NAMM, the International Music Products Association, today announced that Indianapolis, Indiana, and Austin, Texas, will host the association’s future Summer Session trade shows on a rotating schedule beginning with Indianapolis in 2005 and followed by Austin in 2006. The 2004 Summer Session will once again be held in Nashville, the show’s location for the past 11 years.

NAMM began researching new locations after the city of Nashville announced that it would not be expanding its current convention center or constructing a new facility in the foreseeable future. NAMM’s decision followed several years of research and due diligence including a comprehensive NAMM Member survey conducted by Precision Reports, a third party research company, as well as a nationwide evaluation of more than 20 potential host cities and convention centers.

“Over the past few years, our Members, both exhibitors and attendees, have clearly told us what makes a successful trade show for them,” said Joe Lamond, president and CEO, NAMM. “We acted on this information and have analyzed virtually every aspect of NAMM’s trade shows in order to improve the experience for everyone attending.” Lamond continued, “this has ensured the vitality of the shows in spite of the challenging economy.” Lamond said, “the success of the NAMM shows benefits the industry far beyond the introduction of new products and the placing of orders, as NAMM is then able to reinvest the proceeds to represent, educate and promote the industry and create new music makers for all of our Members.”

In the survey commissioned by NAMM from Precision Reports, which demonstrated a record number of responses by NAMM Members, approximately 70 percent of respondents voted for a location other than Nashville. Specifically, 66 percent of responding 2003 Summer Session exhibitors preferred to change the location of the show. More than 84 percent of responding buyers who have not attended the Summer Session in recent years chose a different location for future shows and the majority of responding buyers who attended in 2003 (approximately 6 out of 10) voted to hold the show in a location other than Nashville. Finally, the survey also revealed that the majority of respondents favored rotating the show’s location from year to year.

“Moving the show to a larger venue will allow NAMM to accommodate all of our exhibitors in one contiguous exhibit hall that provides for future growth as the demand for additional space continues to increase,” said Kevin Johnstone, director of trade shows, NAMM. “Both Indianapolis and Austin give us that opportunity along with excellent housing options and a demographic profile that will bring greater numbers of buyers to the Summer Session. Johnstone continued, “And for those buyers, in addition to being able to see more new products from a greater variety of exhibitors all in one place, changing the location offers many fun, exciting, after-show-hours activities for individuals and families.”

[Source] © Copyright 2003 NAMM, the International Music Products Association. Excerpt reprinted with permission.