Summer NAMM Hugely Successful For iMSO

This might have been the best Summer NAMM to date for iMSO members. The evening of July 10 (before Summer NAMM), MIRC hosted about 35 iMSO members at its facility. Members were treated to a full factory tour, great barbecue and time to hand-select inventory from MIRC’s 14,000-plus guitars. The morning of July 11, independent music store owners gathered for Bob Negen’s Retail Boot Camp, hosted by iMSO and NAMM. Members couldn’t say enough about the information gained during this meeting. Store owners couldn’t wait to get back to their stores to start making changes. The evening of July 12, after an action-packed day on the show floor, iMSO met for its semi-annual member meeting.

iMSO is excited to announce that, every year, it has seen growth in both membership and members attending the NAMM show. Board members elected for the 2012 to 2013 term are President: Gordy Wilcher, Owensboro Music; Vice President: Chris Basile, South Jersey Music; Treasurer: Maureen Johnson, Johnson Music; Secretary: Lisa Kirkwood, Discount Music of Jacksonville; Kevin Damm, Damm Music Center; Jeffery Nixon, Instrumental Music & Sound; Allen McBroom, Backstage Music; and Rich Pires, Herreid Music.

After a member meeting, 30 iMSO members packed in for dinner at Demos’ Restaurant, where talk of things seen and learned was freely exchanged. Among the most talked about was NAMM’s Idea Center. On July 13, iMSO members were able to meet with vendors at the iBUY vendor breakfast. Members should look forward to upcoming announcements from the iBUY team. That night, they celebrated with many of their members who were awarded NAMM’s Top 100 Dealer Awards. And, on the last day, many iMSO members cheered on Donovan Bankhead and Lisa Kirkwood, who were honored to serve on the panel for NAMM’s Best in Show.

For more information, visit www.musicstoreowners.com.