Software & Hardware MUST HAVES – It ALL Depends on the Type of Venue.

Most operators may not know this, but for over 30 years LASERTRON has been utilizing its own in-house developed software to Manage, Operate, Market, and Sell all that we do.

We call our software Center Manager Pro.

Is LASERTRON’s Center Manager Pro any good? 

Yes, it is very good and probably the best, but only for our very specific type of out-of-home entertainment venue. It’s also the best because we received a lot of input from about three dozen Owner/Operators who also use our Center Manager Pro system. There was also another very important person who provided us with a LOT of feedback.

Let me provide some context,

Our first LASERTRON venue opened in Buffalo, New York on December 28th, 1988. During 36+ years of operating, we learned a lot from a wide variety of people in our industry. With that being said, I have personally learned more from one individual than anyone else and this person is Neil Hupfauer.

What did I learn?

I learned all about the big nuggets that mattered most to managing and operating a business and more specifically an out-of-home entertainment venue. I also learned about the medium nuggets, the tiny nuggets, and even the dust nuggets. It’s important to point out that Neil was just as concerned about the dust nuggets as the big nuggets.

Neil is smart, methodical, extremely persistent, never stops asking questions, always assumes he’s missing something important (i.e. a wise person), is often dead right about the topic being discussed, but not always (probably only 99.999% right). And finally, a true pain in the butt! 

The pain in the butt part is closely connected to being right 99.999% of the time. Oh, and did I mention that he is never shy about telling me how I am partly or totally wrong about A, B, C… X, Y, and Z? While this was kind of irritating, I also knew his feedback was what we needed to hear – especially if we wanted to create software that truly helped us to manage all the complexities of operating an entertainment venue. 

It’s important to note that Neil was always available to discuss the software tools that were needed and the best ways to integrate them to enable our entertainment venues to be managed and operated at a higher and higher level.

One of the core things Neil and I talked about was the operational software and hardware that didn’t exist or wasn’t fully integrated with the other required software applications. 

Over the last 7 years we mostly talked about the software and hardware that was needed to manage, operate, market, and promote our venues – especially ones that had multiple types of Social Gaming experiences and focused on fast casual food and beverage service. 

We both understood that there was NOT a good turnkey solution. 

During and after every discussion about the “Must-Haves”, I kept track of what he wanted for his venue and added it to our wishlist of software development projects. Our tiny software team just kept plugging away at developing all the software and hardware we believed we needed and tested it out in our Buffalo and Rochester, New York venues.

It’s important to note that we haven’t made much of an effort to sell our management and operating software, but over the years the number of clients’ venues who use our Center Manager Pro (CMP) has risen to almost three dozen. 

Center Manager Pro Transformation 

Over the last 10+ years, our Center Manager Pro has gone through a dramatic transformation. In fact, about 5 years ago, we finally integrated all the big must-haves. This is when we shifted our focus to digging deeper into the nitty gritty of optimizing all the pieces and getting them to work together more effectively. This is also where we expected to get the most important management, operational, marketing, and sales benefits – ones that would significantly improve our guests’ interactions before, during, and after their visits to our venues. We believed these benefits would ultimately lead to more frequent visits and stronger profits.