SA Lotteries Chief to Lead International Lottery Association
SOUTH AUSTRALIA (October 15, 2008) -- SA Lotteries Chief Executive June Roache has been elected chairperson of the Asia Pacific Lottery Association (APLA)...............Subscribers

Henry Chan Gains Second Term of Office as Chairman of Asia Pacific Lottery Association
APLA (November 15, 2006) – Mr. Henry Chan, Executive Director, Betting of The Hong Kong Jockey Club, was re-elected Chairman of the Asia Pacific Lottery Association (APLA) at its Annual General Meeting in Singapore...........................Read the full story at: Vol.37 No.8

The regional conference and annual general meeting of the Asia Pacific Lottery Association (APLA) took place recently (September 8 - 11, 2004) in the beautiful city of Perth in Western Australia.

Some 130 participants from 19 lotteries, vendors and authorities from the region attended (see list below). The topics on the agenda included: Economic and Demographic Trends in the Asia Pacific region, Ethics and Responsible Gaming, Sports Lotteries, Privatization and Lottery Marketing.

The seminar got off to a flying start on Wednesday evening with a welcoming social function hosted by Lotterywest at Scitech, home of Australia's biggest and most technically advanced planetarium, Horizon Planetarium. Delegates were treated to a wonderful experience as they were taken on a journey through space. Following the demonstration they were invited to dine in one of the Planetarium's function rooms.

On Thursday morning delegates assembled in the very well appointed Burswood Convention Centre. In her welcome address, Jan Stewart, APLA Chair and CEO of Lotterywest, thanked the delegates for responding to APLA's invitation to attend the inaugural APLA regional conference. Ms Stewart also thanked the sponsors for their generous support.

She outlined the business program and told delegates to take the opportunity to network with colleagues. Ms Stewart also told delegates that the region covered by APLA included some of the oldest and most successful, as well as the newest and fastest developing lotteries in the world. She said APLA has a very important role to play in providing the means for lotteries in the region to learn from each other.

Following Ms Stewart's warm welcome the Hon Nick Griffiths, LLB, MLC Minister for Racing and Gaming declared the conference open. The Minister said his government was very keen to maintain good relationships with Western Australia's neighbours in the region. He also told the delegates that they were part of a very important industry.

The first of the invited Key Note speakers was Professor Peter Kenyon, Director of the Institute for Research into Competitiveness at Curtin University of Technology in WA. Professor Kenyon spoke about the economic and demographic trends in the Asia Pacific region. He proceeded to tie a recent EDT survey into how it relates to the lottery industry.

The second speaker of the morning was Professor Ron Cacioppe, from the UWA Graduate School of Management and Director, Integral Leadership Centre. Professor Cacioppe spoke about trends affecting leaders today and in the future, and how to meet stakeholders' expectations. He also talked about the key skills of integral leadership and management, and posed the question to delegates: "Is our work increasing the quality of life."

Andrew Walton, Lotterywest's Manager Corporate Communications followed Professor Cacioppe. Andrew told delegates of Lotterywest's journey from the Lotteries Commission of Western Australia to Lotterywest. He provided an impressive overview of the difficulty in rebranding the lotteries entire product range and described it as: "an extraordinary learning experience."

Chris Lyons, VP Marketing GTECH, gave the last presentation of the morning. Many in the industry will remember Chris as the Director and CEO of the Oregon State Lottery. She has the advantage of learning what players' want in terms of a delivery medium from both a lotteries viewpoint, as well as through the eyes of a supplier. Chris told the delegates that it was management's responsibility to monitor new technology and changing consumer lifestyles that create new ways to reach and relate to players. She also spoke about how organisations facilitate relationships and create value and loyalty.

Following an excellent lunch sponsored by GTECH, Henry Chan, the Director of HKJC Lotteries Ltd told delegates about Hong Kong's experiencing with introducing sports games. He covered the events leading up to the government awarding the HKJC a licence to operate football betting. He also described the negative impact of the growing illegal betting market on the sales and image of the state lotteries. And, he described how football betting had launched an era of revolution and catapulted the HKLC from a financially 'Risk-Free' to a 'Risk-Bearing' business.

Next, John Teo, Chief Financial Officer of Singapore Pools (SP), gave a detailed presentation on the background and operations of his organisation, in particular where SP is now in terms of product evolution. He discussed SP's distribution network and the organisation's responsible gaming measures. John also talked about recent trends and opportunities and SP's plan to revamp their Sweepstakes game, as well as initiatives to reduce costs.

Tony Pearse, Group Marketing manager for Lotterywest recounted the Instant "Long Play" background in Western Australia, and the lessons learnt. While, Trevor Hall, CEO of the New Zealand Lotteries Commission gave a case history of turning around NZ Lotteries, which culminated last year in delivering the best profit for the community in the history of the organisation. He discussed the issues that had to be resolved over the last few years and how the organisation went about implementing change. He also spoke about an Asia Pacific Regional game and commented that NZ Lotteries wouldn't mind joining the Australian Lotto Bloc. Finally, Trevor told the delegates that the NZ Lotteries RFP for a new online system had closed, and he was pleased with the response from vendors. Seven companies had responded to the RFP.

Professor Jan McMillen, the Director of the Australian National University's Centre for Gambling Research, reviewed sports lottery trends in Australia and overseas. Professor McMillen walked delegates through the background of online gambling policy, summary of key research findings and failures, and future trends.

The final session presentations included a detailed report from Reidar Nordby, President of the World Lottery Association (WLA) and CEO of Norsk Tipping AS. Mr Nordby talked about WLA security standards and updated delegates on cross boarder gaming issues.

Adrian Nelson, General Manager, Strategy Division, Tattersalls then gave an overview of Tattersalls operations. He spoke about the pitfalls and benefits of privatisation. He also discussed at length the key success factors that would determine if the privatisation of a government owned lottery would be successful. These factors, according to Adrian are: Legislation, Selecting the Operator, a Business Plan, Regulation and "What Happens to the Proceeds."

The two final presentations were given by Nikolopoulos Dimitris, Sales Executive, INTRALOT, who provided an impressive overview of present and future technology trends, and Nick Hodgeman from EssNet, who talked about developing new lottery distribution channels.

On Thursday evening delegates enjoyed a relaxing cocktail reception at Perth’s newest icon, the Bell Tower, a towering glass spire located where Perth meets the Swan River. Here guests learnt about the history of the twelve bells and experienced a bell ringing demonstration, against the backdrop of the stunning Perth city skyline and Swan River. Delegates were then taken on a short ferry ride across the Swan River to dine at the international award winning Oyster Bar. The evening was sponsored by INTRALOT.

The theme for the morning session on day 2 was "Corporate Social Responsibitity." The first speaker was Professor Jan McMillen who took delegates through national trends in corporate social responsibility and the implications for lottery organisations. Prof. McMillen discussed the lessons learned from the Australian Productivity Commission inquiry. She said the way a problem is defined would determine what is done about it. Prof. McMillen posed the question of "what is meant by responsible gambling" to delegates and asked "who’s responsibility is it?"

The good news from the inquiry, according to Prof. McMillen, is that there are now new models of "Responsible Regulation." In closing, Prof. Mcmillen discussed responsible gambling strategies.

June Roache, CEO of South Australian Lotteries (SAL), was the second speaker for this session. Ms Roache walked delegates through the consultative process, that took nearly two years, for SAL to develop a State Lotteries Responsible Gambling Code of practice and the State Lotteries Advertising Code of Practice. Both codes were implemented on April 30, 2004.

Professor Allan Peachment from Curtin University then gave a thought provoking address on organising to combat unethical practices. He was followed by Bill Thorburn, CEO of the Golden Casket Lottery Corporation (GCLC). Bill discussed the Golden Casket’s Responsible Play Program and the Queensland experience with implementing the state Voluntary Responsible Gambling Code of Practice. He also told delegates of his role as a member of the RGAC, which is made up of Government, industry and the community. The RGAC provides advice to government on responsible gambling and harm minimisation policies. Bill went on to tell delegates about upcoming initiatives, which will shortly see the RGAC finalise the Queensland Responsible Gambling Advertising and Promotions Guidelines.

The second session on the morning of day 2 was directed towards marketing and marketing research. The first speaker for this session was Brent Stewart, CEO Market Equity, who focused on market research and the lottery industry. Brent told the audience about the roll market research played in the corporate rebranding of Lotterywest, and the suite of products that followed that successful branding exercise. Brent was followed by Kevin Downes, Marketing Manager for OGT. Kevin spoke about market segmentation and Instant lotteries. He pointed out the advantages of a segmentation approach and gave delegates examples of psychographic segments, the names given to various player segments by different lottery organisations. He also spoke about of the role of advertising and promotions for instant tickets.

Kapil Khanna, Senior Executive of Martin Lottery Agencies, provided an impressive overview of lotteries in the Indian sub-continent. In the five countries that make up the Indian sub-continent, only 33% of the population have access to legal government sponsored lotteries. This segment represents only 23% of the total lottery sales for region. Kapil told the delegates that over 258 million lottery tickets are sold every day and over 1,000 lottery draws are conducted on a daily basis in India. In 2003 the total lottery turnover was US$4.63 billion. He said the challenge facing the industry was to provide the majority of India's population (67%) with access to legal government sponsored lotteries.

Following another excellent lunch sponsored by GTECH, the final business session focused on marketing and was facilitated by Henry Chan, the Director of the HKJC. Mr Somchainuk Engtrakul from the Government Lottery Office (GLO) in Thailand told delegates of the GLO's attempt to combat the illegal lottery operators by implementing a number of online number games. He said this initiative has been responsible in capturing around 10% of the illegal 2D and 3D market. The GLO still conducts passive draws. Preprinted booklets of tickets are distributed to 360 Post Offices in 76 provinces. The booklets are collected by approximately 6,200 agents.

Gai Swords, NSWL's Lotto Product Manager, described the difficulties of managing a complex portfolio of Lotto products in a mature market. She discussed how changes were implemented to retain Lotto's popularity and how NSWL established a distinct positioning for all its games. Mr Shunichi Chiba, Senior Manager for Mizuho Bank outlined the market research activities conducted for the Japanese Takara-Kuji Lotteries. He talked about the findings of the "Public Opinion Poll for Lotteries" conducted very three years by the Japan Lottery Association (JPA) and Mizuho Bank' Lottery Division.

Reidar Nordby was the final speaker for this session. He discussed issues for the lottery industry in the future and WLA's future direction. Reidar told delegates that Norsk Tipping AS had recently been given the right to run VLTs in Norway. He said Norsk Tipping now has the responsibility of regulating and operating Norway's 16,000 VLTs. He told delegates about the checks and balances Norsk Tipping has introduced to curtail the expansion of VLT gambling in Norway. This has been accomplished in part by introducing long play games, which Reidar demonstrated to the audience.

The final wrap up was performed by a expert panel consisting of Ms Jan Stewart, Mr Reidar Nordby, Ms June Roache and Prof. Jan McMille, who discussed the most significant issues raised over the last two days and major issues for the WLA in the region.

The panel thought leadership challenges in difficult regulatory environments and competition to lotteries traditional territorial boundaries were going to be high on the list of challenges facing lottery managers and regulators. Illegal gambling also got a mention, as did responsible gambling and harm minimization issues. Reidar said that new technology was tearing down the lotteries' traditional monopoly, and he finished by saying the Asia pacific region has the steepest learning curve of any region.

Following the conference closure, the annual general meeting of the Asia Pacific Lottery Association (APLA) took place. Jan Stewart stepped down as the Chairman of APLA, and handed over the baton to incoming Chairman, Mr Henry Chan, the Director of HKJC Lotteries Ltd. Ms June Roache, CEO of South Australian Lotteries (SAL), was elected Vice Chairman and Lorraine Driscoll, Director of Planning, Projects and Business Analysis, Lotterywest was reelected Secetary APLA.

The closing dinner, Sponsored by EssNet / Tattersall’s, took place at the Maritime Museum in Fremantle’s historic harbour. The Museum provided a truly unique Western Australian experience set against a stunning waterfront backdrop. Before dinner, cocktails were served while guests enjoyed the sounds of a traditional sea shanties band. Delegates were invited to tour the Museum’s Ocean Gallery before dinner. This event was the formal conclusion of the conference. Presentations were made from the newly elected APLA Chairman and WLA President.

On Saturday Scientific Games sponsored a networking day that commenced with a breakfast at Fraser’s Restaurant in Kings Park, which overlooked the magnificent Swan River. Following breakfast delegates were taken for a short stroll across the Lotterywest Federation Walkway.

The group then boarded the luxurious Miss Sandalford for a scenic cruise along the Swan River. Along the way delegates sampled premium Sandalford wines. Back on dry land, a ‘behind the scenes’ tour of Sandalford winery was followed by a delicious three-course lunch, served with perfectly matched wines. To finish the day, delegates visited the Cellar Emporium to taste fortified wine straight from the oak barrel and browse one of Western Australia’s largest cellar doors.

SOURCE: Lottery Insider Staff Report

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