Creative & Resilient Communications in a Disruptive Era
What happens when you bring together communications professionals, creative minds, and a willingness to challenge the status quo?
The EL Communications Workshop 2026 did exactly that — creating a space where ideas were tested, perspectives were shared, and new approaches to communication took shape. Hosted by Sächsische Lotto-GmbH, the workshop gathered participants from across the EL membership to explore one central question: how can we communicate with both resilience and creativity in an increasingly disruptive world?
From trust to transformation
The conversation started where it matters most: trust.
Through keynote insights and real-life experiences, participants explored how organisations can navigate complex and sensitive situations while maintaining credibility and transparency.
Andrea Mohn-Olsen, Advisor at Zynk (Norway), brought her expertise in crisis communications to the discussion, highlighting how organisations can respond to unexpected challenges with clarity, honesty, and adaptability — not as abstract principles, but as practical tools.
Effective crisis communication is not just about speed, but about being clear, accurate, transparent, correct and genuine. Organisations need to respond quickly, but also ensure their messaging is fact-based and credible. Ultimately, trust is shaped less by the crisis itself and more by how it is handled, and rebuilding that trust requires visible, concrete actions that demonstrate real change.
Adding a real-world dimension, Ray Bates, EL Honorary President and former Director of the Irish National Lottery, brought participants inside the communications challenges of bulk-buying schemes. Drawing on first-hand experience from an attempted lotto game buyout in Ireland, alongside reflections on a more recent case in Texas, Ray illustrated how quickly such situations can escalate, and how critical clear, timely communication becomes.
One thing is clear: whether facing operational risk or reputational crisis, success comes down to protecting fairness, responding with transparency and correctness, and using pressure as a catalyst to strengthen both systems and trust.
Conversations that matter
This was no ordinary workshop. Instead of simply listening, participants actively shaped the conversation during a World Café session, exploring topics ranging from defining a disruptive era and resilient communications to trust in the age of AI and the evolving role of brands. Pens replaced slides, tablecloths became canvases, and ideas turned into shared insights.
Across all four topics and tables, one message stood out: in a world of increasing restrictions and a complex landscape, lotteries remain grounded in strong values and clear messages. But they must adapt, acting with resilience in an environment where trust and brand reputation are more important than ever. Evolving digital channels and new technologies such as AI are reshaping how lotteries connect with players. Used well, they offer new opportunities, but they cannot replace the importance of authentic, human connection.
The main takeaway: stay true to your values, adapt how you communicate, and keep trust at the centre of every interaction and connection.
Creativity in action
If day one challenged how participants think, day two challenged how they create.
Professor Sven Völker, Berlin-based designer, author and professor at the University of Applied Sciences in Potsdam, explored how emotional design and visual storytelling can elevate brand narratives and create deeper connections. His message was clear: stay true to your identity, but evolve how you express it. Strong brands are rooted in clear values, yet flexible in how they tell their story. By reframing processes and challenges, even crises can become part of a brand’s narrative.
Participants reflected on how identities evolve over time, and how to balance consistency with change. Visuals and design don’t tell the full story, they spark imagination and emotion, creating space for deeper engagement. Creativity is not separate from strategy. It is how brands bring their identity to life, connect with audiences and remain relevant in a changing world.
Under the guidance of TOPYA, a young creative consulting agency founded by graduates of Professor Sven Völker, participants explored the power of open-minded creative experimentation and visual storytelling. Led by Mia Mahn and Lisa-Marie Wesseler, the session ‘’WE HOPE’’ invited participants to think beyond traditional communication approaches, embracing creativity as a process of exploration, collective thinking and even “dreaming as a form of planning.”
Through hands-on activities such as cutting, drawing, and creating their own zines, participants brought their ideas to life. The session encouraged them to step outside their usual comfort zones, experiment freely, and build on each other’s perspectives. It was a powerful reminder that communication is not only about what we say, but how it makes people feel.
More than a workshop
Participants didn’t just attend. They contributed, questioned, and co-created. Whether during structured sessions or informal exchanges, the workshop became a space to learn from each other and build connections across the EL community.
In a world where communication is constantly evolving, one message stood out from Leipzig: Resilience and creativity are no longer optional — they are essential.
