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GUEST COMMENT
ARY
An answer to Roger Sharpe
by Joe Robbins
I think Roger Sharpe's commentary in the June
15 issue of Play Meter [page 82, " A decade of
change : Are things really different?"] is typical of
the response one would get from an intellectual
living in the wilds of Connecticut .
Roger is not a real Yankee , however, and he has
been around long enough in this industry to be able
to take a more clear-sighted vi ew than the myopi c
one of his article.
In a scattershot way he takes aim at the AGMA-
AAMA , the AMOA , the state associations and
anyone else that comes into his mind . I fear that
Roger undertook the essay in an off-the-cuff spirit
and without feeling the need to do any research . He
certainly didn 't dig for any facts , and if he inter-
viewed even one important personality in our indus-
try , he fails to mention him. I doubt that he took the
time to do so , but if he had I'll bet his commentary
might have had a different slant, that is , if he had
written it at al I.
It is easy to fault AGMA, AAMA , AMOA , etc. for
not doing enough in the way of publi c relations. It is
easy to point the finger and say, " It's all your fault
that our industry doesn't have equal respectability
with similar entertainment areas." It's easy , but is it
fair? And is the situation really as bad as Roger
says?
Well , I say it can 't be that bad . I was president of
AGMA-AAMA for four years . During that time , with
the added tremendous effort of Glenn Braswell , the
organization tackled the public-relations problem .
And we attacked it not only wit.ho dollars , but with
great personal efforts . Many of us worked very hard
and long . Maybe you can 't see all the results , and
maybe some of the money was wasted , but we tried .
God knows we tried . And, to some extent at least , we
succeeded .
Almost every large shopping mall in the U.S.
today has a gameroom . Mall gamerooms are doing
well , and as tenants they are highly respected by
mall developers . Thousands of convenience stores
have anywhere from one to six games in them ; they
are really mini-arcades . Most U .S. airports have
gamerooms . And it is a fact that there is almost no
new legislative pressure on our industry today from
na tional , state , or local government .
When Roger postulates that there would be
difficulties today in obtaining a gameroom license ,
he is just guessing . Very few operators are looking
to open street-type gamerooms today .
Many have unselfishly lent their efforts to
improving the image of this industry . With apologies
to those I leave out, I'll name just a few : Sharon
Harris , Bob Rondeau , Bill Cravens , Larry Van
Brackel , Gene Urso, Norm Goldstein , Bob Lloyd ,
Paul Moriarity , Ira Bettleman , Jon Brady, and
Ruben Franco .
Oh , yes , we haven 't done it all , Roger, but we
started way down in the mud , and I believe we've
come a long way . And , yes , Roger, we 've got a long
way to go yet. But we 'll not get there by wringing our
hands and crying in despair and shame. We 'll get
there by digging in and working at it and by raising
money from every direction to continue the fight.
If you want to help , Roger, you are welcome to
join us . But please, before you lift up that vitriolic
pen again , take a little time to find out what indeed
went on and what is going on now .
My final plea to Roger Sharpe and all the Roger
Sharpes in our industry is , to paraphrase a quote ,
please ask not what this industry can do for you . Ask
what you can do for this industry .
[Editor 's note : Joe Robbins is president of the
Sun Corporation of America (formerly Kitkorp) and
is a past president of the American Amusement
Machine Association (AAMA) and its predecessor,
the Amusement Game Manufacturers Association
(A GMA) . After submitting this commentary ,
Robbins further added that the industry report
referred to in Sharpe 's June 15 commentary was
commissioned by A GMA because it was the best
approach the association could afford to counter
the industry 's public-relations problems. The alter-
native, he said, was a multi-million-dolla r media
campaign . " Hundreds, maybe thousands," used the
report, Robbins said, adding that at their own
expense he and others appeared at many local-
government hearings to represent industry
interests. )
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56
PLAY ,~ETEP., August 15, 1986