Operator Interface: New Changes for New Year

The deepening recession and prolonged election season dominated 2008, characterizing it as a transition year. As we enter 2009, what resolutions and changes can be made in your business and in the amusement trade as a whole to soldier through the prevailing economic climate? How might the new year differ from this one for the amusement industry in terms of operating and promoting amusement games?

Generating Advertising Revenue Ideas for Coin-Op

The promise of advertising revenue for amusement operators is topping industry headlines, once more. Operators, please give us your thoughts about the prospect for advertising from your touchscreen games, jukeboxes and possibly even remote screens connected to your equipment on location.

iPod Nights: Not Music to Your Ears

The ascendency of digital music led to a new dilemma for jukebox operators: the hijacking of jukes by consumer iPods. In so-called iPod Nights, consumers plug in personal Mp3 players for sharing personal music with friends and other patrons, disrupting the cashbox.

The practice, which reached a crescendo in 2005, has been condoned and even marketed by certain owners, catching the eyes and ears of national media outlets. That same year, the AMOA pressed the Recording Industry Association of America to defend its member copyrights against infringement only to be informed that policing such events would not be worth their effort when facing larger illegal file-sharing issues.

Have iPod Nights in your area continued at the same pace? What factors influence their happening the most? What threat might they pose down the road? What percentage of revenues do you estimate they knock off, and what possible solutions could exist to curtail them?

Operator Interface: How to Keep Heads Above Water?

Wide-spread flood damage in the Midwest has once again put disaster preparedness in the forefront of minds of business owners everywhere. Hundreds of millions of dollars in losses continue to be tallied, including amusement equipment and at least one operator's office building in the most hard-hit area of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Meanwhile, states down river are shoring up levees as the Mississippi River rises.

What measures do you have in place in the event of a natural disaster in your area? If you have experienced a similar event, what advice do you have for operators across Iowa, Wisconsin and Missouri going forward?

If you run an amusement route or facility in the affected areas, what advance preparations were you able to make? What damages were incurred and how has business been disrupted? To what extent were losses recoverable or irrevocable? What are the steps you're taking to restore locations and your business?

ASI 2008: Your Verdict?

By all unofficial accounts, ASI 2008 saw a downturn in exhibitors, attendees and energy from previous years. Nevertheless, manufacturers unveiled impressive new product by most standards, including the buzz-worthy Big Buck Hunter Safari from Betson/Raw Thrills and Global VR’s WWII-drama driver, Blazing Angels.

Operators on the show floor who spoke to RePlay voiced opinions ranging from enthusiasm about purchases made for jumpstarting the summer months, to deep concerns about the amusement industry riding today’s downhill economy, to calling for a springtime one-show solution to ameliorate the industry’s ills. Meanwhile, exhibiting suppliers were divided between those making fair sales on the first two days and others who did less writing overall than they had hoped.

What was your impression of the event and the product on hand? What role does ASI continue to play in your business year? What factors may have contributed to this year being slower overall?

Operator Interface: No Smoking?

Smoking bans gripping locations are initially causing a 30% drop-off in coin-op revenues, according to industry estimates. That fluctuates from route to route, region to region, but many are alarmed over the cumulative effect over the next decade. In fact, the recent AMOA Council of Affiliated States was devoted almost exclusively to this issue.

“We need a grass-root development to band together to bring this inequity before the U.S. Supreme Court,” proposed one Connecticut operator to RePlay. “At least then we will know once and for all if this is imminent domain. If it is, then pay us for taking our business away. Between all the bar owners and operators, I am sure we can afford a high-priced lawyer to bring this issue to the court.”

Since anti-smoking sentiment and legislative fervor have gained momentum not only in the U.S. but around the world, what is a realistic course of action for the industry to take? If smoking bans are inevitable in this political climate, is the best that operators can hope for a statewide ban (as opposed to ones for selected communities) and one that exempts age-restricted locations like bars and taverns? Have lobbying efforts toward that end been measurably helpful?

Smoking bans are definite challenges, but operators are troubleshooting, diversifying, partnering with entertainment providers and more to rethink their companies and to staunch their losses. Join the dialogue and share your efforts and prescriptions for confronting and offsetting the smoking ban issue.

We're Looking for a Few Good Operators (Under 40)

They say you don’t exist — or at least not in any sizeable numbers. They say the industry is drying up with little to no fresh blood, new perspectives or confidence in the future. We know there are 20- and 30-somethings in the field, diligently pounding the pavement on the street and in tradeshow aisles. Step out of the woodwork and share your reasons for entering into the coin-op amusement industry — and staying. What are the positives about the business? As a member of coin-op’s younger class, what’s your opinion on the divides between generational stances and ways of looking at the problems we all face? The role of the operator? The industry at large?

The Operator's Vote

The race is on. The calendar is speeding toward Super Tuesday, February 5, when voters in 22 states descend on polling stations to vote for their candidate to lead the Democratic and Republican Parties’ race to the White House. (For the record, that’s you operators in Ala., Alaska, Ariz., Ark., Calif., Colo., Conn., Del., Ga., Idaho, Ill., Kan., Mass., Minn., Mo., N.J., N.M., N.Y., N.D., Okla., Tenn. and Utah.)

If you’re engaged in this primary process — or have already participated in the Iowa and New Hampshire caucuses or elections in Nevada, South Carolina or Florida — are coin-op issues on your mind in the voting booth? Have candidates specifically spoken to your needs and interests as a small business owner directly or indirectly? How did that affect your selection of a candidate? What concerns and causes will be on your mind as operator and citizen come the presidential election this fall?