NAMM 2018 promises biggest pro audio offering ever as LA show gets underway
The annual LA show runs from January 25-28
NAMM 2018 officially gets underway today, with the promise of more pro audio content than ever before in its 117-year history.
Taking place from January 25-28 at the Anaheim Convention Centre in Los Angeles, NAMM 2018 is not only set to break attendance and exhibitor records across the board, but is also boasting its most extensive pro audio offering to date. Indeed, some 7,000-plus brands are expected to be on show this year, while last year’s record-breaking turnout of 101,726 attendees looks set to be topped by the end of its 2018 outing.
Commenting on what the pro audio community can expect from NAMM 2018, NAMM president and CEO Joe Lamond told PSNEurope: “The expansion of the Anaheim Convention Center North building has given us the opportunity to invite more pro audio exhibits, and to support the growing buying community by nearly tripling our education offerings. We were fortunate to have the Audio Engineering Society agree to produce their conference at NAMM, and with Audinate’s Dante, ESTA (The Entertainment Services and Technology Association), A3E, and NAMM’s TEC Tracks, it’s an almost dizzying array of professional development opportunities with a simple goal: offer relevant and high value education for our members and attendees.”
Lamond also highlighted the efforts this year to increase not just pro audio exhibition space but educational opportunities as well.
“While new technology and products drive any industry, continuing education and training, and getting better at practising one’s craft, is essential for growth,” he continued. “We have always believed this to be true, and it seems to me that we’re in a very natural cycle of expanding education at the NAMM show to reflect the changing needs of industry members. The vast ecosystem of music and sound depends on a growing number of industry professionals to make it all work, and with that, the opportunity to learn. The NAMM show is the crossroads where this ecosystem intersects. It is an honour and also a responsibility to provide reliable and relevant education to achieve a vision of a more musical world.
“Specific to education, AES@NAMM brings a rich legacy in audio education to NAMM U’s offerings. In particular, AES@NAMM will get deep into hands-on and technical education for audio professionals, and in an incredibly broad range of topics. With ESTA, Lighting & Sound America/PLASA, and others, we’re poised to offer event tech professionals the certification, tools and skills needed. TEC Tracks couldn’t have a more exciting line up of free sessions for audio professionals — specifically, legendary Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick is hosting a keynote. Also, A3E, Advanced Audio + Applications Exchange, is holding its first three-day Future of Audio Summit at NAMM, which should be especially fascinating for anyone interested in such future-forward topics as audio for virtual reality, sensor technology, AI and much more.”
The show’s renewed commitment to the sector has not only been crucial in ensuring the return of long-standing pro audio NAMM exhibitors, but also in attracting new ones. Among them, revered loudspeaker specialist Funktion-One, whose founder, Tony Andrews, told us: “We hope that NAMM will be a very important show for us by providing a springboard for furthering our endeavours in what has always been an interesting market. We’re in the midst of a very exciting time in Funktion-One’s development, both in terms of technological innovation and market impact. Therefore, we’re looking forward to building on the solid base we have in the States and to making new and important connections.”
You can read our exclusive interview with Lamond in full here, while all the very latest NAMM news, product launches and announcements can be found in our special NAMM 2018 tab at the top of the navigation bar.
You can also keep abreast of all things NAMM by following us on Twitter and Instagram at @PSNEurope and on Facebook.
Source: mi-pro.co.uk
