JOE LAMOND, PRESIDENT & CEO, NAMM SHOW

President & CEO, NAMM Show

Could you talk about the registrations for the show- 2020 vs 2019

One of the interesting things about The NAMM Show is that, as an association, it is our members that come to the show. So, from a registration and attendance standpoint, there is an allotment of badges that the members receive and then they decide who should attend. We can only accept about 115,000 registrations because of the facility we are in. We are confined by the space. It’s an interesting challenge for us to make sure that the right people come together.

Could you throw some light on the Education part of NAMM Show

To me, a gathering like the NAMM Show requires three essential elements. Like for fire, you need fuel, oxygen and ignition. So, in a similar way for a show like NAMM, we need:

New, exciting products. Roughly the entire show is about 1.8 million sq.ft of whole new products from exhibiting members, and these exciting products drive the industry forward. Second, education. It is the idea that every participant in the industry regardless of the role they play, some are artists, some are engineers, and some are content producers, and others making equipment but all want to get better at what they do. We want all of them to get better at their craft, become certified and in some cases, safer, with safety training. And thirdly, it’s fun. The show is full of concerts, parties and when you walk through the lobbies of the hotels, you see your friends and to me, is where life-long friendships are formed.

How does NAMM support companies in releasing new products at the show?

It is an interesting concept. Entrepreneurs, innovators, and creative people that are bringing new products need more than anything else, is a stable, reliable, and predictable platform. The NAMM Show offers these innovators a place to launch something that they have created. If to go way back, the Edison Company was a NAMM member and launched many new products at the NAMM Show.

Also, things change in distribution. The relationship between manufacturers, distributors and retailers continues to evolve, and more information is available to the consumer now than ever: Magazines, influencers, bloggers, artists are very knowledgeable about products these days. They learn about the show here and share it with their peers back home.

The time between product launch and when it’s virtually known around the world has reduced drastically. Creating media centers, blogger lounges here, inviting YouTube key influencers are so important and this was not true ten years ago. And this illustrates how much has changed in one decade.

I often wonder what the next decade is going to bring us and what are we going to be talking about in the year 2030. First of all, I will be greyer and older, and we will be looking back and saying ‘Wow, wasn’t the 20s an amazing decade?!’

Over the years, you added Pro Audio & Event technology to the show. How has the response been?

The NAMM Show is a platform and every year, we start with a blank piece of paper and we ask ourselves, ‘what type of an event we should build?’ Over the years that I’ve been with NAMM, I’ve thought carefully about my own career. I was a drummer, a recording artist, I toured, worked in music retail, taught drums, installed systems when I was a tour and production manager and hired all the lighting and sound crew. I realized that many people did that or are still doing that.

What we realized was that, even with the members, if they are retailers or owners of companies, or manufacturers, they still probably play an instrument and are avid music makers. We tried to build an event that reflected the fact that many of us have had different roads and have arrived at a career in music doing many different things. This is your show whether you are a music retailer, manufacturer, music teacher, sound engineer, tour manager or anyone in the music industry. At the heart of it all, there is Music. That is a glue that ties us all together.

What are your plans for India?

I believe that the Indian population has a deep love for music and a deep musical culture, in my opinion that creates a huge opportunity for everyone involved. Music bring people together and music and art can play an important role in solving many of society’s challenges.