The time for victimization is over, it’s time for reactions
By: Sorin Georgescu, President ROMSLOT
In recent times, gambling has become a frequently discussed topic in the public space, all the spotlights are on us, and it’s time for us to do our own introspection.
When a wave of opinions comes upon you, regardless of whether they are based on reality or not, regardless of whether their source is emotional or not, it is natural to look in the mirror, see what you did not do well, see where you went wrong, to change what didn’t work, what caused that wave.
We must understand that there is no more time for victimization, nor for asking “what do they have with me”. It’s obvious that we made a mistake somewhere, and now we have a chance to change what didn’t work, to get out of the victim’s logic and start showing that we know and can do a responsible business.
I’ve been too much and too everywhere. This is a reality, and when you are everywhere, don’t be surprised that everyone is looking at you, after all, this is what we asked for with our actions.
It is true that the pandemic passed over us, but in difficult situations we proved both maturity and responsibility, let’s not forget that we did the first vaccination campaign. But I quickly abandoned the responsibility, with the passing of the pandemic. Maybe that should have been the zero moment, the one when we should have understood that we had to stay in the responsible area.
We are now in the moment of reaping what we have sown. If we continue in the same way, if we do not understand that we must take a step back, then do not be surprised that we are standing in front of a precipice and any breeze can knock us down.
We are not the Cinderella of the Romanian economy, we see that other industries are in the same situation. The economic and legislative environment is not without predictability only for us, we can look at the banking sector, the insurance market, those in HORECA.
What is different about us? The fact that we are also facing a wave of reactions from society. If society’s opinion of us is the one we see shaped lately in the public space, let’s assume that it exists and that we are responsible for it.
In order to succeed in changing the perception of us, each individual company has to change something. We have to understand that we have reached that point where the mistake of a single company can affect the image of the entire industry. We are like a game of dominoes, whatever one of us does affects the others. We cannot let ourselves be brought down by our own weapons, it is our responsibility to ensure that this game of dominoes does not collapse due to hubris. Associations in the field communicate the messages of the industry, fight battles in seen or less seen fields, but they do not have the strength to fight a battle with each individual citizen. Here it is necessary for each of us, where we carry out our activity, to show that we are a responsible business, to show that we do not deviate from the purpose for which this industry exists on the market. Our business is not only about us, it is also about the communities in which we operate.
Of course it would have been beneficial to be proactive, to communicate cleanly and correctly from the beginning, but it is not too late now. We can start today to contribute all our resources and self-regulate, in accordance with the purpose for which our business exists: entertainment 18+. Tomorrow may be too late for many of us.
