Wilcox Arcade Meet-and-Greet at Murray State University

Meet me — Dustin Wilcox, owner of Wilcox Arcade — at Murray State University next week.

To be more specific, I rented a fold-out table on the second-floor concourse of the Curris Center, where I’ll be disseminating information about my route of arcade games in western Kentucky.

On Tuesday, April 8th, from around 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. CST, you can stop by to learn all about my little enterprise and to sign up for my email list. Stuff like this is important to me so I can interact in real life with the people who actually play my games. (Running machines remotely means I don’t often see…well, anyone.)

This is an idea over which I’d been ruminating for some time now. My friend Cade Utterback, the face behind the Team Fleeg social media accounts, first clued me into Curris Center tabling when he was kicking around the idea for his own business.

For several weeks after that, I patiently waited for the “right” opportunity to strike. I aimed to have the best decorations, or to hand out the most exciting incentives, or for it to coincide with a game launch – until I realized such an opportunity likely wouldn’t arise too soon.

Why, you may ask? That’s chiefly because I’ve relinquished remote work as far as my day job is concerned. What once would’ve entailed me simply bringing my laptop to Murray will soon necessitate me calling off work entirely. Even if I willingly chose this career transition, I can’t deny the perceptible extent to which it may impact Wilcox Arcade.

I strove to take advantage of my fleeting work conditions with one final hurrah – ideally one that would help me reach my intended audience. In other words, I’m just gonna do it while I still can, whether I feel “ready” or not.

Long-time readers will know I’ve been acutely interested in appealing to people my age ever since I started at 15 years old. While teenaged patrons have remained ever-relevant to me, I now work just as hard to target young adults, as well. The end goal is to rebuild the strong gaming culture that once existed within arcades.

But hey, I’m getting a little sidetracked with my diatribe here. All in all, I sincerely hope you’ll convene with Wilcox Arcade at the Curris Center next Tuesday, April 8th. Your support, like I’ve said before, means everything to me.

Plus, it’s sure to be a blast – but if you can’t be there in the flesh, please consider following me on TikTok instead. I stay real up-to-date on that particular platform.