COMMENTARY
BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS
By louis Boasberg
The December 1, 1983, iss ue of Pla y Met r
magazine, an issue wide ly circulated at th AMOA
convention, had an editorial under th e h ading of
" We are at War! " (p. 6). At first glance, we might h ave
thought the editorial was commenting on our var iou
escapades in Lebanon , Grenada , Central Am eri ca ,
etc. But no, it was not about these worldwide
skirmishe s. It was about real war-total , all out war
between AGMA (the manufacturers' association) and
its ally, AVM DA (the distributors' association), against
Amusement Operators Expo and its found er and
span or, Pla y Meter maga zine.
First, w will try to explain in si mple Engli h
exactl y what started th e war . AOE 1984 had lon g been
scheduled for March 9-11 at th O ' Hare Expo C ent r
in Chicago. However, AGMA , togeth er with AVMDA ,
d eci ded that they al so wanted to hav e a co nvention
and show in the spring of 1984. They also sch ed ul ed
their show in Chi cago , but onl y three w ee ks ea rli er
than the AOE. (A spokesman for AGMA stat d it tri d
to schedule a show lat er than AOE , but was unabl to
get date s. The ear lier date was the only one available.)
To Pla y Meter and AOE offi cial s, this appeared to
be a malicious, revengeful plot to destroy the AOE
show and either put it out of bu sines s or for e a
compromise, to the detriment of AOE . After seve ral
attempts at compromise, to have one show with
everyon 's cooperation , th e pea ce talk s fell throu gh.
AOE entered suit against AGMA , accu si ng the
manufacturers' association of bei ng gui lt y of many
tran sg ression s in the pa st and prese nt .
Thi s war , like any other war th at has ev r been
fought , is useless and no one will win . But any kind of
fight, any kind of bad publicity, any kind of name
calling is not good for th e industry. Ev ryan , and thi
includes manufacturers, operators, di stribut o rs, and
industry publi ca tion , will suffer.
Ju st when our industry is go ing throu gh a
depressed state of existe nce with operators, dis-
tributors, manufacture rs, and ju st about veryone
else struggling to get b ack on the right track, wen ed
an inter-industry war , with it s accompanying bad
publi city and name calling, like th e prover bi al hoi in
the head .
72
Like all wars, both sides beli ve th ey have right
and God on their side . It is not a question of who is
right , but it is impe rativ that the manufa cturers' and
distributors' asso iation , tog ther with the AOE and
Play M 1 r, turn th e o th er cheek, co mpromi se, talk it
ov r, arbitrate, or do any and ev rything that would
ettl thi fight. Thi s battl
auld leave many more
car on an indu try air ady wounded and looking for
any m ans to ri e from th as he .
Let none of u say, " It i not m y b attl e. I am staying
out." It is you r battl and , more th an eve r, we need
manufa tur rs , distributor , trad show , and trade
journa ls to help u in our hour of need .
Th
manufactur r and di stributor s have a
perf t right to s hedu le a co in m a hin how on any
given date , but on th other hand the AOE show has
been founded , nurtur d , and brought along by Play
Met rand not without a stru gg le. It wa s tough going
at first, but ther i no one who will not say that 1983's
show held at th O ' Hare Expo Cent r was not su cess-
fu I.
But admit tin g that veryo ne in th industry
believes th manufa cturers have a perfect right to
have their show, ch duling it thr e w ee ks before the
AOE show just " wasn ' t cri ck t " and , as it turned out,
both shows w ere di sasters.
So pl ease ge ntl eme n, all of us ask yo u to forget
the ange r, forget the charge , ca lm down, love each
o th er. L t' get togeth r and have one great inter-
national pring show n xt March .
Thi writer b li v that , b au e of th e pa ce of
this indu try and be au e of th app ara nce of so
many new gam sa nd n wid as throu ghout the year,
there is an d for two coi n machine shows, but not so
do
tog ther that th y would dilute and di vi de the
operators , di tributors , and manufacturers . An
AMOA show in the fall and a show in the spring
would be perfect. Bot h of the e shows should be
international exhibit s, with th e manufacturers of
all coun tri es represented and v ry kind of game and
machin exhibit d.
In do ing thi
rmon , I t u s r member that two
i company and thr ee i not on ly a crowd , but it is a
•
disast r.
PLAY MmR. July 15. 1984