Well over 200 delegates convened for two days of provocative sessions, and lots of social time for conversation and side-bar meetings. 

We hope it was rewarding and productive as well as fun. 

Please let us know if you have thoughts on how we might improve the conference experience. 

Executive Summaries of the panel discussions and articles based on the presentations will be published in the next two issues of PGRI Magazine.  And the video-recording of the PGRI Smart-Tech Miami presentations and panel discussions will be posted to PGRItalks.com.

Mark your calendars for September 13 and 14 (with opening reception night of Tuesday Sept. 12) to join us at PGRI Lottery Expo. 

Those dates are confirmed but the location and specific venue are not.  We're exploring options in New York and Nashville and hope to confirm everything by the end of April.  See you there (or before then at EL Congress in Sibenik, Croatia or NASPL PDS in Denver).  

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NOON: PGRI Information and Registration Desk Opens

5-7 pm: Opening Night Reception: Poolside, Ocean-Front "1930's House"
Wednesday March 29: 

8:30-4:00 pm: Conference Sessions in the Century Ballroom

12:30 to 1:30 pm Lunch on Vista Terrace

4:00-5:00 pm: WILL (Women's Initiative in Lottery Leadership) Session 
5-7 pm Reception: Vista Terrace
Thursday March 30: 
8:30 am – 12:30 pm: PGRI Conference Sessions to Noon in Century Ballroom
12:30 – 3:30 pm: Lunch on Vista Terrace followed by Reception in Crown Room

Normalization of Gambling, Betting, and Lottery:  The explosion of sports-betting, online gambling, and iLottery over the last few years (and casinos over the last 25 years) has capped the transition to where betting in all its forms is as socially acceptable as your typical consumer product or recreational activity, like buying a beer or going to a movie.  How is this monumental sea-change of social attitudes about gambling reshaping player behaviour, the regulatory environment, and the competitive landscape within which lotteries operate?    How do we carve out the most relevant role for State Lotteries in this new games-of-chance market-place? 

Sponsored by Industry Leaders …

• Double-Platinum Sponsors: IGT, Pollard Banknote, Scientific Games
• Platinum Sponsors: Abacus Solutions, Carmanah Signs, EQL Games, IWG Instant Win Games
• Gold Sponsors: Alchemy3, Atlas Experiences, Inspired Entertainment, Intralot, Neogames, SCA Promotions

Tuesday March 28

• Noon: Registration and Information Desk opens to greet everyone
• 5:00 – 7:00 pm Reception:  Poolside, Ocean-Front "1930's House"

Wednesday March 29

7:45 – 8:30 am Continental Breakfast                                   

8:30 am:  Paul Jason, CEO, PGRI, Inc. opens conference Century Ballroom

• Welcome to Florida – the Education State Providing a Path to Prosperity

John F. Davis, Secretary, Florida Lottery

• Driving Progress Means Normalizing Change and Rejecting the Path of Least Resistance

Sarah Taylor, Executive Director, Hoosier Lottery and President of NASPL

• NextGen Instant Innovation

Keith Cash, Vice President & General Manager, Instant Products and Services, IGT

• Powering Amazing Omnichannel User Experiences

Lianne Paturel, Vice President, Business Development, Pollard Banknote

• Cheers to 50 Years: Celebrating five decades of innovation and partnerships that have helped shape today’s lottery industry

Drew Scolaro, Vice President Sales, Scientific Games

• 10:15 am Coffee Break

10:30 am.    

• Gathering Storm Clouds

Terry Presta, Head of Business North America, Abacus Lottery Solutions

• eInstant Best Practices – 2023 Edition

Jason Lisiecki, Vice President North America, Instant Win Gaming (IWG)

• Retail Transformation Ground School: What can Skydiving & BASE Jumping Teach us About Leaping Forward at Retail?

Nadene Beyerbach, Marketing & Sales Support Manager, Carmanah Signs

• Team USA & the Olympic Games:

Memories of a Lifetime for Lottery Players

Jim Acton, Business Development, EQL Games

11:30  Panel Discussion

Focus on Instants at Retail.  Applying the most progressive strategies for driving Instants Sales at Land-Based Stores

Moderator: Mark Michalko, Executive Director, North Carolina Lottery

Panelists:

Matt Isaac, Senior Director Lottery Marketing, Pollard Banknote

Jeremy Kyzer, Regional Vice President Sales, Scientific Games

Ryan Mindell, Deputy Executive Director, Texas Lottery

Randy Spielman, Deputy Executive Director of Product Development and Digital Gaming, North Carolina Lottery

Tom Seaver, Director, Colorado Lottery

12:30 to 1:30 pm:      Luncheon                                   Vista Terrace

Wednesday Afternoon                                       Century Ballroom

1:30 pm  Panel Discussion

Retail modernization and Optimization.  Applying the most progressive tools, methods, and 'best-practices' to drive Sales at Retail

Moderator: Justin Rock, Deputy Secretary of Product and Sales, Florida Lottery

Panelists:

Jay Finks, Executive Director, Oklahoma Lottery

Max Goldstein, Director of Sales & Marketing, Carmanah Signs

Burbank Herndon, Vice President Sales - Retail Solutions, Scientific Games

Terry Presta, Head of Business North America, Abacus Lottery Solutions

Frank Suarez, Executive Director, DC Lottery

2:30 pm   Blue Skies and Bright Clouds: The Future of Lottery, Part II

Michelle Carney, Vice President Global Lottery Marketing, IGT

2:45    Double-Platinum Panel Discussion     

Government Relations: How might Team Lottery advance the agenda to get approval to offer its games online and forge the most effective PR and GR agenda in general. 

Moderator: Rebecca Paul, President and CEO, Tennessee Education Lottery Corporation; President of the World Lottery Association (WLA)    

Panelists:

Scott Gunn, Senior Vice President, Corporate Public Affairs, IGT

May Scheve Reardon, Vice President, Government Relations, Pollard Banknote

Jim Schultz, Senior Vice President, Global Public Policy & Government Affairs, Scientific Games

3:40    Coffee Break

3:50    Paris: Hosting the fabulous World Lottery Summit 2024

Lynne Roiter, Secretary General, World Lottery Association (WLA)

4:00    WILL Session           (Women’s Initiative in Lottery Leadership)

Moderator: Rebecca Paul, President and CEO, Tennessee Education Lottery Corporation; President of the World Lottery Association (WLA)   

Panelists:

Vivian Abdelmessih, Member of the Board of Directors, Scientific Games

With a career in global corporate and investment banking, Ms. Abdelmessih has served on the Boards of First Nations Bank of Canada, The Canadian Business Growth Fund, TD Insurance Company, Greenwood College and Bridgepoint Health Foundation. 

Rose Hudson, President & CEO, Louisiana Lottery Corporation

Ms. Hudson serves on the boards of Investar Bank and Holding Company, Woman’s Hospital, the Junior League of Baton Rouge, and is a board member emeritus of Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center.

Maria Pinelli, Member of the Board of Directors, IGT

Ms. Pinelli serves as a member of the board of directors for Globant and is board director and chair of the audit committee for Archer Aviation, Inc. Prior, she served in a variety of leadership roles at EY (Ernst & Young) from 1986 to 2020, culminating in Global Vice Chair.

Wanda Young Wilson, Member of the Board of Directors of Bally’s.  Ms. Wilson also serves as the Chairman of Bally’s Audit Committee and Chairman of the Compliance Committee; has served on several non-profit boards and currently serves on the Board of Advisors at the University of Minnesota Walter Mondale School of Law; and was formerly Chief Operating Officer & General Counsel at the Tennessee Education Lottery Corporation. 

5:00 – 7:00 pm  Reception  Vista Terrace

Thursday March 30     

7:45 – 8:30 am Continental Breakfast                  

8:30 am   Panel Discussion                           Century Ballroom                                                        

iLottery: Managing iLottery for maximum growth, maximum player engagement, and maximum overall sales including retail  

Moderator: Drew Svitko, Executive Director, Pennsylvania Lottery

Panelists:

Kelley-Jaye Cleland, Chief Product & Program Officer, New Hampshire Lottery

Gretchen Corbin, President & CEO, Georgia Lottery

Brad Cummings, Founder & CEO, EQL Games

Rhydian Fisher, Founder & CEO, IWG (Instant Win Gaming)

Derek Levesque, Director Business Development, IGT

Jennifer Westbury, Executive Vice President, Sales & Customer Development, Pollard Banknote

9:30 am        

• The Secret Sauce: Key Ingredients to Experiential Marketing

Merrill Fullerton, Account Director, Alchemy3

• Inspired Content and Services ​Making a Difference for The Lottery Industry  

Brooks Pierce, President & CEO, Inspired Entertainment

• Game on: The fight for the right to make lottery games available online 

Scott Bowen, Government Affairs Specialist, Neogames

10:15             Coffee Break 

• A Timely Refresh

Derek Gwaltney, Founder & CEO, Atlas Experiences

• The Future of Retail Digitization

Chris Chrisostomidis, Vice President Platforms & Sportbook, INTRALOT

• Amplifying Resources While Reducing Risk

Don Silberstein, Senior Vice President, Marketing & Business Development, SCA Promotions

• Utilizing Lean to Enable the Hybrid Work-Place: Greg Chmielewski,

Deputy Director: Performance and Strategic Initiatives, Arizona Lottery

• Insights and Take-Aways from Leger’s 2023 Player Value Study

Simon Jaworski, Executive Vice President Gaming & Lottery, Leger USA

11:30             Panel Discussion: 

Optimizing the overall sales of Powerball, Mega Millions, & Multi-State Games

Moderator: David Barden, President & CEO, New Mexico Lottery; President of MUSL (Multi-State Lottery Association)

Panelists:

Gretchen Corbin, President & CEO, Georgia Lottery

Norm Lingle, Executive Director, South Dakota Lottery

John Martin, Director, Maryland Lottery

Drew Svitko, Executive Director, Pennsylvania Lottery, Chair of Powerball Group

Bret Toyne, Executive Director, MUSL

12:30 pm  Luncheon and Reception    Vista Terrace and Crown Room