AAMA’s executive vice president Pete Gustafson has relinquished his role after serving the national association for a decade. The AAMA board of directors has formally accepted the resignation, which is effective June 28. Prior to his stint as EVP, Gustafson had many years of volunteer leadership at the association that included one term as board president. Previously, he spent much of his coin-op career at Sega Amusements. “As we look to the future, AAMA is positioning itself to be the leading trade association for the amusement industry,” said AAMA President Beth Standlee. “This next chapter calls for an association executive…
Author: Matt Harding
The 2026 Ohio Coin Machine Association (OCMA) Annual Meeting & Networking Event was held June 11 at Topgolf Columbus, the association reported. It included the OCMA dart and pool charter holder meetings, OCMA’s business meeting and an evening of dinner and golf. During the meeting, Luke Adams of Pioneer Vending, James Comella of Cadillac Music and Mike Zappa of Lorain Music were all elected to the association’s board. AMOA President Tommy Hendley was also in attendance to provide a national update. They also recognized Dave Everett of Bell Music Company, who was elected as president of VNEA; Rod Stebelton of…
Foundations Entertainment University is coming up – set for July 14-15 in Nashville at the Franklin Marriott Cool Springs. The two-day event’s highlight is a back-of-house tour of Hooky Entertainment, a new cinema entertainment center at Nashville Yards. The company’s CEO, Charlie Tiantawach, will share his views on what it takes to develop and operate a premium brand within a major metropolitan market. Also, you still have time to book at the host hostel for the preferred rate of $195 per night (click here to do so). To register and learn more about why 3,000-plus have attended the event in the past…
TouchTunes has named James Moore as its chief revenue officer and Cassie Parham as its senior vice president of marketing. In the newly-created role, the company said Moore will unify their key commercial functions – spanning sales, advertising, marketing, darts and revenue operations. Parham will work alongside him to direct the company’s global marketing strategy, focusing on the TouchTunes brand, boosting user retention and “amplifying engagement” across their integrated music, darts and payment platforms. “I’m excited to welcome both James and Cassie to the leadership team at such a transformative time for our business,” said CEO Scott Levine. “What excites…
AMOA-NY has released a souvenir video journal for this year’s annual gala, held April 20 at Benjamin Steakhouse in Manhattan. You can click here to watch on YouTube. Betson Enterprises’ Brittannie Betti was introduced as the association’s Woman of the Year at the event. Oscar-nominated songwriter Melissa Manchester was this year’s Jukebox Artist of the Year. Additionally, Michael Pace delivered a Pace-O-Matic Integrity Award to AMOA-NY’s longtime executive director Danny Frank.
In celebration of Sonic the Hedgehog’s 35th anniversary yesterday, June 23, Jersey Jack Pinball announced the release of their much-anticipated Sonic the Hedgehog Pinball. The iconic Sega character has been brought to life for the first time in pinball by another legend, its designer Steve Ritchie. The cabinet features a 27” LCD screen with art and animation from Sonic Generations and comes in three editions – Arcade, Special and Collector’s. The pricier games feature special cabinet artwork, haptic feedback, non-reflective “Invisiglass” and more. There’s also a vertical loop and a second level on the playfield. Click here to see the…
Innovative Concepts in Entertainment recently promoted Rebecca Hirsch to vice president of sales operations and integration and Ryan Coppola to vice president of sales. Hirsch plays a key role in ICE’s production and sales planning and logistics and oversees internal communication. The company’s president, Joe Coppola, said, “I can’t say enough about the key role Rebecca has played at ICE since the day she was hired as an administrative assistant. She has grown and evolved both internally helping manage our production operations and just as importantly with our global customer base.” “Ryan grew up in the business working in our…
Now part of the Embed Ecosystem is BMI Merchandise for prize redemption. They’ll be telling operators at the upcoming Bowl Expo in Nashville all about it from their booth #656. Other partnerships they have include Square POS for connected retail transactions with Embed’s cashless system and QubicaAMF for all things bowling. “‘Better together’ has always been our motto,” said Embed CMO Sara Paz. “Embed works with the best of the best in and outside the industry of fun – whether it’s our partnerships with AWS, Apple and Google to build the Embed technology stack on their scalable, state-of-the-art, world-class enterprise…
Another LAI Group company, LAI Games, will be in booth #233 at Bowl Expo. They’ll be demoing HYPER GRID, a turnkey social play attraction “transforming open floor space into a high-energy destination for guests of all ages.” The attraction features multiple games, unattended operation, intelligent player detection and AI-powered shareable moments, the company says. If you won’t be in Nashville for the show, email [email protected] to learn more about it and the rest of their lineup.
Virtuix has announced that its Omni One full-body VR system will now support the Meta Quest 3 and other third-party VR headsets. Omni One for Quest is compatible with Meta Quest 2 and Quest 3 headsets. Popular titles launching with integrated Omni One support include VAIL, Forefront and Hubris. Users can also play online with other Quest players, including those without an Omni system. Learn more at www.virtuix.com.