even the most remote possibility of replicating. We have the
resources to do for the gaming industry what Google did for search, what
Facebook did for social, what Apple Computer did for the consumer by
turning technological function into an delightful user experience. That
is an ambitious goal, but then again, It's kinda fun to do the
impossible! More Later! (I'm afraid it's true.)
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