NAMM on June 15 issued a letter to potential exhibitors, signed by chairman Chris Martin, treasurer Tom Sumner, vice chair Joel Menchey, secretary Chris White and president and CEO Joe Lamond explaining that despite challenges and a “new normal,” The 2021 NAMM Show is expected to take place as scheduled. The letter is presenting in its entirety below.
“Thank you for your feedback and support as our industry navigates the unprecedented challenges of the past few months. We have been focused on providing members with important lobbying and education regarding financial relief and also sharing the best peer-to-peer ideas for survival.
Of course, the responsibility of producing the global industry’s show has likewise weighed heavily. Some have suggested we sit January out and wait until 2022 when the picture will be clearer. However, the majority have shared the importance of getting the trade together to help the industry rebuild and recover. We believe one of the most important things we can do as your association is to connect and unify. It seems that NAMM chair Chris Martin might have said it best, ‘Now as much as ever, we need to plan on having our gathering of the musical faithful at The NAMM Show in Anaheim. In 2021, the experience may seem different — indeed, life is different — our need to connect is more important than ever!’
No one can really say what the world will look like next January. We are working with the city of Anaheim and the state of California to enable us to use the Anaheim Convention Center. We are also working with federal, state and local health agencies and have retained a medical doctor on our planning team to ensure that we take every possible precaution and follow all known best practices for social distancing, hygiene and enhanced facility cleaning.
As with this past year’s show, we will do everything in our power to ensure a global gathering of buyers, key influencers and media through our Crossroads strategy. Education through NAMM U, TEC Tracks, and the wide range of additional sessions will provide invaluable incentives for retail buyers, distributors, facilities managers, audio and video installers, recording, live sound, staging and lighting professionals. Rounding out our musical ecosystem, the event will once again attract music educators, artists and leading content creators and the thousands of music business students who are the leaders of tomorrow.
We also understand that for some, attending The NAMM Show will just not be a possibility this time. We are building out a digital trade show experience that, while of course not the same as being there, will run concurrently with The NAMM Show and provide opportunities to launch new products, gain media exposure and feature enhanced match-making and customer meetups.
We are working with all of our exhibitors on extending deposits and booth payments. Many will want to reconfigure their exhibits to reflect their economic realities, and we are here to help. Your account rep will work with each of you individually to ensure that, regardless of your level of participation, we will have a solution that fits your unique situation.
We believe that an industry that comes together to face adversity head-on will be more resilient in the face of the many challenges ahead. While The 2021 NAMM Show will be different than this past year, it is an important step in helping our members and the industry grow and thrive in the future. It won’t be easy, but as it was once said, ‘doing the easy thing isn’t always right and doing the right thing isn’t always easy.’ With your support and leadership, we know that we can and will succeed together!”
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