Following is the Virginia Lottery’s news release:

At Virginia Lottery, social media is the name of the game

Lottery becomes first to introduce Facebook-tied Scratcher game

The Virginia Lottery continues to lead the lottery industry in offering players innovative products tied to their online and social media habits by introducing a unique Scratcher game and an interactive new web feature.

The new Scratcher game, Diamond Doubler, is the first ticket from any lottery directly linked to a Facebook promotion.  Players with non-winning Diamond Double tickets who “like” the Virginia Lottery on Facebook are eligible for this second-chance promotion. Players can enter the Web code from non-winning tickets on a page accessed via the Virginia Lottery’s Facebook page for a chance to win a $500 Blue Nile Jewelry gift card. By special agreement, the unmistakable Facebook logo appears on each ticket.

In addition, players who access the Virginia Lottery mobile site will see a special feature, enabling them to enter the Diamond Doubler Facebook promotion anytime, anywhere. The Diamond Doubler Scratcher offers a top prize of $15,000. It is currently available at most Virginia Lottery retailers.

To offer players a unique way to interact online, the Virginia Lottery has also unveiled a feature called “Lottery Match” on the Lottery’s website and Facebook. Lottery Match is an online tool, inspired by the popularity of online dating, that is designed to match players with Lottery games that will be “compatible” with them. Similar to online dating websites, Lottery Match begins by asking the visitor to complete a user profile. The answers to those profile questions are then used to determine which Scratcher games are just the right “match” for that player. Three potential Scratcher matches are suggested. Players who aren’t happy with those suggestions can ask for further match suggestions from the dozens of Virginia Lottery Scratcher games currently available.

“With Lottery Match and the Diamond Doubler game, the Virginia Lottery is showing that it listens to consumers to deliver fun, innovative products and features,” said Virginia Lottery Executive Director Paula Otto. “We’re finding that social media and engaging online features are great ways to meet, listen to and interact with lottery players and consumers.”

Players who fill out a Lottery Match profile get a coupon for a free Mega Millions ticket. In addition, players who indicate whether they like or dislike their matches will be registered in a monthly raffle drawing. Lottery Match launched on October 18 and includes an enhanced age-verification program to make sure all participants are at least 18 years old, the legal age to play the Lottery in Virginia. Following age verification, players can participate in other Virginia Lottery programs and promotions as well.

The Virginia Lottery generates approximately $1.2 million per day for Virginia’s K-12 public schools.  Operating entirely on revenue from the sale of Lottery products, rather than tax dollars, the Virginia Lottery raised more than $444 million for Virginia’s public schools in Fiscal Year 2011.  That represents about 8 percent of state funding for public education in Virginia. For more information, visit www.valottery.com. Follow the Virginia Lottery on Facebook and Twitter. Please play responsibly.

We created the Lottery Answers Awards to recognize those members and organizations that have helped make it a success through their contributions. The Winners of the 2011 Lottery Answers Awards are:

Organizational Achievement

1. Membership Excellence by an Organization – The award goes to Missouri Lottery with 18 members.
2. Participation Excellence by an Organization – The award goes to Montana Lottery.

Individual Achievements

1. Participation Excellence by an Individual - The award goes to Marlene Teel from Montana Lottery.
2. Most Popular Answer – The award goes to Joey Philpott from Virginia Lottery for this answer (you must be a member of Lottery Answers to see the question and answer).
3. Most Popular Question - The award goes to Laura Iadarola from Kentucky Lottery for this question (you must be a member of Lottery Answers to see the question and answer).
4. Most Points Earned - The award goes to Joey Philpott from Virginia Lottery.
5. Most Valuable Participants – The following MVP’s have created a combined 45 answers and 8 questions since launch – Bob Little from Kentucky Lottery, Marianne Manning from Oregon Lottery, Mike Cavender from Missouri Lottery, and Jack Dimling from Georgia Lottery.

This year, two awards will be given for organizational achievements:

1. Membership Excellence by an Organization – This award will be granted to the lottery organization with the most members.
2. Participation Excellence by an Organization – This award will be granted to the lottery organization that has contributed the highest combined number of questions, answers, and comments.

Five awards will be given for individual achievements:

1. Participation Excellence by an Individual – This award will be granted to the individual that has the contributed the highest combined number of questions, answers, and comments.
2. Most Popular Answer – This award will be granted to the individual that has the greatest number of likes on one of their answers to a question.
3. Most Popular Question – This award will be granted to the individual that has the greatest number of likes on a question that they asked.
4. Most Points Earned – This award will be granted to the individual that has the earned the greatest number of points for likes for questions they’ve asked and answers they’ve posted.
5. Most Valuable Participant – This award will be granted to an individual that has demonstrated a tremendous commitment to Lottery Answers through their participation and support of the community.

The award winners will be announced on the OrderPad blog and their names will be displayed in the OrderPad/Lottery Answers booth at NASPL in Indianapolis. Individual award winners will receive a certificate along with a Lottery Answers Award Winner 2011 coffee mug.

Winners will be decided on October 19, 2011 – so there’s still time to participate and be one of our inaugural award winners.

Iowa Lottery’s Mary Neubauer gives a behind the scenes look at the making of the commercial.

This wikipedia entry has all  you’ve ever wanted to know (and more) about Kurtis Blow.

I’ve always liked how several lotteries stress the point that they are an asset that belongs to the people of the jurisdiction in which they operate, like how Montana Lottery and Oregon Lottery have prominent links on their homepage to a section entitled “ABOUT YOUR LOTTERY.”

These examples remind us of who we all work for.

How to increase sales:

• Always keep dispensers full.
• Double face fast-selling instant tickets.
• Remind players to purchase their Pick 3™ and Daily 4™ tickets for mid-day drawings.
• Place Texas Lottery playstation where it is easy for players to use.
• Display winners.
• Provide friendly, knowledgeable customer service.
• Ask for the sale.
• Offer a variety of price points and popular games.
• Celebrate winning experiences in the store.
• Keep ticket display clear of obstructions – they won’t buy what they can’t see.
• Pay all prizes up to $599.
• Encourage clerk competition with internal incentives.
• Know the features of each game.”

If you can get the retailers to stick to the basics like keeping the dispensers full, keeping the display clear of obstructions, and displaying winners, you’ll be 80% of the way there. If you can get them to consistently ask for the sale, then you’ve hit a home run.

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