Lottery Post is excited to announce that on Monday, January 11th at 8:00 pm Eastern Time (5:00 pm Pacific), Iowa Lottery CEO Terry Rich will be answering YOUR questions LIVE at Lottery Post!
With the unsettling Eddie Tipton computerized drawing scandal that was unearthed in Iowa, and is now sending shockwaves throughout the rest of the United States lotteries, I asked Terry to answer real questions about this topic by Lottery Post members. He has graciously agreed to answer all of your questions live on Lottery Post on Monday evening.
For those who don't know Terry Rich, he has served as the CEO of the Iowa Lottery since February 2009, and is also a past president of the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries (NASPL).
I can also tell you personally that I sat down with Terry this past summer at the NASPL conference in Seattle and spoke with him privately about the computerized drawing scandal, as well as a few other topics. I was impressed with his genuine interest in what Lottery Post members and visitors thought about this important topic, and he stressed the importance of Lottery Post itself, in how it allows the lotteries to hear and understand what lottery players think and feel about the lottery industry.
You can see Terry Rich speak in videos posted on a couple of Lottery Post news stories:
Monday's Q&A session will a very special event not only for Lottery Post, but for the entire industry. It's the first time I'm aware of that a prominent figure in the lottery industry will conduct an AMA (Ask Me Anything) session from actual lottery players. It's YOUR first time to ask all of your questions about this drawing scandal directly to one of the key players who helped to uncover it.
Terry asked me to make clear that he is answering your questions as the CEO of the Iowa Lottery, and not as a representative of MUSL (Multi-State Lottery Association), and that because the legal case against Eddie Tipton is ongoing, there may be limits to some types of legal questions he can answer. Obviously he (and all of us!) want to be sure that a Q&A session does not do anything to jeopardize the prosecution's legal case in any way.
Anyone who has followed this case starting with the original $16 million Hot Lotto drawing in December 2010 knows that the Iowa Lottery, under the direction of Terry Rich, was essentially responsible for catching the crook Eddie Tipton. At first the drawing and it's odd last-minute anonymous claim was a strange and interesting mystery. But as the months and years went by and the Iowa Lottery was steadfast in keeping its investigation going, their determination resulted in the eventual identification and prosecution of Eddie Tipton, the former security chief for the Multi-State Lottery Association. And now those continuing efforts have identified other lottery jackpots around the United States that allegedly have been rigged by Tipton.
So lottery players really have much to thank Terry Rich and the Iowa Lottery for.
Now you have the chance to ask Terry about what happened, what they will be doing to avoid this in the future, or anything in between. The only limitation is that we're keeping the discussion focused on the drawing scandal and any surrounding issues.
Here's how it will work:
On Monday evening at 8:00 pm Eastern Time, I will start a new thread in the Lottery Discussion forum introducing Terry and opening the thread for questions. To post a question for Terry, simply post a new reply on the thread that includes your question. Terry will be monitoring the thread, and will answer questions directly in the same thread by posting replies.
This may go on for only about an hour, so be sure to be at Lottery Post right at 8:00 pm Eastern Time (5:00 pm Pacific) Monday night!
A big thank you goes to Terry Rich for generously giving this opportunity to lottery players across the country. Take some time over the next few days to come up with the questions you'd like to ask Terry, and let's have a great discussion!