Play Meter

Did you ever wonder how the articles you read in Play Meter
come about? Well, wonder no more. The answer is no deep, dark,
hidden secret. In fact, most of our editorial matter input comes from
our readers. One of the things Play Meter has prided itself on is that
many of our writers come from within the ranks of the industry itself.
Operators such as Charles Ross, Dick Welu , Frank Seninsky, and
Louis Boasberg, to name a few, have made frequent contributions
which have shown the various facets of the operating business. Their
experience and insight have provided us all with a better
understanding of what it takes to be an operator. From the humorous
to the basic business concepts, we have shared their succesS€s as
well as their failures.
When I first started publishing Play Meter, my ultimate point goal
was to produce a publication that would serve the needs of the
nation's operators. The idea was and still is to gather information from
operators and share this information with the entire operating
population. As it turned out, this was no easy task .
In the beginning, operators had a very skeptical attitude. Why
should they divulge knowledge and information that took them years
to acquire? Why should they want to extend a helping hand to the
up- up-and-coming operator? The answer soon became obvious. By
helping others, the industry as a whole would become healthier and
stronger. Through a free exchange of informatio, operators have
reached a better understanding among themselves and have
discovered the fruits of a united effort.
When we first made the announcement about Play Meter as a new
twice-monthly frequency, the most common reaction was, "How are
you going to find that much to write about?" Fact is, up until we made
the move to twice monthly, we often found ourselves with an excess
of editorial material It frequently bPcame necessary to hold back some
editorial material in order to keep the book from being editorially
lopsided. All that has changed now and we are doing our best to pack
as much information as possible in each and every issue .
I'm sure that there are a lot more operators out there who have a
lot to say a.ild a wealth of information and expertise that could benefit
a great many others. You don't have to be a Mark Twain or a
Woodward and Bernstein. Nor do you have to be one of my best
friends or one of our largest advertisers. Our open editorial policy is
exactly that-open to anyone with the willingness to share
information . And don't worry about your own writing ability, It's not
your grammar or spelling that we're interested in; it's your thoughts,
experience, and suggestions that we want to share. Our editorial staff
is highly trained in editing material in such a way that they won't
change what you say but rather how you say it, if that appears
necessary. And if you don't like to write, don't let that stop you. Many
of the feature articles that we write ourselves are the results of
suggestions by our readers, who perhaps wrote us a short note or
gave us a phone call.
The whole point here is that Play Meter is your magazine. We
want it to be everything you want it to be. And the only way we can
accomplish that is through your input. We're all in this together, and
together we can make some beautiful music . So drop us a line. The
song has only just begun.
Ralph C. Lally II
Editor and Publisher
PLAY METER , jun e 15 , 1981
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