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AAMA backs off parallel issue panded focus on developing congressional contacts and increasing business opportunities in foreign markets , especially South America and Eastern Europe. • The 1992 American Coin Machine Exposition (ACME) will take place in San Antonio, followed by Las Vegas, New Orleans (though the site may be moved to the Northeast), Reno , Orlando, Las Vegas , Dallas, Las Vegas, Tampa, andsurprise-Las Vegas in 2001. •Pitcher Nolan Ryan and his family will be on the 1991 AAMA child abuse prevention poster. • The freight program for AAMA ' s distributor members has " a few holes in it," Fay says. He's referring to freight being shipped from Chicago eastward and in the Southeast. To correct this situation, a third or possibly fourth carrier may have to be added to the existing two. Whatever the solution, an improved program should be in place sometime this month. ''Hopefully this will be an incentive for more distributors to join the association ,'' Fay said. The AAMA board of directors voted on Feb. 1 to accept the action taken by Congress late last year that allows the public performance of parallel video games. The board had considered trying to overturn the new law, which takes effect on Dec. 1, 1991. "We feel that there are more important national issues, like the dollar coin, that need our attention and the coordinated efforts of the entire industry , ' ' said AAMA president Gil Pollock. ' 'I hope that this action will put the gray market issue behind us once and for all. '' In response to the board's decision , AMOA president Jim Trucano had this to say: "I'm happy with it, because the parallel issue is water under the bridge. All segments of the industry need to work together on more pressing issues , such as video lottery and potential cigarette machine bans. " Representatives from AMOA and AAMA met on Jan. 31, reviving the recently dormant Joint Leadership Conference . Formed in 1989, it had been used as a forum to review issues that the two sides could tackle jointly. The parallel controversy put the conference into mothballs , but with the matter now resolved, the group expects to meet about four times a year, according to AAMA executive vice president Bob Fay. They plan to meet again in June. Representing AMOA were Jim Trucano, Wally Bohrer, Gene Urso, R.A . Green III , Craig Johnson, John Schumacher, and April Sojka. On the AAMA side were Fay, Gil Pollock, Bill Rickett, Steve Kaufman, Bill Cravens, Al Stone, and Joyce Weller. Among the topics discussed were the dollar coin; concerns in Los Angeles County that game conversions aren't being done in accordance with safety standards; industry promotion at the player level; and the location trade show program. At the aforementioned AAMA board meeting, Fay reported that 11 new members have joined the association , bringing the total to 88 . Other news from the meeting includes: • The 1991 budget will reflect an ex- American Technos closes off ice SNK offers card for bookkeeping American Technos shut down its Beaverton, Ore ., office on Feb. 28 and will relocate to Cupertino, Calif., with a smaller staff. The new office will open April 1. It will be manned by president Keiichi Iwamoto and Greg Rice, who had been vice president of consumer sales and is now moving to the coin-op side. "(This is) a move to bring Technos closer to the inner circle of our industry,'' Iwamoto said. "Since most of our competition is located in the Bay area, we felt it important to be close to them, keeping abreast of their every move." " They've decided to re-establish themselves in the Bay area , and neither I nor Glen Kalhar (sales manager) will be joining them,' ' said Aldo Donnaloia, vice president of sales. "I hope to be with another company as soon as possible .'' 12 PLAY METER/March 1991 SNK Corporation of America has introduced a memory card bookkeeping system for its Neo-Geo , a service that allows operators to closely monitor the earnings for particular Neo-Geo games . Each Neo-Geo cabinet saves all statistical data for one year , including every game installed; the number of times played and continued ; coin drops ; and average play times. Operators insert an "IC Memory Card" into the cabinet to retrieve all internal bookkeeping information. The data can be uploaded into an office computer with the " IC Reader. " This bookkeeping system is a convenient way to view the effects of option changes and discover a location 's optimum days and hours. The reports it issues can also be organized in chart or graph form on a monthly, weekly, daily , or even hourly basis . Seninsky named Northeast Regional "Man of the Year" The Northeast Regional Trade Show has selected Frank Seninsky of AlphaOmega Amusements as its " Man of the Year. '' The honor goes to a person with ''a long history of dedication , involvement, and service to the industry .'' The show is co-sponsored by AMOANY , AMOA-NJ , and the New York State Coin Machine Association. It will take place in Atlantic City on May 3-5 .