29 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2026 Get ready to be inspired! Engaging Stakeholders, Owning the Narrative, and Getting Loud About the Mission! — continued from page 16 “We used to show up every time the environmental trust or education folks made grants,” he recalled. “Over time, we drifted away from that and went into a lower-profile mode. That was a mistake.” In the last decade, Nebraska reversed course. “We now hold beneficiary briefings at least once a year,” Brian said. “We bring stakeholders into the warehouse, feed them lunch, show them how tickets are printed, stacked, audited—everything. It blows them away. And when the media comes calling, those beneficiaries now say, ‘Yes, we know what’s going on. The lottery briefs us every year. They’re transparent. We like what they do.’ That turns a potential headache into a pretty good story.” “I love that,” Harjinder said. “You’re giving them the knowledge and the visuals to tell the story themselves. That’s powerful. And I’m absolutely stealing it for California.” Helene Keeley took a similar approach in Delaware, but with a legislative twist. A former legislator and long-time chair of the gaming committee, she arrived at the lottery convinced she knew the business inside out—until she walked through the door as deputy director. “Within a week I realized, ‘I know nothing,’” she admitted. “I’d chaired hearings about the lottery for years and had never once been inside the operation.” That realization changed her strategy: “We made it a priority to get legislators into the building,” Helene said. “We’re a small state—62 legislators. Every year I aim to bring six to eight of them in. They see the control room, the security, the technology, our vendor’s operations. They say, ‘We had no idea you did all this.’ That one-and-ahalf-hour visit does more than a hundred memos.” Legislators: Tough Rooms, Big Payoffs The panel agreed: legislators are a critical stakeholder group—and often the most misinformed about what lotteries do and who they serve. Adam offered a story that got the room laughing and nodding at the same time. “One of my first meetings as a new director was with a very senior legislator,” he said. “I walked in ready to talk strategy. He looked at me and said, ‘I just want you to know I don’t like you. I’m sure you’re a fine person, but I hate what you do.’” This legislator, like all citizens of Minnesota, Adam stressed, is still a valued stakeholder. “We can’t slink away and look for people who are more supportive,” he said. “We need to lean into that discomfort and look for common ground. ‘You may hate gambling, but let’s talk about the college kids getting scholarships, the conservation projects, the veterans’ programs.’ It’s our job to connect with all of our constituents, even those, or perhaps especially those, who don’t necessarily love us. We may not change their minds, but we can still treat them with respect and maybe earn their respect over time.” Harjinder shared a similar experience from California. “We had a lawmaker tell us flat out, ‘I don’t believe in gambling, and I don’t believe in what you do,’” she said. “I had to remind him: the lottery exists because the voters created it. My job is to run it responsibly—and to show the good it does. By the end of the meeting, he said, ‘I still don’t like what you do, but I respect how you do it.’ That’s a win.” Helene, with her legislative background, offered a blunt rule of thumb: “You can’t give up even in the face of cancelled meetings or rejection,” she said. “Every corporation in your state, as well as casinos, sports-betting operators, and other gambling interests, are inviting legislators to events, offering tickets, are working hard to build that relationship. We have to be just as irrepressible. Invite them to lottery-sponsored events, host them at concerts or local galas, get them into your building like Brian does. It’s like sales: you don’t stop at one or two voicemails or discouraging meetings and declare defeat.” Calling Out Hypocrisy, Gently Sometimes, stakeholder engagement means pointing out double standards—politely but clearly. Helene described a conversation with a legislator who fiercely opposed Delaware’s iLottery rollout on grounds of addiction risk. “The legislator said, ‘You’re taking advantage of people, they’re going to become addicted,’” Helene recalled. “I gently reminded her that just a week earlier, the legislature voted to let DoorDash deliver margaritas to people’s homes. And people everywhere are gambling in casinos and betting on sports. It makes no sense to demonize lottery while authorizing products that are clearly more addictive and harmful than lottery. State lotteries already operate under tighter controls, higher security, and apply a higher standard of player protection. And unlike the other gaming options, Lotteries are dedicated to serving society and good causes. We need to be ready to defend the honor of the lottery!” Customers, Communities, and the “I Don’t Understand It” Barrier The panelists also stressed that players and communities are stakeholders with voices that count and should be spotlighted. Dolly has gone big on local events: “We’ve hired a full-time events manager,” she said. “We’re back at festivals, fairs, and campus events all over the state. My staff volunteers, they have fun, and we get face time with real people. I can’t tell you how many friends have said, ‘I’d love to play, but I don’t understand it.’ They’re not going to ask a clerk at a busy c-store how to play. But they’ll ask us at a booth.” She pushed hard on aligning messaging with outcomes: “We partner deeply with colleges,” Dolly said. “Not just slapping a logo on a scoreboard—we sponsor specific games, present game balls, and highlight scholarship recipients on the field. And when I speak at campuses now and ask, ‘Who here is on a lottery-funded scholarship?’ more hands go up. That didn’t happen before. That’s not an accident; that’s storytelling that connects the dots.” In Delaware, constrained by big, expensive media markets in Philadelphia and Baltimore, Helene’s team has focused on social and hyper-local engagement. “We can’t afford the big-city TV rates,” she said. “So we think small and we think smart. One of our campaigns surprised players at the point of purchase with gift baskets full of lottery swag—we filmed it, posted it, and the reactions were priceless. It got so much traction that the governor called and said, ‘I want to do that.’ When your governor wants in on your content, that’s a good sign.” Continued on page 36
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