by Jack Guarnieri, PinballSales.com & ShuffleAlley.com

Summer Help Wanted

I know in my hometown of Jackson, N.J., that big amusement park just up the road always needs help, and summer is their busy season. Down the Jersey Shore it's the same thing. Luckily with high school and college kids looking for jobs, most of the temporary positions get filled. The problem is that the kids want to have a summer too. By mid-August many of these summer workers have enough pocket money, and they leave to have fun for a few weeks before school starts again.

Have you thought about adding any help for the summer? It's July already, and half of 2006 is over; time flies. Did you ever have a summer job, and, if so, how did it impact you in later years?

In my first summer job, I was 13 years old working as an athletic director for sub-teen boys at the Brook Sun & Swim Club in Brooklyn (where else?), and I was paid $500 for the season. I also received a free membership to the club. I was responsible for planning at least three activities every week day for about 100 active boys. That taught me responsibility, patience, planning and not to take that job again.

The next summer at 14 years old, I rode the Canarsie Line subway from the first stop to the last at 8th Avenue and 14th Street in New York City - that's Manhattan to many of you. I worked at a sportswear company. I basically did what I was told. I packed and counted shirts and other sportswear that were fall samples and sent them to stores around the country. It helped me learn more responsibility. It helped me become more independent, and I learned how to do many things. I worked that job for the next summer too.

At 16, I went back to the swim club but this time as a lifeguard. They had a huge Olympic-sized pool along with a kiddy pool. That was a great job. Fun, sun and every lifeguard had a fan following. It was great! That taught me more patience, responsibility, diplomacy and that if you did something you loved, it was not work. I did that the following summer too. Then I answered an ad for a "pinball mechanic," and the rest is another story.

So, did you hire any summer help? You may have a shop full of machines that need to be cleaned. Is some of the equipment on your route looking tired and in need of being cleaned too? Maybe games need new control panel overlays, buttons and joysticks, trackballs that need to be replaced and marquee bulbs? How about the inside of every game? When was the last time you vacuumed the dust out of every fan, motor and monitor chassis of every game on your route? That dust is a killer of power supplies and monitors especially.

Those pinball machines need to be cleaned, re-rubbered and have burned-out bulbs replaced. How about your jukeboxes? Install a View kit in an old CD jukebox, and you may be surprised at the result. Maybe it's time to do some cleaning for the upcoming holiday equipment sale? If your summer employee is tech savvy, perhaps he can help you with your website or mailing list. How about selling off some of the stuff you don't need anymore? That college or high school student can take pictures of the stuff you don't need and list it all on eBay. Make it interesting, and give them a small piece of the action.

Try not to pile all of the jobs nobody else wants to do on that summer worker. Instead, try to teach responsibility, patience, trust and an appreciation for a job well done. Maybe you can teach a skill that can be used later by that person. Remember that you are providing another life experience at an impressionable time for that person to learn from and keep long term. Help make it a good experience.

Adding a summer employee is a great way to introduce another worker to our industry. You never know, that person may be a keeper. As Nat King Cole sings, roll out those lazy crazy hazy days of summer; it goes too fast so spend some time enjoying yourself.

Jack Guarnieri started servicing electro-mechanical pinball machines in 1975 and has been involved in every phase of the coin-op game business since then. He operated a substantial game route in Brooklyn, N.Y., developed amusement centers and was called in as a consultant to manage Mondial Distributing and State Sales in New Jersey. In 1999, he founded PinballSales.com to sell coin-op to the home market. In 2002, he founded ShuffleAlley.com and released the Parker Bohn III Pro Bowler game, reviving the shuffle alley. His positive attitude, honest insights and opinions have made him a popular figure in the trade. While managing and growing his businesses, he still consults inside and outside the industry, and his marketing, promotional and business management expertise are widely sought. He's very active in his church, community and charitable causes as well. You can learn more at his websites (www.PinballSales.com and www.ShuffleAlley.com) or by phoning him at 866/323-JACK. Email is Jack@Pinballsales.com.

© All contents of this page and the entire RePlay Magazine website at http://www.replaymag.com and http://www.replaymagazine.com Copyright 2006 RePlay Magazine. All rights reserved.