Allen & Heath stepped up and went big for the 2021 NAMM Believe in Music Week virtual trade event, hosting engaging interactive events, sponsoring key sessions and extending their award-winning streak. Taking place the week of January 18th, Believe in Music Week was a new online event and global gathering to unify and support people who bring music to the world. With the goal of providing a bit of something for everyone, Allen & Heath was highly visible throughout the week through their mix of product-focused demo sessions, ‘behind the scenes’ development stories, sponsored musical events and content premieres.
Highlights within the calendar of twenty different live-streamed video events included sessions with veteran FOH and monitor engineer Michael Bangs (Aerosmith, Eric Clapton, Katy Perry, et al.) discussing how to successfully transition to broadcast mixing, a special Signal to Noise podcast episode with NAMM President & CEO Joe Lamond, ‘Dante in Worship’ case studies co-presented with Audinate, and Spanish language sessions showcasing the full Allen & Heath product range as well as a deep dive into its popular Avantis digital mixing console. Company representatives were also on hand during the show delivering tailored video chats and private product demos.
“We were frankly blown away by the interest and the number of live viewers we saw throughout the week,” notes Allen & Heath USA marketing director Jeff Hawley. “Every session we hosted had many times the attendance we’d traditionally see for similar events held during in-person shows. Overall, we clocked well over ten thousand highly engaged live video views in our virtual booth alone — and many more beyond that when you count our sponsored events like Worship Musician Chapel TV with guest artist Lincoln Brewster. And of course this platform let us have fun with 1-on-1 video product demos to anyone who reached out for one, too. Totally cool.”
In addition to events for the general NAMM audience, Allen & Heath USA hosted their annual sales and marketing virtual awards ceremony which kicked off the 2021 theme, ‘REIMAGINE’. This year’s Rep of the Year distinction was bestowed upon Lawrenceville, Georgia-based HWPco. Outstanding Performance Awards went to firms which exceeded 2020 sales goals, including Brownestone, Excellence Marketing, Highway Marketing, HWPco, John B. Anthony Company (JBA), Mainline Marketing, Online Marketing, Richard Dean & Associates, and Samuel K. Macdonald (SKMac). Recipients of the Sales Bulldogs Award included Kevin Duthu (HWPco), Dennie Edwards (Highway Marketing), Joe Kokal (Excellence Marketing), Marco Marroquin (Mainline Marketing), Shawn McLoughlin (AudioBiz), Gilbert Perales (Brownestone), Zak Rickard (AudioGeer), Enrico Ruotolo (JBA), and Willy Seltzer (Image Marketing West). Enrico Ruotolo (JBA) was also honored with the 2020 Marketing Excellence Award. Sales Support Awards went to Sean Estrella (Richard Dean & Associates) and Julie Boatright (AudioBiz).
Allen & Heath was among the technical achievement winners at the 36th Annual NAMM TEC Awards, which celebrates the best in professional audio and sound production. The Avantis 96kHz 64 channel / 42 configurable bus console nabbed the top honors in Small Format Console Technology, netting a win for the third year in a row for Allen & Heath in the highly competitive category. Not to be left out, the company’s flagship dLive Digital Mixing System scored a big win in the SOS Awards as the ‘Best Live Sound Product’ of 2021, announced during Believe in Music Week and chosen by the readers of Sound on Sound magazine.
“We set out to look at the different format for NAMM Believe in Music Week as being an opportunity instead of a challenge,” adds Hawley. “This was a great chance for us to connect and share and support the industry we all love. We did our best to generate a lot of positive vibes and listen to our all-important sales partners, chat with the best fans on the planet, and get the Allen & Heath word out to more and more potential customers. Based on the numbers and the feedback I’m hearing, I think we can call Believe in Music Week a success!”
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