WASHINGTON – In commemoration of the 10th anniversary of Responsible Gaming Education Week (RGEW), the American Gaming Association (AGA) is sponsoring an employee poster and essay contest that allows gaming employees at all levels to help create the annual industrywide campaign, which is scheduled for Aug. 6-10, 2007. 

The AGA is asking gaming employees from casino floor staff to corporate executives to submit short essays about the importance of responsible gaming or designs for the national Responsible Gaming Education Week poster.  Selected entries will be featured in promotional materials used at casinos across the country throughout RGEW and beyond.

“Responsible Gaming Education Week has become a very popular event at gaming properties and among gaming employees,” said Frank J. Fahrenkopf, Jr., president and CEO of the AGA.  “This campaign will allow us to highlight the many diverse perspectives on responsible gaming and help gaming industry employees be an integral part of creating this important industrywide initiative.”

Winning essay submissions will be featured in a soft-cover, bound book In Their Own Words: Voices of Responsible Gaming.  The book will feature perspectives from casino employees from across the country, as well as insights from gaming regulators, addictions researchers and treatment professionals.  Photos of the authors will accompany each selected essay.  The book will be published by the National Center for Responsible Gaming (NCRG). 

While only a select number of submissions will be published in the book, a broader selection of essays will be posted during RGEW on a dedicated section of the AGA Web site. 

“It is our hope that this book will expose to the general public the many faces of responsible gaming, from clinicians and researchers to pit bosses and gaming industry executives,” Fahrenkopf said.  “This project will allow us to explore the significance of the issue for gaming industry employees and stakeholders at every level.”

Employees also can submit designs for the RGEW 10th anniversary commemorative poster, which will serve as the graphic centerpiece of the week.  The AGA will use the winning design to create many other collateral materials that will be used to educate gaming industry employees and the general public during RGEW, including the buttons, stickers, ribbons and table tents used in past years.  Additional designs also will be selected for a series of posters on the subject of responsible gaming that feature the industry’s key messages and will be distributed periodically throughout the year leading up to RGEW 2008. 

The deadline for the submission of poster and essay entries is May 1.  Winners will be notified by June 1, and a press event unveiling the book and poster series in Atlantic City has been tentatively scheduled during RGEW.

RGEW, started in 1998 by the AGA, is held every year during the first week of August. It is part of the AGA’s ongoing Responsible Gaming National Education Campaign and represents the industry’s long-term commitment to this important issue.

Entry materials for this year’s campaign, including guidelines and ideas for poster and essay submissions, are available now on the AGA Web site at www.americangaming.org [2].  If you would like more information about any aspect of this year’s RGEW campaign, please contact Brian Lehman, AGA communications manager, at 202-552-2680 or via e-mail at blehman@americangaming.org [1].

###

The American Gaming Association (AGA) is the national trade association for the commercial casino industry. In addition to representing the interests of its members on federal legislative and regulatory issues, the AGA serves as a clearinghouse for information, develops educational and advocacy programs, and provides leadership on industry-related issues of public concern.