You’ve Gotta Be In It To Win It

In early January it was confirmed that Gibson Brands would not be attending the 2018 Winter NAMM Show in Anaheim.

Rather, the organization is focusing on the Consumer Electronics (CES) show, which takes place in Las Vegas just before the NAMM Show.

Now, to be clear, I am not slamming Gibson. I’m the very satisfied owner of no fewer than four Gibson guitars and I grew up dreaming of owning a Les Paul. I also don’t have an ownership stake in the company, I don’t work there, I’m not privy to the specifics behind why Gibson opted to be a no-show at this year’s NAMM convention in any way, and I’m really not qualified to judge their decision fairly.

I just think it’s a little sad is all.

I mean, if you were an car buff (or worked in that industry) attending the North American International Auto Show and you found out that Ford or BMW had chosen to sit this year out, you’d probably be bummed, right?

Gibson is certainly not the first – and likely won’t be the last – “big name” to bail on a prominent MI trade show. A number of longtime exhibitors chose to give the Summer NAMM gathering a pass in the years when the show departed Nashville (though many have since returned). The same can certainly be said for the now much-smaller Frankfurt Musikmesse (although, again, some have begun to exhibit once again).

I recently had a brief chat with Hap Kuffner of Kuffner International, Inc., who feels strongly that participation in industry events is a must. “Put it this way: I haven’t missed a NAMM Show since 1974 on either coast,” he says. “I haven’t missed the Frankfurt show since 1980, and I’ve only missed one Music China in the past 15 years. You really need to go to these shows. It’s that simple. You should be going. The buyers deserve that respect. It’s an expense, yes, but it’s well worth attending all of these shows. As the New York lottery used to say, and I’ve used this quote many times before about trade shows: ‘You’ve gotta be in it to win it.’”

NAMM president and CEO Joe Lamond has this to say: “The purpose of The Show is bigger than any one company; it’s about the gathering of the music industry and its many tribes. It seems to me that people have been coming together in these kinds of pilgrimages since the dawn of human history, and while I imagine there are many reasons for this, as time goes on, those reasons evolve, as well. For me, the NAMM Show has been the one constant; the steady, reliable platform, and usually the only time I get to see so many of my friends and peers from around the world in one place. We do business with each other, we learn from each other, we laugh with each other, and we mourn when a member of the tribe passes on – things I value more and more every year.” Aside from Kuffner’s and Lamond’s very valid – to my mind, anyway – observations, whenever a heavy-hitter bows out of one of these significant annual industry gatherings, it feels like a conscious choice to not really be an active part of the MI community, to not support and engage in the culture.

And, like I say, that’s a bummer.