Having just returned from AMOA's annual budgeting session and a less-frequently conducted Long Range Planning meeting, it underscored the value of dedicating time to think about, discuss, brainstorm, debate and contemplate the current and future environment.

There was considerable pandiculation (the act of stretching oneself) during our gathering in Nashville, Tenn., as AMOA leaders abandoned the status quo to consider ways to enhance membership, leadership, the show, programs and finances.

While the budget recommendations crafted this week will most definitely influence and guide association decisions in 2012, the impact and role of the many ideas that surfaced during the strategic Long Range Planning session remain to be seen.

Like your businesses, AMOA is a work-in-progress — one that has spanned more than 63 years. While the issues change and evolve, the mission remains the same: To serve the interests and needs of the operator segment of the trade.

Point is, we all get caught up in the present — responding and reacting to the world around us. Every once in a while, it's necessary and good to stretch, imagine and question. The group mind-pandiculation exercise in Nashville served as a good reminder of that.

The Hesch booth at the 2012 AAMA-AMOA Amusement Expo will have some added "bling" when a 2012 Ford Mustang will be the marquee prize on display as part of the annual fundraising raffle during the March 14-16 show in Las Vegas.

"Since 1964, when the Mustang was first revealed at the New York World's Fair, the Mustang has been an icon in the U.S. auto industry and our culture," Expo Hesch Program Committee Chair Tony Paszkiewicz said. "In our industry, the Wayne Hesch Scholarship Program has also been a fixture at our trade show since the program started 26 years ago, so putting together these two highly-admired brands — Hesch and the Mustang — seemed like a natural fit. We're excited about the prospects for our raffle program at Expo next year."

Sales for the 2012 raffle program at Expo are just underway. In addition to the Mustang, there are many prizes — mostly industry equipment and services donated by industry exhibitors and other participants — as part of the daily drawings conducted in the afternoon on each day of the show. The Mustang will be the final prize to be awarded as part of the 2012 Hesch scholarship raffle.

At the 2011 show this past March, more than $74,000 was raised in conjunction with the raffle program. A 2011 Chevy Malibu was featured as the grand prize — won by AMOA Past President R.A. Green of Rosemary Coin, Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Started in 1985 and named in memory of the late Wayne E. Hesch, who served as AMOA President in 1979, the scholarship program is conducted under the auspices of the AMOA Coin-Op Cares Education and Charitable Foundation.

Each year, the program awards about $50,000 in scholarships — in $1,000 increments — to college students, most of whom are connected through employment and/or family to the coin-op industry. Since inception, more than $1 million in scholarships has been awarded.

For more information about the program, or how to purchase tickets, please contact Jamie Griffiths at AMOA. She can be reached by phone at 800-937-2662 or via email at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Exhibits ... check. New equipment ... check. Education ... check. Networking ... check. Coin-Op Community ... check. Sun, fun, food, shows, casinos ... check, check, double-check.

With the exception of the weather, we can guarantee everything on this trade show checklist will be found in ample supply at the March 14-16, 2012 AAMA-AMOA Amusement Expo in Las Vegas.

Our goal is to accommodate all the items on your Expo wish list, too. The Education, Marketing, Charitable Programs planning groups, as well as the Show Committee, AAMA and AMOA staffs, show management and Expo Board of Directors are all working to make it the best business trip you make in 2012. The theme of the show is: Your Keys to Real Value, and between now and next March, you'll be hearing and reading much about ways the show will deliver "real value" to you.

So, we'll plan the menu, whet your appetite a bit and even set the table for your annual industry banquet. All you need to do is come to the feast, hungry for ideas, information and interaction. There will be plenty to go 'round.

If you haven't started making plans to attend the 2012 Amusement Expo, now is the time. For details, visit the show's official website: www.amusementexpo.org for details.