Is NAMM still worth going to?

[SalsaWood]

I'd go to tell Ibanez to make another prestige 7 saber. Just to give 'em a bit of the crazy eye, ya know.

Then probably party and marry a stripper or something, idk. It's Vegas, baby.

 

[Emperor Guillotine]

If OP wants to go, he should go. If it were me flying out to sunny California, I wouldn't necessarily build the trip around attending an indoor convention; maybe just do a day so if it's lame not all is lost.

Clearly you have not been to California recently... Or seen any of the news regarding that state's current weather catastrophe...

We didn’t even talk about the food at the Expo center, which is about 5 levels below 7-11‘s offerings.

Man, this triggers some memories. Whenever I went to NAMM, I would just eat a big breakfast at the hotel I was staying at so that I wouldn't feel hungry at all while on the show floor all day.

No one should be paying $12-$15 for something that looks like it was pulled out of a septic tank, deep-fried, and then simply tossed in one of those little, disposable, red-and-white-checkered, paperboard food tray things.

Also, no one should be paying for $12-$15 for what looks like a pre-made hoagie that two homeless guys were using to duel to the death in a 7-Eleven parking lot via turn-based rectal insertion to see who would win the sandwich.

No mention of Nammthrax yet? So many people say it's the sickest they have ever been in their lives.

It's because so many attendees are walking around the NAMM show floor, touching gear constantly, and shaking hands constantly. Usually doing so after taking a piss and not washing their hands. Oftentimes, you'll see attendees do exactly that and then go proceed to handle a $10K custom piece on display at a booth.

Also, many attendees are trying to find an AR rep for a brand that they love so that they can shove a finger up that AR rep's ass in hopes that a free (or discounted) piece of gear will be given in exchange. And then afterwards they proceed to go shake some other people's hands.

It used to be great, really, but I speak as someone doing demos and jams and whatnot, which will obviously color my perception of the event. It was absolutely exhausting due to the rather rough and incredibly fun evenings with friends and colleagues (things such as "just this one beer" or "let's get a night cap and get some rest" are 100% a lie) in addition to the rather noisy nature of the show and the walking around, but well worth it.

I remember running into you in-person one year, Fred. Glad to see that you're still around, man!

I used to get excited eons ago when I could go as an industry employee, but mostly just to look at gear I'd never end up buying. There's been some cool stuff over the years, and if you've never been it might be worth one trip. But I'm comfortable watching the release clips of gear, or seeing if these companies can actually get production back up to where it should be. By the time NAMM starts, we'll be a year+ since announced gear has never been released.

I'm totally cool with website announcements and also for them to come within 1 month of actual availability. I don't have interest if I can't even buy the gear.

At this point, with our rapid advancement of social media platforms and content presentation, social media posts and YouTube videos have replaced the need to go to NAMM. Nowadays, anyone can get inside scoops on gear releases right when new gear is announced, or sometimes even before it is formally announced. And the word travels fast.

The days of having to attend NAMM for "sneak peeks" and "industry insiders" are over. The days of traveling out to NAMM to see something unique or exclusive to the particular trade (whether audio engineering, production, sound design, pro audio systems, live venue sound, home theater sound, etc.) are over. The days of doing dealings for distribution and contract negotiations on the floor (or doing the negotiations after hours) are over.

The only reason NAMM still exists is because it has been around so long that it has established itself as a "tradition" for the industry at this point, even though it is no longer necessary. In keeping with the "tradition", NAMM grants companies and brands a potential mass amount of exposure to hawk their products and showcase what they as a company offer. However, in doing so, the trade show itself ultimately amounts to simply being a large profit-generating machine for the NAMM organization.

I was actually involved in an online discussion a few weeks ago about GDC (Game Developer's Conference) and other similar conventions and trade shows; and I ended up comparing GDC to NAMM. The discussion centered around the topic of how these large trade shows are losing relevancy due to the mass amount of excessive money-grubbing practices exhibited by the organizations that coordinate and host the events, as these organizations (like the NAMM organization) have turned the trade shows into literally just tourist events akin to a museum or a carnival funhouse walkthrough that literally anyone can simply walk into, whether they actually have anything to do with the industry or not.

In regards to NAMM, at this point, a homeless guy could simply grab a day-badge, waltz into the convention center, literally take a shit in the middle of the NAMM show floor, and then make his merry way out of the convention center with zero questions asked whatsoever.

I passed up an opportunity to go years ago and regret it so I say go. All the negative stuff here may be (and probably is) true, but it's also an excuse to take a trip to another city on your birthday. If you don't enjoy the show there's a ton of other stuff to do in the general area.

Consider the fact that the "negative stuff" (as you say it) presented thus far in this thread has come from members who are:
- brand reps and floor workers
- volunteers
- audio engineers
- professional musicians
- amateur hobbyist musicians who have a connection to a brand and thus received an invite to attend

This isn't just us trashing NAMM for the heck of it. Nor is it one particular group/type of people rallying against NAMM by saying all of this "negative stuff". We are simply sharing what appears to be an overall ubiquitous experience when it comes to remembering our past attendance(s) at NAMM.

Then probably party and marry a stripper or something, idk. It's Vegas, baby.

Well, no... It's Anaheim in Orange County, which is about 40-45 minutes south of Los Angeles. It's nowhere near Las Vegas.

The party scene doesn't exist in Orange County since Orange County is like the West Coast's version of Long Island.

 

[SalsaWood]

40-45 minutes south of Los Angeles

Gonna put that in the dealbreaker thread.

 

[Emperor Guillotine]

Gonna put that in the dealbreaker thread.

 

[RevDrucifer]

Our trip actually worked out perfectly for seeing L.A., we only went to NAMM all day Fri/Sat, by Sunday we had enough, there’s only so many times you can see the same booths over and over and whatever friends we had there were gone.

My buddy’s band was opening for Michael Angelo Batio at the Whiskey that night so we just spent the day in L.A. doing touristy stuff and almost dying coming down those crazy ass steep hills. Partied at the Whiskey and pounded a shitload of In ’N Out after, my L.A. experience was complete in 1 day!

 

[penguin_316]

If you have a lot of friends/internet buddies who will also be there, yes, absolutely worth it.

If not, fuck that x10.

I say that as someone who wanted to go to NAMM for about 15 years before I actually go to go. Desperately wanted to go. I finally went in 2011 and it was a great weekend but when I left I felt like I had experienced all that NAMM has to offer for a while and have passed on tickets ever since.

I can’t imagine what that place will be like now with YouTubers in the picture. It was already a nightmare walking around that place in ‘11 with the huge lines of people there just to get autographs and pics of rockstars. If rockstars/famous people are of no interest to you and you’re there for the gear, it gets old, FAST.

The funnest parts of it for me were all the things that happened just because NAMM was happening; all the interactions with my internet buds, the random friendships that occur when running into the same people at the same place, the Dean NAMM Jam, getting to talk to some musicians on a more casual level, all the shows that pop up around NAMM because so many people are in town, etc.

I’m definitely anxious to see what it’s going to look like this year as I know a lot of companies who used to be features there won’t be there this year. Dave Friedman bailing on NAMM is a big one because his booths were always killer, but Fender and Gibson are going to be the big guys to see what they do. They used to take out entire floors and I don’t think they’re going to continue doing it, since Fender had higher sales during the pandemic without the need for NAMM at all and every company took notice of that.

This is specifically why I have never gone. Pretty sure it will be a massive let down. I was still considering going around 2020. But you know, stuff happened…

I’m still curious, maybe I’ll still go someday.