Picts & Comments from NAMM 2007

A few pictures from the NAMM Show 2007 in Anaheim, CA

The Entrance to the Show


Another Shot of the Entrance


Lunch on the Roof (funny, I don't remember those big mountains in the background last time).


Me, Ulrich Sauter, Larry Fine, Kathy Harl


Kirk Burgett (owner M&H), Jamie (plant manager), and the new B


Rick Clark, Cecil (national sales manager M&H), and me [in front of the B again])
Rick and his partner Joy are old friends of Piano World and the forums. In fact, Joy has the distinction of being the very first forums member I ever met in person (when I was on business in Carlsbad, CA ... one of my favorite spots in the country). Unfortunately Joy was taking the picture so she's not in it, but she is in pictures from forums parties in CA .
BTW, I played the B, I can tell you it doesn't sound like a small piano :-)



Frank "The Piano World Guy" Baxter, and Scott "The Piano Guy" Houston


Incidentally, of all the people who promised to buy me a drink, take me to lunch/dinner, etc.
Scott was the only one who came through.
Thanks Scott :-)

I really was going to buy the next round, too bad you had to go to a meeting.

Thanks Frank...nice job...

Thanks for the pics, Frank, even if it makes me envious seeing those blue, blue skies!!

[Hi, Cecil!! ]

Hope you all have a grand time!!

I agree Terrytunes...what a WONDERFUL LOOKING DAY...as I gaze out at gray skies filled with SNOW

PWGUY,

Love the pics! Send more.

We love to see people and pianos. Booths would be good too. ;-)

Great pictures!

Thanks for the pics! Great to put faces with names.

Interesting to see that tired banner that says "not open to the public." We'll see what Sunday brings. If it's anything like last year, the NAMM members will be at the airports or playing golf.

I was talking to one dealer, (I believe it was Greg Durthaler from Piano Solutions in IN), and he said...

Ok, if they don't want to let the public in, how about at least organizing some tour groups from the colleges/music schools.

His thought was to attract new people to the business, and drum up a little excitement. I agree, and it probably would result in some good PR as well.

Great pictures, Frank!

And thanks for the (brief) review of the M&H B. Did they have an A nearby? Could you compare the two?

More pictures and stories coming after a short break. Translation, I'm having some dinner, some wine, and then going outside to smoke my pipe.

Now that you mention it Monica, inside the M&H room there was a B, next to a CC :-) Not exactly a fair comparison there now is it.

The B out in the hall (the one in the picture) has a PianoDisc installation with the videos playing. It kept attracting crowds, in part because it sounded good, and in part because the videos included cartoon characters playing (as the PianoDisc recreated it on the piano), lots of fun.

Hi Frank.
Joy and Rick just left.
We had lunch together gossiped piano stuff.

They told me all about Cecil's new look too.
Very cool!

nice pics, Frank. Thanks.

Hey, no fair - you showed up in the Kawai booth at 3:00pm! Well, maybe you stopped by yesterday and I was out.

I did come by yesterday, you were busy.
I try not to get in the way of business (but I',m sorry I missed the opportunity to meet Mr. Kawai.

Frank,
You are a true gentleman. It was a true honor to meet you, and thank you for coming by the booth. I am going to frame the picture and put it in our hall of fame at the office.

Thanks!

More picts and stuff...

Me, Indrek, and Del Fandrich


The Estonia corner (he has the most comfortable chairs). Indrek, thanks for letting Larry F. and I steal your chairs for our meeting.



Some general pictures of piano displays (to give you some idea of how many pianos are at the show).






That's forums member Dino (tall guy on the right), at the Stiegerman booth.


That's Mr. Rawlins of Rawlin's piano peeking out.


He was quite proud of this piano, essentially a recreation of the 1937 Knabe (I hope I remembered that correctly)


I'll post some more pictures and info tomorrow morning. The clock says it's only 10:20 p.m., but my brain is still on east coast time and thinks its nearly 1:30 in the morning.

Good night folks.

Oh, before I go, one more thing.

As I was standing in front of the Mason & Hamlin display this afternoon chatting with Bruce (the engineer), who should walk by ... twice ...
Stevie Wonder.
Pretty cool.

Thanks for the great pics...
Always wondered what it looked like. How fun seeing and trying the latest of what manufacturers have to offer. I'm jealous! Are most all piano manufacturers there? Just how big is it?

I'm sure it's very big -- the anaheim convention center has a lot of space!

Hey Briguy!

Good to see you here. You've been away for awhile.

Hang out a little more often, will ya?

As Briguy65 said, the Anaheim Convention center is huge. NAMM takes over all 4 floors, with displays of every imaginiable musical instrument and music related products.

Pianos are just one component.

Some more picts and stuff.

This is the 12' Rubenstein.
Del (Fandrich) tells me the man who built it did it because he always wanted to build a 12' piano.



Some more piano booths...


The man on the right walking by the Brodmann booth has the look we all start to get by the 3rd day.




Our friends at the PTG...


The Geneva International Booth.
They had a huge display as usual, but they were in the same area with the band and string instrument displays. I'm not sure why they set up here every year, you can barely here yourself talk.



Another Shot of Geneva.
I was going to see if I could chat with some of their folks (3 or 4 of them weren't busy when I came by). They seemed to have no interest in coming over to me.



Bluthner was right across from Geneva, in the same noisey neighborhood.

One more picture ...

Yes, that's Larry Fine and Dino standing off to the right side of the picture.


I ran into Steve Cohen in the SMC booth, had some interesting conversations.
Steve, thanks for introducing me to the president of Samick, and to Jay Cross, Norbert and Rick Jones.

Piano Peddler it was good to meet you in person.
Speaking of the Piano Travelers Association (Piano Peddler convinced me to join a couple years ago), I ran into Wilton by the Hilton (no, this isn't leading to a joke).
Wilton is like the grand old master of the Piano Travelers. He told me this was his 57th NAMM show!

I spent a fair amount of my time at the show trying to talk with the manufacturers about advertising (on PW). Most of them seem to be receptive to the idea, particularly after I told them about my piano site rankings post ( http://www.pianoworld.com/ubb/ubb/ultimatebb.php?/topic/1/16715.html ).

Those of you groaning and rolling your eyes, feel free to send me large checks or bags of cash so I won't have to solicit advertisers.

If/when they do come on board, I will try to keep it to a minimum and unabtrusive.

About the show:
Overall I got the impression it wasn't doing as well as it did 2 years ago (the last time I attended). There just didn't seem to be the same amount of excitement and energy in the air.

Of course, that's just from my limited perspective, and feedback from a couple dealers and exhibitors.

I'm sure we'll get a better picture of it when the trade magazines report back (I'll let you know what they say).

Speaking of exhibitors, BossieEric - I tried 4 or 5 times to catch up with you but you were always busy. Luckily the attractive/pleasant young lady at the front counter also had a sense of humor.

A few of the people I spoke with indicated they didn't feel NAMM was doing enough at the grass-roots level to inspire new musicians.

I know NAMM has the new "Wanna Play?" program running now, don't know how successful it is.

There is so much competition for people's attention these days, it's more difficult to convince them of the pleasure and satisfaction you get from making your own music.

I did get comments from a number of people about how much they liked the Forums Parties idea.
As they said, it's wonderful to see people getting together to share their love of music.

For those of you who asked me about the new Mason & Hamlin B, I only played it for 2 minutes, in a crowded room. M&H promised to have one available for our tour group in May, so we should be able to get about 40 people's opinions after that :-)

It was fun to revisit old friends, and meet some new ones. The show is always interesting and I never get tired of seeing all those beautiful instruments.

I'm hoping some of our other members will post their thoughts and pictures.
I've got to go get ready for the long trek back east now, hate to leave the warm sunny climate here but it's time to head home.

Best,

Frank B.

Interesting about Mr. Baxter getting snubbed by Geneva. I seem to recall a very similar comment from a previous show made by a self-interested anti-Petrof relentlessly propagandizing retailer-Piano World poster called Norbert. Yet so many others have mentioned receiving a warm welcome at Geneva. Coincidence?

Frank- these are great updates and very interesting. Hopefully we will hear from others too and soon.

I think they are confusing posts/poster's with Piano World.
No company is immune from criticism (including PW), it just happens to be faster and more public on the Internet. Smart companies figure out how to leverage the Internet, including how to utilize sites like ours.

I've received direct emails from Geneva Intl. before, they were always polite and cordial, even if they were expressing displeasure about a post.

I think eventually manufacturers and reps will figure out Piano World is not out to get them, and that it can actually be a benefit to them (branding, advertising, communications, maybe even voluntary surveys or interactivity).

As I said earlier, some of them already get it.

Marketing on the Internet is not like any other media. The traditional channels do not usually provide for instant feedback/reaction and/or interactivitiy. Anyway, I'm starting to get off topic here. Back to the NAMM thread :-)

:D

Frank,

The post was quoted from Page 1 of this thread.
Please tell us more about your encounter with the poster and his booth.

All of those beautiful pianos!!! Now where do they go? How does it work? Are the pianos auctioned or sold to dealers who label them as NAMM pianos thus advertising a discount to the public?
Who gets to go to the convention? Only dealers?
Thank again for your replies Frank and all the pictures. It is nice to put a face to a name.

Any pictures of the new Grotrian 208?

Nice pictures Frank, and thanks for keeping us posted.

Cheers,

David

Great job Frank! Thanks for the pics and the comments. I don't blame you for going for some advertisers. Everyone has to make a living.

Frank:

It was great pleasure to meet you, regrettfully only very shortly under the circumstances of some black magic thrown in at the very moment by Steve Cohen....

I would have very much loved to have your perception of things and perhaps offer a few of my own in the mix.....

Brick said re being 'snubbed' at the Geneva stand, something that also happened to me last year:

Brick: you may wish to know that the person who did this to me last year, took the oppportunity this time around to 'apologize' to me re the incident.

The same person now also acknowledged the correctness of my perception of things and the circumstances which may have led to it.

The individual now works for a different company.....

Warm thanks to all I had the pleasure to meet, say 'hello' and chat a bit about things.

Including many of my own respected competition.

Norbert

Thanks Norbert, it's always nice to be able to put a face to a name. Sorry I didn't have much time to chat.

It was a fun show for me, although I'm a bit tired. Got in about 2:00 a.m. this morning.

I didn't take as many pictures as I would have liked, spent too much time trying to connect with the manufacturers marketing people.

My thanks to the members who helped me make those connections.

I'll try to write a little more later, got some catching up to do. Unfortunately, my email program ate a bunch of emails, I'm not sure how I'm going to figure those out.

I was happy to see one of the manufacturers is working on a new version of their web site, and has done a lot of things right.

It looks like they actually took the time to think about what their customers (the public and their dealers) would want.

The UI is nicely done (user interface), it has a lot of usefull features, and they are using audio/video the way it should be used.

I don't want to say who it is because I'm not sure if they want anyone to know until they launch, but I'll certainly let everyone know when it's live (other manufacturers could take a lesson). I believe it's going live in Feb.

To those of you at the show who wanted to talk more about advertising and/or utilizing my SEO services, please make sure you send me a reminder email.

More later.

Hi Frank.

Great pictures. To bad we didn't take one when we met.

Are you going to do the advertising idea I suggested?

Also, I saw Stevie Wonder too....but he didn't see me!

Did you get any more stuff for the Piano World Contest we talked about? (More on this to come!)

I think next year I'll bring someone with me who can take pictures and collect stuff for me :-)

I just sent you a PM about the contest stuff.

Frank,

Thanks for maintaining what you thought was a confidentiallity on the outstanding website. However, it isn't necessary.

The competitors will be envious when they see the new website. It will be launched by Samick in the next 30-60 days at www.smcmusic.com.

Ok, since I missed seeing almost all of you guys (and other piano guys, like Larry Fine, Franz Mohr (who I don't think was there - anyone know if he's still around?), and others) at the conference (and the couple I did see that said they're on the forums, except for Don Mannino, I wouldn't remember by now), what's the chance that you guys will be at the Cal State convention next month near San Fran? Or should I start thinking about making plans to go to the PTG national convention in June in KC?

Hi Frank:

I also returned home at 2 AM from Los Angeles and am playing catch-up today. It was good hanging with you and Steve Cohen at the SMC booth and meeting both of you in the flesh; too bad we didn't think of taking a picture of the three of us for PW. I enjoyed your other pics.

Since the National Piano Traveler's Association has their get-togther on Wednesday night before the show opens, perhaps next year we could organize a PW party on another night at one of the hotels there. All we would need is a hospitality suite or meeting room, one of the suppliers to furnish a grand piano (we couldn't have a party without one of those), and refreshments. Maybe we could find some sponsors to help cover costs, or like the NPTA, charge a nominal fee to defray the expenses of the party. All the forum members that are involved at the show would want to attend, as well as dealers and no doubt some industry folks that monitor the forums. Even the non-industry forumites that live in the area would be interested in participating. It could grow into a pretty good-sized gathering.

In response to the inquiries about attending the NAMM show, it is "closed" to the public and the only way to gain admission is to have an official name badge from NAMM that needs to be ordered from a dealer/member or supplier. Teachers, technicians, and even friends/customers often can get their local dealer to order a badge for them, which needs to be done several weeks in advance. As an FYI to anyone that wants to attend at the last minute, even if they have a badge issued to someone else, the security at the show is getting tighter and they require a photo ID to match the name on the badge before they let anyone in the door.

I have attended nearly every NAMM show since 1967 and the public always finds ways to gain admission. In all fairness to the manufacturers and dealers that spend much money to attend the show, they are there to conduct business with each other for a short period of time, and consumers at the show can be a distraction from that process. Perhaps one day the music industry could put on an event like the automotive dealers do in major cities and invite the public.

Anyway, I hope the NAMM show was beneficial for you and look forward to seeing you next year!

Yes - seeing all that blue sky affected me the same way.

Thanks for the info & pictures Frank!

BTW, after you've read this thread, you might want to drop in on the...

1st Annual After NAMM Contest thread...
http://www.pianoworld.com/ubb/ubb/ultimatebb.php?/topic/1/16810.html

Frank,

I'm still very curious about this post quoted from Page 1 of this thread -- I'm more curious about this one than everything else about NAMM that's discuss here.

Please tell us more about your encounter with the poster and his booth.

A former moderator should not troll. :p

They are generally sold to one of the larger California dealerships. Special doscounts are given.

Hi Ax,

While you wait for Frank to respond....
I too was approached by Mr. Wilson. He came into the Samick booth (where I was working as a consultant), looking for me. We had a discussion that I would describe as confrontational but not overtly so.

I'll start a new thread about this encounter as soon as I catch up with business.

Steve,

Please don't. Seriously.

David

Folks, you're getting off topic here.

I didn't want this thread hijacked (and I do have a little pull around here :-)

This thread is for pictures and reviews of the NAMM show.

If it will help quiet the curious among you...

I wouldn't know the Piano Superstore if I fell over it (apparently I did).

I was chatting with Shawn in the PTG booth about Piano World and advertising. He said there was a booth just up the aisle from them that was promoting pianomoving.com (or thepianomovers.com, or something like that).

So I went up to chat with them. They were nice to me and said they were already familiar with PW. I'm not surprised anymore when people in the business tell me that. He did mention there had been a rather negative thread on the forums about his business (didn't say what business), and that didn't surprise me either, it happens.

I pitched them on advertising on PW and left, end of story. BTW, I've never read any of the threads about piano superstore, and as most of you know, I try to stay out of the middle of things unless there is a need for me to step in.

Now...
CAN WE GET BACK TO REVIEWING THE NAMM SHOW? !!

Oh, all right.

Other than the M&H B, were there any new and exciting piano models introduced?

What about the piano I saw in your pics that resembled an upright in the shape of a grand???

SORRY, man I hate these progressives...

:)
Figured out for yourself that it's a vertical with a grand shaped display against the back?

Steve,

Two things I saw with the new Samick site that might need some attention: I DID like the idea of separately-designed microsites for each brand. It continues a different branding "feel" for each piano, even down to the way the site looks and works.

Having said that, on the Pramberger site [ahem] at a quick first glance it's not clear to the user what's going on with that page. Giving it the quick 2-second glance and doing what a "typical" user would try to do, the eyes go right to the center of the image and the navigation bar at the top becomes "invisible." I try to click on the two lines of type to see the two different lines of pianos, and.... nada.

The fix would be to either make those big type elements in the center clickable (that's the easy fix) or change the whole graphic to pull the navigation elements from above, down into the lefthand side of the page somehow. (more difficult - requires a redesign of the page. I'd go with clickable elements in what they have now, first.)

The second one is the Sohmer site. I'd lose the splash page since it does nothing AND they'll lose up to 50% of their traffic at that point by folks who just click back to Google/Yahoo! and on to the next link on the list.


Can you tell what I do for a Day Job?

CozyWriter,

If you are refering to the sites at the current samick link, I don't think you're seeing the new sites yet.

A lot of what I saw was in mock-up and/or test-site mode (correct me if I'm wrong Steve, wouldn't be the first time).

well at least they won't HAVE to do a lot of work on the other sites

Hi Frank - It looks like you've had a good time there. Hopefully some of the leads will prove to be fruitful after all.

I look forward to trying the new M&H B at the tour.

John

Th new site will launch in the next couple of months.

And Cozy is right. The current site leaves a lot to be desired.

Wait 'til you see the new one! It's really nice.

Frank:

You are correct in advising Cozy that the current website is the one we (SMC) has been using for a long time. The new site is completely different and will be interactive, as you saw at the booth on Saturday. I am sure that there will be some hoopla and we will let the PW readers know when it is launched.

well if you need a knowledgable UI savvy focus group......

I'm at home on my bum for another month, trying not to go batty watching Oprah and Super Surgery.

Thank you for sharing this NAMM[/b] incident with us.

Frank, sorry to have missed you. Things really didn't slow down until Sunday. Did you at least get coffee and/or champagne from us?

No, but I didn't try either. I'm sure the young lady at the front desk would have seen to it if I'd mentioned we'd discussed it.

I'll hold you to it next time though :-)

Gee, I've never heard that one before... ;-)

Thanks for the "hang," it was fun.

I'm happy to report that NAMM has just returned as an underwriter (along with Pearl River and Roland) for Season 7 of The Piano Guy (my weekly PBS series).

There is not a much more "pure play" on the grass-roots, inspiring new musicians, enjoying making music front as my show.

I was really thrilled with this year's NAMM from this industry standpoint: The last 5-6 years have been marked with a lot of positive discussion and many disparate programs, initiatives, and programs all "dipping their toes in the water" of recreational music making. Although everyone "felt" in their hearts is was the right way to move, NAMM and the industry being as big a ship as they are took a while to get things turned and moving in one direction. I really heard and felt for the first time this year a united, earnest, coming from all fronts, push towards building the market through creating more happy life-long music makers.

One great example is the new RMM (recreational music making) NAMM site. I'd encourage everyone to check it out as it's chock-full of research, videos, and other things all relating to the topic. Finally anyone in or out of the industry can find out RMM info in a sort of "one-stop-shop." NAMM\'s new RMM website

Frank, thank goodness I didn't cut your heads off in this picture. It was nice meeting you with Scott. I was the "Will You Take My Picture With Scott Guy" all week!

Brett P.

To get some sense of the size and scope of the show, check out these pictures from the NAMM folks themselves...

http://www.thenammshow.com/open/dayonegallery/

http://www.thenammshow.com/open/daytwogallery/

http://www.thenammshow.com/open/daythreegallery/

http://www.thenammshow.com/open/dayfourgallery/

Here is an excerpt from a NAMM news article:

105th NAMM Show Closes with Record Breaking Finish
Vibrant Show Sets Positive Tone for Music Products Industry's 2007 Sales Year

NAMM, the trade association of the international music products industry, today announced final registration and exhibitor numbers for the 2007 NAMM Show. At show close, NAMM reported a four percent increase in overall registration for a grand total of 84,695 registrants.[/b]

The association previously announced breaking the all-time record of exhibitors with 1,535 companies displaying products at this year's NAMM Show.[/b] International attendance showed an eight percent increase for a total of 9,889 registrants from more than 100 countries.[/b]

During the four-day event, buyers and sellers of musical instruments and products held meetings, wrote orders and shared opinions about the year ahead. In addition to the great business opportunities, as many regular show attendees know, there were also plenty of "only at a NAMM show" moments to meet and interact with some of the greatest artists in the world who regularly attend.

"We were gratified to see the industry come together during these challenging times to work together in order to seize the many opportunities ahead of us in the coming year," said Joe Lamond, president and CEO, NAMM. "NAMM is pleased to serve its Members by producing the NAMM Show which fuels our 'circle of benefits,' where show revenues are reinvested back into the industry through market-building programs, partnerships and initiatives that drive more interest in making music."

Man, what's with the 50 year olds throwing down gang signs? Pretty pathetic.

Just another fraternal organization against mandatory retirement. And how nice. They brought their lovely children too...

I thought these were the greeters at the Steinway booth, part of their effort to reach a younger crowd :-)

Interesting that in all the NAMM gallery photos I couldn't find one acoustic piano.

Not even the one with lines around the block waiting to be played.

Sorry, I know this isn't strictly on topic, but what is the National Piano Traveler's Association? I did a quick search, but nothing. It certainly has an intriguing name at least.

---------------------------------------------
From their web site:

Since 1904, almost one hundred years ago, the NPTA has been an integral part of the world’s piano industry and is the oldest trade group under the banner of NAMM.

Back in 1901 a group of 52 piano dealers banded together to form an organization known as Piano Dealers of America, ostensibly to combat unscrupulous tactics used by some merchants to market their pianos. Remember, in those days the piano was the second most popular consumer item in America! Did you know there were 325,000 pianos built in the United States in the year 1923. What happened from then to now?

Also on the scene was the Piano Manufacturers Association (PMA) formed primarily to “black-list” lazy workers, strikers, and (if you can believe it) disloyal and dishonest piano travelers!

Well, this raised the dander of those travelers who went before us, and the National Piano Travelers Association came into existence in 1904, its initial purpose being to counteract some of the PMA’s actions. Most likely their efforts weren’t too effective, but the fact that a group of traveling salesmen got together at each music convention to meet and discuss mutual problems (and probably to swap a few lies, too!) shows the common bond that grew and grew

http://www.pianotravelers.com/
--------------------------------------
They have a big gathering the night before the NAMM show starts. There's good food and drink, with lots of piano industry veterans getting together to swap stories and talk about the industry.

They were[/b] the greeters at Steinway!

Great post w/links Frank...thanks again

You know those upside down peace signs are just that right? Peace signs? Kids today are suprisingly similar to the older generation with window dressings to help them feel different. But they're really not. On the one hand they look hip, on the other hand they are Rocky Horror Picture Show ca. 1978.

A few videos from the NAMM show...

http://www.pianoworld.com/TotalLinker/display.php?catnum=10

These are posted in our new User Generated Links section ( http://www.pianoworld.com/TotalLinker/index.php )

I found about 80 NAMM 2007 videos for guitars/amps/drums etc., but only a couple for piano/keyboards.
Come on Piano Industry professionals, if you want to reach a new generation you gotta get with it!

I would like to see everyone using this new section on PW to post links to Videos, MP3, and interesting threads in the forums.

We can easily add new categories, just suggest them to me.

It could become not only a fun/useful resource, but also a sort of "bookmark" area for good threads.

Speaking of becoming useful, please don't forget we could use your help in building out our Piano Wiki ( http://www.wikipiano.com/mediawiki/index.php/Main_Page )

We now have someone helping with the Wiki (thanks Wade), so it has a chance to grow.

Sounds like you had a terrific time, Frank. Great pix, thanks for sharing it with us.

Hey, did the Australian piano, Stuart (or is it "Stewart") show up there? And if so, did you play it???

Jeanne W

Yes, thanks Frank. I'm still sort of new to PW. I was able to attend the NAMM show in 2006, but not this last one. I'm local in Southern California. Yes, those mountains were always there
: ) Some days it's just not clear enough to see them. They move in closer then move out, depending on the wind and such.
Hey, I want to play that 12' Rubenstein!!! I'm drooling.
Dave G.

Our very own Steve Cohen received an award at NAMM.

Hey, we finally get to see Steve -at least I've never seen a photo of him before- sooooooooooooo...

which one of you two guys is Steve???????????



Jeanne W

Steve is on the left.

I've had the pleasure of seeing Steve's magic act (at a forums party in CA), he's really very good.

Thanks to all.

When I received the award I was interviewed for about 45 minutes on our 70 year history. I just got a DVD of the interview and I am looking for a way to make it accessable on the Internet.

It is a big file. Can anyone suggest a way do this?

Create a zip file, you can then use our uploader if you'd like.

convert it to DIvX format 4.7GB files = 700+MB (after convert) with same good quality as DVD, then upload it using torrent uploader..or share it using internet free storage.. for more details about this..try ask youngster (computer gigs) around there..they know how to handle this..

ps: probably Im one of them

Huge event and great pics