Anything is Possible
- 5 hours ago
- 3 min read
By Patricia McQueen
Published August 18, 2026
Last month the NASPL Professional Development Seminar was held in Seattle, where great summer weather and a vibrant city combined with a strong educational program to inspire a near-record attendance of more than 550 lottery industry employees. They came to dive deep into their particular specialties (audit, finance, information technology, legal, marketing, product management, public relations, research, sales and security), share ideas and challenges within and beyond those specialties, and continue networking long after the sessions are over.
The appropriate theme for this year’s NASPL Professional Development Seminar, hosted by Washington’s Lottery (also known as The Department of Imagination), was PossibleNW – Where Inspiration Runs Wild. It was a nod to the beauty, wilderness and legends of the Pacific Northwest, where indeed, anything is possible.
Attendees were also inspired by several keynote and general session speakers. Emcee Carla Marie energized everyone from the start – not quite the 60,000 Seahawk fans she fires up at Lumen Field, but nevertheless she kept everyone riveted.
The first keynote speaker was Amy Leneker, a leadership consultant who emphasized the important of infusing joy into the workplace to reduce stress in her presentation entitled “Less Stress and More Joy.” By understanding the five main types of stress in the workplace (schedule, suspense, social, sudden and system), people can learn how to reduce that stress. Stress comes with isolation, and relief comes with connection. She certainly connected with the PDS audience, with plenty of audience engagement during the session.
Leneker emphasized joy, and Wednesday morning’s keynote speaker, Dave Mitchell, certainly elicited a lot of laughs in his very interactive presentation about the power of understanding people. Founder and President at The Leadership Difference, Inc., Mitchell had everyone complete a questionnaire to help define where they fell on his scale: Romantics, Warriors, Experts or Masterminds.
Romantics thrive when they are appreciated, are tactful and diplomatic, and avoid conflict. Warriors thrive when given independence, apply logic, and go right to the point. Experts value what they know to be true (even if only in their own minds) and enforce the rules. Masterminds are comfortable in chaos, like to try new things and don’t mind making mistakes; rules aren’t hard and fast.
On Thursday, economic futurist Andrew Busch highlighted a variety of economic trends that are impacting the lottery industry, and outlined a number opportunities for lotteries going forward.
There were also two general session discussions. The first explored developments in retail in an omnichannel world. Participating were Alec Thompson, Executive Director of the Arizona Lottery; Harjinder Shergill-Chima, Director of the California Lottery; Amy Drooker, Senior Vice President, Retail Lottery Strategy & Solutions, Pollard Banknote; and Nicholas Smieszek, Retail Media Sales, Circle K.
The second featured Gretchen Corbin, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Georgia Lottery, in a conversation with Heather Maurer, who became Executive Director of the National Council of Problem Gambling last January.
General Session Panels
Videos of all general sessions are available on the NASPL Matrix, as are any Powerpoint presentations provided by speakers in those sessions and in the individual tracks.
In addition to the productive educational program, PDS regularly features plenty of opportunities for networking, including receptions and breaks, a Vendor Meet & Greet, and an annual offsite event. This year, the event was held at GameWorks, with a fun evening of entertainment centered around games of all kinds.
One highlight of PDS is a always a celebration of the winners of the prestigious Powers Award and Ott Brown NASPL Scholarship. All recipients were honored in Seattle, and several of them were in attendance.
Enjoy our photo gallery of some of the PDS highlights this year. Next year, we hope to see many of you at the 2027 edition of PDS, hosted by the Missouri Lottery in St. Louis, July 26 to 29, 2027!
