Should I go to NAMM next year?

OldReliable

Senior Member
Hi DRUMMERWORLD,

I’ve always loved watching the NAMM videos on YouTube, and getting to see all that new gear! This year though, I feel like I really have the urge to actually go and experience it firsthand. I’m currently in High school, so I’d fall under the student category of admission. Do you guys think next year would be one of the best times to go, or should I hold off a little longer? Also, would my parents be able to gain admission as well? Just the thought of seeing all that gear and the celeb drummers that attend is just insane for me!

Thanks,
OldReliable
 
NAMM is not open to the general public. You must be associated with music industry business to even be able to attend.

Many people argue that yes, anyone can go (because you see anybody there), but you'll notice everyone has a badge, so they had to know someone or are associated with someone who can gain access to the show. Usually you see "Exhibitors" (the people making the product), "Buyers" the people buying products, "Exhibitor Artists" people who represent specific companies, or "Guests" (people who are guests of a specific exhibitor). There are other titles, like "Associate" (a NAMM thing), or "Media" (obvious), etc.,...

But you really can't just show up and buy a ticket to get in because it's not a public event. If you make friends with someone who can attend NAMM, it is possible for them to get you a badge, but it will just be for you alone.

Someone told me there was a "public day" at NAMM, and that's just not true. You can visit the NAMM website (NAMM.com, or .org) and read up on their requirements for attendance.
 
Thanks Bo! I didn’t realize NAMM was that exclusive. I did find on their site that NAMM lets in college and conservatory musicians through some education program, which could be a way for me to go in the future.
 
Thanks Bo! I didn’t realize NAMM was that exclusive. I did find on their site that NAMM lets in college and conservatory musicians through some education program, which could be a way for me to go in the future.

Or just make good friends with someone who can put you in their guest list. That’s how I initially got to visit, and if you meet the right people inside, they might take you on as an Artist.
 
Also, isn’t PASIC open to the public? That’s another show I want to attend eventually.
 
Yea, it's really not that hard to get passes if you know someone in the music or equipment biz with a registered business. I play with a guitar player who just went... He is not in the biz, but friends get him tix. He pretty much only goes to meet famous people.
 
Yup, I've heard of regular folks getting into NAMM. I've also heard that when a sales rep from the company sits there and explains all of the new stuff to the regular folks and then finds out they are JUST regular folks and not a store or business owner, the sales rep gets pretty ticked.

I'm not trying to sound like a jerk here, but if you end up going, don't waste anyone's time. If a sales rep approaches you, just tell him you aren't a business owner; you are just there to look. For gosh sakes, don't take your own sticks or hit anything. There's enough of that.

Pretend like you are at a meeting you shouldn't even be at. Smile. Be thankful. Don't bother anyone. If I end up at NAMM one day, I plan on following these guidelines.
 
I'm not trying to sound like a jerk here, but if you end up going, don't waste anyone's time. If a sales rep approaches you, just tell him you aren't a business owner; you are just there to look. For gosh sakes, don't take your own sticks or hit anything.

No offense taken, and I understand where you’re coming from. These companies are trying to sell, and spending a bunch of time talking to a rep who could be selling to a legitimate distributor means lost sales for the brand. If I was a rep, I’d be trying to sell to the biggest names, instead of some random guy who’s just there to look at gear.
 
No offense taken, and I understand where you’re coming from. These companies are trying to sell, and spending a bunch of time talking to a rep who could be selling to a legitimate distributor means lost sales for the brand. If I was a rep, I’d be trying to sell to the biggest names, instead of some random guy who’s just there to look at gear.

Isn't that what the badges are supposed to indicate? I assume they don't give much attention to people with "guest" badges and focus on the ones that say "buyer".
 
Isn't that what the badges are supposed to indicate? I assume they don't give much attention to people with "guest" badges and focus on the ones that say "buyer".

That may be the case. I've never been, so I don't know the procedure. It's cool if they do, and a good idea.
 
That may be the case. I've never been, so I don't know the procedure. It's cool if they do, and a good idea.

I've not been to NAMM either, but I do attend trade shows for IT stuff, and in every case, you get a badge that not only says who you are, who you're with, and what your role is, there's typically a QR code on the badge that the dealers can scan to get pretty much all your info.

On that note, though, I think sometimes the power of the little guys word of mouth can get you lots of business, though indirect, it's real.
 
This year, for the first time, somebody scanned my QR code on the badge. I guess it automatically puts me on their email list for future information. I thought that was very hip. Then they don't really have to talk to you, just scan you badge and they can move on ;)
 
Bo are there scalpers with fake IDs and such or is it so organized no scammers have a chance? Seems with so many people and such a large venue cheaters could figure a way-or big bucks buy your way in if that is a possibility? Sorry if I'm jaded, but just curious.
 
Bo are there scalpers with fake IDs and such or is it so organized no scammers have a chance? Seems with so many people and such a large venue cheaters could figure a way-or big bucks buy your way in if that is a possibility? Sorry if I'm jaded, but just curious.

I think it is so organized "scalpers" don't have a chance. If you can call them that.

New for this year was the fact that immediately coming in off the street, you were directed to the check-in lines where you would go and get your badge. Once inside, you produce your paperwork confirmation (if you printed it up at home), and your legal identification (driver's license) or the barcode sent to you as a message to your phone, and then they print up your badge. From there, then you are free to enter the venues- but you showed your ID along with your badge every time you entered the doors. This was nice because now you didn't have people without badges congregating near the main entrances. Last year, you had people protesting or trying to convert you to Jesus near the entrances. Now, everyone in the perimeter had a badge, so no riff raff were even allowed close to the convention center.

So for a scalper to be able to provide you a fake badge means he'd have to be outside the perimeter, with a printer of some kind to do it. But even then, as I said my QR code was scanned a few times by vendors so they could send me information - who's to say the metal detector's at every entrance weren't program to also ready the QR code on your badge? This is provided you even had a fake badge to begin with.

I'm inclined to think that no one can "scalp" NAMM badges, it's just too difficult. Concert tickets is one thing: those scalpers are buying the tickets, then selling them to patrons at an extremely inflated price - that's the definition of scalping. You can't buy NAMM badges beforehand, and technically they're free to people invited. So scalpers wouldn't make any money, and they wouldn't do it for free.
 
So here's a pic of my badge for this year. It's big, there 's artwork and a watermark on it - so it's fairly difficult to copy correctly. But even as I tried to take a picture of with my iPhone, the phone picked up the QR code and asked if I wanted to go to that particular webpage. So imagine someone at NAMM scanning badges and it didn't recognize the code on a badge? That would be fairly easy to pinpoint someone with a fake badge.

But at the same time, I think people who would want to attend NAMM are a very small population, and most people are willing to do it right, because it would just mess you up in the future if you were a fraud, and the idea is to be able to attend and see what's new that's coming out, no?
 

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