UPDATE and RESPONSE
Sent most of the day yesterday at the new location giving media interviews and working with the builder on finish details. For some reason the Civil Engineer included both under the sink hot water heaters AND a tank water heater in the drawings. So we would be heating the water twice. Nobody seems to know ANYTHING about this snafu!
As far a the ongoing quality issues with our machines, this is what I view as the number one challenge to running a room of this size. First of all, these machines were designed and built NOT to work beyond a certain age/amount of plays. They are built down to a price, not up to a quality. OPERATORS, the people these machines were built for, not players/collectors, want a machine priced low that they can run until all their customers tire of it and want a new one. Every part is designed to fail at the same point, 5 to 10 years out. Keeping them going at all is tough. Keeping them working in hard daily use 20 to 30 years out is harder still.
There are also a lack of people trained in high level repairs. A person who can FIND THE PROBLEM is hard to get. Getting hands to fix the problem is easier.
I have trained out peeps to do flipper and bumper repair to a set of standards and all I do is supervise. If you walk the floor, there are almost no chipped bumper skirts or broken flippers. Trying to chase down a phantom bug that you have already worked on 3 times before is way more difficult.
We have IN STOCK huge quantities of parts. This is a costly and time consuming way to get spares. Most business schools preach JUST IN TIME PARTS MANAGEMENT. BULLSHIT! Another way for management to pull more money out of their show and into their pockets while product quality suffers.
I also spend a lot more time lately on the CORPORATE CULTURE here. Telling the volunteers to think like artists, not wrench monkeys. To be kind and helpful to customers who deserve it, and ignore or remove those who would ruin the vibe in the room. To lead by example, I have no chair in my tiny bathroom-office to keep my ass out on the floor walking and talking. I continue to be the first one in in the morning, and the last one out at night. These attitudes filter down to the rest of the staff.
We also believe in having a very narrow mission. To do just 1 or 2 things and do they well. A lot of people are telling me to add alcohol, pizza, repair clinics, or a web site with loads of history. NOT GOING THERE! If you want to drink, go to a bar. If you want pizza, knock yourselves out. Why should I divert my attention from my important work to do a web site, when IPDB.org, and Clay/Pinwiki are already doing a fantastic job? I am going to stick to my knitting here and do just 2 things. Pinball museum open to the public with no admission open 7 days a week and give money to local social service charities.
I will also point out that at the risk of offending some of the people I asking for help from that when given a choice between a high quality product or service at a high price and a slightly stripped down product at a lower price, Americans almost always go for PRICE! Want a docent to take you around and give you a personal tour of the games? Sure, we could do that. At a dollar a game. Want to wander into a giant bare bones hard floor room full of machines and play for 25-50-75! HELL YES! I admit I am a cheap prick bastard and pass the saving on to you!
Now that I have all that off my chest, a word of sincere thanks to all who have come to our aid. Watching the numbers go up for a change has not only helped us over the hump financially, but has lifted our spirits. It has been a gloomy and stress filled time since Covid hit. We have all felt like we were trapped and forgotten, and to see the REAL MONEY all of you have given and the encouraging words in this forum has returned a bit of our sanity. I thank you. The staff thanks you, and PORANGE THANKS YOU!