First-Ever Incredible Technologies Operator Summit
Incredible Technologies held their first-ever Operator Summit at Indian Lakes Resort in Bloomingdale, Illinois on June 5 - 6. Over 130 operators attended the event, which included a golf outing, product and services seminars, and a closing dinner. At the conclusion of the Summit, the attendees were asked to fill out a survey to evaluate whether they thought the event was valuable. Of the operators who filled out the survey, 100% of them said they would attend the next Operator Summit. When asked to rank on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the highest) how valuable and informative the Summit was, 87% ranked it at an 8 or higher. The operators were also asked to list the top 3 programs they would use after the summit. The leading categories were Golden Tee CPR II Contests and Promotions, Big Buck Hunter CPR II Contests and Promotions, and Online Services. "This is not surprising," said Don Pesceone, IT's director of sales. "The operators who attended saw first-hand how these free tools can make them more money. They saw how easy they are to use and heard success stories from other operators. It just follows that they will take this information home and use it."
Comments from operators further proved the value of the Summit: "Very helpful to someone who was not familiar with the process of running contests/promos. I will begin Monday morning to start my contests..." "Well worth the time spent, not only with the IT folks but other operators as well. A lot of great ideas were shared..." "Seminars were excellent. Also, networking with other operators helped to generate new ideas..."
"We are extremely gratified that our operators found value in our presentations," said Elaine Hodgson, CEO of Incredible Technologies. "We feel allocating dollars to demonstrate our products and services directly to operators is better spent than exhibiting at two industry trade shows. The Summit gave us the opportunity to connect with operators in a way that just isn't possible at a trade show. Based on the success of this year's summit we're hoping to make this an annual event," she concluded.
A CD containing all of the information from the seminars, as well as photos from the event will be sent to operators who attended the Summit. A limited supply of CDs will also be made available to operators who did not attend the Summit. For more information on how to obtain a CD, contact your IT sales rep or call Incredible Technologies at 847-870-7027.
At the closing dinner Friday night, IT honored their top operators. Named Operator of the Year was Christian Vara of Melo-Tone Vending (Pictured wearing his leather bomber jacket, signifying membership in the exclusive Golden Tee Society, with the Incredible Technologies Operator of the Year trophy and Jack Kerner, Melo-Tone's president.) Melo-Tone has been very successful this past year running both Golden Tee and Big Buck Hunter II contests and promotions.
There were also 11 Operator of the Year finalists. They are: Lee Prantl, Pride Vending Company; Steve Fisher, DataScore; Jason Rubin, A.J. Video Amusements; Bobby Perniola, Commonwealth Vending; Alan Persan, Paramount Vending; Steve Bodenstein, Game Exchange LLC; Matt Verdura, Full Spectrum Vending; Dean DiCarlo, Bell Music Company; Doug Diltz, Diltz & Sons; Chris Hesch, A.H. Entertainers Inc.; and Mark Levine, TD Rowe.
The Friday night festivities ended with a Golden Tee closest-to-the-pin contest. The contest was held using the new CTTP mode that's free on all Golden Tee Fore! 2004 games and updates. Gary (Mr. Hole-In-One) Lett of Just Darts took first place in the contest, winning $4,000 in IT Bucks, which can be redeemed for IT products at his local distributor. Dave Course of Union Music came in second winning $2,000 in IT Bucks, while Steve Dugas of Melo-Tone won $1,000 in IT Bucks for his third-place finish. Finishing 4th-10th, and winning $100 in IT Bucks were Tim Zahn of AmerAmuseArcade, Jim Bremer of Bremer Vending, Arthur Gage of Texas Music & Amusement, Dave Winfrey of Bullseye, Tom Millspaugh of C & L, Sal Lazuka of Automatic Amusements, and Pat Serger of Sugar Loaf.
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