Day Four of the 2009 NAMM Show

Day four of the 2009 NAMM Show brought music products professionals to the Anaheim Convention Center for one final day of meetings, networking, education and music.

The NAMM University Breakfast Session began with music from the Las Vegas Guitar Academy, a group funded by the Guitar and Accessories Marketing Association, which is one of the NAMM Foundation’s grantees. In addition, this year's Wanna Play? Awards, recognizing non-musical companies using music in their advertising, were announced. Awards were given to the California Milk Processor Board for its “White Gold” television ad, AT&T for its “Team USA Soundtrack” print ad, freecreditreport.com for its “New Job” television ad, Fruit of the Loom for its “Daddy was the Apple of My Eye” ad featuring Fruit Guys and Vince Gill, and Virgin America for its “Everyone Needs an Outlet” campaign.

Many attendees caught the final NAMM University Breakfast Session to find out the show's must-see products selected by the panel. “Best in Show—This Year's Hottest Products” was moderated by Frank Alkyer and featured panelists Greg Billings, Ted Eschliman, Alan Friedman, Pete Gamber, Zach Phillips, Liane Rockley Pieffer and Victor
Salazar. Top products included an amp, drum pedal, harpsichord, trumpet and guitar.

Prior to show opening, the lobby was filled with the music of Accordion Palooza, as another day of live performances began throughout the convention center.

NAMM University hosted its final sessions in the NAMM Idea Center, with a special focus on e-commerce and Web topics, as well as four sessions created specifically for Music Education Day. The day included a breakfast reception and networking opportunities for regional music teachers.

On the show floor, buyers visited booths for a final look at the newest products from more than 1,500 exhibitors.


“NAMM University is the whole reason why I come to the NAMM Show,” said Anne Marie Wolfe of Geauga Music Center, Chardon, Ohio. “The retail part is important to me. My degrees are in music—I’m not a business person—and I've been learning so much about accounting aspects and selling and all of that. We run around to the booths in-between sessions, and I look for products for my students. Our store pretty much started for the purpose of music lessons, and there's always something new on the show floor.”

Many exhibitors were optimistic for the year, based on buyer response to new products and show floor traffic.

“We've been very pleased with the attendance from our dealers—it's exceeded our expectations,” said Randy Huey of Antigua Winds, San Antonio, Texas. “It's been the most active booth we've had in the seven years I've been with them. The black nickel trumpet was just introduced this year—we appreciated the honor of it being acknowledged in ‘Best in Show.' The awareness was great, and we got a very good response from our dealers.”

A special lobby performance by the Mariachi Divas, who were recently nominated for a GRAMMY Award, brought the 2009 NAMM Show to a close.

NAMM will bring the industry together again for 2009 Summer NAMM, July 17–19, in Nashville, Tenn. For more information and news updates about the 2009 NAMM Show, interested parties may visit www.namm.org/thenammshow; log on to www.namm.org/summer for 2009 Summer NAMM show information.