Register here for AAMA’s 75-minute webinar on preparing to reopen your business, held tomorrow, May 5, at 10:30 a.m. Central time. The live Q&A will feature expert panelists Sheryl Bindelglass of Sheryl Golf, Jack Cook of Bob’s Space Racers, Frank Cosentino of Bandai Namco Amusement America, Mike Leatherwood of Bone Daddy’s House of Smoke, Jonah Sandler of Scene75 and John Gustafson, head of the biochemistry and molecular biology departments at Oklahoma State University. Check out AAMA’s first COVID-19-related webinar here and visit www.coin-op.org for more resources and information.
Author: Matt Harding
In her latest newsletter, TrainerTainment founder and CEO Beth Standlee detailed how you can reopen your business in a grand way – with great plans making all the difference. She said that now is the time to define your culture and core values, and institute new practices like social distancing that will at least be temporarily mandatory for nearly all businesses in the United States (and around the world). In a post-lockdown era, it’ll also be important to upgrade your visible cleaning and safety measures, Standlee noted. Also paramount – properly training staff so they’re able to provide the best…
Industry veteran Jason Mitchell recently answered a few pressing questions for Intercard’s series on getting through the coronavirus era. He gives advice on post-COVID-19 success, what amusement operators should be doing now to prepare for the return of guests and other suggestions that may improve business. Turn Downtime Into Learning Time By Jason Mitchell I have spent much of my work life as an employee, manager, corporate executive and sales rep at some of the most-recognized FECs and equipment vendors in the amusement industry. I have seen a lot and I can assure you we have never experienced anything quite…
Closed since March, Orlando’s famed theme parks are poised to begin opening soon. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s Orange County Economic Recovery Task Force recently released an initial report with guidelines on how to do that, focusing on social distancing and limiting capacity, among other changes. According to Blooloop, the guidelines have been broken down into Phase One and Phase Two. While not all guidelines apply to every size park, all locations will require staff to wear face masks, have their temperatures checked and hand sanitizer availability will be mandatory. Staff members over 65 are also recommended to stay home for…
Partec Inc., a company involved in some production work for Raw Thrills games, has converted their facility to create large quantities of face guards for hospitals. The Franklin Park, Ill.-based business was forced to shut down production because of COVID-19, but after requests from local essential businesses, they decided to get to work on the face guards. Partec is currently working with three different companies. The first order for 500,000 went into production on April 28 and will be shipped directly to hospitals by May 8. According to owner Brian Polacki, there are potential orders in the works for millions…
Twin Galaxies recently interviewed and profiled Frank Breneman, who in the early 1980s clocked in a record-breaking 3,149,120 high score on Pac-Man. The article is part of a series from Twin Galaxies marking the 40th anniversary of the historic video game. (Of course, this also happens to be the 40th anniversary of Frank and his wife Carol.) Regarding that summer day in 1982, a mere 12 days before his wife gave birth to their first child, Franks said: “The score kept getting higher and higher and I wasn’t losing any lives.” The article continued: “By the four-hour mark, he pushed…
Register here for AAMA’s 75-minute webinar on preparing to reopen your business, held May 5 at 10:30 a.m. Central time. The live Q&A will feature expert panelists Sheryl Bindelglass of Sheryl Golf, Jack Cook of Bob’s Space Racers, Frank Cosentino of Bandai Namco Amusement America, Mike Leatherwood of Bone Daddy’s House of Smoke, Jonah Sandler of Scene75 and John Gustafson, head of the biochemistry and molecular biology departments at Oklahoma State University. Check out AAMA’s first COVID-19-related webinar here and visit www.coin-op.org for more resources and information.
RePlay has been conducting a pair of surveys to gauge how exactly COVID-19 and stay-at-home orders have affected the industry’s route and arcade/FEC/LBE operators. We’ve already heard from about 75 of you, and we’d like to hear from more! Route operators, you can click here to take the survey; if you run an arcade, FEC or other location-based entertainment facility, you can click here to take yours. The deadline is Monday, May 4, so you have the weekend to respond. We greatly appreciate your candor, and while we’d like to quote you for our June issue, we want your honest…
With the coronavirus pandemic going on, there seems to have been an uptick in businesses refusing to accept cash because they fear there is a risk of transmission. However, scientific evidence points to cash being no riskier than handling plastic cards or cell phones, according to a statement released by the Consumer Choice in Payment Coalition (a group that has AMOA and the National ATM Council among its members). “In the wake of the coronavirus outbreak and concerns over the spread of COVID-19, there has been a myriad of misinformation about the possibility of spreading the virus by simply handling currency,”…
Operating under shortened hours, Holiday Lanes Bowling Center in Oklahoma City will open today, May 1, with social distancing and other safety practices put in place. According to its Facebook page, the bowling center will institute employee temperature checks. If an employee has a temp of 100.4 degrees or higher, they’ll be sent home. They’ll require customer-facing employees to wear face masks, and “continue to use appropriate antimicrobial disinfectants.” Prior to opening, they said, the facility has been completely disinfected and so have bowling balls and shoes. While they noted there were already adequate handwashing and sanitizing stations at Holiday…