WLA celebrates a successful summit in Singapore
The WLA is pleased to announce that WLS 2016 came to a most successful conclusion on November 10, 2016. Ten years after its last convention in Singapore, this city once again played host to the most important event for the global lottery community.
The summit which was hosted by Singapore Pools at the iconic Marina Bay Sands Hotel and Convention Center, recorded somewhat over 1000 attendees, 41 exhibitors in the Trade Show area of around 5000 m2, 8 keynote speakers and 9 parallel sessions. Initial feedback based on a survey sent out to all attendees confirms that the summit was perceived by a considerable majority as a resounding success.
The WLA would like to sincerely thank host lottery Singapore Pools, delegates, speakers, moderators, volunteers, contributors, exhibitors, and staff for helping to make this convention so memorable.
All the videos and presentations are available for review and download. Please register on the website if you do not have a user name and password to access this area.
WLS 2016 is history, welcome to WLS 2018 which will be held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, November 9-11. Save the Date! Get a feel for the emotion that will be created by viewing the video and reading the brochure also on the WLA website.
Awards at WLS 2016
Guy SImonis Lifetime Achievement Award
The Guy Simonis Lifetime Achievement Award which recognizes outstanding service and commitment to the lottery industry by an individual is conferred every two years at the biennial convention. Mr. Henry Chan is the latest recipient of the 2016 Guy Simonis Lifetime Achievement Award which was presented at the closing dinner of WLS 2016 by WLA Pesident Jean-Luc Moner-Banet.
Mr. Henry Chan has over 35 years experience in the lottery industry and was the Executive Director, Betting, of the Hong Kong Jockey Club for over 20 years. He was the elected Vice Chairman of the Asia Pacific Lottery Association at its founding in 2000 and was appointed to the New Media/Cross Border Committee of the World Lottery Association in 2001. He was elected Chairman of the Asia Pacific Lottery Association in 2004 and was re-elected for a second term in 2006. He also served on the Executive Committee of the World Lottery Association from 2004 to 2012. He was elected Vice President of the World Lottery Association in 2008 and Senior Vice President in 2010. Mr. Chan continues to serve the global lottery industry as a member of the WLA Responsible Gaming Independent Assessment Panel.
Advertising Awards
A record number of 102 entries exemplified the ongoing interest in the Advertising Awards competition that Is held every two years. This year, a judging panel comprised of industry experts and the general WLA membership were entrusted with the task of selecting the 15 videos that would be screened at the convention. At the Advertising Awards session held on November 9, 2016, around 350 delegates reviewed the advertising spots and selected their favorites on the spot. The winners and all finalists in the individual categories you will find here:
To the Advertising Awards 2016
Winner of the Grand Global Advertising Award
Which was chosen by the judging panel is:
Norsk Tipping AS - "Somewhere out there is the new Solskjaer"
WLS 2016 – Responsible gaming award winners
Doing the right thing for players and the broader community has made Corporate Social Responsibility, specifically the Responsible Gaming Principles and Framework, a priority for the World Lottery Association.
In order to further promote the best practices in the industry, the WLA honors Best Responsible Gaming Programs by its members. For this year’s World Lottery Summit in Singapore, awards were given for:
Best Overall Responsible Gaming Program and Best Innovation in Responsible Gaming Program
The WLA RG Awards for 2016 were presented by Anne Pattberg, Chair of the WLA Responsible Gaming Independent Assessment Panel during the General Meeting which was held on Wednesday, November 9, 2016.
The winner of the Best Overall Responsible Gaming Program Award was Lotto New Zealand.
The winner of this year’s Best Innovation in Responsible Gaming at each level were awarded to the following lotteries:
- Best Innovation Level 4: Veikkaus Oy, Finland
- Best Innovation Level 3: New Jersey Lottery, USA
- Best Innovation Level 2: Texas Lottery Corporation, USA
To the Responsible Gaming Award winners 2016
Jean Jorgensen Merit Award
In recognition of late WLA Executive Director, Jean Jorgensen’s, exceptional contribution to the lottery industry in a permanent fashion, the WLA has created the Jean Jorgensen Merit Award.
A 25-year veteran of the lottery industry, Jean was passionate about his work and dedicated to the cause of the international lottery community. In fact, the international dimension of his lottery work began very early on, when he joined the Danish Lottery Danske Spil in 1991 to take charge of international relations. He was serving in the position of chief executive officer when he left in 2005.
Jean was committed to the development of our future leaders, and the WLA found it fitting to create a new award to recognize the rising stars of our industry. Each WLA member lottery will have the opportunity to nominate a young member of staff, and a panel will decide the winner. We will soon be announcing further details about this project, and the first Jean Jorgensen Merit Award winner will be announced at the next World Lottery Summit in 2018.
