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Al Kress accepting his Lifetime Achievement award at Amusement Expo 2013.
The Amusement Expo is one of the bigger industry events where buyers and enthusiasts alike can meet, contribute and experience the best in amusement every year. It is also a time where the joint organizers, the American Amusement Machine Association (AAMA) and the Amusement and Music Operators Association (AMOA), can celebrate the most hard-working and innovative industry leaders in amusement.
The AAMA presented its 2012 industry awards during the Opening Ceremony of the Amusement Expo on March 20. They awarded 'Distributor of the Year' to Betson Enterprises for a third consecutive year, 'Manufacturer of the Year' went to Stern Pinball Inc., and 'Supplier of the Year' went to Suzo-Happ - also for a third consecutive year.
The AAMA also awarded the honor of 'Lifetime Achievement' to Al Kress, a world-renowned game manufacturer and past chairman of the association. Kress is a former equipment distributor in the Northeast who founded Hupoluxo and the Florida-based Benchmark Games with Ron Halliburton in 1993.
Also included in this years awards were two new titles for Family Entertainment Centers - a strong implication of the emerging importance of the FEC. The AAMA awarded the award for 'Best Renovated FEC' to Funplex (Mount Laurel, NJ and Hanover, NJ), and 'Best Overall FEC' went to Edison's Entertainment Complex (Edwardsville, IL).
The AMOA presented its coveted 'Innovator Awards' during the membership breakfast on March 21st, which recognizes products and technology that make meaningful contributions to locations and operators and convert investments into long term profits. Typically, the AMOA awards the top three companies, but history was made when they announced only a single winner - Canadian company Adrenaline Amusements won this highly esteemed award with their entry 'Black Out', a skill-based video game merchandiser that uses a transparent touch LCD.
The AMOA also presented Leadership awards to Gaines Butler of Metro Distributors (Norcross, GA), Phil Juckem of All Brands Vending (Tampa, FL)and Tony Paszkiewicz of Columbia Amusements (Baltimore). The association also honored Lloyd Williamson of Williamson's Amusements (Winona, MN) for his service on the associations board of directors. As AMOA president in 2007, Williamson spearheaded the initiative to merge the two amusement shows, working closely with Valley-Dynamo's Dave Courington, who was AAMA's chairman at the time.
Congratulations to all the award winners and honorees.
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