# NAMM 2020 advice (Got my tickets!!) :)



## pulse (Oct 13, 2019)

Hi to all the NAMM veterans! 

So believe it or not i’ve never been to NAMM! All these years of making sample libraries I’ve never made the pilgrimage to NAMM 

I’m thinking to go in January... not in any official capacity just to hang out and explore. So just to get the conversation going... I believe it goes for around 4 days. Are there 4 days worth of things to see? Or do most people go for 1-2 days and feel they have had enough? Also any accommodation recommendations and general NAMM words of wisdom 

Many thanks 
Anthony


----------



## j_kranz (Oct 13, 2019)

Unless you are presenting, or have business meetings planned, 1 or 2 days is usually enough.


----------



## wst3 (Oct 13, 2019)

Depending on your interests I suspect 1 day could be enough, 2 certainly will... unless you want to visit every single booth<G>!

As a sample developer you'll want to visit most (all) of your fellow developers. Depending on how busy they are I really don't think that will take more than one day.

NOTE: if they are busy they may not be able to break away (whether they want to or not) when you come by, you may need to arrange another time, maybe even outside exhibit hours.

Funny (I hope) aside - last time I was there was 2000, I was there with MIDIMan, so my wandering time was somewhat limited, but I still managed to have fun. One of the booths I stopped into was Larrivee guitars. Mr. Larrivee is a very cool guy, and he really loves talking about guitars. When we met he wanted to know, of course, if I owned any of his instruments. I did, and he asked tons of questions, we have a really lovely chat. In fairness to both of us, the booth was empty when I arrived. In fairness to his marketing/sales director, it wasn't so empty a few minutes later. Said gentleman managed to kick me out nicely enough, and over Mr. Larrivee's objections ("but he owns two of my guitars, I must learn why" - probably not the exact quote, but that was the idea).

So with that in mind visit every booth, but keep in mind that most attendees are there to sell.

Enough doom and gloom - if you play an instrument you will want to reserve some time to visit your favorite manufacturers. That could take anywhere from an hour to a day or two - depends on your list. And regardless, there is this dark corned of a basement section for new attendees - you have to visit. There is always some amazing technology on display. Some of it will make it to market, some won't, all of it is worth some time. I seldom spent more than a couple hours there, and it may have grown, or shrunk, but it is fun.

If you are just going for grins that about covers it. If you want to set up meeting with distributors, other developers, etc then you should probably start planning that part soon or you could end up with four meetings, one per day. WIth a couple of exceptions don't be afraid to let them know you'll only be there for a couple days (if that's the case) and they will make arrangements accordingly.

ALSO... there is always a ton of great music - some in booths, some in private rooms, some in nearby clubs - enjoy that part too!


----------



## jmauz (Oct 13, 2019)

I usually can't stand more than 1 day which is enough for me to walk the floor and say hello to people. There are more and more riffraff there every year which makes it a complete shitshow on the weekend. 

My advice is check out the seminar and performance schedules. Spend the majority of your time checking those out rather than wandering around...your ears, feet and patience will thank you. Thursday is the best day to walk the floor as it's the least busy. Saturday is completely insane; it's a lot like walking through times square (no joke).


----------



## Mike Greene (Oct 13, 2019)

Here's a NAMM Guide I wrote a couple years ago. It's mostly just jokes, but there's some useful stuff in there.

The NAMM experience depends on how you're wired. Some people (like me) love the sensory overload, some people hate it.

A lot of people come to NAMM specifically to see stuff they are already interested in. That's fine, and if that's you, you can do that in a day with time to spare. To me, though, the real joy of NAMM is wandering the halls, playing the pianos and guitars, watching trumpet players trying out horns, or seeing some new instrument I'd never seen before. Basically "soaking it all in." Again, some people hate that, some people love it.

Perhaps best of all, if you learn where the stages are, you can hear some really great bands, which are all over the place, all day and night. Whoever books these bands does a great job, and it's ultra-eclectic.

If you're a NAMM member, you can get a discount on hotels, although that membership is pricey and probably not worth the hotel savings. They do have a shuttle, so you don't have to stay real close. (Although staying close is nice.) There are a couple Best Western hotels just west of the Convention Center which are fairly inexpensive.


----------



## tmhuud (Oct 13, 2019)

Go and play the pianos.


----------



## NYC Composer (Oct 13, 2019)

I’d say two days is fine. It takes a day or so just to adjust to the noise and the crappy food-it can be dazing.

That said, I went for three days for almost 20’years. I love walking around, trying every new piece of software, playing all the pianos and guitars and keyboards, seeing some musical
idols, having great conversations. One year I bought a crappy mandolin on show special, took it home and learned to play it a little.

My best friend, now deceased, worked the show most of those years, so I had social reasons to go as well.

I got a few offers to be a keyboard demonstrator, but I wanted to go to enjoy myself, not do three shows an hour.


----------



## pulse (Oct 13, 2019)

Many thanks for all the great advice... sounds like a couple of days is a good aim. I'm still trying to nut out the details but have always been keen to see what all the fuss is about 

I wonder if they have world instrument makers coming to this or is it more of the usual guitars etc...

I'm a bit of an instrument addict so always on the lookout for a bargain lol


----------



## Mike Greene (Oct 17, 2019)

pulse said:


> I wonder if they have world instrument makers coming to this or is it more of the usual guitars etc...


There are some world instruments, but not a lot, because those makers are generally not "big market" companies. The main purpose of NAMM is for companies to show their stuff so that retailers or distributors will carry them in their stores, so a booth would be a pretty big expense unless you hope _a lot_ of retailers are going to carry your stuff.



pulse said:


> I'm a bit of an instrument addict so always on the lookout for a bargain lol


NAMM is not open to the public, so there are very few companies selling anything on site, although the ones who do sell tend to be the more odd instruments, which can be cool. I've bought a few hang drums, a digeridoo, some cajons, and some other quirky things, for instance. Those are definitely the exception, though. You won't get a deal on a new Martin. 

It used to be that NAMM was when I would do my shopping for East West, Ilio and Big Fish, walking out with bags of software, because they'd all have really good show specials. Those days are pretty much over, though.

With that said, for hardware, especially mixers and stuff, a lot of companies don't want to ship everything back home, so you can get some secret deals late Sunday.


----------



## NYC Composer (Oct 17, 2019)

Bought some drums for Stylus from some tall man at a booth many years ago. I forget the name of the company, but they had ONE product for sale, and I remember thinking “why is this guy renting a booth??”


----------



## chillbot (Oct 17, 2019)

NYC Composer said:


> Bought some drums for Stylus from some tall man at a booth many years ago. I forget the name of the company, but they had ONE product for sale, and I remember thinking “why is this guy renting a booth??”


Mike Greene is rather tall, yes he is.


----------



## NYC Composer (Oct 17, 2019)

Never used ‘em, but I was always proud that my $20 went to build the multi-national corporation he runs today.


----------



## Mike Greene (Oct 17, 2019)

NYC Composer said:


> ... and I remember thinking “why is this guy renting a booth??”


An even better question - The two years before that, I had _zero_ products, but still had a booth.  

No lie, one of the reasons I started Realitone in the first place was so I'd have an excuse to have a booth. It's kind of a waste of money, but even before Realitone, I always loved visiting (I'd do three days), and I figured exhibiting would be even cooler. I guess I've never been known for making good business decisions ...


----------



## NYC Composer (Oct 17, 2019)

Mike Greene said:


> An even better question - The two years before that, I had _zero_ products, but still had a booth.
> 
> No lie, one of the reasons I started Realitone in the first place was so I'd have an excuse to have a booth. It's kind of a waste of money, but even before Realitone, I always loved visiting (I'd do three days), and I figured exhibiting would be even cooler. I guess I've never been known for making good business decisions ...


Actually, I don’t really believe that, but whatever.

I did 3 days for a long time, but I lost heart after my best friend and transplanted Southern Californian friend died (national sales manager of Hosa who lived in Fullerton.) Despite the noise and the bad food, just playing that many pianos and guitars was awesome, the other halls in the software ghetto were great, and as an end user I tried not to drive the manufacturers too crazy except the lonely ones, ahem.)

Besides that, where else could you see Dick Dale (r.i.p.), Greg Phillinganes and Stevie Wonder just playing?? Not to mention getting to talk to the heroic Eric Persing and Nick Phoenix demoing new products??

Anyone who hasn’t gone, wrangle yourself a badge at least once.


----------



## tmhuud (Oct 17, 2019)

NYC Composer said:


> Despite the noise and the bad food, just playing that many pianos and guitars was awesome,





NYC Composer said:


> Besides that, where else could you see Dick Dale (r.i.p.), Greg Phillinganes and Stevie Wonder just playing?? Not to mention getting to talk to the heroic Eric Persing and Nick Phoenix demoing new products??
> 
> Anyone who hasn’t gone, wrangle yourself a badge at least once.



Worth repeating and took the words right outta my mouth.


----------



## pulse (Oct 18, 2019)

Mike Greene said:


> There are some world instruments, but not a lot, because those makers are generally not "big market" companies. The main purpose of NAMM is for companies to show their stuff so that retailers or distributors will carry them in their stores, so a booth would be a pretty big expense unless you hope _a lot_ of retailers are going to carry your stuff.
> 
> 
> NAMM is not open to the public, so there are very few companies selling anything on site, although the ones who do sell tend to be the more odd instruments, which can be cool. I've bought a few hang drums, a digeridoo, some cajons, and some other quirky things, for instance. Those are definitely the exception, though. You won't get a deal on a new Martin.
> ...



Many thanks... I'm sure things have changed a little bit since the good old days  either way I'm sure it will be a fun experience. Maybe a little bargain waiting


----------



## pulse (Dec 3, 2019)

Well I finally took the plunge and got my tickets to NAMM  Looking forward to checking the craziness!

Any good coffee recommendations in the area? (just preparing in advance) lol


----------



## pulsedownloader (Dec 3, 2019)

Stay out of the convention center if you can. Starbucks and loads of ok restaurants nearby. Might see you there


----------



## pulse (Dec 3, 2019)

pulsedownloader said:


> Stay out of the convention center if you can. Starbucks and loads of ok restaurants nearby. Might see you there


Great! Thanks for the tip!  message me if you are around I’ve got lots of time to fill... I’ll most likely be around for the 4 days.


----------



## chillbot (Jan 17, 2020)

Well this worked out ok.


----------

