FROM THE EDITOR
What a year it has been.
When they told us we couldn't do it, it made us all the more
determined to make it work. They smiled when they saw us at MOA last
year, but shook their heads and told us not to expect to return this year.
But here we are.
Although we were unsure at our inception that the industry's
manufacturers and suppliers--our advertisers--were really ready for PLay
M eter, we were confident the operators of America--our largest group of
reader --were beyond ready. Following our first complimentary mailing
of 8,000 last November, paid subscriptions poured in from every state of
the Union, including Hawaii and Alaska, justifying our confidence.
The response from most of the new subscribers was, "At long last, we
have something that's good and which we can call our own." those
aU-important readers--American amusements operators--carried us
through the earliest and roughest issues of PLay M e ter. But it wasn't
long afterwards that the advertisers began to awaken to the fact that
operators were reading this magazine.
And ince then, in the past 10 issues, we have advertised the names of
almost every nationally known manufacturer and important supplier in
this business, not only domestically, but internationally as well. In this
issue, for example, we welcome new overseas advertisers NSM from
Germany, Bonanza and Taito from Japan, and Associated Leisure of
London.
Not only have international advertisers taken an interest in Play
M el r, but our international subscribers have grown at the same rate as
our domestic readers. European, Asian and Indonesian operators have
gotten wind of us and as we culminate our first year, we enjoy an
international reputation, as well as popularity at home. And we owe it all
to the early support of our readers and the continuing confidence of our
ad vertisers.
So hert' we are, almost one year later, back where it all started for
us--the MOA Exposition. The 1974 show was large, but we think 1975's
is the biggest and best show ever. If you come to Chicago, we hope
you'll drop by our booth on the exposition floor [No. 193] or by our booth
in the press section to say hello and so that we can say, "Thanks."
If you're unable to join us, we hope you enjoy the sneak preview
contained in this issue and we hope to see you within the next year. If
you felt compelled to atend the NAMA show in our hometown, New
Orleans, and now realize that while it was worth it, you should have
gone to Chicago, we hope you will enjoy the full convention coverage
we'll have in our next issue. Maybe next year, we'll be able to cover both
NAMA and MOA for you and we'll see you at both places.
And as you may have noticed in last month's issue, we will have a
double surprise for all of you immediately following our December issue.
In January we will be publishing our industry-wide directory of
manufacturers, distributors and suppliers and we will also publish the
first of our mid-month music supplements, which will give increased
coverage of record chart action, record news and fast-breaking coin
machine news.
It is a new service designed as an additional "thank you" for our paid
subscribers to whom we owe so much. And it's all part of our effort to
make Play M eter "The Only Magazine You'll Ever Need."
Calendar
Oct. 2·4:
Mus ic Operators of Virginia . annual
convention. Howard Johnson Motor
Lodge. Richmond. Virginia .
Oct. 16· 19:
National Automatic Merchandising
Association. annual national con ·
vention and exhibit. The Rivergate.
~ew Orlean s. La .
Oct. 17· 19:
Music Operator ' of America . na ·
tional annual convention and exposi-
lion . Conrad Hillon Hotel. Chicago.
lIIinoi '.
January 27 -29
AMUSEMENT TRADES EXHI-
BITION , London. World' larg-
e t and most important trade
how for automatics.
March 2-4
NORTHERN AMUSEMENT
EQUIPMENT AND COIN-OP-
ERATED MACHINE SHOW,
Blackpool, England . Large and
important trade how for amuse-
ment equipment.
March 19-21
Mu sic Operators of Michigan,
annual convention . Weber's Inn,
Ann Arbor, Michigan .
April 2-4, 1976
Wisconsin Music Merchants
Association , annual spring con-
vention and exhibition. Scotsland
Resort , Oconomowoc, Wiscon-
m.
May 7·8
Ohio Mu s ic and Amuse'ment
A ociation, annual convention.
Site not yet elected.
May 14-16
Mu sic and Amusement Associa-
tion [New York ], annual conven-
tion. Stevensville Country Club,
Swan Lake, New York.
6
Ralph C. Lally II
Editor and Publisher