EL Congress Antwerp – Day 1: The Corporate Success of Chance

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