Coin Operated Collector's Association (COCA)

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Coin Operated Collector's Association (COCA)

Postby Ric Gandy » Wed Apr 13, 2005 5:26 am

Up until now, the word of this forum has spread pretty much by word of mouth. It appears obvious, to me anyway, that for whatever reason the current group of COCA officers, all elected volunteers, do not want anything like this forum to infringe upon or take away from whatever they think they are doing with the club. I think current information and being able to communicate with other coin op enthusiasts in a timely and efficient manner is a good thing.

There are currently about 635 members of COCA worldwide. There are 102 subscribers to this forum. So there is room for improvement. I think it is time that we generated a little forum membership drive. If one or more of the current COCA leadership doesn't like it, the hell with them. I appreciate the fact that they are volunteers, but it is not their club, it is the member's club. Maybe the new group of officers will have sense enough to listen to their members and do things which improve the club and don't hold it back.

I tried to send the following email out to all of the COCA members last fall. A lot of members did not get it for a variety of different reasons. I asked the current COCA President to put out the word in a mass email which he is capable of doing and he refused. So I am going to try a different approach. I am going to ask all of the forum subscribers to forward my email or the word of this forum on to at least 5 other coin op friends. The more people who know about this forum and use it the better.

What follows is the email I sent out last fall:

Up until now, there has been no quick or easy way for COCA members and/or other coin op enthusiasts to communicate with each other as a group.

If you had something you wanted to sell, you could put an ad in the COCA Times and wait for the next issue to come out, you could haul whatever it is to Chicago or one of the other shows, you could put it on eBay, or do whatever you have been doing. But if you are looking for a part or want to buy a particular machine, eBay won't let you run a "want ad" and not everyone can go to the shows. So you are back to putting an ad in the Times or Gameroom or The Antique Trader or you could take out the COCA membership list and start emailing the members one at a time. Not very efficient to say the least.

One enterprising COCA member paid his teenage son to load up all the other member's email addresses and fix it so he could email all of the members at the same time. Better, but some people don't like to receive "unsolicited" emails and there is no need to bother someone who is only into slot machines or trade stimulators if you are looking for a part for a jukebox or old pinball machine.

Well now Dave Burritt, Vintage Slots of Colorado, has created a coin op forum which could provide a new resource we can all use. You can check out the forum for yourself at www.IBuyOldSlots.com/forum I have listed the current forum categories below, but I am sure that Dave can add more is there is a need for them.

What is different about this forum is that it can be automatic if you want it to be. Registration is currently open to anyone who wants to join and it is free. Once you register, you can sign up for as many of the different forum categories as you want to AND you can receive an email each time anything is posted in that category if you want one. I think this is great. You don't have to wait for some want ad to come out in a magazine or post something to some chat room and hope that someone sees it. You can post a "Can anyone tell me where I can find a ........" or "Can anyone tell me how to ......." or "I have the following parts if anyone needs them ....", etc., etc., you are only limited by your imagination, and everyone in that forum category who has asked for one will receive an email with the new posting. There is no filter process. Everyone gets the same email at the same time. Think about it. There is nothing like this out there now that I am aware of.

We all owe Dick Bueschel a debt of gratitude for doing the research and writing the books. We may all owe Dave a similar debt of gratitude for coming up with the way we may all communicate with each other one day.

Up until now, news of the forum has been by word of mouth. This email is for all of you who aren't in the loop. Ric Gandy
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Postby Dave » Wed Apr 13, 2005 8:49 am

Ric:

Hopefully, COCA discussed this forum at their meeting in Chicago, along with my offer about providing the capability of sending mail to all COCA members.

The show got over on Sunday and given the weather issues on Sunday along with the fact that the COCA board members are probably swampped dealing with other things (I know I am after I leave for a couple of days) I assume that none of them have simply had time to respond to my offer.

I really hope to hear something in the next week or so (just a simple yes or no will do).

However, if members of this forum want to help get the word out about the forum (e.g., mail 5 other interested people) then that is perfectly fine with me :mrgreen:.

Thanks

Dave
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Postby Nations Attic » Wed Apr 13, 2005 9:40 am

I don't recall one thing being mentioned about this forum at the meeting. They did however mention the "terrible spam emails" sent out to members on the last list. That is why no email address are listed in the latest directory.

Personally it is my sincere interest not to offend anyone with an unsolicited email. At the same time I feel people who collect vintage slot machines would love to know about machines for sale. I have had many people thank me for putting them on my email contact list. I also make it very easy for them to be taken off that list as well.

I really was a bit uncomfortable after the meeting because I have sent a few emails out to people in COCA who specifically buy and sell slot machines. While they did not mention names, I was not going to stand up and announce to everyone that I may have sent them 2-3 emails in the last year. The message I got was that COCA members should only be contacted if you are driving through their state or want to give them a call. May be I was taking it way to personally, but that's want I got out of it.

I just feel members of any club want to hear from others about what is going on in the market or what is for sale. Being able to discuss things with other members at any time is fantastic! That is what makes this forum so great. If members don’t want to hear from others, it should be made easy for them not to.

I think COCA is a good organization and it has its niche. It may not have the resources or desire to provide or pick up an internet based forum like this right now. If that is the case I don't see a problem with COCA doing their own thing and this forum taking on a life of its own. I think if both continue to grow that is only a plus for the hobby as whole.

Don Creekmore

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Postby watlingboy » Wed Apr 13, 2005 9:48 am

Don,

Be more specific. The "terrible spam e-mails", were they coin machine related, i.e. machines for sale or were they for things unrelated to coin op collecting. I personally know of no one in this hobby who would be offended by seeing machines for sale or some other related news. Everyone wants to know what is for sale and look at pictures whether they are buying at that moment or not. I don't get it.

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Postby Dave » Wed Apr 13, 2005 9:54 am

Don:

Thanks for the information. Did they give any examples of the "terrible spam" that was sent out?

I sure don't recall getting any. If I did get an email that was coin op related I would probably be interested in it so I would not consider it spam.

If I am one of the persons you sent an email to about machines for sale or wanted or anything else that is coin-op related then please continue doing so.

If COCA does want me to provide the ability for people to send Bulk Email out then it would be enabled in a manner so that they could opt'out of getting future emails. In addition, the email list would be private so no one could get it.

How many people attended the COCA meeting? How was the show? Any unusual stuff show up? Any word from dealers regarding the show (happy, unhappy, etc.)?

Thanks

Dave
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Postby Dave » Wed Apr 13, 2005 9:56 am

Just out of curiosity, does COCA take meeting minutes at their meetings and if so is there any way to get them?

I would be interested in knowing what was discussed.

Perhaps someone could post them on this forum (if they exist).
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Postby Ric Gandy » Wed Apr 13, 2005 10:00 am

Don't contact them unless you are driving through their state and want to try and call them on the phone??? I don't know who came up with that, but it is ridiculous. I guess this is the same person or group that thinks we should be faxing each other. The problem seems pretty obvious to me. There are 635 COCA members. Not everyone has the time or can afford to be out driving from state to state or going to Chicago or going to conventions in Cleveland or Los Angeles. There ought to be a convenient and practical way for all 635 members to be able to communicate with one another without having to hang around the COCA desk in Chicago or go to some convention. Once the members get the word that there is a forum, if they choose not to monitor it or participate in it, that is their business. But they have a right to know about it. If they don't want to get emails, they don't have to sign up for emails. It is really pretty simple.
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Postby Nations Attic » Wed Apr 13, 2005 10:04 am

All they specifically mentioned at the meeting was getting emails about asking for parts and that "we" don't want all that in our inbox. That's why I was a bit surprised that the we the COCA members don't want those type of emails. I hate spam about diet pills and such, but if I can help someone with a parts issue, sounds like a good email to me!

Dave and Watlingboy or anyone else, if you would like to be added to my email list - I have anywhere from 2-20 machines for sale at any one time. Contact me direct at slots@nationsattic.com and I will add you in.

I promise I won't try to sell you diet pills or let you in on a way to make a quick million dollars from a former Nigerian prince who needs to hide his money in your US bank account. haha

Don Creekmore

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Postby Ric Gandy » Wed Apr 13, 2005 10:13 am

It should be fairly clear to anyone who has been following this, that those in the loop simply don't want the rest of us to know what is going on. The business about "terrible spam emails" is just a bunch of BS. No point in dancing around it. It is what it is. There are no minutes of the meetings. Even if there is, my guess is that the braintrust would say that the rest of the members don't have the right or need to read them. We don't need to know what is going on. Hell, if you want to know what was discussed at the meeting, you are suppose to attend the meeting. How do the officers for this association get elected anyway? I have never received anything from COCA saying who is running for what, much less been given the opportunity to vote on them. I guess if you want to know who is nominated for what and want to vote on them, you are suppose to go to Chicag. What about the members who can't go to Chicago? What happens to them?
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Postby watlingboy » Wed Apr 13, 2005 10:56 am

The small ACMCA club here in California even has minutes which contains the treasurers report, old business, new business and any announcements and this is all printed in the quarterly newsletter. Where do those people who don't want the "Parts Wanted" e-mails get their parts. If you own enough machines or are in this long enough you are going to need something. This web site will be in our next news letter.

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