Day Two of the 2012 NAMM Show Features More Educational Sessions, Busy Show Floor, SupportMusic Coalition Webcast

The second day of the 2012 NAMM Show kicked off with another lively Breakfast Session held at the Hilton Anaheim.

The event started with the Milestone Awards presented by NAMM Historian Dan Del Fiorentino and NAMM President and CEO Joe Lamond for companies in business 75, 100 and 125 years. Next, they recognized Keith Bardak, president of Hal Leonard, for his contributions to NAMM’s Oral History Program, which features interviews with industry laureates.

Attendees also enjoyed music from the Vitamin String Quartet.

Next, David Meerman Scott, marketing strategist and bestselling author of “The New Rules of Marketing and PR” and “Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead” spoke about the benefits of incorporating a real-time, viral and global approach to PR and marketing in a presentation called “Real-Time Marketing and PR: How to Instantly Engage Your Market, Connect with Customers, and Create Products that Grow Your Business Now.”

Scott’s approach is that if businesses are not engaged in real-time, then they are making themselves irrelevant in the marketplace.

According to Scott, “Real-time means news breaks over minutes, not days. It means ideas percolate, then suddenly and unpredictably go viral to a global audience. It’s when companies develop [or refine] products or services instantly, based on feedback from customers or events in the marketplace. And it’s when businesses see an opportunity and are the first to act on it. Caught up in old, time-consuming processes, too many companies leave themselves fatally exposed by flying blind through this new media environment.”

“The Breakfast Session was awesome—really great,” said Bob Williamson of the Symphony Music Shop in N. Dartmouth, Mass. “A lot of information was really well-presented—so it was a good time.”

“I thought the Breakfast Session was really cool,” said John Guilford
of Guilford Guitars, Inc. of Glasford, Illinois. “It generated a lot of good ideas. And the string quartet at the beginning I thought was just wonderful. I would celebrate them and I hope they go far. I think it’s been an interesting experience. Every time you come to the NAMM Show it’s going to be a slightly different thing, and so far the first day went rather well for the booth. We had some good contacts and things are moving forward. If I learned anything today, it’s about taking advantage of an opportunity as they come and being ready to adapt.”

While big business was being conducted on a crowded show floor, educational sessions for retailers continued at NAMM University including “You’re on Facebook…Now What?,” “Ideas to Train Your Sales Staff in 10 Minutes a Day,” The New Face of Music Lessons—Adults,” and “Turn Your Rental Customers Into Your Best Customers.”

Meanwhile, NAMM’s SupportMusic Coalition hosted a live teleconference and webcast from the Anaheim Hilton featuring celebrity panelists sharing their personal experiences about the benefits of school music education.

The Coalition is a public service led by U.S.-based NAMM and NAfME, the National Association for Music Education, which seeks to strengthen community commitment and support for quality music education in schools.

Panelists included Deanna Brown Thomas, president of the Brown Family Children Foundation and daughter of James Brown; Bernie Williams, author, musician, former major league baseball outfielder; Bootsy Collins, American funk bassist, singer and songwriter; and Phil Collen, co-lead guitarist and backing vocalist for English rock band Def Leppard.

“Music is like the great cosmic communicator,” said Collins. “You can communicate with any and everybody rather than speaking their language. It’s so important for kids to express themselves and love themselves and playing music does that for kids.”

The event concluded with Graham Welch, president of the International Society for Music Education and Stanley Jordan, guitarist, presenting the first Global Sonar Award to NAMM for its ongoing support of music education programs. NAMM was lauded for giving nearly $80 million to music programs over the past 10 years.

Tonight at 5 p.m., NAMM hosted the “Legends Jam” on the main lobby stage featuring Bob Berryhill (The Safaris), Dennis Tufano (The Buckinghams), John Payne (Asia), Robert Sarzo (Hurricane), Scott Warren (Dio), Roger Fischer (Heart), Nicko McBrain (Iron Maiden), Pete Lockett, Roger Wheeler (Sweet Reasons), Jeff Pevar (Starship, Joe Cocker), Richie Castellano and Buck Dharma (Blue Oyster Cult), Doug Rappoeport (Edgar Winter Band), Joey Mollandj (Badfinger), Christy McKinnon, Teddy Zig Zag (Guns & Roses, Alice Cooper), Koko Powell (Spencer Davis, Edgar Winter), Jeff Ganz (Johnny Winter, John Lee Hooker), Sean McNabb (Quiet Riot, Dokken, Great White), Micky Dolenz (The Monkees), Terry Hous (XYZ, Great White), Robin McAuley (Survivor, MSG), Jimy Sohns (Shadows of Knight), Bobby Kimball (Toto), Alan White (Yes, Plastic Ono Band), Denny Seiwell (Wings, Art Garfunkel, James Brown), Frankie Banali (Quiet Riot), Chris Slade (AC/DC, Asia).
 


Also tonight at 6 p.m., NAMM will co-host the “John Lennon Educational Tour Bus 15th Anniversary Celebration” at the Arena Plaza featuring an exciting performance by Bootsy Collins & Friends including Verdine White (Earth, Wind & Fire) and Bernie Worrell.

And starting tonight at 7 p.m., will be the 27th Annual TEC Awards in the Pacific Ballroom at the Anaheim Hilton featuring Phil Collen, Lisa Loeb, Weird Al Yankovic, Bernie Williams, Jeff “Skunk” Baxter, Phil Ramone, Billy Sheehan, Will Lee and Bootsy Collins with the Les Paul Award being presented to Steve Vai. Tickets are required for this event and can be purchased at 27thannualtecawards.eventbrite.com.