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(Editor's Note: Louisiana does not have an active music and games
association, but it does have several leading operators and distributors whose
voices are generally heeded when industry interests are threatened. One of
those voices is Louis Boasberg, president of New Orleans Novelty Co. in New
Orleans and while he directed the following thoughts at Louisiana operators,
I)iay Meter feels they are applicable to operators everywhere regardless of the
status of industry organization in their states and communities. If you would
like to share your thoughts in this space, write to Dept. S, IJlay Ale ll' r, P.O.
Box 24170, New Orleans, La. 70184).
By Louis Boasberg
When the forces of hypocrisy eliminated the bingo games from our state,
everyone said that "it is the end of our trouble; we will run all legal
equipment cleanly and aboveboard."
But no matter how many licenses and taxes you pay on your amusement
equipment - and we are the most highly taxed in the world - there will
always be a minority of people who would put you out of business. These
minorities consist of:
1. Men and women looking for publicity; little people trying to be big
people;
2. Do gooders who think they are going to make the world better,
especially for the youngsters, by eliminating coin operated games;
3. Owners and managers of rival businesses such as theatres, movies and
other people who think that game rooms, arcades, etc. hurt their own
businesses;
4. Parents who cannot discipline their own children, but who think that
eliminating certain things will make their children better;
5. The general press and television media, always seeking a sensation, who
are ready to "expose" and pounce on the few bad aspects of our business,
many times because we are not large advertisers.
If someone would ask what we would advise all operators to do to combat
these forces of hypocrisy, we would say always 'maintain friendly relations
with all people. Everyone needs good public relations.
If you run arcades or game rooms, run small ads occasionally in the local
press. People feel more at ease with somebody they know and ads get your
message across and pay dividends.
Keep up a constant campaign with your locations, urging them to keep in
touch with their legislators and local officials. Let them advise their
legislators to be on the lookout for detrimental bills. Detrimental bills are
those that would eliminate arcades, raise license fees, prohibit youngsters
from playing coin-operated games (though it might be a good idea if the
limit was 12 and under).
We strongly urge that you contact or write to your legislators if there are
any unfriendly or detrimental bills against your livelihood. It is our belief
that because the State Dept. of Revenue is getting cortsiderable income from
coin-operated games, they would be our allies in a fight against unfavorable
legislation.
You are in a legal, highly taxed business, but you have to fight for its
existence.
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