Play Meter

PLAY METER: Why should an operator join the
A.M.O.A. or his state association, for that matter?
V AN BRACKEL: The biggest thing you gain
through any organization is the open lines of
communication because that's the only wayan
operator can be on guard against adverse
legislation. Whether it's a state or a national
association, an operator needs to know what's going
on, and an association helps him in this regard. As
far as the A.M.O.A. is concerned, I think that all its
programs are good, viable programs. The insurance
program and mechanics schools are certainly
beneficial, as is the Notre Dame seminar. There
was the audio-visual program which we initiated
this year to inform people outside the industry
about this business, and the reception we've gotten
on that program so far has been very good. I think
right now there are thirteen copies of that program
around the country. And, of course, the trade show
is certainly a worthwhile venture.
PLAY METER: How much does it cost an operator
to join the A.M.O.A.?
V AN BRACKEL: It depends upon the size of the
operator's route, the number of pieces he has. I
believe the lowest rate is $75, but it's based roughly
on fifty cents per machine. Of course, this is broken
down into different categories.
PLAY METER: What is the A.M.O.A. membership
up to now?
VAN BRACKEL: We're around 1250. Our
membership isn't what it should be, but considering
that the ranks of the operators are decreasing, I
guess it's a positive thing that our size is still
increasing very gradually.
PLAY METER: Have there been any attempts to
get new state associations established over the past
year?
V AN BRACKEL: Georgia has been attempting to
get its state association off the ground. And, right
now, Massachusetts is in the formation stages as far
as setting up its state association.
PLAY METER: What changes can we expect to see
in this year's show?
VAN BRACKEL: One of the biggest changes this
year was that the seminar was moved to Friday
morning, and the other dramatic change will be that
there will be some gaming equipment on the floor.
The seminar format this year, by the way, is
somewhat of a departure from the usual seminar.
This year it will be in two parts. One part will be on
arcade operations, and the other part will be on the
copyright law. The seminar idea is somewhat
different from past seminars, but we felt it was the
appropriate time to have this type of thing. We try
to have seminars that deal with current, heavy
items in the industry, and right now the two heavy
items are the copyright law and the arcades.
PLAY METER: The decisions as to the changes in
the show, I believe, are the results of meetings by
the board of directors of the national association.
How many different kinds of meetings does the
PLAY METER , November, 1978
A.M.O.A. have every year?
VAN BRACKEL: There's only one general
membership meeting, and that's held at the
convention. But at the mid-year board meeting we
finalize our plans for the upcoming convention.
That's the time of the year when policies are
decided upon and decisions made. It's three days of
pretty intense meetings, and much of the discussion
is based on the format of the upcoming show.
PLAY METER: What do you feel the A.M.O.A. has
accomplished over the past year?
VAN BRACKEL: For one thing, we've greatly
expanded the service schools. Then, of course, we
hired an assistant executive director, Victor Rye,
and one of his responsibilities has been the
development of these service schools. Right now,
though , he's involved in a cost-of-doing-business
survey which is something we've never done. This
survey will be a complete business-type survey that
will deal with the type of equipment being
operated, percentages, salaries, and things like
that. We hope that it will develop so that people can
use the information and see how their operation
stacks up against operations of a similar size
somewhere else. That's the purpose of the survey,
to get the information back out to the general
membership. We are hoping to have all the data
collected some time before the end of the year, and
then early next year we hope to get the information
back out to the general membership.
PLAY METER: As president for the A.M.O.A.,
this past year has offered you a rare opportunity to
meet many different operators in different parts of
the country. From this experience, what would you
say is the number one concern of operators today?
VAN BRACKEL: I'd say the biggest single problem
we have right now is the copyright legislation. It's
the number one problem, without a doubt.
Operators I've talked with are deeply concerned,
and their concern is that if the [Copyright Royalty]
Tribunal is left to go unchecked, they'll probably go
and ruin the business. Just a second ago you asked
what did I think the A.M.O.A. accomplished over
the past year. Well, much of our time was lost going
over and over again with the different agencies
about this copyright legislation. We've been
hassling it over with the Copyright Tribunal, the
Copyright Office, and the copyright societies
themselves.
PLAY METER: Do you foresee the A.M.O.A.
challenging this location listing requirement in
court?
V AN BRACKEL: That situation is right now being
evaluated by the government relations committee.
As of right now, we still have not reached a decision
as to when or how we would implement any type of
action. But, I think that will be forthcoming shortly.
PLAY METER: What are some of the other
problem areas you've found operators bothered
with today?
V AN BRACKEL: One other area of concern among
many operators, I've found, and, of course, this is
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