Cindy Blackman Santana was named The Percussion Marketing Council’s (PMC) spokesperson for the May International Drum Month (IDM) campaign and host for the 2019 Roadie for a Day contest during the organization’s annual meeting at The NAMM Show in January.
Yamaha’s David Jewell, also PMC’s executive officer, made the announcement, unveiling the life-size cardboard stand-up display of Cindy Blackman Santana. The month-long May pro-drumming public awareness campaign will be promoted via the playdrums.com website. The point-of-purchase display will be provided to the first 150 participating percussion retailers that sign up as official IDM merchants. Retailer sign-up participation will begin in mid-March.
“The PMC will once again connect with thousands of wanna-play and existing drummers with the PMC mission and nationwide retailer network through a contest that has grown consistently over the past six years,” stated Jewell. “Utilizing an internationally recognized drummer like Cindy Blackman provides a tremendous boost to contest entries and nationwide recognition for the PMC’s market development initiatives.”
As a regular part of the PMC members meeting, the executive officers touch on the various campaigns, events and programs that will continue to grow the organization for the future. Executive Officer Karl Dustman explained the 2018 program launch and 2019 expansion of three new market development programs: Percussion in the Library, geared toward creating first-time percussion experiences during the summer months when libraries look for educational connections to attract and engage all-age audiences; Hand Drumming For Life, created by Remo’s John Fitzgerald, builds upon the growing interest of percussion in health and wellness based upon the successes in music therapy; and March to Your Own Drum works with local facilitators to bring marching percussion experiences to existing festivals and competitions where the public can play, learn, and experience percussion off-the-field, up close and personal.
Dustman also introduced Jennifer Paisley as the newest addition to the executive committee, serving the PMC in the industry relations position. Paisley is Trade Shows & Partnership Director with Alfred Music. Brad Smith of Hal Leonard will move off the board into the newly created special projects director position for the organization.
“Bringing Jennifer Paisley into the executive committee was a natural progression, with her vast experience and contacts throughout the entire industry and her prior association with NAMM,” Dustman commented. “We look forward to working with her and the special contributions she brings to the PMC. At the same time, we will be able to target specific leadership projects where Brad Smith can achieve tremendous results drawing upon his years of experience with the PMC, serving as a senior officer. We now have the strongest leadership team assembled the PMC has ever had.”