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Add The NAMM Show to Your Agenda
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Q&A with NAMM President & CEO
Joe Lamond
which subjects and themes to include in
the show’s educational programming to
ensure they’re timely and resonate with
recording and production technology
professionals?
hile The NAMM Show has
featured exhibits and educa-
tional programming for pro
audio and recording professionals in the
past, the organization is amplifying its
focus on pro audio, lighting, and video
for its 2018 edition. In addition to an
expansion at the Anaheim Convention
Center that will be dedicated to exhibi-
tors from the pro technologies markets,
NAMM has also partnered with associa-
tions like the AES and ESTA to produce
educational programming, networking
events, and more.
PS: While professional recording and live
sou nd exhibitors and education have
been a part of the NAMM Show for some
time, what informed NAMM’s decision to
amplify the focus on those market seg-
ments for The NAMM Show 2018?
JL: In many ways, The NAMM Show is the
crossroads of the industry, and a real-time
reflection of it. Music is not made, sold, or
performed in a silo, and the growing use
of technology in making, recording, and
performing music has led us quite naturally
into this direction. Our relationships with
A3E, AES, Audinate’s Dante Certification and
Training program, and our TEC Tracks educa-
tion offers members more than ever before:
professional, world-class education designed
to enhance or accelerate their careers. For
someone working in the pro audio or live
sound space, it’s a great opportunity to
come, learn new lessons and applications,
and see the latest new gear from top name
manufacturers on the show floor.
PS: How do you plan to seamlessly
merge these new pro-focused initiatives
with NAMM’s longstanding MI focus to
ensure there’s a workable synergy for
exhibitors and attendees alike?
PS: The reality is that pro audio and musical
instruments have always co-existed at The
NAMM Show. With the opening of the new
Anaheim Convention Center North, we’re
preparing a new show floor and expanded
pro audio and live sound presence with the
creation of “communities.” These communities
place likeminded products together, making
travelling from appointment to appointment
easier or to talk new, hot products at one of
JL: Essentially, all education programs at
The NAMM Show are curated by the biggest
experts in the industry. These are people
who live and breathe their particular area of
focus, and all of them are industry veterans
and working professionals in the field.
Diversity of topics is also key. The pro audio
education alone – which includes TEC
Tracks, AES@NAMM, A3E, and Dante train-
ing – will cover everything from live sound
mixing to mastering techniques to audio for
virtual reality.
the lounges in each community, creating
great synergies and networking opportunities
for attendees.
PS: Much of the new pro technologies-
focused programming stems from
alliances with organizations and as-
sociations such as AES and ESTA. Tell me
about how and why these associations
were brought into the fold, and more
generally, what makes for a good part-
nership between NAMM and adjacent
organizations like these, A3E, etc.?
JL: The partnerships with other like-minded
organizations like A3E, AES, and ESTA share
in a vision to create more music makers and
a desire to serve our respective industries
and their members – especially when it
came to our mutual desire to continue to
support the professional development of
members. At NAMM, we believe that the
three key ingredients of a successful NAMM
Show include a robust trade show floor with
the latest innovative products, relevant and
high-value education, and the fun, peer-
to-peer exchanges that happen at all the
concerts, parties, and meet-ups that remind
us all of our shared passion for music and
our true purpose as we dedicate our lives
to this great industry.
PS: Beyond the aforementioned part-
nerships with the likes of AES and ESTA,
how has NAMM gone about choosing
PS: Have you faced any challenges –
logistical, practical, or otherwise – in
integrating these many new program-
ming features into The 2018 NAMM
Show while ensuring the overall show
experience is consistent for your long-
time exhibitors and attendees?
JL: We’ve long dreamt of creating a hotspot
for industry education where NAMM
members could network, relax, and, of
course, experience world-class educational
programs. The new partners and programs
created an impetus to build the NAMM U
Education Center, a massive five-story edu-
cation complex within the Hilton Anaheim.
We’ll still have the NAMM Idea Center at the
front of the Anaheim Convention Center
lobby, but with the NAMM U Education
Center, expect more industry education
than you could ever imagine under one
roof – and in a space that’s an extension
of The NAMM Show itself. That alone will
improve the member experience by making
the education robust and easy to navigate,
and provide a lounge area on each level for
exchanges.
Joe Lamond is president and CEO of the Na-
tional Association of Music Merchants (NAMM),
the global not-for-profit trade association
representing 9,000 manufacturers and retailers
of musical instruments and sound products.
NAMM’s mission is to strengthen the music
products industry and promote the pleasures
and benefits of making music.
PROFESSIONAL SOUND 9