A Beginners Guide to the NAMM Show

I don’t remember many moments in my life - my first taste of ice cream or my first time driving a car. But I sure remember my first time attending The NAMM Show.

Standing in line outside on day one to get our badges and wondering if I’m even in the right line. The NAMM Show is like being at a movie theater on the opening night of the next big flick, not knowing what to really expect, but the buzz is real, and the crowd is bubbling with personalities.

I’ve been a recording and performing artist for 20 years, and for the last nine, I have also worked full-time in the industry. I’ve performed at The NAMM Show a few times as an artist for Roland and had a hand in shaping their DJ products. As a result, I’ve taken my skills as a DJ and producer and rolled them into a role that also encompasses driving business development, music education, and managing Los Angeles’ first DJ Shop, Astro AVL. While I could explore finer topics, like how NAMM has influenced my strategic partnerships and overall positioning of Astro AVL, for now, I’ll stick to the nostalgia of that first show. It’s a feeling so many of us have logged in our memory and haven't paused to think about in a long time. And it’s a feeling so many others have yet to experience.

When I first started attending the show as an employee of Astro AVL, I was still in the early phase of my career with the company and could afford to be a bit more liberal with my time. I was free to browse booths at will, absolutely oblivious that my future would include back-to-back vendor meetings. Back then, gaining entry into the show was through a retailer or manufacturer, but recently, NAMM has expanded access to the show through a few newer paths, such as its individual membership category.

In those early days, I wandered, sometimes with a colleague and sometimes totally alone, but primarily in the mindset of an audio artist looking to explore new tools of the craft and interact with the things I’ve only seen in magazines.

That was the charm of The NAMM Show. Hopping from booth to booth, filling your brain with information as you consider the possibilities of what the product in front of you could do for your sound. I went around in no particular order, stopping as I liked to sometimes catch the last half of a tutorial or presentation already taking place. There’s so much to explore but only so many hours in the day so you have to choose how to spend your time wisely. I made a point to visit all the top DJ/production equipment manufacturers I already had come to know but half the fun is also finding things you’ve never seen before. As I drove the hour-long trip home the night of my first show, I was a bit exhausted and partially overstimulated by both the wide range of noise and influx of new information. But, in that same decompression period, I was determined to start the next day even earlier.

For those planning to attend The NAMM Show for the first time, I offer the following advice that stems from the experiences I am about to share.

Year One
I didn't bring much with me, packing mostly my curiosity and hopes of expanding my network of peers. My advice, if possible, is to get your badge the night before from a badge pickup center at one of the designated locations. If you can’t grab your badge the night before the show opens, get there as early as you can on the first day, as day one brings a high traffic of people getting their badges for the first time. Also, and maybe most importantly to keep you in the game, get a jump on lunch. The food trucks outside have never disappointed me, but if you wait for peak hours, you’ll spend more than an hour chowing down.