In this election year – a pretty wacky one, by anyone’s estimation – you might take solace in participating in another voting process with considerably less associated angst and confusion: Indeed, it’s time once again to select the nominees for MMR’s annual Dealers’ Choice Awards (DCAs).
While supporters on each side of the political spectrum (and everywhere in-between) are keeping busy accusing their opposition’s party and/or nominee of corruption and dirty dealing in getting to their own, official presidential nomination in 2016, I’m happy to assure all of our readers that whoever winds up being selected as nominees across the DCA’s 17 product categories will get there because folks actually voted for them! It’s a fair and legit – and verifiable! – process: no ballot-stuffing allowed (only one vote per MMR subscriber), no “fudging the numbers” to suit our own ends. And the proof is in the pudding, when you consider some of the (then) out-of-left-field brands which have won in the past.
Consider the 2010 DCAs: Who would’ve thought that the Snark Tuner (Evets) would bump regular- winner D’Addario from the winners circle as Accessory Line of the Year? I was only recently particularly aware of Snark Tuners, myself, but dealers knew that the little clip-on was flying off the shelves and they spoke with their votes. Or how about, just two years later, when Hailun Pianos knocked virtual lock, the Kawai K-3, from the top perch in the Acoustic Piano Line of the Year category. Only this past year, MI retailers gave the nod to the Ibanez PS10 as the Electric Guitar of the Year, over the near-perennial winner, Fender’s Standard Strat.
We at MMR may have our own perception as to what instruments and gear are setting the world on fire in 2016, but only MI dealers know what’s moving, what’s affording big profit margins, what’s helping forge meaningful and lasting relationships with customers and community – and this is your chance to tell us (and everyone).
I hope you’ll visit mmrmagazine.com/2016-dealers-choice-nominations.html (or just go to mmrmagazine.com and look for the DCA nominations tab) and share your insight. Let your voice be
