Correspondence from BCLC Re: Responsible Gambling Awareness Month – January 2013
Letter and fact sheet from BCLC announcing the inaugural Responsible Gambling Awareness Month.
October 10, 2012
Mayor Graham Hill View Royal City Hall 45 View Royal Avenue View Royal, BC V9B 1A6
Dear Mayor Hill:
I'm pleased to write to you to tell you that BCLC is hosting its first ever Responsible Gambling Awareness Month across B.C in January 2013 — we want you to be part of this important initiative.
We are partnering with communities across B.C. to deliver responsible gambling events during the month of January. A number of outreach events are planned, including a launch event, an expo with interactive demonstrations and a symposium, and several mobile myth-busting kiosks in high-traffic locations. Greg Walker, Director of Public Affairs, has reached out to determine your interest in this initiative. Enclosed please find a one-page summary of the program to give you a better idea of what will be included.
Earlier this year, we partnered with the City of Vernon and the Social Planning Council for the North Okanagan to make the campaign possible. We're hoping that you can suggest a similar organization in your community for BCLC to partner with to ensure our program of events is a good fit for your city.
This year, BCLC will lead the planning team to develop a marketing and communications plan, coordinate logistics and recruit volunteers. I encourage you to watch a short video on our website about the initiative in Vernon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBFEEikuCYw.
To conclude Responsible Gambling Awareness Month, BCLC will present an international conference, "New Horizons in Responsible Gambling", from January 28-30 in Vancouver. More than 250 local, national and international delegates are expected to attend. The event will feature more than 15 guest speakers, including internationally renowned responsible gambling experts who will discuss developments in prevention, response and best practices. Host communities for Responsible Gambling Awareness Month will receive one complimentary registration to this conference as a token of our appreciation for your support. Additional conference details can be found at: HorizonsRG.com.
Responsible Gambling Awareness Month is a unique opportunity for us to work together to raise local awareness of responsible gambling practices to help reduce risk and connect people to community resources and services. To confirm your participation in this program and to help us determine who we should work with in your community, Greg Walker will follow up with you by October 15, 2012.
Sincerely,
Michael Graydon President and CEO
Responsible Gambling Awareness Month
January 2013
Purpose
The more people know, the better equipped they are to make healthy decisions about gambling. That's what Responsible Gambling Awareness Month is all about.
Vernon, Kamloops, Prince George, Langley and the Western Communities (View Royal, Langford and Colwood on Vancouver Island) have been invited to host Responsible Gambling Awareness Week in their communities as part of BCLC's Responsible Gambling Awareness Month. Communities have the opportunity to take a leading role in educating their residents on playing responsibly by partnering with BCLC.
Goal
To raise awareness of responsible gambling practices and to connect people to community resources and services of problem gambling.
Approach
BCLC is taking a community-driven approach to Responsible Gambling Awareness Month. This means working closely with each community to plan and host the activities in a way that makes the most sense for their community. BCLC will lead planning and develop key marketing, media and logistical pieces to ensure a consistent approach and make the planning and implementation easier in each of the communities.
We invite each community to work closely with BCLC to develop a program of events, identify relevant themes and target groups, and coordinate logistics and recruit volunteers.
The local casino service providers in the communities will be given the opportunity to be involved and make this a well-rounded community-driven event.
Key Events for Responsible Gambling Awareness Week (RGAW)
BCLC is planning three events in each community to ensure consistency during the month.
Launch event Breakfast with Mayor attending and proclaiming Responsible Gambling Awareness Week. Launch event would be community focused and partners would attend. Delegates could include local Mayor, BCLC CEO Michael Graydon, (or designate), local MLA, Gaming Policy and Enforcement Branch representative and lead community planning organizer as guest speakers.
Expo event Trade show style event with booths for BCLC, Gaming Policy and Enforcement Branch, service provider, and community services. The expo would include interactive demonstrations of how slot machines work. The main attraction of the event is a symposium featuring speakers from community service groups, BCLC and GPEB who will discuss the difference between problem gambling and responsible gambling and connect people to local resources. This would be followed by a dialogue about responsible gambling practice.
Ongoing Myth-busting Kiosks A mobile myth-busting kiosk will travel throughout the week to significant business and community-oriented high traffic locations around the city (such as the mall, community centre, senior's centre, grocery store).
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