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Summer NAMM Tales of the Bizarre!published on 18.07.2009, 21:19:25. Category: no category
Day two of the Summer NAMM Show 2009, and one thing is for sure, this is definitely a well-attended show all things considered. I was thinking it might be a bust. I was going on purely speculation from the number of companies not showing up, but the buzz in the room tells another story. It took two days to read this tale.
There was a lot of traffic on the floor yesterday and today, it was as busy as I've seen previous shows, but this is part smoke and mirrors, because with the exception of Yamaha and Steinberg who have the only solo room outside of the main floor for their massive demo of everything from guitars to pianos to drums to Steinberg software and hardware, all the exhibitors are in the main hall. This forces everyone to the main floor at all times. But that's good, if for nothing else, the psychological factor of the show being bustling at all times. And bustling, it was. I heard one exhibitor tell me that even though NAMM says attendance is down, perhaps 30%, their sales are actually on par with last Summer NAMM, in 2008, before the big panic and last minute pillaging of the treasury for the Wall Street folks before the Republicans were finally frog-marched out of Washington from the White House to the Senate and Congress by the voters of this fine country. One company said their first day orders were higher than the first day last year. But how can that be? The sky is falling, isn't it? There are some who think it is, almost literally. I think that's sad, and its a bit disturbing as well.
Whereas Winter NAMM was pretty good for most companies I talked to and am privy to the rounded show sales figures of, it was a bit of a job-fair for a lot of recently laid off people. The Summer NAMM 2009 seems to be teaming with optimism by smaller companies, newer companies, entrepreneurs launching all kinds of new ideas. I even saw an enterprising man from Atlanta with a booth hawking a wrist strap that your guitar pick is attached to somehow, which in theory keeps you from ever completely dropping your pick, if you're prone to do so. Bless his heart, that's what this country is great at, people with a dream and an idea setting up their stand and showing it to their world. I don't know, I'm a guitar player of over 30 years now, but I don't have a real pick-dropping problem and I can sweat like a pig when I play. That's just me, but I admire his ambition and I remember doing that kind of thing as a hungry young entrepreneurial publisher of software titles in the early 90's when personal computers were still pretty uncommon. But I had a dream, and it was my dream, and nobody was gonna tell me it wouldn't work. My opinion of this pick strap idea aside, I am knocked out by the number of new companies and their sheer American-dream-powered gall to show up in this recession and role the dice. Bully for them.
Aside from that, some previously larger exhibitors are here and just wisely scaling back rather than shooting themselves in the foot by not being here at all. Companies that you'd see each year at the summer show were here, but in a much smaller way. I saw one company that makes all kinds of music novelty items crammed into half of a small booth with another company, but they were at least there, and not going to throw in the towel and not show up. Normally you'd see them in a double-sized booth packed full of all kinds of wild items. They played it safer and smart, and shared a booth this year. And good for them. Just as you can't win the lottery if you never buy a ticket, you can't really take orders at a show you don't go to and try to sell your wares at, right? Some companies also just took the option of sending a couple of sales people and paying NAMM to be able to use rooms at the show for scheduled dealer meetings. I guess that's better than nothing.
There was some chatter about companies being ticked off at NAMM and part of their reason for not showing up was part protest, part cash flow and part conservative measures to save themselves. Word has it a lot of money was lost in some investment accounts by the organization and that upset a lot of members that this money was managed that way instead of put back into the industry community to serve its membership. I get that. I also get "rainy day funds" having served on the finance committee of some big organizations, and knowing how hard it is to manage large amounts of money for posterity.
WARNING: RANTING PERSONAL OPINIONS, RUMORS POLITICAL BLATHERING AND OTHER JUNK AHEAD - READ AT YOUR OWN RISK
Recessions are real, and they hurt people in many ways, but no doubt a large amount of it is plain, old-fashioned panic, psychologically making matters worse than they really are. I admire a company that will still come to the show in an extremely reduced way. Some of the more noticeably absent companies at Summer NAMM are companies rumored to be having very serious cash-flow issues, some now rumored to be the proud recipients of "mechanics liens" against them for non-payment, cut off from their suppliers of parts, cases, strings, even their shipping abilities. Some are companies whose CEOs are rumored to be on their way out the door, who've already experienced large layoffs and staff desertions. And some of these same companies are companies that have behaved foolishly the past several years, leveraging themselves and their inventories against large notes that are getting called in by panicking bankers, who once gloriously funded acquisition-hungry CEOs with a history of paper growth but massive debt acquisition to go with it, and little in the way of liquidity. Some of these companies, they are the ones not at the Summer NAMM 2009 show. They are companies that have squandered cash on all manner of foolish things, raised their prices consistently, worked overtime to piss off their dealers and seemingly even do so on purpose, some took part in bizarre lawsuits, bought RVs and even tour buses and parked them all over the world with full time drivers at the ready, got stadiums and venues named after themselves, or worse. I'll leave their names out of this story, and leave my rumor mongering and speculation to be exactly what it is, the repeating of rumors. Juicy, entertaining, seemingly likely rumors, but unsubstantiated gossip and rumors nonetheless. NAMM is a great place for gossip, especially if the company isn't there all of a sudden.
I am wondering if this recession is in large part panic-driven media speculation creating a self-fulfilling prophecy, where the more we say its happening, the more people panic, spend less, lay off people and create a ripple effect that makes it worse than perhaps it really is, but what do I know, I'm just a guitar player. To what degree, I ponder, do these "Debbie Downers" have on the reality they help to create for themselves and then in turn, those around them that they do business with, employee and supply? That said, I'm beginning to think most of the people behind this recession are the big money rightwingnut rich folks whose world is coming to the end in part because a black man became their president, so they're freaking out and making irrational business decisions to make sure thing stay bad, to insure that "we fail" as a country and a people. And all so they can say "I told you so" whilst denying the past eight years, six of which were completely Republican ruled, ever happened or that those years and policies had any impact whatsoever on the current state of affairs. Make no mistake, some of these people want this recession to stay in place for four years, selfishly just to get that black man out of "their" White House. They'd rather the country fail completely than let this man succeed. I think that's treasonous. I wish this were some straw man I'm setting up, but I've heard these views espoused, and they are frightening.
Why do I say this? Well, aside from the fact that I am an un-apologetic lifelong progressive Democrat who is tickled as can be at the changing of the guard last November, its because of tin-foil-hat-wearing bizarro things I've heard about from some one who bowed out of exhibiting at the show. One of these companies, a major accessories manufacturer, said he wasn't exhibiting and saving all the cash he can because, and I kid you not, "the country is about to fall into marshall law, that Obama is readying concentration camps for panicking Americans and also readying the deployment of the National Guard and US military (uh, who is pretty much spread thin in Iraq, Afghanistan and other places) to come in and imprison the citizens of this fine republic. He thinks that any day, the world economy is going to utterly collapse, food will run out, people will take up arms, and troops will roll in with tanks right into your subdivision, taking away your guns and marching you off to live in a tent surrounded by barbed wire fencing.
Yep, I kid you not. This guy is actually telling people who work for him and others this kind of crazy conspiracy stuff. He's been listening to Coast to Coast A.M., Lou Dobbs or reading nut-job blogs, or something. I'm leaving the guy's name and company out of the story because I don't want to embarrass him, but when I heard the story, I was embarrassed for him. You'd think this guy had some sense judging by the success and products his company makes, but then again, Howard Hughes turned into a paranoid, psychotic man with bizarre conspiracy theories running through his head in his final decades on this earth, and he was extremely successful and wealthy beyond belief in his day. So somebody's success and their stature in business by no means makes them immune to latching onto crazy stuff, believing it repeating it or even acting upon it. I mean, this crazy talk is straight out of "World Nut Daily" and other bizarro right-wing propaganda sites, and its undermining the recovery of this country when you have nut-bags running around frightening their employees with stories like this, telling them to prepare for, in a sense, Armageddon. Yeah, I am serious, this is a real reason why a major player manufacturer in this musical instrument products industry gave for not coming to Summer NAMM. It didn't stop him from showing up himself and walking the floor, but it was enough to stop him from sending his company here.
Well guess what, his competitors were here, and you know what? They're taking orders. Lots of orders. Orders his company is not getting. A self-fulfilling prophecy, wherein he can tell everyone, "See, I told you things were going to get bad" when he was doing all the wrong things to make things good. Now the other companies that make similar wares, they are getting the business he isn't getting. Are individual dealers ordering as much as before? No, not really, but what I am hearing is that the overall numbers are about the same or better over last year, its just taking more dealers placing smaller orders to do it. As I said, you have to buy a ticket to win the lottery, and you have to show up to these things to take orders, network with your dealers, give them confidence in your company in hard times and help them with their business so you can help your own.
But I digress..... this is not a political blog, its a website for recording enthusiasts who use the Mac. Look for my next story with photos of some of the cool, all new products I saw at the show but some of these enterprising folks. There are some cool products here, fun stuff, wild stuff. Enjoy!
Views: 1869
There was a lot of traffic on the floor yesterday and today, it was as busy as I've seen previous shows, but this is part smoke and mirrors, because with the exception of Yamaha and Steinberg who have the only solo room outside of the main floor for their massive demo of everything from guitars to pianos to drums to Steinberg software and hardware, all the exhibitors are in the main hall. This forces everyone to the main floor at all times. But that's good, if for nothing else, the psychological factor of the show being bustling at all times. And bustling, it was. I heard one exhibitor tell me that even though NAMM says attendance is down, perhaps 30%, their sales are actually on par with last Summer NAMM, in 2008, before the big panic and last minute pillaging of the treasury for the Wall Street folks before the Republicans were finally frog-marched out of Washington from the White House to the Senate and Congress by the voters of this fine country. One company said their first day orders were higher than the first day last year. But how can that be? The sky is falling, isn't it? There are some who think it is, almost literally. I think that's sad, and its a bit disturbing as well.
Whereas Winter NAMM was pretty good for most companies I talked to and am privy to the rounded show sales figures of, it was a bit of a job-fair for a lot of recently laid off people. The Summer NAMM 2009 seems to be teaming with optimism by smaller companies, newer companies, entrepreneurs launching all kinds of new ideas. I even saw an enterprising man from Atlanta with a booth hawking a wrist strap that your guitar pick is attached to somehow, which in theory keeps you from ever completely dropping your pick, if you're prone to do so. Bless his heart, that's what this country is great at, people with a dream and an idea setting up their stand and showing it to their world. I don't know, I'm a guitar player of over 30 years now, but I don't have a real pick-dropping problem and I can sweat like a pig when I play. That's just me, but I admire his ambition and I remember doing that kind of thing as a hungry young entrepreneurial publisher of software titles in the early 90's when personal computers were still pretty uncommon. But I had a dream, and it was my dream, and nobody was gonna tell me it wouldn't work. My opinion of this pick strap idea aside, I am knocked out by the number of new companies and their sheer American-dream-powered gall to show up in this recession and role the dice. Bully for them.
Aside from that, some previously larger exhibitors are here and just wisely scaling back rather than shooting themselves in the foot by not being here at all. Companies that you'd see each year at the summer show were here, but in a much smaller way. I saw one company that makes all kinds of music novelty items crammed into half of a small booth with another company, but they were at least there, and not going to throw in the towel and not show up. Normally you'd see them in a double-sized booth packed full of all kinds of wild items. They played it safer and smart, and shared a booth this year. And good for them. Just as you can't win the lottery if you never buy a ticket, you can't really take orders at a show you don't go to and try to sell your wares at, right? Some companies also just took the option of sending a couple of sales people and paying NAMM to be able to use rooms at the show for scheduled dealer meetings. I guess that's better than nothing.
There was some chatter about companies being ticked off at NAMM and part of their reason for not showing up was part protest, part cash flow and part conservative measures to save themselves. Word has it a lot of money was lost in some investment accounts by the organization and that upset a lot of members that this money was managed that way instead of put back into the industry community to serve its membership. I get that. I also get "rainy day funds" having served on the finance committee of some big organizations, and knowing how hard it is to manage large amounts of money for posterity.
WARNING: RANTING PERSONAL OPINIONS, RUMORS POLITICAL BLATHERING AND OTHER JUNK AHEAD - READ AT YOUR OWN RISK
Recessions are real, and they hurt people in many ways, but no doubt a large amount of it is plain, old-fashioned panic, psychologically making matters worse than they really are. I admire a company that will still come to the show in an extremely reduced way. Some of the more noticeably absent companies at Summer NAMM are companies rumored to be having very serious cash-flow issues, some now rumored to be the proud recipients of "mechanics liens" against them for non-payment, cut off from their suppliers of parts, cases, strings, even their shipping abilities. Some are companies whose CEOs are rumored to be on their way out the door, who've already experienced large layoffs and staff desertions. And some of these same companies are companies that have behaved foolishly the past several years, leveraging themselves and their inventories against large notes that are getting called in by panicking bankers, who once gloriously funded acquisition-hungry CEOs with a history of paper growth but massive debt acquisition to go with it, and little in the way of liquidity. Some of these companies, they are the ones not at the Summer NAMM 2009 show. They are companies that have squandered cash on all manner of foolish things, raised their prices consistently, worked overtime to piss off their dealers and seemingly even do so on purpose, some took part in bizarre lawsuits, bought RVs and even tour buses and parked them all over the world with full time drivers at the ready, got stadiums and venues named after themselves, or worse. I'll leave their names out of this story, and leave my rumor mongering and speculation to be exactly what it is, the repeating of rumors. Juicy, entertaining, seemingly likely rumors, but unsubstantiated gossip and rumors nonetheless. NAMM is a great place for gossip, especially if the company isn't there all of a sudden.
I am wondering if this recession is in large part panic-driven media speculation creating a self-fulfilling prophecy, where the more we say its happening, the more people panic, spend less, lay off people and create a ripple effect that makes it worse than perhaps it really is, but what do I know, I'm just a guitar player. To what degree, I ponder, do these "Debbie Downers" have on the reality they help to create for themselves and then in turn, those around them that they do business with, employee and supply? That said, I'm beginning to think most of the people behind this recession are the big money rightwingnut rich folks whose world is coming to the end in part because a black man became their president, so they're freaking out and making irrational business decisions to make sure thing stay bad, to insure that "we fail" as a country and a people. And all so they can say "I told you so" whilst denying the past eight years, six of which were completely Republican ruled, ever happened or that those years and policies had any impact whatsoever on the current state of affairs. Make no mistake, some of these people want this recession to stay in place for four years, selfishly just to get that black man out of "their" White House. They'd rather the country fail completely than let this man succeed. I think that's treasonous. I wish this were some straw man I'm setting up, but I've heard these views espoused, and they are frightening.
Why do I say this? Well, aside from the fact that I am an un-apologetic lifelong progressive Democrat who is tickled as can be at the changing of the guard last November, its because of tin-foil-hat-wearing bizarro things I've heard about from some one who bowed out of exhibiting at the show. One of these companies, a major accessories manufacturer, said he wasn't exhibiting and saving all the cash he can because, and I kid you not, "the country is about to fall into marshall law, that Obama is readying concentration camps for panicking Americans and also readying the deployment of the National Guard and US military (uh, who is pretty much spread thin in Iraq, Afghanistan and other places) to come in and imprison the citizens of this fine republic. He thinks that any day, the world economy is going to utterly collapse, food will run out, people will take up arms, and troops will roll in with tanks right into your subdivision, taking away your guns and marching you off to live in a tent surrounded by barbed wire fencing.
Yep, I kid you not. This guy is actually telling people who work for him and others this kind of crazy conspiracy stuff. He's been listening to Coast to Coast A.M., Lou Dobbs or reading nut-job blogs, or something. I'm leaving the guy's name and company out of the story because I don't want to embarrass him, but when I heard the story, I was embarrassed for him. You'd think this guy had some sense judging by the success and products his company makes, but then again, Howard Hughes turned into a paranoid, psychotic man with bizarre conspiracy theories running through his head in his final decades on this earth, and he was extremely successful and wealthy beyond belief in his day. So somebody's success and their stature in business by no means makes them immune to latching onto crazy stuff, believing it repeating it or even acting upon it. I mean, this crazy talk is straight out of "World Nut Daily" and other bizarro right-wing propaganda sites, and its undermining the recovery of this country when you have nut-bags running around frightening their employees with stories like this, telling them to prepare for, in a sense, Armageddon. Yeah, I am serious, this is a real reason why a major player manufacturer in this musical instrument products industry gave for not coming to Summer NAMM. It didn't stop him from showing up himself and walking the floor, but it was enough to stop him from sending his company here.
Well guess what, his competitors were here, and you know what? They're taking orders. Lots of orders. Orders his company is not getting. A self-fulfilling prophecy, wherein he can tell everyone, "See, I told you things were going to get bad" when he was doing all the wrong things to make things good. Now the other companies that make similar wares, they are getting the business he isn't getting. Are individual dealers ordering as much as before? No, not really, but what I am hearing is that the overall numbers are about the same or better over last year, its just taking more dealers placing smaller orders to do it. As I said, you have to buy a ticket to win the lottery, and you have to show up to these things to take orders, network with your dealers, give them confidence in your company in hard times and help them with their business so you can help your own.
But I digress..... this is not a political blog, its a website for recording enthusiasts who use the Mac. Look for my next story with photos of some of the cool, all new products I saw at the show but some of these enterprising folks. There are some cool products here, fun stuff, wild stuff. Enjoy!
Views: 1869
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