.png)
LBX Collective
The LBX Collective aims to inform and educate, create opportunities to connect with industry peers, and to spur collaboration, discourse, and cross-pollination of ideas in the location-based entertainment and experience industry.
Join our online community at LBXGalaxy.com!
Proudly sponsored by Intercard!
LBX Collective
The LBX Show #36 - New AMC Discounts, Clint Novak hits the Jersey Shore, and more!
Sponsored by Intercard!
On this week's episode, we discuss how the amusement and entertainment industry is witnessing rapid evolution across multiple fronts, from new payment technologies to innovative venue concepts and strategic marketing approaches.
• IAAPA Foundation launches FEC Scholarship 2025, offering $2,500 to cover travel, expo, and education expenses for qualified students and industry professionals
• AMC expands discount days to include Wednesdays, signaling declining weekday attendance that may indicate broader industry impacts
• Sacoa introduces KwikPay, a compact cashless payment solution for standalone amusement machines that doesn't require full system overhauls
• Mini golf franchising options expand with Aloha Mini Glow Golf's licensing partnership, though comparison with established brands highlights importance of due diligence when making selections
• "Cinetainment" trend continues as more cinemas add gaming and entertainment components to increase dwell time
• Innovative arcade products include Jaws 50th Anniversary pinball, Raccoon Ram two-player water gun game, and 501 Fun's new interactive Mini Golf bay
• Jersey Shore arcades showcase operational innovations including redemption kiosks, prize hubs for smaller ticket amounts, and engaging money machines
• Dream Park tests augmented reality experiences in Seattle, showing measured approach to new entertainment concepts
Finally, Chuck DeMonte covers marketing tools every FEC needs in their playbook: content scheduling tools for cross-platform posting, email marketing software, Canva for design needs, and reputation management software to solicit and respond to reviews.
Tuning you in. Now to the LBX Show with your host, brandon Wyeth, brought to you by the LBX Collective your community to connect, engage and inspire.
Speaker 2:All right, well, welcome everybody to the LBX show for July 13th. We have a great show for you today. So first we're going to kick things off with some news you should know with me, brandon Wiley, and then we're going to roll right into open and shut with Kevin Williams. We're going to learn a little bit more about all the latest openings and closings and some of the trends there. And then we're going to visit Arcade Corner with Adam Pratt. We're going to learn a little bit more about JAWS, their pinball, their 50th anniversary edition of their pinball, as well as Buckfest and some more stuff that he's going to cover. And then we'll travel to New Jersey with Clint Novak on Road Trip. And finally, we're going to round out with a brief promo pro tips from Chuck DeMonte covering four tools that your FEC needs in its marketing playbook. All right, well, that being said, let's dive into some news you should know. All right, we're back. So news you should know. First of all, we talked about this last week on the show, but this is a brand new program that the IAAPA Foundation has launched, and this has been something that the FEC Committee for IAAPA has been working on for a number of years, and the current committee was finally able to get this thing across the line, along with some really major support from the staff to launch the FEC Scholarship 2025 for IAAPA Expo, and you know just a little background on that. If you want to look it up, you can certainly just Google FEC scholarship by Apple Foundation and it's going to come up with the right page. But basically, applications are open right now. They're open until August 15. So they opened on July 1, there's about a 45 day window and this is basically a $2,500 scholarship that is covering everything from travel to and from I have Expo If there's some money left over there's covers basically the whole admission to the IAFA Expo, all of the education components, a bunch of the different edu tours that are going on, as well as like fun spot on Sunday night, and so all the FEC lunches as well. So really the whole FEC education program as well as the access to the trade show, obviously, and you have great opportunities for mentoring and so, yeah, you know it can cover hotel costs, it covers travel costs and all that kind of stuff. Up to $2,500 for all of it in combined and it's really available for anybody in all the IAAPA global regions and it is a full-time or part-time student aged between 18 and 35 that's majoring in hospitality, culinary ride design, graphic design basically anything in a similar field within the attractions industry. And then also employees that are currently working in the attractions industry, aged 18 to 35. And they have to have been employed for at least one to three years in all your typical roles within an FEC or an attraction. So there's some requirements as well. I'm not going to go through those, but you can find out on the IAPA website. And, yeah, it's a pretty cool thing, very excited for this scholarship. It's been something that we've been working on for a long time, something that I certainly was involved with when we first started talking about it, and it takes some time to get this up on the line, and so very happy that the current FEC committee was able to do this. So congrats to them All right.
Speaker 2:Next, I want to talk about AMC. So AMC, here is. They've launched a new program. It began July 8th, so just about earlier this week or last week, however you want to think about it. This is Sunday, so earlier last week, and they're basically offering 50% off movie tickets on Tuesdays and also Wednesdays. So this is. They've already been doing $5 tickets on Tuesdays for Stubbs members. So this you do have to be a Stubbs member. It is free to join the Stubbs Rewards program, but you do have to be a member. They have apparently 35 million members across. I think it's just across the US. I need to confirm that but they do have 35 million members and this replaces the Tuesday deal that used to be $5 tickets. This is now 50% off movie tickets and they're also discounting their small popcorn and drink combo on those days, which is, if you're going to go check out a movie, that's probably you don't need a whole lot of popcorn or whatever in the middle of the day. So, anyway, I think this is interesting.
Speaker 2:The reason I bring this up is like okay, why are you telling me this? I think two reasons. One, if you like movies, go see it on Tuesday or Wednesday, you're going to get 50% off your ticket. But two, this is something that they are clearly seeing a need to do, right? So it was just Tuesdays and Tuesdays is according to that, your locations are typically lower on Tuesdays, sometimes Wednesdays, especially during the day, depending on what type of programs and things you have and, obviously, what type of FEC or LBE venue you are and who you're catering to. But they clearly see the need to expand as well this discount to Wednesdays, which means they're seeing also a decline in attendance on Wednesdays, and so they're doing this to drive up that attendance. And so they're a large chain, they're the largest cinema chain in the world and so they're a little bit of a bellwether or a canary in the coal mine, so to speak, to see how things are impacting. And, granted, they're going to see movies, so it's a very different thing. It depends on the content that's being created, that's out there in Hollywood and others. But you got to pay attention to this and maybe something that you might consider doing to drive up that attendance on some of those lower days, if you haven't already. So just wanted to cover AMC on that front and yeah, here we go, all right.
Speaker 2:Next, I want to talk about Sokoa's new Sokoa cashless systems. They've launched a new product for venues which just want to install a cashless payment system without having to do a full system overhaul. So this is something that they've announced recently called QuickPay, and it's basically a compact contactless reader made specifically for standalone amusement machines like claw machines, kiddie rides, arcade cabinets, vending units Primarily I'd say mostly for either the really small locations or the route-operated locations. But it connects via their MDB or Pulse. It can install in minutes and starts accepting comments payments right away. So the venue if you're already using their Sokoa Spark Reader, you can add a quick pay and it can work alongside it as an add-on. It gives customers more payment options, but basically it's a little thing that displays a QR code. They scan the QR code on their phone, they can make that purchase and it automatically sends an update back to that machine and then activates the machine so they're able to make the payment from their phone and gives them a bunch of payment options like Google Pay, apple Pay, et cetera. So anyway, this is a new launch from Sokoa called QuickPay. I just thought it'd be worth mentioning to anyone who's out there listening that has a small operation or knows or is a route operator that could use this or knows or is a route operator that could use this.
Speaker 2:Okay, next up, we've got Aloha Minigolf. So these guys are recently partnered with a group called Main Street Chamber Holdings and they've launched a national licensing partnership and they are an island-themed minigolf brand. We'll take a look at their site here in just a moment. But ultimately, their whole goal with this is to allow entrepreneurs and small business owners across the country to take their concept Aloha Mini Glow Golf and create a turnkey model. And a third is on the way, and they are again, I guess. According to the press release, they've earned a reputation for fun, affordability and rapid growth, but through this licensing initiative, they really are trying to scale into markets nationwide and it's going to provide exclusive regional rights, access to pre-developed branding and design packages, build-out assistance, operational support and marketing resources, and the aim is to create a consistent guest experience across every location, complete with immersive island decor, blacklight effects and family-friendly entertainment. So we'll take a quick look up here.
Speaker 2:I'll pull up their website. This is Aloha Mini Golf and these are the two locations North Shore Mall and Mall of New Hampshire, both in New Hampshire. The North Shore Mall is in New Hampshire as well. I'm sorry, it's in Massachusetts and so you know we can click here. There's not a whole lot of information on their stuff here for their franchise or licensing yet. Their website was created in 2017. So definitely needs to be updated. I think they are planning to. Uh, okay, all right, so, um, I just want to go to this website, uh, this page. So okay, well, anyway. So now here is the Manchester new, uh, new Hampshire uh, site. You know, look, there's some nice drawn graphics and it looks like a pretty standard mini glow golf. You know, facility Some potted fake plants here throughout it and you know, whatever it's fine. I'm sure it does great in some smaller markets. It's a really standard kind of mediocre glow golf area and it definitely does not seem ready for I would say ready for any sort of franchising model yet at this point.
Speaker 2:I think most times franchises they really have things buttoned up, have things buttoned up with branding, repeatability et cetera. This doesn't give me that sense. This is the case. And when I talk about Aloha Mini Glow Golf, I have to also talk about Monster Mini Golf, and we've covered Monster Mini Golf on one of our Behind Our Doors podcasts as well in pretty significant depth. You can find that on LinkedIn or any of the podcast platforms. But these guys really have their operations buttoned up. They are also a glow golf concept, but they are really over the top. They have custom stuff that they put in, custom muraling that they do in every location. They have a DJ booth in the middle and so they have a DJ spinning during most of the times while you're there and they call out little parties and you have a crazy shot. So they create an overarching guest experience. Every location is locally inspired and so it's a pretty cool place. I've been in them. They've just opened a location here in Tempe, nearby the office where my pod. You know where the studio is and so you know.
Speaker 2:I think one of the things I would just say here is look, when you're looking to franchise different concepts, really weigh and look at other things right. So you, I'm not saying that Aloha Mini Glow Golf is not a good option. They might be a great option if you're looking to franchise a Glow Golf concept, but just know that there are other options out there and make sure that you really do your homework. And I would just say buyer beware, so to speak, when you're looking out at these different types of franchising options. Lots of franchising in the trampoline park and adventure park space as well, and they all have different reasons to go with one versus the other, and so just make sure that you're selecting something that you know is going to you know, that has proven model and that you know can be repeatable and can be differentiated in your particular area. So anyway, that being said, let's oh, you know, I just realized I would never.
Speaker 2:I was trying to talk about the mini, monster mini globe off and it hadn't switched. I'd switched on my hand and I was looking at it and it looked pretty. And now here you go. So this is the monster mini golf page. So you know, again, you can just see the level of differentiation already here between that and Aloha mini glow golf, and so, anyway, again, I won't say any more to that you can check both of them out at, you know, monster minigolfcom or aloha mini glow golfcom and see if you're looking to put any sort of uh you know, new facility in. This might be an option for you All. Right, next up and last, I want to talk about hippie fish. So hippie fish is a brand new facility, um, and this is a really interesting here. So I'm going to switch over to share this tab.
Speaker 2:I just I love these guys, their logo and their name and their brand, but ultimately what they are is they're it's a new outdoor FEC, it's in the Centennial Plaza Resort. So it's an add-on FEC to a resort in Gulfport, mississippi and they officially opened June 26th. They've been open a little while. I've had this one on deck to talk about for a little bit and just haven't had a chance to get to it and I've really, really liked their marketing site and the implementation that they've done as an add-on to the resort. It's nice and clean and it's kind of fun and festive and light and airy. There's a number of different attractions, so they also added two 18-hole mini golf courses and we'll just scroll down here so you can see an overview of their site. But two mini golf courses, 18 holes, designed by Harris Mini Golf. And then they also have the live oak trees and lighting and some really great stuff. But inside there's also an arcade featuring 130 games which is pretty massive and includes redemption, all kind of classic redemption favorites, some virtual reality attractions and skill games. And then they also have a Hippie Fish restaurant, which is a wide range of, you know, different options, including seafood, nachos, burgers and flatbreads. So this is Hippie Fish, you know. Look, it's a beautiful outdoor course. So Harris did a great job, as usual, and I just really like marketing and what they're doing there. So that is again, that's Hippie Fish and that is News you Should Know.
Speaker 2:Intercard is the only cashless system designed, developed and manufactured all under one roof. They introduced cashless technology to the amusement industry and have been leading the way for over 30 years. Cashless systems from Intercard increase customer spending, guest satisfaction and boost revenues by up to 30%. Intercard is so proud to be serving the amusement industry and if you aren't already part of their global family of customers, they hope you will become one soon. All right, so next up, we've got Open and Shut with Kevin Williams, so let's dive in. Hey, welcome to another Open and Shut. I hope I find you all in good humor. Yes, well, I'm enjoying my time out here in the mountains and overlooking a beautiful blue Lake Tahoe so can't complain. But we got a lot to cover on today's opening shot, so let's dive in.
Speaker 4:When do we never yeah, exactly so, jumping in and, as always, pause the video if you want to keep up, because we're going to motor through these. But again, another 24 over the last week of new openings Jumping in, and the trend I think I would be picking from this one is a little bit of sin attainment. We have some new sin attainment venues opening, such as this example from Megaplex taking taking pride of place in Utah. Utah pops up a couple of times here, as well as in the in the next coverage. This is part of an 18-chain cinema operation that has been adding what I would call a cinetainment or a gaming lounge or gaming room component. Much more than that. But they have bowling 18 holds. They also have about 65 amusements, so mid-size Also. They have the dining set out and I think they also have about 65 amusements, so mid-size also. They have the dining set out and I think they also have a party room. But again, giving us an example of the cinema sector's hidden secret of sin attainment.
Speaker 4:Moving on, and our friends at Battlecarts not just one new announcement, though. They've just opened their first facility in Mexico. Congratulations on that. They've also opened a new facility in Burgundy in France. They have quite a large presence in France and the Netherlands. Their EU presence is very strong. You know we're up to 53, 54 facilities. Fascinating glimpse here that this particular French franchise operation was a 3.5 million euro investment by the franchisees. So it gives you an idea of the kind of expenditure that you have to go through when you're deploying these 12 go-karts. Obviously, you have more than 12 go-karts, as well as the F&B and the amusement component, if you want to extend it that full.
Speaker 2:I think one of the issues I have with Battlekart Chaos Karts is following the same path issues I have with Battle Cart Chaos Carts is following the same path is that they didn't learn. They haven't seemed to have learned from the early days of the trampoline park world, where all they looked for was a big warehouse and even the indoor inflatables. Like big warehouse it's not in a main shopping center. Sometimes they're little seedy areas and they're just looking for the big open space and it's obviously lower cost on rents.
Speaker 2:And so these trampoline parks thought that they could come in, get really low cost rent, build this out and if you build it they'll come. And what they realized and learned very quickly is that you can't just build it and they'll come. You have to find the shopping centers that already have foot traffic coming to them and then put in your and pay a little bit more because you're paying retail space or you're paying some mixed use space but you're going to pay a little bit more but you're going to get that inevitable visibility and foot traffic. These guys seem to on the whole, and I know there's exceptions, but for the majority of the locations they're going in big warehouse, industrial areas and really relying heavily on marketing and on their brand to get traffic and I think that will really cause problems for them in a year or two years down the line, if not sooner.
Speaker 4:If not sooner. The problem is, as we know, from actually having spoken to those individuals. I think it was at ILPA Europe. We had a chat with them and they gave us the numbers of how much a franchisee has to put down to get their hands on the package. And that sadly doesn't distinguish who you're getting. It just shows you that you've got someone in front of you that has found an empty piece of property that they can push one of these things into. That isn't the best attitude to approach a location-based entertainment facility, because if you don't have the catchment and if you don't have a correct audience for that catchment, then you're a one-hit wonder, You're one and done. Everybody will come within the catchment that you've picked, and a lot of these facilities are in the boondocks. They're on the periphery, away from the main cities. So I do agree with you wholeheartedly that we're going to see a shakeup when they get to their magic number, which I'm led to believe is 80, before they make some decisions about the future for the operation. But anyway, it's something to stick a pin in and keep an eye on regardless.
Speaker 4:Moving on, and next is entertainment operation. The film alley operation hadn't popped up on my radar before when we found out about this first opening, and they're part of a chain of five. Not all of the film alleys are connected to a cinema part of their operation, but the majority of them now are cine-tainment offerings Again bowling, again amusement, again a reasonable scale of F&B the Snack Brigade Interesting that this one is going into a former the Snack Brigade. Interesting that this one is going into a former Regal cinema facility that closed down in 2023. But again, it shows us that the cinema sector, in certain areas, is evaluating their options and they're seeing an entertainment component as a safe bet to increase that dwell time, that all-important dwell time that they need to be working for.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I do at least appreciate that Film Alley has done a better job aesthetically inside than the Megaplex that we were looking at previously, and also they have a slightly better website. One of my biggest issues with these cinetainment locations is that they really overplay, because maybe they have to, I don't know but when you first come to their website, it's all about the films and the bookings and everything else and you struggle to find what else they actually have available. All of the attractions and entertainment components are shoved behind other sub pages and not even on the home page in many cases at least this film. While the site isn't that great, they at least show all the different things that are available before they get to the now showing section down below on the homepage.
Speaker 4:And that is a problem that we need to touch upon in a future sound off maybe which is about the marketing. How do you, from the website and the social app point of view, how do you distinguish your entertainment offering without being snowed under by other things? Some of the restaurant entertainment facilities push the food more than they push the entertainment. Many of the entertainment facilities push the films more than their entertainment, which can be a danger because you don't get the drop in traffic and you don't get the TripAdvisor collections Moving on. And our friends at Sega I won my bet. They've announced their next pop-up is going to be California Los Angeles to be exact, though I think I hedged my bet saying either New York or California when we were talking about this, so maybe I did get lucky. The issue here is that it is a pop-up, so where the other Sega stores that we've been looking at are kind of pseudo-permanent facilities, they're a little bit more structured. This is clearly very similar to what we have been seeing with our friends at Bandai Namco, with their cross stores being a light touch retail unit, and again with the Los Angeles facility.
Speaker 4:We're not hearing any news about if this is going to have any interactive entertainment, but I get the feeling this is a watch this space Moving on entertainment. But I get the feeling this is a watch this space Moving on. And then we come to our friends at Pins and they are on a roll. At the moment we have a brand new facility opening up in Ohio. Well, most of their facilities are dotted around Ohio. This will be their 12th site, I think. According to my database, 12,000 square, it's got the 10 lanes of bowling, but again or it feels like weeks sometimes from this company and it's clear that they're on a roll regarding deploying their particular brand of bowl attainment in the market.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think it was just two weeks ago, by the way, that we did talk about the other, the most recent location.
Speaker 4:It's hard to keep up.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, absolutely, location. Besides, it's hard to keep up. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And you know, I mean, look, uh, they they're clearly doing well enough to justify the continued expansion. Uh, and you know, at the moment, and so you know, as long as the current attraction mix that they have, uh, you know, but again we've talked about this before their energy and the vibe that they have inside is much more social, much more party based and so and I mean parties like booked parties, I'm saying party vibe to it and much, much more high energy than other similar companies that have done this type of attraction mix mix the fallout in the next couple of months, and I do feel it will be in the next couple of months where we see a shakeup between the companies that are seeing continued or increased business site-by-site sales revenue and those that are seeing a decrease.
Speaker 4:When the MO, the Motors of Miranda, is closely evaluated for these sites, it will be that atmosphere, that party, that high staffing quality, along with a strong entertainment message that will be the defining factor. But when we get there we'll point this out again. I didn't book it, but here's our agenda moment and if you need to know more, just pause the video.
Speaker 2:I think we can skip them for uh for one for one week I think we can.
Speaker 4:Yeah, loft 18 appeared on my radar through research. It's an interesting one, if not all of them are interesting. 10 000 square in louisiana and all on its lonesome. It is a tract of land facility that has opened up a two-level sports bar and sports simulation area. So they're mainly. They have six golf simulation bays.
Speaker 4:One of those is dedicated as a VIP, but they're the kinds of bays where you can turn a key and they can be doing another sport. They could be doing hockey, or they can be doing soccer or they can be doing American football. They're ball tracked, very strong bar, lots of screens, way too many screens and focused very heavily on the social engagement element Brand new. But on their opening day they had a really good turnout because in this particular locality there aren't that many social entertainment venues other than the more traditional and tired bar sector. So this is an example for me of the appearance of an entertainment or hospitality entertainment concept that has a lot stronger legs in the unique locations, rather than the type of concept that you parachute into a crowded Houston or Dallas market. It would be lost without a trace where, being its own animal in this particular locality, it offers a very strong entertainment return revenue model.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think that's exactly right. And when you first showed these pictures with me earlier in the week, I think I made the joke that I think they missed one space on a wall where they could have put a TV. So there's definitely way too many TVs. In the week, I think I made the joke that I think they missed one space on a wall where they could have put a TV. So there's definitely way too many TVs in the space. Because when you walk in it gives a sense of a sports bar and not a golf sim location and it very much has a feeling of a sports bar. But I would say, given the F&B though I'm going to share my screen here Slightly higher level um in in food beverage, in at least in its presentation as well.
Speaker 2:Um, it looks very nice, definitely focused on making sure that they have high quality f and b, which I think you know. Again, we've talked about you have to do with these um. You know entertainment really is what this is. I think it seems to lead more towards the entertainment side, even though they've themselves loft 18, they're trying to have the golf Sims, but with only six golf Sim bays and all the other seating and all those TVs people are really there to watch and, by the way, when I went to their site, the first pop-up that came up was about a watch party for a UFC fight. So clearly they're trying to have figure out their identity, but it seems like it is a sports bar first, but with really high quality F&B.
Speaker 4:This appeared on my radar for various reasons. One of those reasons was the very high level of production value and the quality of both their marketing promotion and their website. And if you notice, on their website they say locations even though they only have one facility. So I am expecting that Loft 18 is going to be the beginning of a rollout of chains, if they haven't already started that process. Moving on, and our friends at Fun City Adventure Parks, two venues opened up. So this is the soft play, the active entertainment with an amusement component. The chain was only one facility. Now it is up to two facilities. So the first one is in Memphis and the second one is in Cordova. You know it is clear that they have found abandoned department store venues. That fits their 60,000 square requirements for the active entertainment component, requirements for the active entertainment component as well as the amusement level. And that you can still roll these kinds of venues out though not focusing on the trampoline, but focusing on the active entertainment tells us that the Tennessee market still has a lot of opportunity, a lot of fat in there. Moving on, and why do you need a building when you can have an open space?
Speaker 4:I've talked about this previously the augmented reality. What we don't like the phrase downloadable theme park, but the dream park concept is put on the head-mounted display and within the environment. You see the Mario-esque created environment. I think that picture there on the right is doing it a disservice or overselling it. I think we all wish that the graphics on these head-mounted displays was as good as that, but that said, it is still a very compelling experience and this is the first of the full installations of this concept. A test installation was run at the two-bit circuits in la that I talked about many sound offs ago and now, courtesy of the investment that they've raised and the focusing of their business model, our friends at dream parks are opening their first facility in Seattle. We wish them a lot of luck and a lot of us are going to be watching this very closely to see how the market takes to augmented reality entertainment experiences.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think that's the nice way to put it. I do struggle with its viability, but again, we'll keep an eye on it. But I think, if I were to make any prediction, it will struggle to gain significant traction. And I think that's one of the reasons why they have selected temporary space within Seattle and temporary space within LA, because they're not securing long-term leases, which I think is wise, as they're experimenting and I think, if anything, maybe they're taking this as a way to get user feedback and get experimentation in different markets before they really decide to do some sort of mass rollout or permanent installation of some kind.
Speaker 4:Totally agree. I feel that their first fledgling approaches were alpha. This is a beta test. The publicity is trying to get as many people to turn up, so I don't think they're caring about the payments. They're caring about the usage and, based upon the information that they'll gain over the next couple of months, that will drive what they really try and push out into the market. I would assume that, by the way, gets to November, we will be seeing a dedicated presentation of what the dream park concept is going to be.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the last thing I'll say here is whether I believe that this concept will ultimately be viable over the longterm or not. It is at least something new and it's somebody doing. It is somebody trying something and pushing the boundaries in location-based entertainment, and I greatly appreciate that, given the fact that most of what we just saw so far has been some of the same things that we've seen over the last 5, 10, 20 years. Right, If you want to talk about trampoline parks and adventure parks, etc. So I do wish Dream Park success and I do appreciate the measured test type approach that they seem to be taking at this point.
Speaker 4:Especially with the funding that they've raised. That is the best approach, what we would advise and I want to make it clear to everyone. We may be old curmudgeons, we may be cynics, we may point at the holes and the failures of the websites, but we're here to help, we're here to grow the industry and where others aren't shining a light on these investments and developments, we are, and we will chart the positive as well as the negative, because soft soap and mollycoddling is not going to help an industry grow. Innovation does, but the right kind of innovation.
Speaker 4:Moving on and we come to the shuts and the sales and the curse of the Japanese amusement sector the traditional old school amusement arcades going by the wayside, being superseded now by the new Genda no, no, no. Now by the new gander no, no, no. They're the new uh, japanese uh entertainment emporiums which are following a much more mixed use leisure entertainment approach. One of the traditional facilities, part of a chain of three, um, has decided that it is closing down its operation mixture of rent and audience. Luckily the amusement pieces from this venue are going to be saved, going to an amusement museum in Tokyo, so they will get a second lease of life. But this kind of traditional cramped amusement cellar arcade business. Uh, nicardo is, you know, known by the hardcore video game fanboys but really is not, uh, in a position now to match the revenue generation that we're seeing from the crane arcades, from the capsule venues and from the mixed use leisure.
Speaker 4:And the tides of change have hit them Moving on again. Another UK theme park or resort park with a long history has decided to move on Corny Beach. They had about 100 years of operation in the market in Wales in the market in Wales. The operation turned around on their social media and said that they would not be opening after they close in October. Reopening again and the local council has done a deal for the property around there. They're going to be opening about 1,00 new houses in their locality. It is a bit of a tired theme park, it is an anachronism, it is a throwback to the traditional style and so if you can't shape up, you ship off and there are other uses for property, especially in this very crowded market at the moment sometimes you just can't fight the real estate market.
Speaker 4:Can't fight tabby hall, that kind of rolls it up. If you're not receiving your stinger or your entertainment social arena, please make sure that you've subscribed. Also, please click a like if you're watching this on YouTube. I like to see that there are people actually watching this. I know there are a lot of you that watch this via our YouTube feed and you know. If you have any questions or any news and again, I'd like to thank those people that passed on opening news to me on the social media but if you have any information, please use my email or my social network links to get in contact with us. Anyway, I think that's all for today. Anyway, wishing you a good one.
Speaker 1:If you run a location-based entertainment brand and want to attract more visitors, check out Radius. They use real-time location data and customized marketing strategies to help brands like yours stand out. Radius can boost your foot traffic and build a loyal customer base. Plus, they're offering a complimentary local market analysis to show you exactly how they can help you grow Curious, visit Radiusco and ask about your free market analysis. That's R-A-Y-D-I-U-S dot C-O.
Speaker 2:All right, well, coming up next, we've got Arcade Corner with Adam Pratt, let's just roll right into it.
Speaker 3:Greetings everyone. It's Adam for the Arcade Corner here at the LBX Collective. I hope everybody's been having a fantastic July so far, especially with Independence Day and all that. Arcade news tends to be uneven during the summertime, as most of the time all of your new products have already been released prior to the summer, like from the spring shows and whatnot but occasionally there's a new thing that pops up here and there. I guess, now that I think about it, I probably could mention the new Predator pinball from Pinball Brothers brothers.
Speaker 3:But as we have on the screen here, you've probably heard that it's the 50th anniversary for the classic film Jaws, which I heard somebody making a pretty valid argument, in my opinion, that this is the most influential movie of all time, mainly in regard to how it affected behavior of people across the planet, where it made people afraid to go into the water everywhere. And even though I was born well after this movie came out, I remember kind of getting the same sort of notion about going seen the movie. It had oozed into our society and our culture in such a way that it really made you afraid to go into the water and from that right there it became the most influential. But anyways, its influence has extended into pinball. It's been available as a pinball machine for a while now in stern to celebrate the 50th anniversary, which was this past week, I believe, uh, where you also have a re-release of the film in theaters, probably remastered, and all that. They have this new 50th anniversary premium edition game to enjoy. Uh, this is actually the first time I'm seeing this trailer. I probably should have looked it up beforehand to see what it is. This looks the same to me, except for maybe one of the extra ramps there, so I'm not sure what else they've added to this. I also kind of assume that they might limit how many models of it exist out there, but that is available now. So if you're into jaws, into pinball, looking for something that would work well for your home game room or for your business, then there you go.
Speaker 3:I actually have ordered a new pinball machine recently because I was looking to get a new air hockey table, as I really, really, really need one, and in the process of that I've been talking to some other operators and I've consistently heard that the new Dungeons and Dragons from Stern is outperforming pretty much anything else and that it is bringing in some regulars. And hearing that sort of information from multiple operators from different parts of the country made me think you know what? Maybe I really should jump on this, and in talking with the distributor I'm working with Primetime Amusements they were able to offer me a really good deal on that and an air hockey table, and because of that, that's what I'm looking to get, but it's not in my possession yet. As it is, stern's been focused on these Jaws and, I think, some other things, and so they won't be doing the dungeons and dragons until next month, so I have to wait. And the air hockey tables on a boat, so I also have to wait there. I don't know how many weeks, but for too long I'll have something there to share Now, another thing that we have and I'll have the sound down low on this. One didn't do it on jaws, but just because, with the way YouTube works, it probably dinged that, but I don't think there's anything licensed here because it's just kind of a country style song, but who knows?
Speaker 3:But anyways, play Mechanics and Roth Thrills have announced that their Big Buck Hunter Buckfest. They've changed the name. It's always been Big Buck Hunter World Championship. Now it's the Buckfest. They've changed the name. It's always been Big Buck Hunter World Championship. Now it's the Buck Fest. They've released this video to promote it, which has that world championship. But it's kind of like a Raw Thrills arcade extravaganza of a sort, as you saw there, because not only do they have the Big Buck Hunter championship going on, they have all these other things to do with other Raw Thrills games and such. Don't know if they'll be unveiling a brand new game around then or if they'll say that until IAPA. Usually they haven't done anything like that so as to not distract from the main point of it, but I like this new name and logo that they're doing for that. That makes more sense and so it also looks like a good time there.
Speaker 3:I've always been meaning to get over to the uh, the world championships just would be fun and and you know I know a lot of the people there at Roth realism play mechanics and even though I'm not a good big buck player not not good enough to get into the world championship it would just be fun to to go and hang out there. Um, so that that's coming in October October 10th and 11th, so about a month before IAPA. In my personal opinion, I think that IAAPA should be held in the middle of October as opposed to the week before Thanksgiving, just due to all the traveling and whatnot. And every time you go to IAAPA and you're talking about making a deal with somebody, it's like, oh well, after Thanksgiving, then we'll get back to you, and then by the time everybody remembers anything after Thanksgiving. Nobody remembers who they talked to and what deals they were promising to make. Most of the time I'm going to get to the Sega Interactive Mini Golf in a second here, but Raccoon Ram played two player.
Speaker 3:This is a game from Unus. It's a water gun game, you know. Shoot it at the video screen and blast the creatures whatever they are. They've had a four player out for a while and from all accounts that I heard it's done fairly well for Unus. But now they've decided to do a two-player version. So I just got this in my email the other day and so I was like, oh cool, that's always nice to have options, especially options that are going to be more affordable than what they have there.
Speaker 3:As we know, or if you're new to the industry, the general trend these days has been to release the most expensive version of a game first and then from there go to eventually getting to a cheaper, more affordable version that would work in smaller venues with limited space or budgets, and sometimes they just don't do one at all, say if the more pricey version doesn't sell, I don't really care for that, as I think we should just throw out all the options there as manufacturing allows and whatnot. And I would also assume that sometimes maybe a game doesn't sell because it's too expensive and it would sell better if you offered that other edition there. But that's just me, and I also guess to that point something that I almost forgot here, but in this ad here on this page that I have Soda Slam. The official press release has gone out today for this game and so it is available and shipping. I think I mentioned that in the past too. But this is from Alan1. I've actually heard aside from it testing really well and doing some really good numbers and seeing an ROI of approximately six to nine months. Based on those numbers. That it's also I don't know exactly where, but apparently it did test out in a venue that also had an IC and apparently if you have both an IC from Baytech and a SodaSlam from Allen One, they complement each other and they both earn better. So that's an interesting little quirk of how things work in this industry sometimes. But Icy has been shipping, I think, since April, and now SodaSlam is available from Allen One so you can talk to your distributor there, but I'm going to switch screens here really quick. Mile and once. You can talk to your distributor there, but I'm going to switch screens here really quick.
Speaker 3:And we're going to talk about one other new product that just kind of showed up out of nowhere, and this would be from Sega amusements. So they just posted, kind of without any fanfare at all, and sometimes they do this. Oops, I guess I should approve cookies, not yummy cookies like internet cookies. Interactive Mini Golf is now available from Sega Amusements International. Now I believe this mentions here in the last paragraph. It has seamless integration in the 501 hub, if I'm recalling this correctly, but somebody Sega can correct me if I'm wrong.
Speaker 3:I believe it's the same company that's developing this, that's behind their augmented reality dart system that they've showed at various trade shows and has been available for a while, and so this could be something that complements that sort of setup, obviously for lounges and bars, not necessarily game room arcades and whatnot, but I think from the looks of this. It could fit into an FEC or the right kind of venue, and it's interesting in that it looks like it has these blocks or targets that you can hit with the ball to get certain amount of points, and also has different games too. Okay, so each hole there, almost. In a way, this makes me think of the Connect Four hoops from Baytech, but just applied to mini golf. Connect 4 hoops from Baytech, but just applied to mini golf. Also reminds me of an old okay, maybe there's not blocks there, it's just LED lighting my bad. But also reminds me of a game from, I want to say, 15 years ago, called Putt Championship from Chicago Gaming Company.
Speaker 3:Maybe some of you out there had seen that one where it was a putting video game. Uh, I sold those, uh, or a couple of them to um. Also looks like they're using the leaning a little bit into the zombie theming, like they had with zombies ready daddy go that Sega has, and I guess in a sense this is also kind of the same thing as that too, if you haven't seen zombies ready daddy go. It's the kind of the horse race style game, but with the redemption component or video component, but you're rolling the balls into the targets but with your hands, and so this would be kind of doing that with the putter. I mean, it doesn't look to be using the characters, just kind of a generic zombie horror theme, but it still has that same sort of vibe that zombies ready to go has. Perhaps they should see about doing a crossover there.
Speaker 3:We have this where maybe it's a little bit like breakout. Oh, and there you go. There's a, not a horse race but a donkey race that you can do and by putting into their quickest, maybe I don't know be interesting to see this one. I'm sure it'll be at IAPA and such, I hear, before too long, but, uh, just take a quick look. Um, so you have the putting green massive LED dot matrix screen.
Speaker 3:Interesting, oh cause. Uh, from the photos I just thought it might be like a TV, but it's perhaps going to be better to have the led screen in the case Somebody decides to try and get a hole in one and launch it and it hits the screen. That might work better. And yeah, it definitely looks like it can handle multiple players at the same time. Obviously it still needs to be taking turns, but yeah, cool little thing for social gaming, competitive socializing and such that I know Kevin talks about a lot, but yeah, that gets us up to speed on what's happening in the arcade industry this week. And oh yeah, it's seven 11 days, so perhaps if there's a seven 11 near you, go get a free Slurpee if they're doing that. But thanks for watching and we'll see you next time.
Speaker 2:All right, well, thanks, adam. And yeah, so he was talking about that 501 Games or 501 Funds, new AR mini golf, and so, yeah, we actually go into a deeper dive in just a couple of days on the sound off with Kevin Williams on that product specifically from 501 games. Um, just as an important point to note here, back in 2022, so just a few years ago, sega amusements international as that's what? Uh, this is not sega the company. You know the brand, like the ip brand, this is sega amusements international. I know it's confusing. They're a distributor for products etc.
Speaker 2:And they signed a distribution deal with 501 fun and 501 fun has makes the ar darts that adam mentioned there, and then they've now released this new mini golf game. It is a bay, uh, you know, you cycle through the different players and again we go a little bit deeper dive and we actually talk about some of their competitors as well in the space on sound off in just two days, so you can take a listen to that on tuesday the 15th and learn a little bit more about that. All right, coming up next, we've got Road Trip with Clint Novak. He heads over to New Jersey.
Speaker 5:Hey, what's going on everyone? Clint Novak here from A&A Global and it's time for another road trip. This time we are going to the Jersey Shore. We are going to New Jersey checking all those Boardwalk arcades. We're starting at Jenkinson Boardwalk. They have multiple arcades here. They have two different arcade locations, but they also have a ton of rides and attractions. So here's an RCI ropes course. That's behind one of their arcades a train going by.
Speaker 5:We went on a really crummy day, so the fog you could just see the fog hanging out there. Couldn't even see the ocean from the boardwalk. That's how bad the fog was. One cool thing they have in their arcade and I don't have a good picture of this is they're on Simnox and Simnox has an arcade redemption system where you can use your tap card. Go up to the kiosk, tap it and it'll show you all the items that you can purchase with your tickets. Then prints off a ticket, goes right to the redemption counter and they will fill your order for you. So if you're looking for a kiosk solution for redemption, simnox has that for you. Our next stop was a pavilion arcade. This is a nice, clean, fun arcade with lots of prizes. They're on an intercard system, but they still use paper tickets. So if you're walking around there you can collect all of your tickets and then they have the intercard system to start up the gameplay.
Speaker 5:On day two we headed off the shore to iPlay America. This place is massive. I've known these guys for quite a while, did a lot of ride research when I was looking for my SPF spin coaster. I love the inside. It's like the Bellagio. They have this like street indoor street area with the game spilling out onto the midway. There you can see the arcade. They also have a nice restaurant where they. The restaurant is open more than the FEC is. The restaurant is a standalone on its own. There's the spin coaster there indoor spin coaster. We put this in. It did amazing at Funland. They also have some other SBF Visa rides and attractions. They've got go-karts there, some more rides, a huge banquet area. They have two different banquet halls, both of them just massive.
Speaker 5:And also I love this they have a candy store. Anyone who's ever run a candy store knows there's a lot of waste involved. They don't have a lot of waste here because, yes, you can buy the half pound, fourth pound, whatever, but they also sell a pre-filled cup. You can buy by the half pound, fourth pound, whatever. But they also sell a pre-filled cup. So it's just a cup and it's like $4, and you can go and fill it up with all of the candy that you want. Once the cup is full, that's it. That's all you get. Then you get to walk around and eat the candy out of the cup. So I thought that was an ingenious idea to stop waste at their candy store.
Speaker 5:Now, if you go on a road trip with Marty, he's going to take you some great places to eat. Crispy Pizza, which is actually in the same mall structure as I Play America, was our first stop. We got some amazing pizza, some buffalo chicken and some hot, heavy pepperoni. It was delicious. Then Marty and I were off to Humdingers, which is off the shore as well.
Speaker 5:This started as a batting cage and bowling alley. I've known these guys for quite a while too. They've got some Brunswick bowling. They had Spark Bowling on four lanes. They added it to all of the lanes. Now here's Marty showing off his bowling skills. I love it. They also have a lot of arcade games I want to say over 100 different arcade games. And they do a food right here as well Nice kitchen, great restaurant. They even have some robo servers going around the floor, those AI robot servers making their way around. This I thought was very interesting. They have a redemption counter where you can redeem your tickets for prizes, but if you have under 500 tickets, they have prize hubs for you. So you go up to the prize hub, you get your prizes from there. Unless you have more than 500 tickets, then you go up to the counter itself.
Speaker 5:Our next stop was the Funplex. This is the North Funplex, not the one South by Philadelphia, and this was a fun stop. They have a unique laser tag it's Lasertron laser tag, but they used to have a Magic Quest arena and that's what this is. It's half the Magic Quest arena. They no longer have Magic Quest, but they turned it into laser tags. So they have this massive castle in the middle of their laser tag, which looked really cool. They also have a lot of rides and attractions. All the rides are indoors. They have a water park that's outside you can see they got the mini bowling here. You can see the rides in the background. They've got amusement product go-karts and they have their power-up feature on as well, and these carts light up. I love the new light package on the amusement products go-karts. They look really good.
Speaker 5:Then day three back to the pier. We're at Gateway. Oh, actually, you know what I forgot to tell you guys about something. Before we get on to this, I want to show you guys a video of something at Humdingers that I think you guys would really like. This is a storage unit that you can get on Uline, and this is to help with their redemption products. So let's check this out real quick. Marty, show us the shelving unit here from Uline. Look at this for redemption storage. They all move. Wow, yeah, I thought that was really cool, so I wanted to show you guys that before we move on.
Speaker 5:So now on to day three. We're at Gateway 26, which is an arcade. This arcade might have the most redemption products for any place I've ever seen 26,000 items they have on display at their facility, and it's not a huge facility I mean, it is pretty big for a boardwalk park but they just have a massive amount of redemption items, including a car. You could win a car. Now the car is specifically for a Labor Day raffle, but they have a car on display at their park that you could win, so I thought that was really cool. They also have the very first Wizard of Oz machine that has ever gone into an arcade the original Wizard of Oz machine and they took a unique spin. They added their own play cards to the Wizard of Oz machine, highlighting their employees and the ownership group. So I thought that was really cool. Here's one of the cards on the play field there. And of course, you can't go to the beach without having just a ton of claw merchandisers all over the place as well.
Speaker 5:Next up is Ed's Funcade, which was just up the boardwalk, and this was a fun little arcade. They have the employees walking around on a microphone kind of carnival, barking you in. You know, come on in and win the next raffle. Every half hour they have a raffle where you could win prizes, uh, or actually you can win a chance to win a spin the wheel or, uh, they could do a thing where you go into a money grab. Here's the employees they're showing off their redemption counter. Here's the prize wheel. If you, every half hour, if you got that raffle ticket, you could spin that for tickets or you could go into the prize grab. Let let's check out Marty in the prize grab.
Speaker 3:I love that.
Speaker 5:It's right on the midway so as you're walking by on the boardwalk you can see that money grab machine. People flock in. They were watching. It's really exciting and, as you can see, it's harder than it looks. You have to hold on to the bag, you have to stuff the bag, you have to grab the stuff out of the air. So it's hard but you don't get to keep the money. They transfer it over you. Then you can go to the redemption counter and purchase some of the stuff there.
Speaker 5:Next stop was Sam's Pizza on the boardwalk. Marty is a food connoisseur so he had all of our places mapped out, of all the places we're going to eat. So we got two slices of pepperoni there and a diet Coke. Then me and Marty were off to a Mariner's Arcade which is right next to Maury's Pier. Very clean arcade with a lot of pushers. They even have the newest pushers on there, like Tornado and all that good stuff as well. The pushers all over the place. Redemption really nice redemption counter, and I want to point out that when you're on the New Jersey Boardwalk or even Ocean City, maryland, the Seagull is like their new mascot and so a bunch of Seagull plush. Here you got the Patriotic plush. You have the princess football, candy canes, all sorts of seagull plush there, so definitely fun to check that out. Then we stopped at Maui's dog house, which is a stop on the beach where you can buy hot dogs that they serve in dog bowls. So I got a chili dog, an Italian dog, there. And then our last stop was at the Central Pier Arcade in Speedway. They suffered a fire this past year and they're just getting ready, or they're just reopening. Now the arcade itself is open and they're hoping to get the go-kart tracks and stuff up and running by this weekend. And what a great arcade. They use Amusement Connect for their card system and then they have right out on the pier. There they have the go-karts and the midway games which they're getting ready to open there, and there's a checkout of their redemption counter.
Speaker 5:Also odd thing I was walking down the boardwalk, ran into some friends from Florida who were celebrating their bachelor party in Atlantic City. So I got to run into some friends from Orlando as I was walking down the boardwalk. And then Marty, of course, had us go to dinner before we head home. So we went to the White House, home of the submarines, and had some great eats before heading back to Virginia. All right, guys, that's our road trip. Thank you guys so much for watching. I appreciate you. My name is Clint Novak from ANA Global We'll. Thank you guys so much for watching. I appreciate you. My name is clint novak from a and a global.
Speaker 2:We'll see you guys on the next adventure. Bye, all right, awesome. Well, thanks clint for that, and you know a couple of things I want to just call out. I really liked the fact. Well, I don't know, I like I think I understand why they're doing it and I'd be really interested to talk with them to understand a little bit more about the prize hub. So I can't remember the name of the facility, but they have the prize hub for under 500 tickets. So basically, anything over 500 and you go and you get to the counter and you can choose what you want from there. Otherwise, if it's less than 500, you go and choose from the prize hub.
Speaker 2:When I think about it, I think about the process that a lot of guests go through. Typically it's the younger kids or kids who just maybe have like 100 tickets and they're really struggling to figure out what they want to spend their 100 tickets on, and it takes up a lot of time. And they want to see the Tootsie Rolls, they want to select those and they want to do that and they want to do and I think that when it's over 500, it's very clear they're getting one or two things and so they're just going to pick them and they can just look at the wall, and it takes a lot less time. So my guess is it's probably both a way to enhance the guest experience by reducing some of that frustration, especially for the parents and the kids, both, that they can just spend their time looking at the price hub, and then it's also an operational thing as well, because they're not taking as much staff time while the kids are really trying to decide how they're going to spend their 20 tickets or their 300 credits or whatever. So I thought that was interesting.
Speaker 2:And then I loved the MC, getting people excited about the money machine. It's blowing the money all around, but they got the MC that's going there, very similar to what I mentioned, that they do at Monster Mini Golf. They don't have the money machine, but they have the. They've got the MC that's going there, very similar like what I mentioned that they do at Monster Mini Golf. They don't have the money machine, but they have the MC, they have the DJ and they're hyping people up, and I think that just adds a lot of energy to the facility. And so if you have the ability to do that, if you have the right person, it might be something worth experimenting for to get people excited about those types of things.
Speaker 1:So, all right, Hello, and welcome to promo pro tips with Chuck DeMonte. That is me, and today I want to talk about four tools that your FEC absolutely needs in its marketing playbook. Okay, and I'm going to start off with the first one, which is a content scheduling tool. Right, so a content marketing tool that basically helps you post across multiple platforms. It'll help you collaborate with your team, right? You don't want to have to individually create content and then go to Facebook and post it, go to Instagram and post it, go to TikTok right? You really want to make it so that you can make this as easy as possible. Ok, your GM, yourself, owner, whoever operator, you have a lot going on. So how do you make these things easier? Ok, and one of the ways you do that is by creating a tool that will post across all these platforms at once. We internally use a tool called Planable. It's really nice. It helps you cross post across all these platforms, but also helps you collaborate with your team. Members leave comments, approve things, schedule things, see an audit trail of who approved it, the changes, and recommend changes and request changes. So it works really well and it's at a really good price. So I would suggest go checking that out. It's called Planable. Okay, that's the number one, again, trying to make your life easy with content, so it gets done, okay, especially if you have a marketing or an internal marketing team or a marketing agency doing it.
Speaker 1:Number two is an email marketing software. Now, a lot of them are very similar, but hopefully you know your, your, your online booking or your POS, or you know if they're all one of the same. They have an email marketing platform that you could use because you're getting your customers data when they're buying tickets or signing waivers or doing whatever Right, and then you could use that to also email, market to them, create automations when they have birthdays or specific actions that trigger email automations. They haven't been to your location in a while, or you want to try and upsell them with something right. So there's ways and things you can use the data with email, but at the end of the day, you just need, at the bare minimum, just a general email software. It could be something like a MailChimp Kl. Bare minimum, just a general email software. It could be something like a MailChimp Klaviyo is a popular one that we like. Okay, so we use them all across the board, all different ones. There's no specific one we use, but email is important.
Speaker 1:I cannot tell you enough how important it is to stay in front of your previous customers that have come in. You need to stay top of mind. You need to remind them. You want to increase that frequency that they come in Right, and email is one of the best ways to do that. Ok, to push out promos, new things that are going on in your location. You know whatever, right? So make sure you have an email marketing service. Make sure you are frequently email marketing, two to four times per month, I would say.
Speaker 1:Next is Canva. So Canva makes it super easy to create designs, create posts. You want to make an announcement, you want to create something to print out and do in-store signage. Right, it's super easy. It really checks a lot of boxes when it comes to design and your design needs. You should really have that. You don't need to be a designer. They have templates. Like there's again all these tools that I'm telling you are for best practice marketing, but also to make your life as easy as possible. Like, you need these things. You need in-store signs, you need designs. You need social media posts right, you need to be doing these things. You need email. So how can you make it as easy as possible, right? So those things will really help you do that.
Speaker 1:And then, lastly, a reputation management software. So we use something a lot of times called BirdEye. Also we use something called Soshi. It's all basically getting soliciting reviews. So somebody goes into your location, you have an automation that'll go out that'll continually ask them for reviews and if they want to leave a bad review, the cool thing is that it'll direct them to contact you directly, as opposed to putting on a Google or something like that and some sort of review service. This will help you get more reviews. It'll help you increase your reviews.
Speaker 1:So it's really, really important, and people, especially on Google searches, a lot of times live and die by those Google reviews. Right? What are you rated? Are you a 4.0 plus? Right? What are your reviews? Are you replying to the reviews? So the service will also help you reply to these reviews, right?
Speaker 1:So super important. That also goes in their weighting of like being found in terms of search engine optimization. When people are searching for you on a Google map or just on a Google and you see those map results show up, google is going to look at. What are their reviews? Are they replying to their reviews? Right, they take that into consideration when they're ranking you on those search results, okay. So, again, to recap the top four things find a content marketing platform or service that'll help you post and and uh, basically put out across multiple platforms, okay. Make sure you have an email marketing service. Okay, super important. Get on canva. It'll help a lot of your design needs. And lastly, get a reputation management software. Okay. So hopefully that helps and we'll give you some more of these tips coming up soon.
Speaker 2:Intercard is the only cashless system designed, developed and manufactured all under one roof. They introduced cashless technology to the amusement industry and have been leading the way for over 30 years. All right, well, just a couple of quick things. As I mentioned earlier in the show, we've got SoundOff with Kevin Williams. It's number 82 coming out on Tuesday, july 15th. We dig into a number of interesting trends, so definitely highly recommend downloading that, watching that. However, you do that over the podcast platforms YouTube, linkedin, whatever, and you know what. Otherwise, that's a wrap for this week's LBX show. This is Brandon Wiley signing off LBX show. This is Brandon Wiley signing off. Stay tuned and keep kicking it.
