Quoted from zpinman370:Well he did give himself an award for being a shill so I think that's a good connection, besides which the whole thing was sponsored by FnO - clever marketing - BUY BUY BUY
Ultimately ZPin I think everyone understands where you are coming from. And yes, I placed my business' logo at the beginning and end of the ceremony because the business truly sponsored this event. I'm sure Trophy Depot would not mind if someone buying a trophy for their next event was like, hey, I liked that Pinball Award show thingy, I'll give them a try. If you scroll up to the top of this Pinside website youll see the same thing, sponsors. Click on the tv, sponsors.
I can say that placing Flip N Out Pinball at the beginning and end wasn't some genius ploy to brainwash people into buying a pinball machine though. I dont need to defend this either because it's rather silly, but as my buddy Dennis Kriesel always reminds me, its about the data and the numbers. The data does not suggest, or has not yet, that anyone has called me since the event to place an order and said The Industry Awards sold me on this purchase. The other data indicates that Greg and I started producing and creating Awards prior to my ownership of Flip N Out Pinball, thus conflicting with the original suggestion of creation merely to make money. The last data point I'd ask you to consider is the cost of this event. Where does that money come from? I'd be more than happy to send you the bills if youd like to reimburse me and will gladly edit out the Flip N Out Pinball logo, hell I'll put a picture of you up in it's place.
The point is, that it's actually conceivable that less than 100% (as you are claiming) intention on the creation of The Pinball Industry Awards was done so without an attempt to make money. No evidence supports your claim. The TPN Team created this as a way to acknowledge the people we as media respect in the industry for their efforts in 2020....and yeah, maybe even have a little feeling of fun, teamwork, and accomplishment in the process. I'm not always the smartest businessperson, but at least I know that the time and money spent on this would have been much better allotted to actual sponsorship/advertising efforts for my business.
That's the last I will comment on the sponsors of The Pinball Industry Awards and I do very much appreciate your concern, although objectively proven false.
*Disclaimer: My mentioning of Flip N Out Pinball, LLC above was not an attempt to subliminally make you want to purchase a pinball product from us, but....BUY BUY BUY!!!!
Evansville, IN
