EL Congress Antwerp – Day 1: The Corporate Success of Chance
''Chance leads to diversity and diversity leads to innovation and success’’. This was another topic touched upon during the first day of the Congress.

The Black Swan with keynote speaker: Mr. Nassim Nicholas Taleb
International bestselling author Nassim Nicholas Taleb focused his keynote presentation on the Black Swan, his book which looks at the extreme impact of rare and unpredictable events, and the human tendency to find simplistic explanations for these events.
After 21 years as a trader, Taleb became a researcher in philosophical, mathematical and (mostly) practical problems with probability. He has written several best-selling books looking at unpredictability. Referring to the Congress theme, the Success of Chance, Taleb highlighted how individuals often advance in their lives thanks to luck and chance. Taleb explained why we are so bad at predicting the future, how unlikely events can dramatically change our lives, and what we can do to become better at expecting the unexpected.
The Corporate Success of Chance

The Corporate Success of Chance is Diversity with keynote speaker: Mrs. Caty Asscher
Cathy Asscher, Diversity and Female Leadership Professional then delivered a strong message that the corporate success of chance is diversity. Organisations and companies are often challenged to use diversity to their full potential to be able to adapt, innovate and enhance sustainable change. During the session Cathy encouraged participants to think about the influence of chance in their careers and how diversity in companies can make them more successful. Companies that move away from classic gender patterns and social structures, are often more successful in the end, she emphasised. As a takeaway, Cathy left participants with the thought that diversity is a welcome characteristic in an organisation and that ‘‘chance leads to diversity and diversity leads to success’’.
Vibrant CEO Panel debate
CEOs of EL members and partners came together to answered randomly selected questions about the lottery sector. Topics up for discussion included advertising, opportunities and challenges in the sector, illegal gambling, socio-economic impacts of lotteries, cyber crime, and the sustainable development goals. Despite varied views, there was consensus that collaboration between lotteries and partners in the sector is key to contribute to sustainability and the protection of players and society. It was also agreed that lotteries and games of chance should adapt to changing trends (e.g. technology and innovation) and modernise to continue to appeal to players, especially younger generations.
Panelists included Stéphane Pallez, President & CEO, La Française des Jeux (France), Romana Dernovšek, President & CEO, Loterija Slovenije (Slovenia), Olli Sarekoski, CEO, Veikkaus OY (Finland), Stefano Monterosso, SVP Global Lottery Product and Same Store Sales, IGT, Pat McHugh, EVP, Group chief Executive Lottery, Scientific Games, and Maria Stergiou – Group Chief Sales and Operations Officer, INTRALOT. The debate was moderated by by EL Secretary General Arjan van ‘t Veer and EL Deputy Secretary General Jutta Buyse.

From left to right: Olli Sarekoski, CEO, Veikkaus OY, Maria Stergiou – Group Chief Sales & Operations Officer, INTRALOT, Stefano Monterosso, SVP Global Lottery Product & Same Store Sales, IGT, Pat McHugh, EVP, Group chief Executive Lottery, Scientific Games & Stéphane Pallez, President & CEO, FDJ & Romana Dernovšek, President & CEO, Loterija Slovenije.

CEO Panel Debate with moderators Arjan van ‘t Veer, EL Secretary General and Jutta Buyse, EL Deputy Secretary General
The first day closed with presentations at the Trade Show by Premium Partners IGT, Intralot and Scientific Games and Semi-Premium Partner Kambi.
Photos: © Martimax photography
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Français
Le succès du hasard dans l’entreprise
Pour donner le coup d’envoi de la journée, l’auteur de best-sellers internationaux Nassim Nicholas Taleb s’est penché sur l’impact critique d’événements rares et imprévisibles (Le Cygne noir), et sur la tendance humaine à trouver des explications simplistes à ces événements.
Cathy Asscher, professionnelle de la diversité et du leadership féminin, a ensuite encouragé les participants à réfléchir à l’influence du hasard dans leur carrière et à la façon dont la diversité est le succès du hasard dans l’entreprise.
Le débat des PDG de l’après-midi a porté sur la publicité, le jeu illégal, la cybercriminalité, la durabilité, l’innovation, l’intégrité, le jeu responsable et les défis dans le secteur de la loterie. Les partenaires premium IGT, Intralot, Scientific Games et Kambi, partenaire semi-premium, ont clôturé la journée par des présentations au salon du Congrès.
Español
El éxito corporativo del azar
Para empezar el día, Nassim Nicholas Taleb, el autor de superventas internacionales, examinó el tremendo impacto de eventos raros e impredecibles (El cisne negro), y la tendencia humana a encontrar explicaciones sencillas para estos eventos.
Cathy Asscher, una profesional de la diversidad y el liderazgo femenino, animó a los participantes para que pensaran en la influencia del azar en sus carreras profesionales y en cómo el éxito del azar corporativo es la diversidad.
En un panel de debate de directores ejecutivos por la tarde se habló de la publicidad, las apuestas ilegales, los delitos cibernéticos, la sostenibilidad, la innovación, la integridad, el juego responsable y los desafíos en el mundo de las loterías. Premium Partners IGT, Intralot, Scientific Games y Semi-Premium Partner Kambi cerraron la jornada con presentaciones en la Feria del Congreso.
Deutsch
Der unternehmerische Erfolg des Zufalls
Der internationale Bestsellerautor Nassim Nicholas Taleb beleuchtete zum Auftakt die extremen Konsequenzen höchst unwahrscheinlicher Ereignisse (Der Schwarze Schwan) und die menschliche Tendenz, einfache und verständliche Erklärungen für diese Vorkommnisse zu finden.
Cathy Asscher, Fachfrau für Vielfalt und Frauen in Führungspositionen, ermutigte anschließend die Teilnehmer, über den Einfluss des Zufalls in ihrer Karriere nachzudenken und inwiefern der unternehmerische Erfolg des Zufalls in der Vielfalt begründet ist.
Nachmittags wurden anlässlich einer CEO-Podiumsdiskussion die Themen Werbung, illegales Glücksspiel, Internetkriminalität, Nachhaltigkeit, Innovation, Integrität, verantwortungsvolles Glücksspiel und Herausforderungen in der Lotteriewelt diskutiert. Die Premium-Partner IGT, Intralot und Scientific Games sowie der Semi-Premium-Partner Kambi beendeten den Tag mit Präsentationen auf der Fachausstellung des Kongresses.