Enough with ‘It’s Back!’

After an unbroken streak of NAMM Shows – both “normal” and Summer NAMM – from 2002 to 2020, my batting average has been less than All-Star caliber of late.

Immediately following the January 2020 gathering, for some reason there suddenly weren’t industry gatherings to attend for a while, so that played a part. I did make it to all of the somewhat-odd, “Now we’re doing the Show in Nashville again, but it’s not “Summer NAMM”; it’s “regular NAMM,” just at an unusual time and “It’s the NAMM Show in California! In… mid-Spring…” events, but just as the usual patterns – mid/late January, Anaheim Convention Center – began to reestablish themselves, other dark forces conspired to prevent my joining in on the fun.

Last year, for example, I broke my ankle and leg a month before the NAMM Show and was still quite incapacitated by the time a potential trip out West might have taken place (see my Editorial from our January 2024 issue if you’d like the details – along with a nifty graphic representation!). In winter of 2024/25, I was spared broken bones, but was obligated to once again opt out of attending our industry’s largest trade show for personal/family reasons.

My own personal scheduling conflicts and medical disasters aside, however, for the past many years, many voices in MI have been enthusiastic in their assertion that the NAMM Show had rebounded, was in fighting trim, had regained its mojo. The phrase, “NAMM is back!” was repeatedly directed at me via emails, press releases, blog posts, phone calls, and texts.

Take my own Show Report May, 2023, which, while devoid of much usage of the word, “back,” is awfully sunny in its assessment: “This year’s Show marked renewed vibrancy and enthusiasm not seen since January 2020.” Last February’s Show Report was somewhat reserved in its synopsis – let’s not oversell or over-promise, after all – with a headline of, “’We’re on the Right Path.” In his review of this year’s gathering, MMR publisher Mike Lawson states, “I am very confident that NAMM is back.”

The important latter-half of Lawson’s statement, however, is, “and absolutely worth the time and money to attend.” And that’s, to me, the big takeaway when evaluating not just the NAMM Show, but all such trade shows and conventions in the present-day.

Instead of folks – whether it’s exhibiting companies, attendees, marketing professionals, NAMM itself, me, or anyone else – trying to assert that the NAMM Show is “back” (methinks thou doth protest too much) let’s re-evaluate the benefits such gatherings represent in 2025. I don’t believe there’s much upside to comparing today’s industry shows to those pre-Pandemic, or even pre-Internet. Frankly, I’d be surprised if we ever again see numbers equal to, or even truly approaching, the record-breaking 2020 NAMM Show (Over 2,000 exhibitors and 115,888 attendees, for those of you keeping count), but how and why does that matter?

The bigger an event is, the better?

Was the very best concert you’ve ever attended a sold-out one held at the largest football arena imaginable? Possibly – and I’ve attended quite a few concerts at venues large and small, and have had good experiences in both settings – but, to me, the “size” of any event is largely, if not entirely, incidental when it comes to the quality.

As Mike Lawson’s 2025 NAMM Show musings concludes (quite nicely and, in my opinion, accurately), “The face-to-face value of being at the NAMM Show is undeniable. Those who choose not to attend or exhibit are, by and large, missing out on the amazing opportunities and relationship-building that only this show can provide.”

Today’s NAMM Show isn’t “back”; today’s NAMM Show is – and the MI industry continues to benefit from what it is.