【高端访谈】北美彩票，50年历史与20年记忆

 

Above: NASL staff picture taken at NASL ’98 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Pictured Left to Right) Tom Tulloch, Carrie Massucci, Bebe Crone and David Gale. Crone, Gale and Tulloch were part of the first three member full-time management team hired by NASL in 1994.

 

While the lottery industry celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, with the first modern lottery in New Hampshire born in 1964, there is another important milestone that needs to be acknowledged. Two veteran NASL staff members are quietly working their way through their 20th year with the organization.

 

Executive Director David Gale and Director of Administration Tom Tulloch have seen it all over the years, and provide stability and continuity in the organization that is often absent from an industry where many lottery executives come and go based on changes in political leadership. Here’s what they have to say about their 20 years at the helm.

 

What brought you to NASL 20 years ago?

 

Gale: I had already spent 10 years in the lottery industry – first serving as the Marketing Director for the Ohio Lottery, then as Vice President for BABN, an instant-ticket printing company, and then as General Manager for MDI Entertainment. The last two jobs had me traveling all the time, and since my wife and I had two small boys, I felt it was important to find a job at least within the state in which we lived. While attending the NASL ‘94 Conference in Indianapolis, I was told that the association was looking for its first full-time Executive Director. From that moment on, I had a driving force within me to do everything I could to become the Executive Director of NASL. I truly felt that I was the perfect person to fill the position. Some may have had other opinions, but in the end, I was selected and have never wanted to do anything else since that time. However, I must say, the real truth of my longevity is due to the unbelievable staff I have working with me. I believe their own longevity as a NASL staff member not only speaks to their quality, commitment and passion for the industry, but also speaks to their character. And I have always been very thankful to have them.

 

Tulloch: My lottery experiences began after leaving my first career as a high school science teacher to work with David in 1984 doing some consulting and trade show work. Our first initiatives included the development of training programs for lottery staff and retailers and working with lotteries on long-range strategic plans. My first lottery conference was serving as a representative for a company that developed “moving message signs” that used early single-color LED technology, could only display a limited number of characters and needed to be “programmed” from a keyboard. How far we’ve come! Back then, NASL was still basically in its infancy. After we received the management contact in 1994, I remember transporting from Washington D.C. to Cleveland all of NASL’s existing archives, which were basically all hard copies. The only things on a floppy disk were some accounting spreadsheets. Everything fit into one van.

 

What took up most of your time back then?

 

Gale: I would say what occupied most of our time in the beginning was figuring out how “to be” within the NASL organization and how best to interact with its members. We were appointed to the position just four weeks before a membership meeting was to be held in Colorado Springs. At that time, no arrangements had been made for the event, so we spent the first few weeks figuring out how to make it all happen, and we did. After that first membership meeting, I felt a sense of relief because I realized the members were really decent, caring and intelligent people. The opportunity I had to interact with them provided me with the incentive to be the best Executive Director I could be for the membership. Anyone who has spent any time in this industry recognizes that we are a very small group of individuals making a huge difference. I am still greatly impressed to have the opportunity to interact at such a level with 52 people whose organizations generate more than $70 billion in sales each year! This is an amazing task and one that still makes me feel grateful that I am a part of it in a very small way.

 

Tulloch: Working with office technology of the day, including slow and cumbersome word processing systems, dial up internet, fax machines and copiers that wouldn’t make double-sided copies and needed to be unjammed it seemed after every 10 copies. Back then we broadcasted all correspondence including surveys to our members’ fax machines, which would take hours. I dreaded each time we got a new fax machine since it would need to be re-programmed with all of the members’ fax numbers. Thankfully, at that time there were fewer NASL lottery members. We also collected most of our survey and statistical information via fax as well. Preparing the NASL Handbook of statistical information took multiple faxes to and from each member to collect and verify numbers. Information was stored on floppy drives that we still have but I’m sure it would be a challenge to find an old Mac capable of reading them.

 

Fast forward to 2014 – what takes up most of your time today?

 

Gale: Although I could probably make a very long list of what occupies our time, I would have to say that it is reacting to the moment. I find much of my time is taken responding to situations that are either politically related, or of an urgency either to an individual jurisdiction’s needs or industry-wide needs.

 

Tulloch: Of course advances in office technology have made all of our jobs more efficient, but I still spend time collecting research data and responding to informational requests from our members and others. The task of collecting the data has become highly efficient with the introduction of the NASL Matrix. Over the years, we have archived a substantial amount of survey information, but as times change, so do the questions that come in from our members. Twenty years ago, a typical query for our members would have been, “Who supplies your lotto balls?” or “Do you recycle your unsold instant tickets?” These days those questions have become much more technical, detailed and time-critical.

 

 What have been the most significant changes in NASL’s role over the past 20 years? How do you expect it to evolve over the next 20 years?

 

Gale: I think the most significant changes in NASL have really been dictated by the membership itself. We have expanded our services to address the needs, we hope, of everyone. There was a time when NASL’s primary responsibility was to provide educational opportunities to the membership, which we still do today. However, the additional tasks such as expanded research, government relations, conference planning, participation in the gaming industry events, working with government officials on significant issues impacting the industry as a whole are what we are about today. And the list really changes as our industry changes. When we started with NASL 20 years ago, there were 37 members, of whom six were our Canadian partners; today we have 52.

 

As we look forward, I believe that NASL will become the historians of our great industry. We all know that lottery CEOs are very vulnerable within the political environment, and it’s important that we are able to maintain continuity as we move forward. In addition, I believe that NASL will play a greater role within the worldwide market. Lotteries are unique in that they are monopolies, but we are monopolies in a highly competitive marketplace. I think the challenges that lotteries face in maintaining a solid player base will become more and more important. Game design is critical if we are to continue to increase our markets and NASL is prepared to assist in any way it can to make this happen. We do not want to be the dinosaurs of the gaming industry.

 

Tulloch: That first van load of NASL archives included hand- and type-written letters to and from our lottery “forefathers” including Ralph Batch, Ed Powers and Ernest Byrd, who had the vision to create the association and develop our first mission statement, which we still aspire to today. Following this mission, I believe that NASL has played a major role in facilitating the sharing of information between our members and hopefully with the vendor community as well. Through the past 20 years, NASL has continued to evolve to meet the needs and concerns of our member and vendor partners. Technology has brought the industry closer together. We have built a relationship with our members and industry suppliers that have grown into a close-knit community where information can be readily and openly shared among all. Even though I may never meet some of the people that have provided us data and information over the past 20 years, we know each other well through our electronic conversations.

 

What have been the most significant changes in the lottery industry over your lottery career?

 

Gale: I would have to say that I personally think the most significant change has been in the area of vendor competition. When I first started there were many systems vendors and many instant-ticket printing vendors, and that created an environment of true competitiveness. As we moved through the past decade we have seen mergers, closings and buyouts of our vendor community. This has resulted in a limited number of vendors with which to partner. I have always felt that those organizations that have survived within our industry are all the “cream of the crop,” because they have had to be the best to sustain growth for themselves and for their lottery customers.

 

Tulloch: In addition to the increase in overall information sharing, I think the biggest thing has been the incredible changes in technology over the years. New products have been introduced that were only science fiction twenty years ago. We’ve seen the introduction of wireless and satellite communications, holographic tickets, touch-screen retailer terminals, geo-location, play-at-the-pump, retailer management systems, bar-code inventory management systems, instantaneous age and background verifications and so much more. The sales of licensed properties have also grown the industry tremendously.

 

The lottery industry in North America isn’t so much an industry but a large group of individual lotteries, each with separate structures, legislative guidelines, rules and regulations. How do you manage a trade association that has to deal with so many entities and varying capabilities?

 

Gale: This is such a true statement and the rights of each jurisdiction to operate their games as they see fit is an important issue. From the beginning we have always recognized this right and offer information to our members so that they can make informed decisions. We serve as a clearinghouse of information so that they can tap into it before making their decisions if they wish to do so. NASL is here to help lottery CEOs perform their jobs the best they can. We will continue to provide this support to our members and recognize that as the industry changes, so will the information we gather.

 

 What does NASL focus on at the national level that will benefit all these individual lotteries?

 

Gale: A perfect example of this is how the internet issue has been an ongoing topic in Washington D.C. for the past 12 years. We offer information that will hopefully present our position regarding a jurisdiction’s right to manage gaming within its borders. Unfortunately these decisions are mostly made for political reasons, so often times our message falls on deaf ears. This is why it is so important to engage governors, legislators and attorneys general so they can clearly understand the ramifications of any legislation that may be passed in D.C.

 

We also provide a clearinghouse of information to the media so that they too can have accurate information when reporting on lotteries. I do several interviews a week with the media and am here to help out an individual lottery organization, if necessary, to put things in proper perspective.

 

What are your biggest challenges with respect to the research and data now being compiled regularly by NASL?

 

Tulloch: Many researchers we deal with, both within and from outside our community, rely on annual sales by product comparisons. With all of the new products and product categories, these comparisons are becoming increasing more difficult to format into a standardized and relevant report. There are traditional instants, e-instants, various multi-jurisdictional games, draw games sold at retail, draw games sold via the internet and draw games sold through subscriptions, to name just a few. We need to determine standardized product categories that encompass all of the products offered by all our members.

 

Perhaps the future will bring an automated system that would pull standardized data directly from lottery/vendor databases and load them directly into our database, eliminating most human intervention. With the immense amounts of data available, there are so many more elements that could be provided to our members.

 

Where do you see the industry in the next five or ten years?

 

Gale: I truly believe that our future is in game design and the manner in which we deliver our games to the marketplace. Offering games on the internet is just one option. It will not be the answer to it all. I think it’s really in designing games that will be attractive to both our current player base and our future players.

 

Tulloch: We’ll see internet-based games of course, but I believe that traditional lottery products will still be available in retail locations although they may have completely different appearances. Could a virtual reality lottery game be in our future? Mega-jackpots will continue to grow, and the number of questions we receive asking, “Why can’t there be more million-dollar winners?” will finally end. Perhaps there will be a world lottery game that will help support good causes internationally. Lotteries will have developed tremendous player databases and will capitalize on the information gathered to build brand loyalty. Who knows, lotteries may even be delivering tickets and POS to retailers by drones!

 

Most importantly, from my experiences with exceptionally bright and energetic Lottery Leadership attendees and with other interactions I’ve had with the “youngsters” from our lotteries and their suppliers, I know that our future is in good hands.

 

What are your most memorable experiences during your tenures at NASL?

 

Gale: I actually have many. I am not sure if that means I have become a dinosaur myself, but I plan on continuing my role for several more years, so I am sure there are several more to come. But for now, there are three which stand out the most.

 

The first was the day I received a call from a reporter asking me if I wanted to say a few words on Ott Brown’s behalf. It was the day a disgruntled employee targeted and killed several employees of the Connecticut Lottery, including their president, Ott Brown. At the time I received the call, I was not aware of any details, just that there had been a reported shooting. It was the reporter on the phone at that moment who told me Ott Brown had been shot while trying to serve as a decoy so that his other employees could get out of the building. As the disgruntled employee chased Ott outside where the employees had gathered, Ott slipped and fell to the ground. The employee, in front of other lottery employees, shot Ott in the head and then turned the gun on himself. It was a terrible day for our industry, not to mention for Ott’s wife and twins he left behind, as well as the families of the other victims, three of the most senior managers at the Lottery: Chief Financial Officer Linda Mlynarczyk, Vice President of Operations Frederick Rubelmann III and Information Systems Manager Michael Logan.

 

The second is the morning I received a call saying that George Andersen had died. In my mind, this was a perfect example of how one never knows what another is thinking, so we must all keep our eyes wide open and focused on the many friends we make while doing our jobs.

 

The third of my most memorable experiences was the first time I sat in a membership meeting and became a part of what I considered to be a very special group. They generate billions of dollars in sales each year, while really making a difference within their own jurisdictions. Although tenure is short as a lottery CEO, having the opportunity to work with and get to know so many bright and dedicated individuals is a very humbling experience for me. And today I still feel the same way. Even though we sometimes have to hold on to sad memories, they are always over-shadowed by the positive ones.

 

Tulloch: As David mentioned, the tragic news of Ott Brown and George Andersen’s deaths also impacted me personally. There were several other personalities who passed on during our tenure as well that left behind lasting industry accomplishments and memories. Wayne Lemons, Sharon Sharp, Carolyn Adams, Dennis Jackson, Jeanette Michael, Jerry Young and Tony Gumina to name just a few.

 

I’ll certainly never forget the day we were all at work at NASL headquarters just weeks before opening ceremonies of a World Meet in Albuquerque, when the news broke that morning of September 11, 2001. World Meet went on as scheduled, hosting attendees from around the world. The overall tone of the event was solemn and the personal discussions and sincere condolences we received from our foreign delegates was heartfelt and certainly left a lifelong impression.

 

I’ll also always remember the new places and faces this job has permitted me to experience as well as my awesome NASL co-workers. Through the years, we’ve probably served a hundred or more different lottery CEOs. This industry is like a community and it continually fosters the building of incredible friendships between us all. Everyone should continue to build upon their sense of pride and accomplishment measured by the good causes all lotteries have helped support.