UP FRONT
A New Beginning
December 10, 1984, my husband, Ralph C. Lally II,
died; and I was suddenly thrust into the day-to-day
business of running the industry's magazine and saddled
with the responsibility of pulling together Play Meter's
resources to stage the sixth annual Amusement Opera-
tors Expo (AOE).
Now AOE is here. Its arrival marks for me per-
sonally the end of the beginning. But, for the industry as a
whole, it really marks a new beginning. These past 31/2
months, while trying to weld the AOE Show back
together, I realized it was first necessary to weld this
industry back together. It would do all of us well if we all
realize that each of our business fortunes are inter-
dependent on the overall industry's fortunes.
Until the era of finger-pointing is at an end, there is
no hope for progress. But now I'm starting to see signs of
a coming together, a new spirit of cooperation between
all segments in the industry. The industry is surely
coming out of its two-year winter, and AOE '85, with its
springtime in New Orleans, is turning out to be the
perfect setting for this renaissance.
Your presence here in New Orleans for AOE '85 is
a clear indication not only of your commitment to the
industry but also of your confidence in its future. And
that's important. In recent months, this industry has
undergone a tremendous crisis in confidence that has
taken its toll on all of us. If the industry is to regain its
once-mighty stature-and it will-it will be because the
industry has first regained confidence in itself.
Our seminars this year are geared for veteran
operators who have stayed with the industry through its
lean and fat years. Educating the operator has always
been one of AOE's major objectives, and this year we've
redoubled our efforts in this area because future success
is dependent upon a knowledgeable and strong operator
base.
Our exhibit hall this year is not as cluttered with
balloons and exhibit paraphernalia as in past years. But
all the current equipment is on display there nonetheless.
The challenge is not to determine what to buy and what
not to buy. But for operators and manufacturers alike to
examine critically and in detail what the industry is
offering. For, believe me, somewhere perhaps well
hidden on the floor are the seeds of our future greatness.
It may not even be a current game machine model. But
with the wide-ranging offering of equipment, we as an
industry have enough here to cultivate what will spur the
industry's next boom.
AOE '85 is the industry's show. Use it for that. If
you have suggestions, ideas, insights-this is the arena
to offer that to game makers, other game operators and
sellers. In past years, operators have criticized game
makers for not being interested in what operators had to
say, and manufacturers complained that operators were
not willing to talk constructively. But this year, things
have changed. We have all been humbled-manufac-
turers, distributors, operators-even trade magazines.
We now realize our greatness doesn't hinge on any one
segment raising itself above the others. Rather, it hinges
on a working together of all segments, and that is the
attitude I think you'll find on the floor and in the seminar
halls at this year's AOE.
Welcome to the new beginning. Welcome to
AOE '85.
Carol P. Sally
Carol P. Lally
Editor & Publisher
If the industry is to regain its once-mighty stature,
it will first have to regain confidence in itself.
6
PLAY METER, March 15, 1985