from the editor
We all know the importance of service, but how many of us really
give the kind of service essential to today's operating conditions.
Equipment costs higher than ever and operators still give baH
their income away, yet the operator is faced with the dual problem
of reducing costs and improving service. It can be very tempting to
chop services while trying to chop costs, but to do 80 would be
deadly. In fact a good service policy doesn't cost, it pays.
"Service" probably means a humdred different things to a
hundred people, but to me it means ''following up," doing that little
something extra that sets you apart from everyone else. But no
matter how you define it, the important thing is how you live up to
it. A good attitude toward service makes for a good attitude
towards profits.
Once you've set up that new location and selected the right
equipment to fit it, the name of the game is keeping the equipment
clean and working properly at all times, thereby maximizing every
opportunity to make the most of the location and the equipment.
In this issue, you'll visit with one of the thousands of unsung
heroes in the industry, namely, the service man. You'll have the
opportunity to share a service man's views of the insustry from his
side of the business.
And in case you're still wondering what a microprocessor is, you
will enjoy reading this month's lead feature on the little building
blocks of our new games, written by Gremlin Industries Lane
Hauck and illustrated by Lonnie Pogue.
In an effort to analyze the current status of service in the
industry, Managing Editor Sonny Albarado sought out and spoke
to top-notch service people throughout the country and discovered
some interesting viewpoints on specific and general problems
encountered in repairing games and phonographs.
Elsewhere in this issue, you will run across our 1976 Operators'
Poll section, which operators are asked to fill out and answer and
mail back to us as soon as possible. The poll will provide us with
statistical information on the state of operating and help us better
gauge and serve the directions the industry are now taking. If we
receive the forms from you in time, we expect to publish our
findings and results early this summer.
Please, help us to help you better by filling in the poll answers
and returning it to Operators' Poll, Play Meter, P.O. Box 24170,
New Orleans, LA 70184.
Sincerely,
Ralph C. Lally II,
Publisher & Editor
6
Calendar
April 24-25
Kansas Amusement and Music
Association, regular meeting.
To be held in Wichitll; actual
sit , not yet selected.
AprH 30-May 1
Music Operators of Amerioa
Regional Seminar, lectures
and discussions on improving
your business. O'Hare Hilton,
O'Hare International Airport,
Chicago, IUinois. (Please note
change in location. )
Mav 7·
Ohio Mu 'ic a~d Amu ement
Association, annual conven -
tion . Site not yet elected .
Ma~' 1.:1 · 16
'ic and Amusement Asso·
ciation I :\ew York \, annual
convention . StevensviUe Coun·
tr~' Club. Swan Lake, ]'Iiew
York .
"U
May 21-23
Music Operators of Texas,
annual convention. Rice Rit-
tenhouse Hotel, Houston,
Texas.
June 5-6
Music Operators of Minnesota,
annual meeting. The Radisson
South, Minneapolis, Minn.
June 11-13
Dlinois Coin Machine Opera-
tors Association, annual con-
vention. French Lick Shera-
ton, French Lick, Indiana.
July23-25
Montana Coin Machine Opera-
tors Association, annual con-
vention. West Yellowstone,
Montana.
August 27 -29
North Carolina Coin Operators
A sociation, annual conven-
tion. Charlotte, North Caro-
lina. Site not yet selected.
Sept. 9-12
Florida Amusement-Merchan-
dising Association, annual con-
vention. Sheraton Towers
Hotel, Orlando, Fla.
September 16-18
Music Operators of Virginia,
annual convention. Hyatt
House, Richmond, Virginia.
Oct. 14-16
West Virginia Music & Ven-
ding Association, annual con-
vention. Sheraton Inn, Clarks-
burg, West Va.