iPoker

Everyday 10 billion play online poker—illegally--resulting in a $2.7 billion loss in tax revenue. I had no idea this was even a controversy, until Mike Lake brought it up in class the other night.

Mike Lake, Chair of Burson-Marsteller's Southwest operations and Chair, U.S. Public Affairs Practice, offered fresh insight into the PR industry. Instead of talking about how great Burson-Marsteller is (which it is!—see for yourself here) he presented an exact campaign Burson is currently working on.  The class got to see the exact same PowerPoint presentation that was shown to their client just a few weeks ago. Instead of hearing about the broader, general terms and practices of PR it was really cool to see the campaign’s actual blue print.

Although Lake was unable to disclose the name of the client, the campaign “iPoker Legalization” dealt with petitioning to legalize the practice of online poker. Lake provided all the exact details of the campaign such as their messaging approach, target audiences, and even their survey methodology.

The topic was a little confusing for me to wrap my head around but I am curious to stay updated and see how the controversy regarding this legislation will play out.