Operator Interface: Amusement Expo Era

Next month, the coin-op industry starts a new chapter with Amusement Expo, the premiere tradeshow collaboration between the AAMA and the AMOA. Show planners are eager to make the product showcase, resulting from industry consolidation and years of lobbying from the trade's three tiers, the must-attend event of the year, a distinction that depends on buyer attendance for its first several years.

Additionally, Amusement Expo must prove the health of the working relationship between its sponsoring associations, highlight the value of out-of-home entertainment to other trades, and chart a bold and creative path through tough economic times to a future where technology and game play should theoretically offer more opportunity.

What are your expectations of Amusement Expo? What significance and advantage do you hope it can offer you and your business that may set it apart from the former ASI or the AMOA Expo? What challenges do you foresee the associations or tradeshow needing to address in order to establish the expo's vitality to the industry's overall success?

Healthcare & Coin-Op

The healthcare debate has not only been hashed out for decades in Congress but in the offices of small businesses. The employer-based insurance system, straining beneath ever increasing healthcare costs and premiums on the one hand and a soft economy on the other, has led to owners tweaking, comparing and overhauling coverage, or making adjustments to support existing plans.

As a coin-op and amusement business owner, what are the biggest challenges and considerations you face in providing insurance to staff and families?

What are your thoughts on the Senate healthcare plan being wrestled into a final bill for voting on this month? Would the plan, currently set to cover millions of Americans over the next decade by requiring them to buy insurance -- potentially through a government-run program designed to theoretically keep costs in check, possibly unburden your health plan expenditure, or would you likely continue with your current plan?

Have you taken advantage of AMOA's member benefit healthcare option?

Your thoughts may be selected for inclusion in RePlay's focus on coin-op and healthcare.

Operator Interface: IAAPA & I

IAAPA is in full-swing this week at the Las Vegas Convention Center. About three dozen new product debuts and street operator attendance, along with its base of FEC and amusement park customers, indicates that it has finally cemented its reputation as the premier fall event for the industry. Whether in Las Vegas or back at work, what's your take on the health of this year's mega event and what new product and developments seen there suggest about business in 2010?

Operator Interface: The How & When of 2010

The operator's business plan is at best a mostly clear-cut map of the future. More critically, it's a ready-made contingency plan for the unknown and a method of prioritizing a company's needs and initiatives. “Your business plan should be one that is conservative but have reasonable assumptions from one year to three years to five years," said Firestone Financial's Jim Hines at the financial tools seminar during the AMOA Expo last September.

As 2009 dwindles, all economic signs indicate further need to strategically shore up business as the recession wears on into the new year. What areas are you focused on to grow or at least maintain your amusement firm in 2010, as well as to better prepare for success when the economy rebounds? Whether it's diversification, new product, administration practices or other factors, share the ways you're keeping your bottom line ensured. Your responses may be selected for inclusion in the December 2009 issue of RePlay.

Operator Interface: Gaming On?

Illinois’ legalization of video gaming requiring operator involvement has given renewed fire to other state operator associations' push for similar legislation in response to state budget crises. Ohio has approved gaming at racetracks. A measure newly hammered out in Pennsylvania authorizing video gaming units in bars and taverns is awaiting consideration by the legislature. Pollsters report that 79% of most likely voters in North Carolina say their state should regulate and tax video gaming to provide money for education — one of many causes being championed in by The Entertainment Group of North Carolina, a lobbying group of operators and related businesses.

At the same time, debates have been revived about the pursuit of gaming vis a vis society’s well-being, making for sometimes tricky uphill battles. As expressed by an amusement operator and trade leader in RePlay’s March 2009 Operator Interface, “I would like to see the gambling initiative get ratcheted down. It’s not a way to build a country by getting money from gambling. It’s a very bad idea.” But more lawmakers' "desperate times necessitate desperate measures" attitudes are increasingly receptive to the operators' rallying cry, "A crisis is a terrible thing to waste."

Are you or your association pushing for video gaming in your state? Where does your state association stand in advancing similar agendas, or is operator-run video gaming politically unfeasible? What’s the conventional wisdom regarding gambling in your territory? How do you feel about the possible proliferation of gaming personally and as an operator?

Operator Interface: ATMs in Action

ATMs have played an increasingly greater role in the amusement route operator's offerings to locations and in collected revenues. Equipment providers are now standard and expected exhibitors at tradeshows, showing their latest and greatest wares. Whether you've operated cash dispensers for many years or a few months, RePlay wants to know what propelled you to operate them, your experiences maintaining them in the field, and the benefits and concerns they bring to your business.

Is security an increased concerned when servicing them? Do you split the fee with the location? Has the economy influenced cash withdrawals and fees? What advice would you give to others entertaining their implementation?

Your input may be selected for publication in our forthcoming September 2009 issue.

Operator Interface: Distribution Down South

This summer marks major changes in the distribution landscape of the Southeast. In the wake of Greater Southern closing its doors and Birmingham Vending shuttering its Florida branch, Betson and Brady Distributing have quickly positioned themselves to seize the regional marketplace.

Betson just opened its 12th office -- its first branch to serve the region -- in Marietta, Ga., supplying product to its new home state, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Florida and Arkansas, along with promotional deals for product from Raw Thrills, Chicago Gaming and Jennison Entertainment, among other factories they represent. In an interesting twist, David Capilouto, former co-president of Greater Southern, will manage the branch.

Meanwhile, Brady -- the dominant southern distributor headquartered in Charlotte with offices in Memphis, Orlando and Miami -- seeks greater penetration of their territory by also centralizing an office, still yet to open, in the Atlanta area. They will be the exclusive provider of Valley product for Georgia and Alabama and a host of other games, including the ICE line.

What role does distribution play for your business in light of the tier's consolidation and regional players branching into broader territories? How have your business decisions been influenced by these developments? Can the combined forces of these particular distributors, the national titan and the existing institution, cultivate growth potential for coin-op amusements in the South?

Operator Interface: On-Location Advertising

On-location advertising platforms are the newest offerings for locations by operators. TouchTunes' Barfly; Ecast's IQ; Tap.tv, which has partnered with Rowe and Merit; and Rivals Media, a group of nine distributors that recently partnered up to bring forth On Site, are banking that their customizable networks will grow from a buzz to a trend.

Before this development, flatscreen TVs in bars and taverns were sometimes seen as counterproductive to coin drop. Now they're a potentially promising revenue stream for operators from third-party advertisers wanting to get their name out, as well as for a clever motor for driving the location's business.

Have you implemented a customizable media solution to your locations and their patrons, or do you plan to? Do you think the service is a viable addition to your menu of services? Which of the three systems do you think excels in its features? Advertise your thoughts, and your opinions may be selected for including in the next issue of RePlay Magazine.

Operator Interface: Preparing FECs for Summer Lovin'

Only several months away is the hotly anticipated summer season, traditionally bringing higher traffic and warmer profits to FECs. To capture the full potential of the summertime market, however, changes in how amusement goods are offered is in order. How are you preparing your facility to entice out-of-school kids and families looking for daycation options? What new promotions, policies and ideas can be set in motion to put a fresh spin on attractions, creating the sensation of new experiences within a favorite familiar location? In what ways could the public's concern over the economic downturn be capitalized on by emphasizing the cost-effectiveness of FEC fun? Share your plan of attack for getting customers out of the house, through your doors, on your games and at points of sale, opening their wallets again and again.

Operator Interface: Coin-Op's Next Frontier?

New and innovative product with improved return on investment: that's the biggest need that amusement operators continue to express to RePlay. As part of our mission to increase open dialogue between operator and manufacturer tiers, share what specific developments you would like to see come from factories to enliven coin-op's sales and image. What technological advances would you like to see play a role? What kind of thinking is needed on both sides of the coin to not just deliver new and improved product for the 21st-century consumer but to market them as well?

Operator Interface: Barack & Business?

President Barack Obama has taken office and started working on the initiatives set forth during his campaign. Among other pressing concerns, jump-starting the economy tops the list, a process that will no doubt be long and contain numerous moveable parts. Employers may see changes in healthcare and even tax credits based on new hires, among other proposals presented in the lead up to his election.

How you think Obama may potentially affect small businesses like amusement operators across the country? What specific changes would you like to see implemented to assist companies struggling in this difficult financial market?

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?

Operator Interface: Vegas Expo or Bust?

What are your plans for attending the AMOA Expo, Fun Expo and souvenir show this September? What expectations do you have?

If you're going, what company reps do you want to talk to? Do you have any potential purchases in mind?