July 1996
CID
STAR*TECH
Journal
... ALL THESE TRADE SHOWS?
FY I
only trade people. Sure it was fun
for us, but in the end the con-
sumer decides what the next
number one song is going to be.
Trade shows are fine and dandy
if business can prop up the cost,
but I don't think that's the case
in the amusement industry right
now.
The bottom line is that few op-
erators attended ACME but
many came to the distributor
open houses. That's it in a nut
shell, and it's been moving in this
direction for the last few years.
The operators are not disinter-
ested in new product, they are
disinterested in going to expen-
sive and time consuming trade
shows. So I propose the follow-
ing: Have a trade show, say, once
a year. Better yet, why not dis-
play your "wares" at the diversely
attended Fun Expo? Then, Host
frequent spotlight shows at dis-
tributor showrooms who want to
have them. We at Betson Pacific
hosted a couple of well attended
spotlight shows this year. We
moved product and it didn't cost
us or the manufacturer hardly
anything at all! Manufacturers
should contact us when they have
a pending product coming out
and schedule a mini show. We'll
get the word out and the custom-
ers who will really be buying
your games will come! Even if we
Renewal Time?
Your subscription expiration
date follows your account
number located on the top
line of your mailing label.
Renewal notices are sent 3
issues in advance.
don't like the game, hey, we'll
have to order them anyway if
operators express interest in your
piece. This is a win win situation
for everyone! It addresses Mr.
Adlum's statement of everyone
"needing it but not wanting it"
(people would attend a once a
year show) and at the same time
addresses the manufacturers
need of staying in touch with
their distributors and operators
who buy their products on a
more frequent bases.
Is this article supposed to be con-
troversial? No, but I'm sure it
could be conceived that way de-
pending on what side of the fence
you're on. Is it naive? I don't
think so; trade shows are cer-
tainly necessary for reasons not
discussed in this article, and I
never said to eliminate them en-
tirely. My job is to watch out for
the average operator and make
sure he stays in business. That
means we as a community must
provide operators with an afford-
able means of looking at possible
future purchases and to provide
him these games at the lowest
possible price. My friends, I think
we could cut down on trade
shows, emphasize distributor
spotlight shows at next to no cost,
and pass the savings on to the
operator. What do you think?
STAR*TECHJournal
pays for itself over and over again.
One tech tip many times is worth
a years subscription -or more.
It's as important as any tool in
your shop.
When your coin:-op game goes
down, turn to STAR*TECH
Journal to save yourself valuable
time and money.
,..
STAR* TECH Journal neither op-
erates, distributes nor manufac-
tures coin-operated equipment.
It's sole purpose for being is to
compile technical and informa-
tional data considered valuable
for dissemination to its paid sub-
scribers. Comments or sugges-
tions pertaining to this service are
always welcome.
~
~
,----------7
1
Tech Librarv
: STAR* TECH Journars
Tech Library comes
1
I complete with every
I
service manual
I
published.
1
:
1
I
I
I
25°/o
:
LJor more information see_e,a_E: 23:.J
:
SAVE OVER