rorykins Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 Hey all, im wondering if anyone here can give me first hand NAMM, or Musicmesse info. I have got the opportunity to go and talk about my book ideas, teaching concepts, and maybe get some deals made for when i open my teaching studio/recording studio. how do you approach the trade show thing? do you have a plan of who you want to talk to before hand? Do I need to have a really good concept? Will people be open to listening to me if i'm not yet known in the industry? Who might be some manufacturers who would be especially into chatting about music education and the bass? I really want to make sure i get buisness done there and not waste my time or look stupid. thank you all in advance cheers rory Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Lawson Posted February 11, 2008 Share Posted February 11, 2008 (edited) Hi Rory, I guess the first thing to keep in mind is that for a vendor with a booth, being at a trade show is REALLY expensive, so their first thought is that they want to make contacts that are going to make them money. If what you're wanting to talk to people about is something that you can spell out to them as being financially advantageous in about 30 seconds, then people will more likely to talk to you cold. If it isn't, you may want to send some emails and make some phone calls before hand, spelling out what you're up to in more detail, and offering to drop by and talk to them at Frankfurt. Being known in the industry shouldn't be a problem, because a show like Frankfurt is SOO huge that no-one expects to know who everyone is, still it will help if you can make some other connection when talking to people ('ah, my friend ****** uses your amps....' or 'I frequently go to ******** shop that stocks your books' or even better 'I often recommend your books to my students' etc.) Be warned, Frankfurt is huge, noisy and a particularly unpleasant place to do business. I may be going this year to catch up with some friends and do a little business, but NAMM is a much easier place for most of that stuff, and doesn't have the public day like Frankfurt does on the Saturday, which makes it unbearable noise-wise. Seeing school kids jacked up on sugar and junk food stamping really hard on some poor guy's pedal board just because they walked past it and felt like it did not fill me with a sense of safety for my gig. I hid it in the back room of the booth I was demoing on for a lot of the day last year... Having said that, it does have a very high concentration of people in the right industry in one place at one time. That can be very useful, and it's well worth going if you can, just keep those caveats in mind, and don't be too offended if you get cut off half way through a meeting because the owner of a massive chain of shops comes up wanting to talk to the product vendor - they aren't about to miss out on a deal potentially worth 100s of 1000s in order to talk to you about supplying cheap gear to a recording studio or some kind of artist endorsement program. cheers! Steve www.stevelawson.net Edited February 11, 2008 by Steve Lawson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EBS_freak Posted February 11, 2008 Share Posted February 11, 2008 [quote name='Steve Lawson' post='138082' date='Feb 11 2008, 11:57 AM']Hi Rory, I guess the first thing to keep in mind is that for a vendor with a booth, being at a trade show is REALLY expensive, so their first thought is that they want to make contacts that are going to make them money. If what you're wanting to talk to people about is something that you can spell out to them as being financially advantageous in about 30 seconds, then people will more likely to talk to you cold. If it isn't, you may want to send some emails and make some phone calls before hand, spelling out what you're up to in more detail, and offering to drop by and talk to them at Frankfurt. Being known in the industry shouldn't be a problem, because a show like Frankfurt is SOO huge that no-one expects to know who everyone is, still it will help if you can make some other connection when talking to people ('ah, my friend ****** uses your amps....' or 'I frequently go to ******** shop that stocks your books' or even better 'I often recommend your books to my students' etc.) Be warned, Frankfurt is huge, noisy and a particularly unpleasant place to do business. I may be going this year to catch up with some friends and do a little business, but NAMM is a much easier place for most of that stuff, and doesn't have the public day like Frankfurt does on the Saturday, which makes it unbearable noise-wise. Seeing school kids jacked up on sugar and junk food stamping really hard on some poor guy's pedal board just because they walked past it and felt like it did not fill me with a sense of safety for my gig. I hid it in the back room of the booth I was demoing on for a lot of the day last year... Having said that, it does have a very high concentration of people in the right industry in one place at one time. That can be very useful, and it's well worth going if you can, just keep those caveats in mind, and don't be too offended if you get cut off half way through a meeting because the owner of a massive chain of shops comes up wanting to talk to the product vendor - they aren't about to miss out on a deal potentially worth 100s of 1000s in order to talk to you about supplying cheap gear to a recording studio or some kind of artist endorsement program. cheers! Steve www.stevelawson.net[/quote] Steve speaks the truth - (remember me and my mate with the Brian May hair coming back to hear your demo of the Looperlative?) - the noise on the public day made it a bit impossible. I think it was because Europe were too bust thrashing out their acoustic version of the Final Countdown on the Gibson acoustic stand around the corner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obbm Posted February 11, 2008 Share Posted February 11, 2008 Well put Steve. Frankfurt is all about business. The exhibitors are there to launch new products to their dealers and distributors and to take orders. Trying to sell something to them is quite a challenge. All the business is really done on the trade days. When I was exhibiting there we used to send most staff home and only keep a skeleton crew there for the public days because they are a nightmare. If you have a proposition to put then do your homework before you go, and be there for a trade day because the salesman for some distributor from Southern Germany may not be the guy you really need to talk to. Putting all that to one side it's a good place to check out the players, try and make some contacts and then follow them up after the show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BossHog Posted February 16, 2008 Share Posted February 16, 2008 (edited) Hi Rory, I think Steve gives a very informed description of the tradeshow, I work for a loudspeaker manufacturer and have attended these shows for years now. They are very expensive to undertake from an exhibitors point of view when combining the cost of floor space and factor in the Hotels and Restaurants taking full advantage of a captive market with inflated prices. However Frankfurt Messe and Namm are both good shows, Frankfurt being the larger of the two catering for all aspects of the audio industry including sound reinforcement, lighting, traditional instruments and so on.... it's huge Namm is mainly a music retail and recording based show catering for the American market or visiting international distributors, with a larger representation of the exotic instrument and amplification manufacturers. From a bass point of view the likes of Fodera, Sadowsky, Alleva Coppollo, Mike Lull, Zon, Modulus and so on.... you won't see those guys at Frankfurt. Endorsing artists also make a point of being around. If you were considering visiting Namm make sure you pre register as security there this year was strict to combat the sale or the exchanging of passes. My advice would be to look at the list of exhibitors or people you would like to see, there always published on the websites. Call them and see if it's possible to make an appointment at the show or get the name of someone you could talk to, but don't be disheartened if people are easily distracted by dealers or distributors turning up mid pitch. Good luck. Mick Edited February 16, 2008 by BossHog Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urb Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 +1 on all the Frankfurt comments - as I was unlucky enough to only be there on the Saturday two years ago - I went with Bernie Goodfellow as part of the EBS crew and it was a real shame as our flight was delayed and meant we missed the last day of the 'traders only' - it was truly grim. BUT... That's why the previous four days are for traders only - I will be there this year as part of the Jazzwise team - no doubt we will be doing a lot of business but I'm sure we'll have time to hang out a bit and enjoy some of the music going on - the big tent in the out door bit is pretty amazing - and loads of great acts turn up especially. I have access to the press area this year so hopefully that will make up a lot for the absolute head-f*** of a day I had last time! Lastly if you are serious about what you do - NAMM and Frankfurt are the two biggest and best opportunities to get out meet all the movers and shakers face to face - so it is worth the effort. M Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Lawson Posted February 19, 2008 Share Posted February 19, 2008 ...I was planning on going, but I've got way too much on here that week now, sadly... Have fun those of you that are there! Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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