Lottery Magic in Orlando
By Patricia McQueen
Published October 20, 2026
The lottery industry’s signature event is the NASPL Annual Conference, which provides an unparalleled experience for attendees. They expect dynamic keynote speakers, informative general and breakout sessions, a vibrant trade show and participation from our associate member partners, celebration of our awards for advertising excellence, and exceptional opportunities for networking. This year, the Florida Lottery team served as our gracious host, and the Orlando location provided easy access to some of the world’s most creative and magical companies, with nearby theme parks such as Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando and SeaWorld.
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Keynote Greg Jacoski
Greg Jacoski is the Executive Director of Research and Advocacy for the Guy Harvey Foundation, a charitable organization dedicated to the study and conservation of ocean waters and fish. Its founder Guy Harvey is an artist, photographer, scientist, marine biologist, diver, professor, and more. His artwork is featured on a full line of commercial products that help raise money for the Foundation’s ongoing work.
In his presentation, Jacoski explained what the Foundation has been able to accomplish in the field of marine science and ocean conservation. The work helps us understand the ocean’s animals at the cellular level, providing insights that often have impacts beyond the animals themselves. In addition, satellite tagging helps us learn about migration patterns, which in turn leads to knowledge that helps manage protected areas and conservation policies.
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The Foundation also provides marine science education, especially where it lacks local support. The free Guy Harvey curriculum and teacher education programs helps provide teachers with resources that can encourage the next generation of ocean scientists.
As a non-profit organization, the Foundation relies on partnerships with commercial enterprises (in addition to merchandise sales). Jacoski’s favorite partnership is the one with the Florida Lottery, now in its 14th year. It began with an instant ticket series launched in 2012, featuring six designs. Since then, there have been four additional ticket series introduced. Designed as collector’s items, there have been more than 61 million tickets sold, generating over $200 million in sales. The Guy Harvey Foundation has received $4 4 million to support its conservation work. “$4.4 million for a non-profit like ours drastically changes what we are able to accomplish,” marveled Jacoski.
He added that the Foundation has been able to leverage its extensive network of licensees, research and fishing partners to provide some really unique second-chance prizes for the lottery games. They include a special edition Guy Harvey pickup truck, fishing trips, cruises, merchandise and more. “Those second-chance drawings really helped drive sales, and also tell the complete story of the Guy Harvey brand.”
The partnership demonstrates how shared goals can create a ripple effect and a positive impact. “That ripple made by the Florida Lottery is having a long-lasting impact on our ocean resources. It’s a fitting message for this industry – lotteries can make an impact far beyond the games they sell. Strong partnerships can help expand that positive impact even further.”
His favorite part of the partnership? Using the creative horsepower of the Florida Lottery for commercials and other advertising efforts. “They do a great job promoting our brand.”
Keynote Duncan Wardle
Duncan Wardle is the former Head of Innovation and Creativity at The Walt Disney Company, where he helped shape a culture of innovation across Disney’s globally recognized brands. Today, he works with organizations around the world to unlock creative thinking and equip teams with practical tools to solve problems, embrace change, and drive meaningful results. Drawing from his work at Disney and with organizations worldwide, he shared how anyone can cultivate creativity and make innovation a part of everyday work.
In a very interactive and engaging presentation, Wardle identified several aspects of how innovation can be stifled in today’s working environments – and how to overcome those challenges.
“Who are the most creative people you’ve ever met?” he asked. Kids! They are curious, imaginative, honest and playful. These are some of the most employable skill sets, yet Western education is killing off those traits. “The problem is, we grow up. The more expertise and experience we have, the more reasons why we know the new idea won’t work,” said Wardle. “So we constantly shoot it down.”
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He demonstrated his point in a series of interactive challenges for the audience. One showed the importance of never letting anyone say “No, because...” when someone pitches an idea. When they say “Yes, and...” instead, the idea grows and becomes “our” idea. And unlike “my” idea, which never goes anywhere, “our” idea has every opportunity to happen. Importantly, if someone comes up with an idea you’ve never heard before, that’s a good place to start.
The number one barrier to creativity is time – or lack thereof. The biggest barrier to innovation is every single person. Everyone has their own “river of thinking,” our own experience that allows us to make quick and informed decisions. “Beware of your own expertise and your own experience.” Reframe the challenge. Instead of asking “how might we make more money?” ask “how do we solve the biggest consumer pain point?”
He emphasized that innovation comes from diversity. “If someone doesn’t look like you, they don’t think like you. And if they don’t think like you, they can help you think different. Look around your organization – if everyone looks like you, you are doomed to failure.”
He suggests that organizations set aside an hour each month to have your team meet (in person or virtual) and talk about something in their business or personal life that was innovative or creative. “You’ll be amazed at the new energy and new ideas that come in.”
He concluded with thoughts about what the most employable skill set will be in the next decade, in the era of AI. These skills are the hardest to program into AI: creativity, intuition, curiosity, empathy and imagination. That’s what this presentation was all about – we were born with all five of these skills!
Balancing Growth, Revenue and Responsibility
Every lottery faces the never-ending challenge of delivering growth in both sales and revenues to beneficiaries, often in environments with ever-increasing competition and sometimes with a limited set of available tools. In this general session, four lottery CEOs addressed the current state of the industry, discussing how lotteries can grow and innovate while protecting the integrity, accountability and public trust at the heart of the lottery mission.
Led by Nebraska Lottery Director Brian Rockey, the panel also included Reggie Dixon, Secretary of the Florida Lottery; Lester Elder, Executive Director of the Missouri Lottery; and Rose Hudson, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Louisiana Lottery.
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Noting that lotteries are competing with sports betting, iGaming, casinos, social gaming and digital entertainment, Rockey asked what they have to do to remain relevant, especially when many lotteries aren’t able to offer any of those things. “I think we have to lead, not follow,” said Hudson. And rather than be reactionary, lotteries need “to be aware of the landscape, and question ourselves as to what our consumers want and how we can deliver it.” Elder added that lotteries need to evolve with technology and not become stagnant. Dixon, noting that the Florida Lottery is one that not only can’t offer iLottery, it also can’t take advantage of certain other uses of the Internet. “We have to be more strategic about where we put our efforts,” he emphasized, adding that it’s important to be creative about trying to convince policymakers of the need to meet players where they are.
“How can lotteries approach innovation while you are managing risk, public perception and responsible gaming expectations?” asked Rockey. Everyone agreed that those are not opposing forces, and RG is part of everything their lotteries do. Lotteries should make sure RG is part of their public mission, whether it’s a direct beneficiary or simply a cause they believe in – again building on the industry’s strengths.
And then there are expectations from numerous stakeholders – legislators, governors, board members, beneficiaries, the public. “Everyone has an opinion,” said Rockey. And because of that, it’s important to maintain relationships with all those stakeholders, in good times and not-so-good times.
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Rockey circled back to the beginning of the conversion by asking: “How do you maintain the mission of the lottery while you are also operating in a highly competitive market? There are certain things we can’t do, while there are a lot of other entities out there competing for entertainment dollars and attention.” The Missouri Lottery focuses on its mission “to bring in revenue for education, but also to support retailers and make it fun for lottery players,” noted Elder. For Dixon, “We try to stay in our lane and row as hard as possible.” That means doing everything they can, making the public aware of where the revenue goes, and taking every chance to explain to legislators and others what the Lottery does. “We bring them to our office for a tour and also talk about what we do. We have a very strong brand. We try to celebrate winners, and also celebrate what we do with our proceeds.” Hudson agreed that lotteries have various constituencies that other businesses don’t have. “It calls on the creativity of our team – which I call the best in the business – about how we can be innovative and maximize revenues while understanding that we do have those guardrails in which we have to operate within.”
Before closing out the session, Rockey asked if there is a lesson learned that stands out in guiding efforts to balance challenges and opportunities in order to move the business forward. For Hudson, it’s the value of relationships and the skill to manage those relationships (since individuals change over time). For Dixon, it’s making sure that you practice kindness in your relationships, and also to rely on the people in the industry who have valuable experience. “It’s just common sense.” And for Elder, make sure you learn from your mistakes. “Embrace change and step outside your comfort zone to grow as a person.”
Partners Take Center Stage
As they have in previous years, the four Level 1 Premiere Associate Member Partners participated in a discussion led by Rebecca Paul, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Tennessee Education Lottery. On the stage in Orlando were Doug Pollard, Co-Chief Executive Officer of Pollard Banknote; Kevin Schneider, Interim Chief Executive Officer of Scientific Games; Marco Tasso, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Global Lottery, for Brightstar Lottery; and Richard Wheeler, Interim Chief Executive Officer for Bally’s Intralot.
The first topic of discussion was the rise of prediction markets and what the lottery industry can or should be doing given their popularity. That was followed by a question about what each of the four companies are doing to face the lottery industry’s challenges and opportunities; they focused on innovation, growth through modernization, and perhaps changing some of the economics of the industry.
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Several questions addressed how industry vendors are helping lotteries in several areas – enhancing responsible gambling efforts to help protect players as digital lottery grows; innovations that help with retailer modernization; and how they are using AI and how that translates to helping lotteries.
Finally, the company leaders were asked how lotteries can help them be more cost-effective as they deliver products to retailers.
Each of these four Associate Member Partners also gave short presentations during the conference. Brightstar’s Michelle Carney talked about Redrawing the Category Map. Ovid Doro from Scientific Games focused on data analytics and what leading consumer businesses can teach us about lottery’s next era. From Bally’s Intralot, Melissa Giannini looked at how lotteries can actually use the data now being gathered. And Manny Atwal from Pollard Banknote emphasized the importance of presenting a single image of lottery to the public, not “retail” or “digital.”
In addition, the trade show floor offered opportunities for attendees to explore what many industry partners have to offer; 27 companies had exhibit booths this year. Scientific Games, Pollard Banknote, Brightstar and Bally’s Intralot led the way as Level 1 Premiere members, showcasing their full variety of solutions for lotteries. Other exhibitors were Allwyn, Aristocrat Interactive, Abacus, Alchemy3, Atlas Experiences, Carmanah Signs, Imagine Experiences, Gambyt, adesso, Angus Reid, Blake Jarrett/CRI, CM Global, DLA Promotions, Inc., Fennica Gaming, GSTV, LD Plastics, LottoShield, Patterson Pope, Pro-Lite, River’s Edge, Smartplay, Sunshine Electronic Display, Szrek2Solutions, and Take-a-Ticket.
Diving Deeper
There was no shortage of good information at NASPL 2026! In addition to the general sessions and tradeshow, there were 12 breakout sessions that offered deep dives into a variety of important topics, such as such as strategies to remain relevant, business continuity and security, the use of data, retailer modernization, product and game development, prize structure that go beyond jackpots, experiential prizing, the annual gift responsibly campaign, and the need for storytelling and player engagement. These are summarized in a separate article.
Videos of all general session presentations, including the keynotes, are available in full on the NASPL Matrix.
The Annual Conference is also a celebration of the most creative campaigns produced by our member lotteries. A complete list of NASPL Awards winners is available here.
And be sure to browse all the photos from NASPL 2026, provided by Domagalski Photography. Use password NASPL26 for access.
In 2027, the NASPL Annual Conference and Trade Show heads to the Big Easy! The Louisiana Lottery will welcome lottery industry participants to New Orleans, October 4-7. We hope to see you there!
