Just as a housekeeping exercise, I want to first wish everyone a good morning and Remind the public that this meeting is being recorded As we've done so in the past we are using our remote Collaborative Technology to convene this meeting in addition We are enhancing our services as we've done in the past to include live streaming in this case The live streaming will be available through our website at mass gaming calm Given that we're convening remotely I will do a roll call Commissioner Cameron Good morning everyone. I am here Commissioner Brian Good morning. I'm here Commissioner Seneca. Good morning. I'm here Great and good morning everyone before we start with our first item on the agenda I'll call to order them the meeting which is Today is July 15th 10 a.m. And it is number 349 of our public meetings I wanted to share something before we get started This is a an article that I read in the New York Times a guest essay written by the Organizational psychologist dr. Adam Grant many of you have been following him during the pandemic. He's provided some very insightful instrumental in instructional guidance over the last 16 and a half months and Just a week ago. He published this essay that's entitled There's a specific kind of joy. We've been missing I'll read just the first few paragraphs In late June over 15,000 vaccinated people packed in to watch the Foo Fighters reopened Madison Square Garden When the band brought Dave Chappelle on stage to sing Radiohead song creep the audience erupted in the closest thing dr. Grant Had seen to rapture in a solid year and a half No one cared that mr. Chappelle was off key They were all participating in an experience that was Unimaginable just months earlier one day they'll tell their grandchildren about that night When New York City came back to life and their favorite band performed another band song And they tried to carry a tune with a legendary comic during doing the vocals Most people view emotions as existing primarily or even exclusively in their heads Happiness is considered a state of mind No one call is a potential warning sign of mental illness But the reality is that emotions are inherently social They're woven through our interactions Research has found that people laugh five times as often when they're With others as when they're alone Even exchanging pleasantries with a stranger on a train is enough to spark joy That's not to say you can't find a light in watching a show in Netflix Problem is that binging is pretty much an individual pastime peak happiness lies mostly in collective activity We find our greatest bliss in moments of collective effervescence It's a concept coined in the early 20th century by the pioneering sociologists Emile Durkheim To describe the sense of energy and harmony people feel when they come together in a group around a shared purpose Collective ever-best sense is the synchrony you feel when you slide into rhythm with strangers on a dance floor Colleagues in a brainstorming session Cousins at a religious service or teammates on a soccer field and During this pandemic. It's been largely absent from our lives Collective ever-best sense begins when Schwalder beef spreads throughout a group Before COVID Research showed that more than three quarters of people found collective ever-best sense at least once a week and Almost a third experienced it at least once a day They felt it when they sang in choruses and ran in races and In quieter moments of connection at coffee shops and in yoga classes I've asked executive director Wells and a working group that includes commissioners Cameron and O'Brien To begin regularly updating the commission on a proposed plan and recommendations as the MGC Returns to work at the office in September No doubt that working group will be striving to strike just the right balance between the benefits of autonomy of working at home and the benefits of In-person collaboration and yes collective ever-best sense Today later in the agenda. We will hear that group's first update and I'm looking forward to it Thank you with that. We'll get started minutes commissioner Ryan Thank You madam chair included in the packet today were minutes from I believe it's December 22nd 20 20 Leave everyone had a chance to look at them I think the legal team for getting those ready and I would move that we approve the minutes subject to any necessary changes for Typographical errors or other ministerial matters Second second, but thanks commission Cameron any questions or edits for that. I remember that was the emergency Session that we convened over the particular executive order, right? Okay, no questions very thorough. Thank you Then they'll take a roll call. Well, Commissioner Cameron. Hi Mr. O'Brien. Hi Commissioner Zinnicka. Hi, my vote. Yes. Where's everyone? Good morning Vivian. I know I saw you earlier. There you are. Thank you Okay, we have a big agenda today, but nothing as big as our first item I'm really excited that we've had a chance to celebrate Detective Captain Connors and his promotion In at least one external party But today we invited him and we are so pleased that the state police are sharing him with us so that we can do a proper tribute Good morning Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. So I think that we all are gonna want to have a chance to Give some remarks and but I thought we'd start with Executive director Wells if you will and and Brian at any time you can interrupt us Morning and a morning. Good morning detective captain. Good morning to everybody. Thank you Well, good morning. Good morning to you Brian So this this morning. I really just wanted to in particular Recognize two things with respect to Detective Captain Brian Connors One is what he accomplished at the Massachusetts gaming Commission and two is how he accomplished All those things The first part the what there's a long list There's a lot of things at the committee at the commanding officer of the gaming enforcement unit that he accomplished Primarily, he was the first commanding officer of the gaming enforcement unit and Building something from the ground up is not easy Not everyone can be successful in a startup environment, but Brian really was And he accomplished a lot of things while he was in that position Notably we did the background Investigations for all of the applicants for the casino licensees and for those who remember that period of time We were talking about hundreds of qualifiers It had an international reach and we resulted in thousands of pages of reports and Brian was the point person for the MSP part of those investigations working with those consultants that we brought in for that monumental task So that really is is a feather of Brian's cap because that that was a huge huge project and he managed not only You know investigations. He was working on but others in his team as well and the other the other piece that he did was establishing with his team the Protocols for background investigations for the employees and the vendors that we license here at the Massachusetts gaming commission for the casinos in Massachusetts and Not only establishing those protocols, but overseeing Thousands of those backgrounds investigations today So the volume in it of itself speaks a lot for him and his team that he brought in and That that in itself is a great accomplishment But it's also how it was done in that it was done with integrity and those best background Investigations with thorough and and they also showed a compassionate understanding for people that were trying to get jobs and what companies that were trying to get business The other piece that Brian worked on we opened three casinos Safely and securely here in Massachusetts These are large venues with not only a lot of people, but a lot of cash traveling across the floor Both the openings and the operations have been successful from a public safety standpoint And that's that's a really important piece of the gaming enforcement unit's mission. I Would like to also personally note his involvement in one of the most public and scrutinized Investigations into corporate governance as it relates to sexual misconduct allegations I am extremely grateful personally for his outstanding work on that investigation. So thank you Brian for everything you did But with Brian, it's not just the what he accomplished, but it's also How he did it Not only did he Bring in the best team and we all know that good leaders bring on good people and he not only brought in really good people But he always credited those people and he always Lifted them up and bolstered them and help help people that work with him and work him within the gaming enforcement Even within the IEB so that's the kind of leader that he is and he also led by example That's not only his hard work and his detention to detail But also his personal integrity Brian is one of the most if not the most Honorable and decent police officers. I've had the pleasure of working with over the last 25 years And that decency permeates everything he does in his professional life So I'd really like to congratulate Brian on his promotion. I'm confident He will do great things on the command staff at the Massachusetts state police They are lucky to have you Brian and a person want to thank you for your many Contributions to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, so thank you Thank You Karen appreciate that We're gonna have yes director Wells I would like to give a few words as well and commissioners will will have you follow Thank You Karen Of course many of us echo those exact remarks. Thank you, Reda Thank You chair and good morning detective captain. Good morning, Brian. I have just a few words You know some some years have passed since we first worked together at the district attorney's office Where my first impression of you the way I first got to know you was not through you In person but rather it was through your written reports and as a writer myself. I was duly impressed And that first impression turned out to be true over the years and in New settings, especially this setting at the gaming commission I have valued and come to rely on your thoroughness Your tireless dedication to the big picture and the details And your dedication to truth and to fairness I have also valued your ability to help me be a better attorney and Identify and respond to a legal issues and potential legal risks that you are able to do And somehow you managed to do all of this with such good humor and collegiality and friendship and I just thank you for all of that and wish you all the luck in the world Thank you very much Loretta Thank you to Director Lillios. I think probably we should turn to Commissioner Cameron Good morning. Thank you. Thank you madam chair. Thank you everybody. Lots of nice words said By our leadership team former leadership team and present leadership team with the IEA who work intimately with Ryan. I Can echo all of those things, but I won't repeat them all I did have a chance to speak to Brian personally at a little get together, which was really nice, too But I you know, I just a couple things, you know going back to the early days. It was so important to me I was brought into this commission To really make sure we did things the right way with integrity we brought in The right licensees that was clearly laid out to me by our former AG what the expectations were And I knew state police would place important to me who who came on board. So lucky for us that That Brian Connors was was the leader of that team very fortunate for us and It was just a treat. He's stuck in a little office, which state police lieutenants are usually not with another lieutenant with Kevin and So that was but they didn't blink an eye that didn't matter to them They understood the mission and clearly wanted to get the job done So I'm just so proud of from the early days on all the trips to Macau. I was You know, Brian frankly was not going to be Stonewall over there without answers It took multiple trips to make sure that operation over there was clean and that we could accept Licensees here in the Commonwealth But but that was tenacious but done with professionalism, you know, it just Take no for an answer, but also will treat you with great respect and dignity So that was so impressive to me in the early days The calm demeanor as a leader, you know, I could go on and on but I just I just mostly are very grateful and the team that we Have assembled here is something I've been proud of from day one and watched closely because I've seen other Agencies that quite frankly didn't do it as well. So I just we have set the tone. We have a Turn place now and much of that is due to Detective captain Connors and we will that is the legacy of this commission to be smart professional Regulators and that starts with the investigation. That's the first face that people see right? They're nervous. They've never been scrutinized like this before or whether That be a top executive, frankly, who may have been through it before and End up with a license and don't you know, their interaction with the state police is something that made me So professional and so helpful everyone along the line I couldn't be prouder. It is our loss But it is certainly state police as executive director Wells Mention, it's the leadership team's game. I mean, they will have a new leader there and headquarters with integrity with ideas and just I think it's such an asset to that team, but But I just want to thank Brian you one more time. Thank you for what you've done for us I know you thank your whole team, but you brought in that team So it's your leadership that I'm grateful for. Thanks again. Thank you, Gil So so nice commissioner commissioner Zuliga. Thank you. Thank you, madam chair. Good morning everyone. I Remember the first hearing that we had one of our surrounding committee Proponents of the slots parlor I remember Jan is Telling me that the state police would meet us there and I also remember thinking well, is that absolutely necessary And you only have to fast forward a couple of hours For me to be thinking I am so glad that they're here Some of you remember the details of those hearings and I don't want to give the impression that That hearing in particular was about to get out of control or would have gotten out of control if they weren't there But the work that the GU and Brian do at events like that Is is great and and allows for things like that to go smooth I'm talking about those hearings the regular public meetings Of course all the work that's been mentioned by Karen and commissioner Cameron relative to the investigations relative to The presence of the casinos Unfortunately When things go smoothly all of that work tends to go unnoticed But we notice we know we know Brian that there's a lot of work a lot of important Do the allegiance that goes behind a lot of what we do? It is especially true for the for the IEB and the state police, but I know it's also true or You know other units of the gaming commission Things going smoothly is really important and that is really Possible by because of all the work that that you do I also suspect as others have mentioned that Brian will be a little modest and thank his team but Starting up bringing people Mentoring them guiding supervising He's really a testament to the work that he has done He leaves a great team behind the protocols the workflows the detailed Work that that he did And help us helps it up over here. I think he's worth Recognizing and of course taking credit for that Brian Brian has the utmost integrity Tremendous dedication to his work and his team great respect to everyone that we deal with that, of course means Licensees employees casino patrons stakeholders the public us Steady thoughtful leadership and calm demeanor are a tremendous wear a tremendous asset for this organization Continue to be an asset for the Commonwealth We are also fortunate for the assembly of the team that he assembled and now leaps in the hands of my banks Thank you for having our backs Brian. I mean that literally and figuratively Will miss you and all the best Thank you Enrique greatly appreciate that we are kind of like an umpire that nobody really notices Do a good game, but if they blow it then you get noticed so appreciate that recognition Really nice commissioner Brian Thank you madam chair. I Likewise have the opportunity to say some of these comments at the sort of private send-off that we had a couple of weeks ago, but I Like Loretta my first exposure to Brian was as a prosecutor Where I think you know, I finally get out it as the one who calls him super cop all these years For having that combination of incredible writing skills and diligence and The demeanor and the composure to not only get his job done but to take the rest of us along for the ride Because as you can imagine not only what you guys experience or he gave with you know crowd control and that circumstance that my experience was also just you know me sometimes being the person who needed the steady hand to get through a trial or a motion or an investigation and Speaking from personal experience. I know that there's nobody better to have by your side to Brian in one of those moments I think that the promotion is you know well deserved. I think as I said before I'll say again I don't think it's the last time we're gonna hear about a promotion for Brian through the ranks at MSP and I Would look forward to it for his pardon for the for the sake of the Commonwealth And we will miss you Brian, but I'm sure we'll cross paths again And I'm sure you'll take the skills that I've seen over the years With you. I know that your presence here was Comfort to me and part of the factor in my willingness to consider coming here when I was asked to consider it Three years ago, and I know that the people that you're gonna be supervising as well as the people that you've left with with my banks here benefit from Everything that you've done and continue to do so we miss you already And I wish you luck again. Thank you. I lean Well Detective captain Is your office is your new office comfortable enough for you? Well, I'm actually sitting in the gaming commission office. I'm in the IEB conference room. So that's actually what I thought It's a change let's let's let's put it that way so but no I came in just to make sure I had the connectivity and everything so Actually good in the building. Okay, so I'm good. They haven't shut me out yet. So that's good. Oh good Well, I don't have much to add I also got to pass along my sentiments to you both personally and in our private meeting and then also at the send-off Which really wasn't such a nice gathering and and it really showed the You know just the breadth of the appreciation that your former colleagues current colleagues And now some of your new colleagues Have toward you. You know, I mentioned that for me when I was asked to To come to the commission, I knew that our Responsibility was to preserve the integrity of gaming in the Commonwealth And when I got to meet you I Had already learned no just exactly we were in your Long history of reputation, but I could see immediately that you Respected that mission The highest form that you're going to follow through with that mission. And of course, that's what we saw You also Just showed Such great respect toward me, which I appreciate so much and I could see toward all of your colleagues I also liked your sense of humor Kindness and your fairness I'm particularly pleased because I know that these promotions happen That the good ones go But I knew too that you were going to be such a mentor for your colleagues and that now we're in very good hands for Captain Banks and so for that we are very thankful and Have something to read Excellent But I do want to say Brian that I do also miss you already. So thank you our fellow colleagues and most of you are have decided today not to put your video on I Don't really care if you didn't wash your hair Before we turn to the document. I would love it if you could turn on your videos to honor Detective Captain Connors Thank you so much and What we'll do is read the certificate, but stay on please that would be really meaningful There we go. Thank you Austin So this was presented in person to Detective Captain Connors on the first day of July Massachusetts gaming commission proudly presents a distinguished service award to Detective Captain Brian Connors in grateful appreciation for his distinguished service To the Massachusetts gaming commission as the commanding officer of the gaming enforcement unit of the Massachusetts State Police From November 2012 to June 2021 as a founding leader of the gaming enforcement unit Detective Captain Connors successfully oversaw multiple international suitability investigations of casino applicants Established Investigatory protocols for individual and entity gaming licensure and Ensured the safe and secure openings and Operations and I must add closures of the three gaming establishments in Massachusetts I should say temporary closures or suspensions of operations That was a major feat He led With unparalleled integrity and professionalism and worked tirelessly to uphold the values of the commission To protect the citizens of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts The MGC it stands its heartfelt gratitude For Detective Captain Connors and measurable contributions consummate professionalism and admirable dedication to public service This decency friendship and humor will always be remembered From all the commissioners in the entire MGC team and Austin if you could now take down the certificate Let's get around Everyone take your take your take your bid take your audio lab on mute You're standing out I'm standing Thank you Brian, would you like to talk to the team here now that you can see all their beautiful faces? Yeah, sure absolutely, I appreciate at the time and I'm certainly humbled by the by the word spoken both at the Gathering previously and today I Particularly obviously I respect and I have a great deal of admiration for everybody who was spoken at the commissioner And Karen and Loretta, you know I value their friendship by most of all Than anything so I'm humbled by the by the words today and I appreciate everybody joining in I'm glad to see that that Berg dressed for the the occasion and his best his best shirt his best t-shirt It's great to see it's great to see everybody and and I'll be brief I know you've got a very big agenda today and again I do appreciate it and I think you each of you have probably hit on something that I I will talk a little bit about is is that I will Sort of defer to the people that have been around me as far as the Accomplishments and as I'd mentioned before when it's mentioned that that I did this and I did that and I did this and I did that It's actually really the team that does it and and even specific individuals, especially from the get-go as As Commissioner Cameron Reminded me as with Kevin Condon and I coming in in November of 2012 Being jammed into a very small office, but it was okay We finally get out of 84 State Street and we found some comfy confines, but working with Kevin directly As we built this unit and again We we took a very simple recipe as I know I can drop parallels to the gaming Commission and their staff as use around yourself with good people the best people that you can find and I was very fortunate to to be able to do that over the years Especially at the outset and I specifically and I could I could spend an hour or two going down a list of people that have crossed my path and Committing to work together with us over the years both on the GEU side and on the gaming Commission side I don't want to take up a lot of time and I will miss people But there are a few people that I just want to at least give a shout out to just didn't acknowledge me because they Were so instrumental particularly early on you take your time Yep. No, I will I'll be I'll be mindful of the time though, but But obviously Gina Joyce recently retired detective lieutenant and In her work With myself and Kevin early on and she really framed a lot of the the Work on the licensing on the backgrounds and the protocols and things like that And then followed by one other person. I'd really like to thank is is Tim Babb and detective lieutenant now at the Attorney General's office running his own show. Okay Tim was the The unit commander of the officer in charge of plane Ridge MGM and on court After having been in the Boston office doing backgrounds and that's that's pretty unparalleled where he opened up three casinos And I relied on him Tremendously to do that. So so it is true that you're relying the people that are around you and you surround yourself with people And that carries down to the here in the Boston office the racing division The three casinos and I've got and I've always had even with turn over and change I've always had tremendous people The lieutenant sergeants the troopers the detectives and the officers from the local police departments You know, it's not a cliche, but it's it's it's a reality that it really is a team effort When you put those in place and you brush your fingers and you hope that things are running as smoothly as you can I don't think we got everything right, but I think we got a lot of it, right? And we still are developing as a unit and in in collaboration with the gaming Commission and the IED You know, I'm proud of where the where the GEU is today And I'm certainly proud of the relationships that I've had with it with the gaming Commission employees and across across the The Commission itself and across the agency Those friendships are invaluable and in the best part of working here And working at any place. It's really about, you know, the relationships and the friendships I do want to thank the Commission the Commission is specifically and it goes back to the days We know the original chairman with Steve Crosby Judge McHugh judge McDonald Drew Stebbins and the Commission is and the Commission is today I've had a front row seat to see how you over the years and the hundreds of public meetings and to see in some some trying times some very You know stressful times and to see how everybody interacted and I learned quite a bit from watching each of you Decision-making process the back and forth It's a very difficult situation. So I Learned a lot from you and I'm greatly appreciative of that and most importantly the support in the Direction you've given me and our staff over the years It's it's You know, it's been truly appreciated never never taken for granted I know that you held us to some high standards and you expected that and I think You know, I've had like I said that that front row seat this and I think with the gaming Commission, you know, you've You have a tremendous relation reputation nationwide and internationally You've got a lot of things right and I think that you are the gold standard for how regulatory Oversight works and I've been honored and privileged to be a part of that but also to sort of be an observer of all that You also surrounded yourself you took that recipe and you made it work for yourself with the people that you surrounded yourself with and again I'll there are dozens and dozens of people over the years that I could I could point to but You know, I the people that I worked closely with obviously a Loretta Lilios within the the IEB and And I do want to give a shout out to my Jersey boys Burkane and in Bruce band Why one of the best aspects of working here and getting to be around those guys and learn from them an industry that I had really no clue is that some of the the backstory on and Being around Bruce and Burke I value their their import their direction to me, but again most importantly that their friendship in and having those having those laughs over the years That's that's a good. That's one of the best takeaways here You know the executive directors the support that we had from them from Edward Rose and now to Karen and then Karen working in the IEB and we've had a lot of Work together and to form this agency and she is one of those people that you I Absolutely relied on 100% and she came with the experience from the state police side of the house Having some knowledge of that which is very helpful And also a sounding board to bounce things off of and ask certain things and try and get some clarity on things She's a true supporter, but also someone that I Relyed on especially during some of those those investigations She was an incredible Investigator and things that I may not have seen and she came from a perspective that really helped the investigations will go along so The gaming Commission the Agency itself the IEB in particular just like I think the GU is in excellent hands The gaming Commission and all the employees should be very proud of Where this agency has come from and where it is today? I do believe you're the gold standard even within the Commonwealth as far as state agencies go and Seeing that go from the ground up and being part of that is probably one of the highlights of my career And I I'm grateful for that opportunity and just with that you know with The developments also as far as the gaming enforcement unit goes I couldn't be proud of and have a very high level of comfort to turn the reins over to Captain Mike Banks I've known Mike a long time from a homicide investigator and he spent a lot of time here and worked up to the ranks within the within the GU and has certainly earned this This opportunity and I am very excited to see where Mike takes this I think it's a great time to have a new set of eyes at the helm to maybe tweak things make things better Like I said, I think we've got a lot of things right, but there's probably room for some improvement here And I know that under Mike's leadership and having some fantastic Lieutenant's sergeants and unit members that this unit will go even further in a work hand-in-hand with the IEB so but my My demise is a little premature as I do still have a in my current role. I still do have gaming enforcement in my Pipeline in my chain of command. So I am certainly here To assist Mike in any way in the team in any way and I will advocate for the team that's still part of my Current assignments and I still hope to be very much involved in all things gaming So I hope to see everybody as they get back out and You know things start to come back to normal and normalize and I hope to see everybody in the in the future and Maybe raise a glass together at some point and put this whole pandemic behind us, but So just in closing I thank you very much for the kind words. It's been a fantastic run Something I'll always cherish but again, I'll I'll be around and you'll know where to find me But so thank you everybody Thank you, Brian. It's it's great seeing you it would be best if we could see you in in real life Thank you for taking the time today to join us virtually and I think I'm hearing Some kind of a suggestion of future collective ever-best and so I'm I'm would be happy to share that glass with you And I'm sure everybody present today and those who couldn't make it today would join you We look forward to Celebrating all that you you spoke of and That includes of course your team members most of all we I wish you and we wish you the very very best in your new position We know that you're gonna be so successful as Commissioner Cameron suggested and stated that you know it really is our loss, but the state police game You know all good things need to be shared and we are happy to share you your talents your integrity With the state police and on behalf of the entire Commonwealth Wish you it's very very very best of luck and wish you to be safe Thank you so much. Thank you all appreciate it. Thank you Okay, so that concludes our meeting today Actually, we have on such an exciting agenda a lot of excellent work That's been done. So but we do want to be cognizant of time We're going to start now with our our administrative update Executive director of all things The first item on the administrative update is the pond site casino updates I'm going to turn that over to Dr. Williams and assistant director behind to give you know, what's going on on site? Good morning again, Loretta. I Thanks and good morning again So the update today is that across all three properties the licensees are continuing to maintain the Enhanced cleaning protocols that they had put into place for both front and back at the house Also on core and MGM are continuing to require employees to wear masks if they have not presented confirmation of vaccination and PPC consistent with the plan it's submitted is asking employees to follow the DPH and CDC's guidelines of wearing masks if they have not been fully Vaccinating in vaccinated and they're continuing to offer incentive cards to employees who do provide proof of vaccination It on core which has shuttles They are requiring patrons consistent with DPH are requiring patrons and employees to wear masks on the transportation Amenities the vaccine site at on core closed on July 2nd However, on core is continuing its relationship with I believe it was the Cambridge health Alliance and if For instance, if boosters are recommended It's expected that the site will return to In the least vaccinate be available to vaccinate employees Despite having a number of outdoor events planned many of the outdoor events at on core have been canceled Due to the rain, but there are plans whether committing for them to continue MGM opened its pool to out to hotel guests last weekend They made an adjustment in their back of the house employee dining room where? the meal that had been at a reduced rate per shift for each employee is now a free For employees and they are partnering with the western mass news in a food drive event to take place at the end of the month For to raise food items or local food pantries at PPC despite the weather their new outdoor patio space has continued to be a success Where they are partnering with a local brewery? 67 degrees And that has continued to be a success for them that brewery It is a minority and veteran owned business They are still in the process for hiring for foodies of that restaurant That establishment is not open yet. There is no opening date set that they are in the hiring process Those are my prepared remarks I know that Bruce is prepared to talk more on the on the gaming Covid-related side and I think I saw him on the call already Yes As far as casino operations go all three properties continue to forge ahead with casino operations with no Issues to report. I will report Casino complaint wise Poker complaints tend to forge ahead the last couple weeks. They have really increased basically people saying that two properties aren't gonna offer poker we should Establish poker power collars, which we explain the statute doesn't allow For so those complaints have increased tenfold in the last two weeks Any questions for Lovetta or Bruce Commissioner Zuniga you all set I Don't have a question as much as a comment very nice of MGM to be considerate to their employees and offer a Free mail in light of the pandemic and just I guess I do have one question for director band So people would love to play poker, but the casinos are not choosing to offer at this point because it's Is there a reason for that Basically both casinos have put on their websites that they will make the decision no later than December 31st with it I see I think both of them are actually waiting to see what happens with sports betting and You know with space and gaming kind of forging ahead It's kind of a wait and see for both properties. I believe okay Thank you Commissioner Cameron has a follow-up with respect to poker and in the amenities of each licensee overall I have asked Letal to just look into the background on that as the Casinos ramp up post COVID. So I think you've raised the right question. You know why We've seen that posting. I think that director bands report Just probably shed some light on why we probably should pursue a few questions down the road. So stay tuned Commissioner Zuniga. Do you want to add or no? Yeah, I think I think that's something that we might want to hear in more detail at a future meeting from the licensees perhaps a little bit more on the rationale I suspect there's a cost benefit to you know Changing the floor layout and changing it back again Like like they had to do out of necessity for for COVID related reasons and and some uncertainty Relative to you know, whether that that has to change again but but I would be very curious to To see what they have to say perhaps at a future reporting or report or what have you as to plans or for other things clearly if the If the public is is asking for it and that was something that was initially You know promised as as as an option is something that's worth inquiring You know, so I think we can look at that that topic generally Karen at our next agenda setting meeting to see how we can best address just these these ramping up issues particularly given that Director Bann, you know today confirm what I think some of us were suspecting individually, but that Poker demand is is rising so So we'll discuss it and legal I see General Counsel Grossman is on board will see And perhaps coordinate with Joe Delaney chief Delaney as to how we Get these updates the best most efficient passion Right. Thanks. Thanks Bruce Thank you very much. Okay. Any questions from Lorena on her side of the house No, thank you for the thorough report and again, it is generous that they're providing the lunch really And that's consistent with on course program as well and at PPC although They do not have an employee dining room. I believe there are, you know, discounted options for their employees As well, thank you for the update. Okay Karen, okay, so the next item is the MGC return to work update And I'm gonna focus on the return to the Boston office Because as we know the MSP the gaming agents and the racing team, they have been working On site through the pandemic, but our Boston office we have had limited access to because of So we as the chair had mentioned earlier, we do have a working group that's been meeting to Discuss our return to the Boston office. I and we've been looking at not only What other state agencies are doing and in particular? We're looking at the executive branch and what the executive branch is doing for agencies and looking for best practices there We're also looking at other publicly available information For best practices on working in general after the pandemic and you may have all recognized there's been a lot of discussion on this for the media and You know, even with friends and family just discussing how is this going to work? And you talk to people that you know work in the public and the private sector and it's an ongoing conversation about how is this going to work? And what is it's going to look like? so currently the proposed Plan is to return to the Boston office I think we're starting September 13th We talked about doing it the day after Labor Day, but there is a potential holiday in the in the mix there So without the Monday the 13th And in a hybrid model Now the opportunity for staff is there to come in as many days as Individuals may want because there may be folks that it's hard to work at home. They may not have the right Either set up at home or it may not be just conducive to working and they want to be in the office We do want to open the office up to people that want to be working there But also we offer Do a test period between that date in September through the end of December to do a hybrid model so staff would have the opportunity to Work a certain number of days at home so that we can see how does this hybrid model work? A lot of state agencies are doing this a lot of private sector agencies are doing this So this period should give us a lot of information about how does this work? What what works well what doesn't work well, and what's the best opportunities for the gaming Commission going forward? So my expectation is that at the next meeting so that's July 29th We'll have more detail on a proposal with specifics and potentially even tell a policy for the Commission to consider That's what that's where we are right now And you know as I mentioned during this trial period be working on an evaluation of the effectiveness of the hybrid model and Come up with plans for the future so we certainly will be looking for feedback from not only managers, but also The team members that we have here that are working and how this is working for them and and look at productivity Managing productivity. How does this work and part of that is also looking at? IT solutions because as we have all learned, you know, we're all here on this HD meeting that Technology has become Violately important to effective working in in the pandemic and I expect it's going to be vitally important going forward So we're looking at you know, how do you utilize that technology the most effectively in a hybrid working model? And one thing that we're going to be doing over the next couple of months before we open is to do some testing And we have teams that are going to be doing some testing. We would like to include the commissioners in that testing and see how things work To see, you know, how does it feel? What you know, what what's what's the interaction one of the pluses one of the minuses? And I think Katrina's on right now and to give you a little more detail of what we're looking at as far as Technology solutions for how to work effectively in a hybrid model. So I'll turn over to Katrina. Just give you a little update on that Thank you director Wells. Good morning, madam chair commissioners I'm happy to report the ITS team in concert with our digital communications coordinator Austin Bumpas Have been researching and analyzing hybrid options for our public and internal community Thanks to Austin's recommendation. We begin testing of the owl So as in the bird owl camera solution for consideration by the commission next week Now the owl pro camera works like any webcam in the way it integrates with our current hardware It can also form 360 degree views and audio auto zoom on the speaker in the room and has an 18th foot audio pickup radius So our initial testing Once it's complete we're we will invite the commissioners and director Wells and some other personnel To do further testing and dry runs to ensure efficacy and comfort Thank you, Katrina So That's where we are right now So, you know, I certainly want to open this up if any commissioners have any questions This is an opportunity with all of all the commissioners together to you know, interact with Either Ask me any questions or if you have any comments or if there's anything you'd like this team to look at Or any ideas on this? We are certainly open to however We'd like us to move forward At this point and so I'll open that up if anyone has any questions or concerns commissioners commissioners in the government we go with your question because you're not part of this working group Yeah, thank you. No, I appreciate the update. Um, I Perhaps a comment slash question. Um, I look forward. I think it's the appropriate Thing to do this this test Period as you as you articulate I imagine that just given the situation that we are in or are can expect to be in around september that Whatever policy we come up with by necessity have to be flexible given different circumstances for different people I mean, that's that's that's something that everybody can agree but Um, what additional thoughts relative to that sort of Necessary flexibility. Can you say at this point or can we Learn about later? Well, there's a couple pieces. So one is, um Taking care of individuals so Different individuals that work in our office may have different health concerns different issues and I think we have been messaging We're trying to do this to do the town halls and through through the managers that That we really want to hear what what works for people because we don't want people Being in any kind of jeopardy by returning to work. So we need to Be flexible in that respect and all and We have, you know, open lines of communication with HR and through managers So if anyone has concerns or if they have special considerations, we need to take into account We will need to do that. Um, and then on the other side of things that are operationally Yeah, we will need to be flexible because something may not work We may need to make some changes, you know, because this is uncharted territory And we are going into a situation that we haven't done before that we've done the In full and in office and we've done the full remote, but then this hybrid is new So, you know, knowing that they're they're probably going to be some challenges and we've got some advice from senior member of the Leadership team the executive office that you know, you're probably not going to get it right right off the bat They're maybe they're going to have to be some adaptations to make things work the best and that's okay so, um, that that was really helpful advice because we have to be Cognizant that we're learning as we go and it's not as if any of us are experts on hybrid working right now And we're going to do learn from that and learn how to move forward as an agency. I don't know if that's helpful, but that's sort of the thinking Yeah, very much. Thank you Commissioner Cameron, you want to add to anything that Karen reported on? No, I think she gave a good description I just the only thing I can add is that the team has been very thoughtful and really tried to consider every single option possibility concerned in these in these working group meetings, so You know everything is on the table. Everything is being considered and the team should Feel like look we're looking out for every possible scenario here and want this to be a positive experience for everybody coming back to work So that is the underlying You know feeling of the working group how this you know, we want it to be successful We want it to be positive We want people to feel safe in the workplace and as you point out Madam chair, you know make it as much of an enjoyable experience as we can. I don't think we can We can match the concert goers with with the You know with how they feel about that experience, but I think we can be very Cognizant of how to make it A good place to work Commissioner. Thank you. Commissioner Brian Nothing to add really other than to reiterate I joined the working group last week this past week actually for the first time and Yeah, I would agree the the level of thought that's already gone into Things even before sort of the governor issuing You know the report that's going to be maybe more helpful with some guidance But I feel like the team's really thought through a lot of this already in terms of Not only the agency as a whole but individuals who might need You know thought in terms of how we go back. So I it's a work in progress But I think that this team has already done a tremendous amount of work getting there Yeah, I just want to thank everyone for their work and their continued efforts. Karen I don't know if next at the next meeting you'll be able to update or report on Not only the it enhancements, but also just Any physical Layout Alternatives that will be made maybe an update about the lease To the extent we're able to do that public, you know publicly Commissioners in a guy. I think you're nodding your head. That's probably important for us to all have an awareness of the Of our current leasing arrangement So just physical the physical space Um Returning to work at the office and then I suppose that that also might have implications up for those who Um, you know, if there's a hybrid arrangement, what does that mean? For equipment, etc at home I think probably should have clarity found those expectations too So thank you for all the the great work appreciate it and yeah the uh, I can see report uh Is timely and certainly we can draw from it so Great Thanks, and we'll keep this on like we had um on the covet update I think we'll keep the covet update for a while too um from From director lilios and director ban and then we'll go with um We'll go with um the updates on through through uh, september. Thanks so much Okay, excellent Commissioner zumba. How you doing? Good. Thanks. All right. That concludes item number four. We're going to move on now to Um, a couple of exciting reports from director. Good morning mark Good morning. Uh, madam chair. Good morning commissioners Um, yes, we do have a couple exciting agenda items for you. Uh this morning um, the first is a quarterly update of game sense operations at our three, uh casinos I'm joined by, uh, tori Laria, I believe he is I don't see him on but believe he's here Tori is a game sense advisor As well as there's tori Hi, tori as well as bill sure would who is the director of communications and marketing for the mass council on gaming health And chelsea turner who is director of uh responsible gaming for the mass council And who directly oversees the the operations at all three casinos Before I turn it over to chelsea to really kick it off just to remind commissioners remind the audience that Game sense is is an important operation an important function of of the gaming commission It's grounded in uh chapter 23 k specifically 23 k section 21 That requires that operators provide an onsite space For an independent substance abuse compulsive gambling mental health counseling service established As well as an established training program at each of the casinos to examine and intervene when necessary On issues around problem gambling Um, I believe that that the game sense program embodies this requirement Um, and as as it has for the the past several years This is a program that continues to evolve as we learn more As we learn more more about problem gambling more about how to promote safe levels of gambling And so some of that is captured here today and will be captured in future quarterly reports So without further ado, I will go ahead and Turn it over to chelsea Thanks so much mark really appreciate the warm introduction and uh good day early morning Madam chairwoman Fellow commissioners and other interested attendees. We're really excited to be here today and have the opportunity to tell you a little bit about What game sense has been up to this past quarter? So i'm going to go ahead and share my screen and can folks see that If I share the screen can you see not not quite yet Okay, hold on Can you see it now Not quite Chelsea I could also turn it over and uh Pick it up Okay, let me um mark Send you just the very final version very quickly. Sorry. We actually tested this. So I apologize everyone I will vouch for that. We actually did it. Yeah, we and we we don't worry about these These technical issues Okay, chelsea. I'm still waiting for the yeah, it's coming. So one second In commissioners as we I wait for chelsea's email to come in we did do a dry run of this Yesterday there was some difficulty we were having with There was a video embedded And so there's a slight a slight revision to the power point that you'll see today versus what was released in your Your packet earlier. Yeah, maybe when you come across that just remind us Because we do have our packets in front of us as well. Sorry mark. Um, I can't send it to you because it's too big. Um I'm a little unsure how What what I should do at this point. Sorry. I can go through with the um with with the slide deck That is that you have permission. That's fine. That's that works I see bill giving the thumb thumbs up with that Thank you Great. And then what you can do is just verbally update us on any correction. Okay, can you see my screen now? I'll snap. Yep, perfect. Thank you So if we go to uh, just the the first uh slide that talks about today's Topics the things that we want to touch on today Are just a little bit about the numbers the interaction highlights from this last quarter Um, there's two specific things we want to talk about relating to vse One is the new software um that the mgc is working on and another project that we did with cambridge health alliance Um, lots of new game sense activities happening. So we wanted to showcase those and Um, and maybe test uh do a little quick trivia test with some of you today to have a little bit of fun um, uh Talk about play my way and the expansion of play my way Uh, very briefly to mgm Cover our game sense excellent awards, which are the awards that Recognize casino employees for going above and beyond when it comes to responsible gambling Then at that point in time, uh, phil sure would we'll talk about Our communications efforts How he is continuously figuring out ways to make our dollars stretch further Particularly in the digital space I'll talk about some of our community outreach efforts Which has been really nice, uh in the last quarter because folks actually Want in-person presentations and want us to come out and visit them again um, some new uh exciting staffing updates and a few things that we're excited to share about What's on the horizon? So first if we go to the interaction highlights Um, one of the things i'm trying to do is really sort of look at the data Um, in a way that we can have some some analysis so um, you know If you look at the the larger, uh quarterly report that I do that's in writing You're gonna see sort see the numbers laid out month over month over month Um, but for purposes of today's presentation, I just wanted to sort of Call out some of the general things that we're seeing so if you look at our interaction numbers for the last quarter um, you can see at ebh we had simple interactions which are you know, uh, sort of the easiest things like, you know You know, where can I get a cup of coffee that kind of thing? um, to the demonstrations and exchanges which are really where The media interactions are happening. We're talking about game sense. We're talking about responsible gambling um, and a demonstration uh Uses a kiosk or a brochure to do that where an exchange doesn't it might an exchange could use a table game or a slot machine and then casino related Interactions or things like, you know, they might have questions about the promotions that are happening at the casino's that that sort of thing. So um, if you look at I basically tried to take the last I took out march because it's used things Um, so if you look at what the rolling three month averages were um Uh And and it was higher than the december to february quarter um, so That's what we want to see we want to see that our interaction numbers are continuing to rise over time Now that's not unexpected in part because You know the casinos um hours expanded and so forth, but the game sense centers with the exception of bbh also closed down at one o'clock so What is really good here is that the numbers are trending upwards when you know We're all happy to see folks going back to the casinos in a safe way Um, so that's a really good thing the second thing if you look down to sort of the Second main bullet bullet point under each property is the bsc numbers And you're gonna see that we're getting more bscs now again not surprising on the one hand That's a good thing because that's one of the most critical reasons why we're at the properties is to try to You know to conduct those vscs and hopefully Try to link folks to appropriate services So if you look at those numbers, you'll see that we had the highest number of vscs this past quarter at ebh Tied for the second number of vscs at mgm and the second highest quarter at ppc And what's really I think kind of more interesting and not called out on this slide Is that we have had 11 since january we had 11 vscs that occurred during the overnight shift And we had 21 remote vscs So overall in the last quarter 91 vscs, which is significant The other thing I just wanted to talk about briefly is You'll one of the things that popped out at me when I was looking at the data Was how high our raffle numbers were at mgm Typically, you're going to see the highest numbers at encore Followed by mgm and ppc and that just logically makes sense right because of the the traffic In the size of each of those properties But mgm really had super high raffle numbers and that's continuing to trend in that direction and I think one of the things as we talk about it internally One of the reasons for it is honestly, they have a really good center and a really good location to sort of Conduct and exchange some of these To conduct some of these activities At ebh it's still The traffic flow is still exit only and when folks are Exiting they tend to be less inclined to stop and talk Or to want to necessarily engage in some type of educational activities So that's something we're hoping to talk to on core about Is you know, is there hopefully an opportunity in the future where that can return to an entry and exit area? But again, really good numbers overall, I think And we're certainly reaching a lot of folks Next slide mark So two of the things we're working on in relation to vse's are one we're helping to support the gaming commission on some really Phenomenal work they have done their it team has done and mark and mark and Teresa And creating a new software platform for vse's and this has been a significant undertaking by the gaming commission and Game sense advisors and myself are trying to help to support those efforts by Helping with some of the testing before we go to launch to make sure everything's working well, and I think Everybody's really excited. I hope I'm Not speaking out of turn here, but that everybody's really excited about the new platform It's much simpler and sleeker, but includes all the same important information that we need to Include and the one great thing is I think it's going to eliminate a lot of The small errors that would happen when we would transfer data From you know, the the game sense team to the to the gaming commission and You know that some of that is natural, but this sort of automates some of those things So we're really thrilled about this and I can't wait to For when it gets launched The second project was we did a small project with the cambridge health alliance where They're creating a basically a video library of trainings and they wanted to do something on vse's So they did an interview with one of our game sense advisors josh mollano from the encore property And they you know asked him questions about you know, what is a vse?  So We did that project in may and june and that's completed and Really happy about how that turned out Next slide So I love this picture here in this picture. You're gonna you see aisha shambly and ellen louis from the mgm game sense team and in the background you see The big monitor that mgm nicely gave us in part Partly because of the pandemic and now we're continuing to use because it's become such a great tool And so you can see actually the fourth of july quiz that we created in the background Behind them and you see folks Engaging with them about some fun questions. So we're continuing to create new activities In different ways to to interact with patrons and one of the things that We're doing is we're creating our own sort of library of activities. So Um, so the the goal is that you know over time We're gonna have over a hundred different activities that you can pull pull from that you might have to upcycle If there was something that was timely, but that you can pull from And that are seasonal and timely and relevant to whoever the patrons or casino staff are that are taking them So these are just some samplings of these are new brand new activities that we did this last quarter We did one on spring We did one on derby day Cinco de Mayo Memorial Day pride month the chinese dragon boat festival College athletes in gambling fourth of july ice cream scenarios and harness racing So if you'll indulge me for a couple minutes, I just wanted to give you a brief sampling of three questions from three different quizzes and the reason I want to show these to you is because We're not just doing this silly quiz about ice cream. For example, we tie everything back to responsible gambling so we're trying to educate folks in a way that Is is relatable to me. That's a little bit light But also gets a very important message across and also Wants to make them come back. Oh, I I had this really fun exchange at the game center The last time I was here How can I come back and do it again and for folks that are regulars? Those are the folks we really want to You know connect with and so we want to keep things new and fresh and always have something Different for them to see when they visit So this was uh, one of the questions that we asked on our pride month quiz and the question is What mlb team will be the first to incorporate their pride logo onto the uniform onto their uniforms during pride month 2021 which pride month was in june So the answers are new york yankees, los angeles dodgers the red sox or the san francisco giants and if And if you flip to the next slide mark the answer is San francisco so The cool thing about this is actually san francisco was the first but tons of mlb teams followed and even a lot of like the double a and triple a teams followed but So that this is a fun light way to engage folks And then if you look at the game sense tip every single question that we ask Includes a game sense tip and the game sense tip is Game sense is an ally to all individuals who choose to gamble Our goal is to create a safe space for people to learn make informed choices and receive any help or information They need without stigma or judgment judgment. So it's a important thing for Nice easy way for us to connect with them, you know, this this I think appeals to younger generations baseball fans The lgbtq plus community And so that's a sample of one of the quizzes from that per one of the questions from that quiz. So next next slide This was our dragon boat quiz. And this was designed by chris Who's at ebh and he is one of our Asian GSA's and speaks Mandarin and so The dragon boat festival is a big thing in the Asian community And that this year it was during the month of june and this particular question is there two non-paddling positions in a dragon boat Unlike in what we think of like traditional rowing with a cox coxman or cox woman. And what are they? So you see the answers below ABC indi and the answer is if you go to the next slide mark The answer is see drummer and sweep The drummer says paddlers to keep in time and the sweeper seer has a job of keeping the boat in a straight line Which is not always easy and the game sense tip here is know how the games work And your odds of winning before you start to play, right? And so This particular quiz is designed more for the ebh facility Folks that are from the Asian community might be Hopefully will appeal to them because it's something that hopefully some of these questions are easier than they were for me when I first took chris's quiz And then, you know, again, it's timely. It's relatable It's happening in july and it's relevant to the folks a lot of the patrons that frequent ebh And then the last sample So this is the ice cream quiz. Um, this is one of the ones I did and had a little bit of fun with I don't know for a lot of ice cream has been comes from new england. So One of the questions in the ice cream quiz was Which one of these statements about ice cream companies is not true a friendlies was founded in springfield mass B ben and jerry's was founded in brilington, vermont c Hood was founded in charleston mass or d Haagen-Dazs was founded in Copenhagen, Denmark. And if you go to the next slide And for those of you, I'm actually from western mass. So it actually was founded in springfield even though Even though the headquarters are in in wilberham. So there's a little bit of but it was founded in springfield anyhow, the answer is d Haagen-Dazs was not founded in Copenhagen, Denmark It was actually founded in brooklyn new york by rose and ruben mattis and the name haagen-dazs is a tribute to Denmark But they're kind treatment of the jews during world war two So I love this question because it feels just like I love history and kind of cool fun trivia facts And so I thought this was a cool fun trivia fact. Um, everybody's I think new englanders tend to be proud of where they're from We love our ice cream, etc. And the game sends tip is When gambling it's important to take a break go for a stroll call your best friend Or go grab an ice cream cone.  So Those are that's a sampling of some of the new quizzes we're doing. Um, we're working on some other really Cool ones that we're we'll share with you At our next quarterly report one Really special one, I think for rgw that we're excited about that Amy gorilla has been working on so next slide So play my way as as you all know is a budgeting tool created by the gaming commission That is absolutely phenomenal and I think sort of groundbreaking when it comes to responsible gambling. It's something that uh, I guess kudos from folks, um All over the country and uh, I think Everybody's excited that it's expanding to Um to mgm, uh this coming fall One of the things that we've heard even from uh true story is that one of our magic moments was uh, we had a patron at at mgm actually Ask when was playing my way? When was that tool going to be coming to? To springfield so, um, we just wanted to give you a quick heads up here that it's coming We're hoping to launch it around rgw if we if all the if everything aligns correctly There's a fantastic research project. That's uh coinciding with the launch of play my way That's being funded by the international center for responsible gambling and marks really Vaneralinden is really leading those efforts and collaborating with them It'll be the first time that they're looking at both behavioral and psychological data when it comes to gambling so Much more on that later. Um, and then we have some small committees that are working together that mark's really kicked off and Uh that we're excited about um So we're gonna skip over the next slide just because it was a video And at this point in time i'm gonna turn it over to tori Who is a game sense advisor from ppc But one of the reasons we wanted tori to join us today is because tori's going to be a critical Part of helping to train folks on play my way at mgm. He's probably the lead person of getting patrons to sign up that for play what play my way at ppc um, and so uh, we just wanted to Tie him into this project because he's going to be doing a lot of extra work over the Next couple months helping us to get ready for play my way So for if you'll do the excellent swords for us that would be fantastic and also what one last thing Thank you so much commissioner jedstein for being a special part of these She always takes the time to write handwritten. Thank you notes. And that's really really appreciated By the staff at the three casino properties. So thank you Go ahead toori So i'm kicking off our this quarter's excellence awards as on-court boss in harbour and we'll start with jenny lee genie lee, excuse me of win rewards genie consistently goes above and beyond when helping guests with questions about their gambling find a game sense advisor um She was she was especially helpful in answering guest questions about our game sense table when we were set up in the on-court boss in harbour emotions area Next we have raymond mendez of pad Recently raymond came across a patron getting carried away with his gambling Not thinking clearly and chasing his losses Raymond encouraged the patron to leave the casino before emptying his bank account Even though it wasn't his department. She used his game sense and showed caring compassion Assistant slot manager christine morrow Christine has been a helpful has been helpful by sending patrons in distress In a need of a game sense advisor over to the game sense info center. He always remains courteous and unflappable in each situation Next we'll be going to mgm And in mgm. We have jenny maize of facilities jenny is the epitome of work ethic She has assisted game sense in numerous projects and has always done so in a timely efficient and friendly fashion Whenever game sense needs her help she never fails to come through jenny is a team player and has played a major role in keeping game sense running smoothly and safely at mgm Next we have david for debt security officer david understands the game sense program and what we do He has escorted many guests over to the game sense info center in a discreet and caring manner He always takes time out of his day To interact with the gsa's and ensure that we have everything we need He's always willing to help and is a great asset to both game sense and mgm Finally security supervisor kim shore Kim is one of the most inquisitive supervisors at mgm. She's always asking questions and confirming procedures with us Kim wants to ensure the vsc program runs smoothly And that she and her staff are aware of how everything works So that together we can provide the best service possible for guests struggling with their game plan And finally we'll go to ppc Ppc we have slot attendant michelle blanchard So michelle has many responsibilities and her daily routine But she always has time to explain the play my way program to the guests at ppc Wow She goes above and beyond by not only explaining the program But she enrolls many guests as well and then she'll come over to the game sense info center and she alerts the gsa on duty Next we have security officer mark mark iverson mark's always quick to help guests at ppc On many occasions mark has alerted gsa's to patrons in crisis We're showing signs of gambling related to stress A couple of those alerts have led to gsa's helping patrons voluntarily selfishly These opportunities to help those individuals are made possible by mark taking notice and taking action And finally at ppc we have racing services manager lenny calderon Lenny has been a tremendous help to the game sense initiative To increase the game sense presence out at trackside during the 2021 harness racing season at ppc Game sense had many asks of lenny and ppc and he delivered on everything including allowing an additional game sense banner A full page game sense out in the daily live racing and monthly gaming tabling events just to name a few I'd like to thank all nine of these winners for what they do and how they represent game sense And uh next i'd like to turn it over to the massachusetts council on gaming and health director of marketing communications bill sherwood Hello everybody Good morning. Good morning So i've been asked to give a little bit of a spotlight in a couple areas with communications and and the first being uh live chat So what is live chat and what can we do with that? Live chat is an online customer serve service software that allows people to chat online And it you know comes with other web analytics As well and it's it's not too different from Many of the chat features you might have seen if you're shopping online And you see that little chat bubble in the corner And a prompt comes up and welcomes you to engage with them if you have a question or concern This isn't much different at all. In fact, it's very much the same And we have it currently on the game sense ma website and the mass council website And you know simply put it allows people to communicate with the gsa or other council staff in in real time and increasingly what we're finding Prefer to speak or obtain information through means other than traditional phone face-to-face or email And all one needs is a laptop smartphone Desktop computer or tablet to do it again. It's not any different than what we might do at home So the process of us looking into this was really just kind of seeing around the corner understanding where people want to get information And we were looking at this before the pandemic We weren't thinking pandemic But we had it up and running for part of the pandemic and we were thankful for that We started to look a little more than a year and a half ago and we heard through the grapevine that actually game sense at bclc Had had made a switch to a similar online platform And we ended up actually going with the same platform as them And and the reason wasn't necessarily was the same. We did check out other platforms But this really this really fit the mold And frankly, I was I was hoping to steal a page from their playbook, right because they got a head start They were about to activate it and you know a chance to Get some best practice tips from them because we do such similar work Well, it turns out and I think we're pretty proud of it. We got ours up and running Actually before them and the pandemic had a lot to play with that on their side So live chat has been up and running 24 7 on both the website's game sense in the mass council Since march 29th since the around the the last few days of pgm It hasn't been offline for a minute between then and now And and so why is this effective? Well, it meets people where they're at increasingly they're online And it's really easy to use from both ends both from the gsa or staff member. That's answering the chats But it's easy for the user who's engaging with it There's there's a really cool built-in knowledge base that we put in there So any information that the game sense advisor or others might want for example, you know tips on how to keep a budget Or the rules of the game or quite frankly You know where our local gsa meeting is these are the type of questions people have it's it's it's Gamble is anonymous meeting rather it's right at their fingertips It also allows us to figure out There people are coming from how they're finding us the types of questions that they're asking That's all trackable and we can we'll be producing reports on that They're also rating the interactions with us So it's an opportunity for us to have quality control and and and learn and better train folks so I will admit There are many features With this live chat software that I won't go into that we'll eventually be utilizing and and it's a bad analogy But i'm going to use it anyway because I like it. We've we've kind of had training wheels On the live chat program because it's new to us the gsa's have a lot of important work to do on the floor We wanted to make sure that people were trained up and we identified any pitfall pitfalls beforehand But it has been working. We have been using it. We have been getting traffic and in fact We've had about 100 chats 70% or so came from the game sense website the rest came from the mass council That's not surprising actually because we've been marketing the game sense website More aggressively and just you know the outcomes speak for itself. We've provided general information about gambling rules of the game from all over the country We've given family support it within the first two weeks. It actually generated four vse's Just very very helpful For us to have as a tool and we think it's going to continue to be a tool in the future Uh next slide mark wonderful Has been has has been consistent over the past quarter quarters This previous quarter we produced about 180 uh game sense branded graphics and videos with copy and we we've done this with coordination of austin at the mass gaming commission And our role at the council is to support the marketing objectives of game sense and social media and our Our main focus has been to raise brand brand awareness for game sense Inform the public on player health in a positive and friendly manner promote positive play You know encourage better decision making and of course provide referrals and support To those that need it We have made some improvements over the last quarter Our social media digital work. It's become much more gsa centric and focused We got out there and we're able to get some updated pictures and photos of them doing their jobs interacting They actually produced some of the ideas that we're using that are the most popular online And what this has allowed us to do is humanize the game sense advisors The work that we do and also it's helped kind of refresh the social media pages the Because let's face it there there aren't that many responsible gambling messages and themes and and so we're we're repeating them in different ways And and and being able to use the gsa's like this has allowed us to be creative and give it a fresh look Next slide Actually, that's when you can skip that's a video that we opted to take out great Great, uh, some may have seen this We just wanted to highlight a wonderful article ran in the Connecticut mirror mirror if you haven't seen it Hopefully an email goes around with with the link, but it elevated how important our gene game senses It uh, it demonstrated how gsa's make a difference day in and day out Here in massachusetts and and it basically pointed out how the commonwealth continues to be a national leader when it comes to Responsible gambling and problem gambling and it on the surface this article was about how the state of connecticut Is looking to expand gambling and there wasn't Uh, necessarily an rg component to that at the time of the article And so this reporter said hey, uh, massachusetts is a leader. Let me go talk to folks out there Game sense actually is in connecticut, but it's it's within the lottery not in the casinos And so he spent a day with two of our gsa's, uh, Amy gobrilla and aisha shamley They did a great job. Uh, it featured the both of them and I would encourage folks to look at that and You know as an aside This is something that the mass council and the gsa's take seriously the opportunity to advocate using the press is important and About eight to nine gsa's Have received a media training a spokesperson training All of them are good in their feet talking to patrons face to face. It's a little bit different When a reporter has a notepad or there's a tv camera in your face But it's a really when it comes to driving public awareness. We all recognize that media is an important Means to do that and we've trained them up to do that And we look forward to coordinating with the mass gaming commission for future opportunities to share these success stories and and the importance of rg and game sense And next slide Uh, I've been asked to talk a little bit about geo fencing. It's a small little pilot Communications campaign that the mass council ran Uh, geo fencing allows one to draw a virtual fence in a geographic area or boundary You know, you could use the state zet town neighborhood and now you can do a single address The technology isn't at all different than the technology say that draft kings uses in new hampshire To determine whether you're actually in the geographic area of new hampshire to place a bet They know where your phone is based on gps Well, you can actually do clever and specific marketing to people based on the geographic location. So What we did is we ran a couple small ads for individuals who Entered one of the three casinos in massachusetts and what we did is we were advertising the live chat that we just spoke about inviting them to Ask questions through that app or through that platform if they wanted to but also elevating vscs And so when you think about the demographics that you would love to drive up the name recognition for vscs It's it's those who enter the dwelling of one of the three casinos in massachusetts I didn't have very high expectations For this particular campaign It it worked really well. However, you know, this is a technology that Even some ad firms until recently didn't necessarily have had had access to they had to go to a third party The mass council has it in house now. Um And it's been helpful. It's helped drive awareness It's done at a very low cost and more most importantly. It's generated real conversations with gsa's through live chat and I think this is where chelsea takes over again Thanks so much phil so just wanted to take just a minute or two to talk about community outreach the exciting thing is people are looking forward to to To having us in again and and meeting with their Associates, you know, there are agencies and their associations And so some of the presentations that we did in this past quarter Were to the greater springfield senior services the asian task force against domestic violence The massachusetts college of liberal arts trio program The asian-american civics association. We've done a lot of work with them A variety of veterans associations in bedford in boston And brain tree elder affairs. We also continue to do tabling events For the asian and elder populations. So what's pretty cool is that you can see the reach Of of these and you know getting out into the community when we can You know, it is is important and it brings game sense out beyond the casino Environment into the community. So we've had like these are targeted events in the in the sense that we tried to Work with populations that we know are are more vulnerable And and they're met with really good success. So We'll probably continue to do that probably around at the same pace Because our first priority is obviously Inside the casinos at the centers and on the casino floors Next slide This is really I actually think pretty impressive. We conducted eight designated agent trainings in the last quarter Which means we We had refreshers with a variety of gaming agents 24 gaming agents at the commission And we also trained 44 Community-based providers and I think what's really impressive in odessa And her group should take Great pleasure in this is that we're really trying to diversify Our our reach and she was able to get vse Designated agents who speak not just english, but also vietnamese spanish and mandarin So again continuing to sort of diversify our portfolio In terms of being able to meet people where they're at Telephone recovery support also we've had really great success with that this year Um, we had a 77 contact rate from dodie nealy who's part of the mass council staff She's a person in long-term recovery and when folks that are through the vse request telephone recovery support Jodi basically meets with them over the phone You know up to 10 times To talk about where they're at make sure they're doing okay Or do they want to go to the local GA group? Do they want to meet with a clinician and she Maintains and keeps very up-to-date lists on all of that so Really remarkable efforts there And then lastly our own outreach team the folks that are doing these presentations in the community I just want to give a shout out to them They speak four languages as well And in addition to english we speak spanish vietnamese and chinese We have a person who's a veteran We actually have two veterans on our staff, but one who does outreach efforts We have jody who's a person in long-term recovery We also have other staff that do outreach that have family members who have been affected by Gambling disorders and then our our staff is actually pretty diverse. I mean we are male female. We are glbtq We are all different ages And so Our ability to go out and try and connect with with all different types of communities is I think very impressive With that said the next slide So we We're able to hire two we we did have to unfortunately lay off some staff back during the pandemic and We're able to hire two of the six staff that Two new of the six that we lost And when we went out to hire for new gsa's we put a special emphasis on Indiversity and speaking multiple languages. So really excited about our Two newest gamesense advisors one is vivian you She Was a manager in asian marketing for 16 years at michigan sun She also worked two years in sipan at the imperial pacific resorts casino In their hr department She is fluent both speaking and writing in mandarin chinese Mandarin Cantonese and other chinese dialects She has hit the ground running at ebh and she's a phenomenal asset to our team there And then ellen louis some of you might recognize her She actually was a gaming agent for a little bit for a little while but Sort of missed the um, I guess being on the casino floor if you will so She actually worked for 27 years at foxwoods And at very high levels in the casino She was a casino shift manager a pit manager a floor supervisor A very very seasoned and just loves the interaction and I think that's Probably part of why our numbers at mgm in regards to the raffles and the educational Activities are starting to spike upwards is she's a infused some some welcome energy She's also Knows a little bit of spanish So, um, you know being out in springfield and having additional spanish speakers on that staff is great She's not necessarily going to come and do a presentation in spanish, but she knows enough to Make somebody feel welcome So we're thrilled thrilled thrilled to welcome them and we will invite them to a future meeting So that you have an opportunity to say hello in person And then the final slide is lots of stuff coming up That we're excited about You know including rgw in in september and playing my way coming to mgm But what's really really cool is Boston has been selected as the as the city for the national council on problem gambling conference next summer. So We're really really thrilled to to help host that And welcome them and hope that the gaming know that the gaming commission will will be a big part of that as well and looking forward to Oh, there's to come there and show showcasing our beautiful city With that said the all of us would be happy to answer any questions you have and we really appreciate and thank you for your time today And your patience with our technical difficulties Thank you, chelsea If we could take down that's great. Thank you so much commissioners extensive report today Do you have particular questions for chelsea tori or bell? Commissioners in again. I do. Thank you chelsea tori feel for that very thorough report that there's great things going on and I would just like to Chat a little bit about a couple of those First I I really like the live chat That that you started to to implement. I know it's It's it's the beginning of of it for you but I wonder if if already or eventually You will be able to let's say service a customer by Who may not necessarily be at the casino But you may have coverage in another property From another gamesense advisor on particular thinking of You know the the fact that we have an ebh 24-7 coverage versus the other places that you're not are you able to use efficiencies in that way or is that Is it fair to say that you will be able to do that? Absolutely, I'll let phil take it but we we did actually get from live chat. We actually got four vsc's already so it's going to be I think something a program that will grow one of the things phil didn't Didn't talk about that much but one He has the ability in some ways to help to control the traffic That's coming into chat. And so as he said You know We sort of have had our training wheels on because we want to make sure that we're prepped and that we can be Responsible in a timely manner and that our staff feels comfortable And I think we're at a place where the training wheels are starting to come off and everybody's really excited about it But phil why don't you um answer that more in more depth? Sure, the answer is yes. Absolutely. Uh, if a chat comes in anywhere in the country Uh, and it's 3 a.m. Uh, a gsa at on core gets it right Most times however, there are multiple agents On live chat, they might be walking around the floor the casino and they have a phone on them And they can access it that way or they're at a computer. We don't want to take them off the floor Uh, but what the nice thing about live chat too is that it can funnel We know the type of question that they're asking they they sort of can indicate when they initiate the chat I'm interested in vse. It's general information. And so we funnel those conversations to the most appropriate person If someone's looking to a role in a vse, I'm not the best person There are often and we have that set up in the system So then the customer or the individual is more likely to get the person that they Want to chat to and that has the answer to the information Yeah, that's that's wonderful. I really look forward to more updates on that and I know that You know that will eventually start to Show in the in the number of interactions that you That you track and those those trends I can speak from experience that I've been a reluctant adopter of the live chat feature on on your customer services But but I think it's really the way that everybody's moving into and and you um, You know, you get eventually to what the the question that you get that you want Answered and I think that's a tremendous customer service feature So just another another thing that I had sort of written down Do we communicate the Or actually let me let me just go back to the live chat is can we Also connect from our website. I suppose we can you know talk mark or or Elaine to have a link So that if people visit our website, they could probably, you know, also connect to a live chat I hope that we're able to do that at some point I wanted to just go back to um The the recognition that you uh had on your earlier uh slides as slides um Do we communicate that back to the properties to the properties recognize themselves with other employees so that Yes, that has a virtuous effect Can you speak to that Chelsea? Sure, so I coordinated some of this with uh commissioner judstein as well as the senior gsa's but typically what happens is um Sherwin judstein writes handwritten thank you notes. They get sent to the um the Game sense centers We package that up with a couple nice little game sense gifts and includes a gift certificate as well as the game sense newsletter that It's produced for the for the gaming commission We actually so they get individual property specific newsletters and so if you're at ppc The ppc award winners get announced on that. We actually laminate those newsletters put that into a nice package at um ppc and mgm Usually they're presented at like an employee recognition day, which they do pretty frequently So it's like it not more Not less than monthly And at ebh we coordinated that I believe it's through hr ebh, but So it's a nice, uh, it's actually means a lot to the the staff and we try to make a big deal out of it Because it is a big deal and it's important to us And most importantly it's important to the program. So Absolutely Yeah, thank you and commissioners and I've got Teresa had me um always direct me to reach out to each of the property managers so chris north and uh, Ryan would would also be notified of the individual. That's wonderful. Yeah. Yeah, I've noticed In the presentation today just how diverse of positions are Um at each of the property And it just I think it speaks to the fact that responsible gaming should run up and down the ranks at Each of the properties and spread Regardless of what your position is whether you're directly on the gaming floor or not It's important that this is this is what um an rg culture is about at the casino Well said, that's that's that's wonderful. Thank you Commissioner karen commissioner brandy of question Yes, cushion karen. I don't have a question madam chair, but I do have a couple of comments I first of all, I love these presentations because we all know about the programs but to hear about how effectively they're working is Is is really another thing all together. So really important that you update us. I love the live chat feature unlike Commissioner zuniga. I am not afraid to use it because I always have questions. So I'm I'm really happy you're you're You're you're providing that service. Love the quiz with the tips I think if you just provide a fact sheet with all the tips it may not you know people might not read It is frequently but when you have a quiz like that and then one great tip at the bottom I just love love the idea. So I think that's really effective I found myself My answer is do I know when reading it to to prepare for this meeting today? So Congratulations on the conference. That is a big deal. I think phil said that we are looked at as national leaders I would actually argue that we are international leaders in this space So I think that'll be terrific for the city and for the the commission and the council And the awards. I also Thought that Was an important piece. It is so important to people to be recognized for their work um and to hear that You know, their bosses are also advised and Great job giving individual letters. So I just thought this was such an uplifting presentation today And I just want to thank you all for the work you do on behalf of the commonwealth. This is such important work. So thank you Sure, Brian now, I agree with what my fellow commissioners have said I particularly did like the Discussion about the live chat and the geo fencing. I find that fascinating In terms of using technology to reach out to people in ways that you might not have thought of even, you know A year ago in terms of trying to get people in and listen. So It's great work. Um, I love hearing about the people too at the at the licensees who are sort of helping with the cause I think that's great. And I think it's great. They get acknowledged. So I Thank you for your time too. It's a it's a lot to put it together and to come talk to us about it But we appreciate it Excellent presentation chelsea phil tarry. Thank you so much for all that you contributed today I think we're we're all set Just a really thorough engaged Presentation. Thank you for the work every day that you do Thank you All right, um, but um, director vanderland and you have another segment of your The agenda I I know that we had anticipated a break a little bit earlier today I'm wondering if we should um, perhaps have mark go ahead with this piece and then maybe take a slightly longer break Then was what was anticipated? Does that sound good commissioners? Karen Okay, I see nods. All right, then um Great still good morning. Good morning still um mark and marie claire. Thank you Good. Well, thank you. Um Just to make sure that we're hitting both research and responsible gaming. We wanted to just give you a Let's just provide an update on where we are with our response or our research agenda um, and provide just a glimpse about what fiscal year 2022 looks like Again, just as I did um in the earlier presentation. Let's draw it back to statute um chapter 23 k section 71 directs the gaming commission to administer A research agenda It's incredibly broad. I won't go into great detail, but largely it's to examine the social and and economic impacts of expanded gaming in the commonwealth um, the research agenda is informed by or advised by the gaming policy advisory committee. So The discussion about our fiscal year 22 research agenda Please note that that was presented to the the g pack and um, we we welcomed feedback on on our plan moving forward I don't think it's An exaggeration to say that the the commonwealth that massachusetts has the the most aggressive Research program as it relates to gambling in in the country Um, I think that's pretty well documented in and I think that you'll see that just through both in terms of what we've done Over the past six months, but also where we're going Um, it's incredibly diverse. We truly do want to know what are the social and economic effects of expanded gaming and then in the commonwealth and um, and probably as as we're Kind of this uh gaming research agenda matures. We're spending more and more time talking about So what so what does it mean that we're we're understanding what the the effects are and what the specific findings are So what where do we go with it and who needs to know about this? And and i'm i'm thrilled that um, we have marie claire floris peugeot um join our team To help us kind of turn the corner on on the research agenda so that we really can pay a lot more attention to the so what? um marie claire has been instrumental um, and I I do not say that lightly in terms of um getting our contracts out the day to day Work of administering this this program with a large number of contractors that we have She's been instrumental and um in beginning this translation work both in terms We're looking at translating the work that's been done For the gaming cohort magic massachusetts gaming impact cohort as well as the sportsway during white paper. So um Having the growing our team even by just this one person has been um a really great I think a great asset for the gaming commission and our ability to carry out via the research agenda accompanying the powerpoint that I I will pull up here in just a second was a research update That research update Highlighted the work that's been done in the past six months Again, I won't go into the into any detail with that. I hope you've had a chance to look at that And we're happy to answer any questions that you may have The powerpoint today will really focus on What's ahead of us? What what what is the research agenda in 2022 that was informed by the gaming policy advisory committee? Please it's it's grounded in and that advice It's grounded in the work that's been done to date to assure that it carries forward and it's grounded in in section 71 That um and all of the elements of the the research agenda that were required to carry out So with that I will go ahead and Share my screen once again Okay, I assume you can see that And here we go Marie Claire and I will tag team on this. I will kick it off There is actually a slight change to this versus what was in your packet We realized that we had permitted the responsible gaming evaluation project. So I just I inserted that in into the the slide deck These are the four main categories of research that the gaming commission Overseas responsible gaming evaluation social and economic research public safety and community engaged The first piece that I'll talk about are the two new projects that we have under RG evaluation Um, the first is uh game sense evaluation So embedded in the research agenda for fiscal year 2022 is an evaluation of the game sense program um, you may recall that we had an initial evaluation of the program that looked at the program from its inception through I think it was through 2017 We want to pick that back up. This is as you saw the game sense program is incredibly robust. How do we Ensure the Way that we have a game sense program that is as effective and efficient as possible How do we ensure that it continues to pay attention to the evolving body of research that supports And promotes positive play We're excited to to launch this this will likely be in the second half of this fiscal year And it will continue into fiscal year 23 and we would we would hope to have a final report in fiscal year 23 The other piece is play my way as um, as you know play my way will launch at mgm In september we are really fortunate. Um, the international center for responsible gaming and through carleton university specifically dr. Michael wall, um has agreed to fund an evaluation of Play my way. So we've been working really closely with dr. Wall and his team As well as with mgm to to build this evaluation and assure that it's rolled out effectively Um, next I will turn it over to uh, marine claire to talk about our social and economic research and the projects that we have planned for fiscal year 22 marine claire Thank you. Um, so the next category of research is the social and economic research So as a reminder, this area of research has been conducted by a team From umas amers since 2013. That's the sigma team and uh, the they analyze the economic social and health effects of expanded gaming across the commonwealth And this year we have six projects happening in this area of research One of it being ongoing from last fiscal year So the first one, uh, the first study is one that started last fiscal year And it will produce a casino operations report that will focus on two main components So the first one will be looking at the diversity and inclusion efforts of the three casinos So for that they'll be using new employee survey data So this data will allow to estimate the effects of new casino employees on the local labor force measure new jobs creations and analyze weather and how casino jobs improve the livelihood of Local employees through wages and opportunities for career advancement. Um, as well as training The second area, uh, focus for this report will be investigating the economic impacts that the covid pandemic had Um on massachusetts casinos So we're particularly looking at the effects of the pandemic on revenue streams during shutdowns and re openings And if I could just add to the the first bullet point there, um, a lot of data has been collected by Jill director griffin as well as crystal howard Looking at casino workforce. Um, we're we've uh, we spent quite a lot of time over the last year So really looking at how we can merge our data collection and create this this one report That would it would represent Work from both both divisions. So We're excited to to have that kind of merged and Into one report Maria, I'll turn it back over to you Then so the next project will be conducting a general population follow-up survey So if you remember, there was a general population baseline survey done prior to the opening of casinos in massachusetts So 2013 2014 and this survey will be a follow-up to that survey They're aiming for around 8 000 participants And the report from this work will provide information about the changes in problem and address gambling attitudes about gambling Gambling behavior and other social indicators The Uh, next Study which is similar to the generally general population survey There was also a baseline online panel survey that was done prior to the opening of casinos And this online panel survey will be a follow-up Um to that survey and they're aiming for around three three thousand participants And compared to the general population survey, this study recruits a larger number of people with gambling problems That could have been obtained from a general population survey The findings from this study will provide information about the negative impacts of gambling On prevention awareness and treatment seeking behavior And both the online panel and the general population follow-ups studies Are both aimed to launch in september The next study is the first of its kind at encore It's conducting a survey with patrons estimating around 1 000 participants And it will look at where where patrons come from and how much they spend at the casino So this study will provide an important component of the social and economic impact Of the introduction of casino gambling in massachusetts The next study The sigma team will be switching from quantitative to qualitative work for this They'll be conducting key informant interviews and focus groups with community members to gather information about The impacts on the introduction of casino gambling in everett And this information will be complimentary to the findings obtained from the population surveys The plan is to start with key informant interviews in the fall and then have focus groups in the spring And lastly, there will be a social report Of which the topic will be determined in september in consultation with the commission And back to mark for public safety research Great Okay talking as you well know our public safety research is carried up by christopher bruce Christopher has done it has been with us basically since our very first baseline Examining public safety issues at plain ridge park casino several years ago Christopher will continue to do the sort of monitoring of public safety impacts focusing this year on On core and MGM but in addition there are two additional reports that are unique That i'll cover here briefly first is a comprehensive report on drunk driving looking at the association or relationship between drunk driving and casino operations in in the state For this he usually largely uses a database that examines last drink location And tries to connect to see if there's a connection to to casinos The second is a casino specific crime report and this is unique. It's taking a look at all three casinos And public safety impacts and comparing it to similar size facilities both casino and non casino regionally and nationally And then just as i mentioned he will produce a two-year on core report as well as a three-year report for MGM similar to to what we we already have Produced and is available in the in the research library And finally, I'll just turn it back over to Marie Claire to talk about our community engaged research So the objective of community engaged research is to more deeply understand and address the impact of the introduction of casino gambling in the communities The specific research topics or questions are developed by community through a community participatory process And this fiscal year, uh, there'll be four projects two of them being new projects and two are wrapping up from the last last year So the first one is an ongoing study that is led by uh, jsi research and training institute And is aiming to understand the different ways in which casino gambling influences live context of hispanic latino residents in the greater springfield area And specifically, uh, the study is exploring the relationship between community stressors such as crime and poverty And the role of hope in coping with daily stressors and how it relates to gambling behavior This study is wrapping up and we're anticipating to have the report launched in the fall The other ongoing project is asian care study Which is a community engaged research partnership that is committed to addressing problem gambling among asian ethnic communities through research community education and culturally relevant service provision The overall objectives for this study are to inform the development of tools and resources to support tailored education treatment referral and other harm reduction efforts among at-risk asian american populations So this this study is also wrapping up and we're also hoping to have the report launched in the fall The next study is led by nrc at the university of chicago And we'll aim to understand the perspectives of individuals living in the ever community On the personal and socioeconomic impacts of casino gambling Um for this nrc will be using a community-based participatory approach In which they will work in collaboration with local community members Throughout the project so from the study design implementation to dissemination And part of this study will also be looking at how cova 19 and the other associated casino closures have impacted community members And lastly another project is exploring the impacts of mgm casino in springfield and housing issues from latinx perspective And this study is led by neighbor to neighbor, which is a community action Organization headquartered in springfield and we'll be looking at the relation between the presence of mgm casino in springfield And housing issues such as structural conditions evictions displacement vacant lots building affordability homelessness And all of this from the perspective of latinx residents Um, this is also a new project. So the report will won't be ready until next year And if I could just add I think that this is a really uh great compliment to the real estate report that the donahue institute Does through the the sigma to examine real estate impacts and around Springfield as as it relates to the opening of a casino So this dives dives deeper and I think to me that the community engaged research is exactly that purpose It's to to recognize that we have an amazing research agenda And it doesn't necessarily tell the whole picture that we really need to dive deeper in in specific areas Look at alternative research methodology and really engage the community to to Move towards a better understanding of casino impacts in in the state Thank you. Marie Claire I will That wraps up for um that presentation. Thank you. And um, we're happy to take any questions you may have I'll start with commissioner brian. Um, do you have any comments or questions that you'd like to present I don't no no, I appreciate the overview. We talked about it a little bit earlier in a meeting that I had with mark, so um I don't have any questions at this time. I'll set. Okay, excellent commissioner cameron No questions either excellent report important research. Um, look forward to some of the findings Great commissioners in again Hi, yes, similarly. It's a great summary. Um mark and and and mary claire. Um, just a couple of comments. Um, uh, I I'm remembering the The first procurement we did for the evaluation of the game sense program And as we prepare for for the next evaluation That the effort start with how we draft that That procurement that solicitation the rfb We learned, um, you know a couple of important lessons from that first evaluation We're in a much better place relative to for example our logic model which has been documented a lot more than the first time around If it needs to be updated because our practices and policies and protocols Have been tweaked a little bit now. Now would be the time to do it but You know, I I think one one thing that I think we need to emphasize on these next time around is That this evaluation will be towards an eye towards improving the program Something that I think was not quite emphasized appropriately for perhaps the first first time around but um Great great work overall. Um, I look forward to the findings as well As you mentioned mark the community engaged research is is a great compliment to all of the other research not just You know what what's going on in any particular property or any one of the reports like the real estate report as you mentioned And I think that's that's that's a great A great piece as well um, and a reminder to um as we get the best uh and latest research to forward to our G pack and g rack members. I know there are some who are always very appreciative and have in the past Mentioned that and appreciated that Um and offer, you know a briefing which our presentation like this Which I know is is helpful for us. It's helpful for the public and it must be also helpful for the g pack That's a really good point. And so uh, see director griffin um and director vandalin if you could coordinate with chair meanser cohen on distributing that ahead of um, perhaps our meeting the g pack and The subcommittees till later on but sending it out if you could coordinate with meg that would be great She'll appreciate she'll appreciate that Excellent point. Um, I just had a couple of comments too. Um, that this is just really exciting. I love this. Um I love the breath I love the um this the overall Recognition of the importance of diversity That reflects of course the gaming commission's commitment um, I do want to reiterate that intention intentionality Not only on the topics, but also when we have a broad research project that on its face doesn't look necessarily like it's an addressing issues around diversity and inclusion that we still use that lens to make sure that Really intentional about, you know, whether there could be any disproportionate negative impact of on people of color or communities of color. So And I know that you have that On your mind mark and just want to reiterate that A question with respect to sigma's research team So look back at the impact of cove it I think, um, Marie Claire, I heard you mentioning revenue The the impact on the revenue streams Is it going to solely be on revenue streams or would they also be able to look? To the extent that data is available, etc at workforce. I know that the commission Um as a whole all of us have been quite, um interested in in Advocating for women during that period, but also it might be interesting to know the ultimate impact of The workforce and in particular with respect to women at that time Yeah, so that that will be um a large casino operations report that will look at diversity and inclusion including the workforce and part of And in addition to that there'll be a section on cove it but It was initially going to be to reports that are now merged into one But it will have a portion on on workforce Um, that's yeah, so I understand that the portion of workforce, but that's of the three casinos will it be the impact of cove it on workforce issues Yes, yes. Okay. Good. Thanks. Excellent. Thank you. There's several components to taking a look at the effect of cove it certainly, um Casino revenues is is closely examined, but we also take a look at workforce impact too So maybe and maybe I'm misunderstanding Marie Claire So when we look at the bullet on to explore diversity inclusion efforts of the three casinos in massachusetts I wasn't reading that solely during the period of the covet period. Is it confined to just that period? No, I think it's the attention and as director griffin May add on we've worked closely with Jill and crystal to Urge their their work into this report. So overall it will will examine diversity of the casino workforce but It will also take a look at it in the context of of the overall operations of casinos And we can't deny the impact of of cove it during that time And so I think that you have a specific question about the disproportionate impact of covet on On women within the workforce. I can take that question back to the research team And get their thoughts on that But I do know that it does examine the overall Impacts on workforce as it relates overall but specifically to covet Commissioner brian commissioner Cameron, I suspect that you probably join me in thinking that that would be an interesting piece of research to To learn Okay, I see commission Commissioner brian you want to elaborate? No, no, okay Yeah, so yeah, I if to the extent that they can they can glean any more detail on on that that would be great Okay, um may may I uh Marie Claire touched on the ad hoc report we've for the last couple years built in a kind of a placeholder for a report or a study on a social issue that emerges over over the course of the year and I'm Interested in perhaps this is consult. I think this is consulting with the gaming commission with with our commissioners but also with With the g-pack and perhaps others too to identify. What is the specific focus of that report? I love the idea that we can be agile like that and kind of respond to emerging emerging issues And have a placeholder that can die a deep into that into that specific issue. But I I um, I'm actually I wonder if you have thoughts about um Or direction on on how we go about identifying that specific topic Commissioner Zinica, are you leaning in? I don't have uh, what my thought is is that we We continue to think about it and consult it with especially our g-rack members who are typically really insightful and some of our Some of their other reviewers Research review committee members who might also be You know in a position to to to help us out in that realm Yeah, I I think it's a great idea to to You know reserve space bandwidth resources to be nimble to address the things that pop up Absolutely The the report that's coming out this fall that always Sort of our ad hoc report from last fiscal year is is the prevention paradox report looking at gambling related harm from the prevention paradox Meaning that there's a lot of gambling related harm that's spread across the population Not just coming directly from those with gambling disorders an examination of of that harm and the Individuals that are subclinical who are experiencing that harm. I think it has great potential to inform both our prevention our prevention efforts, but also intervention efforts Well commissioners, I think that today's report from Mark and team and in the game sense folks does Does provide further evidence and support for commissioner camarines? earlier remark where we not only are national leaders, but absolutely international leaders, so kudos to you mark and mary claire and the entire team In game sense folks any further questions before we Think about a bit of a break Somehow I figured okay so Miriam always does such a great job with our timing, but we did Really enjoyed some Real nice thorough reports and celebrations today. So we're a bit off On our timing. I have now 12 23 um What if we did I think it's time for a lunch break. Give me a 12 50. I was thinking. Yeah, I was thinking lunch break 12 50 This like 10 of 1 or do we want to go all the way to 1 or do we want to do earlier commissioner brian? 30 minutes, but Yeah, I mean maybe 12 55 or 1 o'clock that gives a half an hour for people to take a break And get lunch. Yeah get lunch. We have left check your emails or whatever What if why don't we just reconvene on the hour 1 o'clock does that make sense? and We can absolutely adjust to that. We have some really interesting reports coming out of director griffin's office and our division and We'll be really we'll be primed For them with a good break Alrighty, so at this point We'll take a break This meeting will reconvene at 1 p.m Austin, is there anything else we need to provide for you for our streaming service today? Nope, I'll set. I'll just put up a resume shortly graphic Okay, excellent. Thank you so much everyone excellent excellent more. Thank you. We'll be back at 1 Austin Are we set to? Yep, we're all set for whenever Okay, thank you. I see my colleagues are all here. We're all set and Austin. Thank you We are reconvening public meeting number 349 It's just 1 p.m. July 15th and this um Meeting is being recorded and streamed live on our website at mass gaming calm I'll be the real call to confirm our attendance commissioner Cameron I am here. Great. Thank you commission on brian I am here Great and commissioners in the good here Okay, so all four of us are here and we left off at the Conclusion of item number five on the agenda. So we're turning now to agenda item number six diversity and legislative affairs director Joe Griffin.  Yeah, so um I'm actually very excited for this agenda item. Uh, you know, as you know, the Mgc has a long standing history of commitment to diversity equity and inclusion And at the direction of the chair recently, we have renewed focus on these issues Uh through the equity and inclusion working group and that group has actually been a lot of fun and really interesting and we've done a lot of good work in there and a couple of the items in the A group statement of purpose have focused on our own employee and vendor diversity So I first want to thank uh, jill rippon, darryl glennon, tripti bandon, Todd grossman You know for their work on these issues, uh, and particularly for jill for putting the memo together for the package He's taken the lead on here. You know, jill's going to discuss some of the uh current initiatives We have for enhancing uh employee and vendor diversity And go over, you know as many Numbers darryl can help out with understanding some of the procurement number numbers We're also evaluating our procurement practices across the board at the at the gaming commission That's one of the projects that we're uh have underway Uh general gross general council grossman is involved in that and and uh focus on diversity as part of that analysis So you'll see, you know our progress on employee diversity But you're also going to see how the pandemic um and closing our offices had had an impact on our vendor spend so in very very interesting day and a lot of information there and and also a lot of uh effort to make contacts and Engage with others and learn best practices and try to enhance our abilities in this area So with that i'm just going to turn it over to jill to give you a little bit of a summary and then we'll go from there Thanks so much Thank you karen for that um great intro um, so the commission's renewed focus on diversity Um, I know many of you are aware of these efforts, but I thought it would be worth highlighting They include the following um The commission's hr department works closely with managers to ensure that job descriptions truly reflect The position requirements And this serves to broaden the pool of qualified candidates The commission staff has developed partnerships with diverse affinity groups and organizations Also to increase the diversity of the applicant pool get the word out about some of our positions to Folks who may not even be aware of the commission Um The commission has activated career services accounts with public colleges and universities and other diverse institutions like cambridge college in order to post positions for their alumna and staff has Also implemented where I should say the commission has also implemented diverse group interview panels And this serves to decrease hiring biases And help assess candidates in a more thorough manner So you'll see that the diversity has increased year over year by eight percent since fy 19 With 25 of the staff are reporting from Different ethnic and racial groups that would be considered diverse And I haven't Hosted the memo And if that's helpful, I can certainly do so At this time i'll pause and either Take questions about the hiring or pass it on to Derek lenin who is going to highlight the procurement section What would you prefer chair? Perhaps maybe we just will pause commissioners, do you want to ask jill any questions now? Do you want to wait for the whole report? Hold I think we can wait. Thank you. Okay. We'll wait till we'll hold on our questions. Thank you so much Good afternoon, Derek Madam chair commissioners. Thank you. Jill and Karen It's always a pleasure to be here reporting about our diversity spend efforts In your packet on page five, you see the normal presentation we would be giving which is Our Our diversity benchmarks which are set by the supply of diversity office Which is a newly created executive branch agency now It used to be a division within operational service division and now they are their own agency So as I will report here, we've always disagreed with our discretionary budget with them But we still report on the numbers that they give us as targets In our discretionary budget, you'll see 6.592 million dollars included in that So the way they get that is take a look at the three-year average spend of object classes They think are discretionary which are places where they will find that there are diverse vendors and They'll exclude things like utilities grants areas like that. It's very hard to find a diverse vendor But 3.3 million of that spend for us goes to our legal costs as well as our Um central monitoring system So if you took 3.3 out of that our goals actually turn into double So the the benchmarks they're setting are about double The actual benchmarks that doesn't mean that We shouldn't be striving for those that doesn't mean it's an excuse for not doing it We did those procurements. We didn't get any diverse vendors for those so I understand their point of view Um, but it makes it that much harder to meet those goals um on our end so, um, another thing that's complimented Adding to why our numbers are low right now Is because we just have not been in the office a large portion of our diverse and women-owned spend has to do with office supplies It has to do with utensils it has to do with printer cartridges printer replacements It has to do with the one-off software procurements through a company called shi. We haven't had a lot of that Going on because we have been remote So you'll see our drop in those areas in both f y 20 when we first left the office and then an f y 21 But one area we really have to focus on is our women-owned spend We've never met those benchmarks women-owned businesses We have to really focus on veteran-owned businesses. We have been part of a lot of Roundtables and jill has listed a lot of the groups that she has got gained access to for us Including just recently the boston chambers pay set pay setters group We are going probably most likely going to join that If I had the approval right now to do it, I would have paid the fee at the meeting yesterday But we still have to run that through Karen and the team To make sure that's all right We have contracted with vera cloud a team that helps bring in diverse vendors to our procurements bring in subcontracted consultants to our vendors Jill and crystal are bringing us vendors on a regular basis that We'll just right now agnes is signing one of them up to become a state vendor They are doing business with the casinos with signing them up to become a state vendor and we're going to Start buying some stuff from them too so We understand how this looks it looks horrible to be frank You know the percentages that we have out there compared to our goals And we're not happy with it and we expect you not to be happy with it either and hold us accountable to it You know I had agnes run me a query to see What we could possibly spend Through the next accounts payable period And even if we spent out all of the balance on our encumbrances with minority owned and women owned businesses and veteran owned businesses You know for the women owned we might get close to 50 percent of our target um For minority owned we might get a little closer to 60 percent if we spent the total amount and On the veteran's own side, you know, we could double our spend So maybe get close to 18 or 20 percent because it's 15 000 open on that so You know, I'm not even going to be able to sit here and say well if all of our contracts spend out We'll be in a great place So, you know, I just want to give you full clarity. That's going to be a huge Push for us this year. It's going to be a big focus on the finance side on the vendor spend But we do face those uphill challenges of 3.3 million of our discretionary budget Is right out the door. So our discretionary targets turn into 16 And you know 28 percent spend Karen or Joe So I wonder and now might be a good time Todd to talk about the procurement review and and some of the Changes that we're thinking would improve diversity in our procurement RPS Sure, I can I can try to talk about that. I didn't have anything prepared We are looking at the process that's used For all of our procurements and there's obviously a well-established system within the commonwealth that guides us At present and it's a sound system to be certain one of the things most relevant to this discussion That we've looked at and is reflected in the memo Jill referenced earlier Is to ensure that diversity is one of the core elements that's focused on and given weight on a regular and routine basis at the beginning of each of the procurements So that's something that we've certainly have done Over the course of the past few year