pucho812 said:
The thing with NAMM is you had to be a member or given a badge by a member and or exhibitor to get in. A few things in the last few years or as far back as I know on namm is they do an open to the public day and getting badges, is quite easy these days.
They copied that from Frankfurt musik messe, who had a consumer day on the last day of the show.... They raise extra money from selling attendance to the public, and many manufacturers sell off their show stock at end of the show. Most years we were sent home from Frankfurt a day early and local German reps worked the last day. The one year I worked a public day I repeated "I don't understand German" too many times to count.
2018 in Anaheim will be a combo of namm + AES. A new hing they are trying out.
I vaguely recall AES doing a show in Anaheim (disneyland hotel?) one year... It's all about the benjamins and they raise revenue from renting booth space at these shows.
For those working the show, you really got to be ready to deal with all of the folks.
At NAMM the "civiliams" were usually pretty easy to pick out... by the questions they asked. They were constantly trying to find out the dealer price on SKUs and it was amusing to tell them the list price and whether it was an "A" mark or "B" mark, because they had no idea what "mark" meant. ;D
I have a namm Kit I always take with me, it includes minor toiletries so I can be fresh as needed, snacks so I can avoid the greasy food, basic meds for throat and pain, ear plugs and drinks to say hydrated and caffeinated.
we would have a small kitchen upstairs in the office area, but we would have to leave the booth to pee....
Despite working the show some 20 years now,
I have been avoiding trade shows for almost 20 years now... 8)
I still loose my voice but with the kit, it is not as bad. The kit keeps me from getting the nammthrax(cold and other common sicknesses) and help maintain some level od healthy.
My main trade show problem was from constantly standing. After several days I would find blood pooling in my ankles. I had one really painful flight back from Germany when I wasn't able to put my feet up. :'( Doctor told me it was caused by varicose veins in my legs, and I needed to wear compression stockings. I discovered that if I got up early and ran a few miles in the morning, the blood would behave stay where it belongs.
I have had my share of run ins with famous folks and non famous alike. There comes to a point that it is all a blur.
About the only thing I miss, it seeing industry friends and sharing jokes. After the show sitting in some hotel bar, we would start telling jokes, and every joke you hear reminds you of another old one you forgot... A good way to make the hours go by.
As for the eye candy at booths, it usually happens in instrument land and DJ land. Most audio companies do no participate in that from what I have seen.
We brought our own home grown talent. Sales girls from MS would work the booth, and dealers would love to hear their accents and talk with our pretty southern belles. Not one of them was an aging stripper. :
Then again I don't leave the booth much, heaven forbid they let me out of my cage.
Yup, I would have to make an effort to walk the show on sunday, after all the serious dealers had already returned home so there was little business going on. Over the course of the show, reps and dealers would bring me literature and tell me what new products I needed to check out. One year I used a disguise and carried some drumsticks with me. Surprisingly it worked in a few booths, but most of the majors knew who I was, or were reflexively unfriendly to anyone wearing a red Peavey badge.
JR
PS: Years when we had some major talent performing in the booth, it was remarkable how many people wanted to get in....Best performance I remember was Z (Frank's kid's band). Some great musicianship and fun music. EVH probably drew the biggest crowd. I would have a separate sound room adjacent to the performance space, with a recording console and a split from the stage mics, so I could roll my own mix, and had the best seat in the house, without all the excessive SPL. 8)
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