MOTU not exhibiting at 2024 NAMM?

[James Steele]

I just checked the NAMM app and MOTU is conspicuously absent from the list of exhibitors for the upcoming NAMM in January in Anaheim.

I find this particular absence a bit troubling. This is the first post-pandemic NAMM that is finally back at the usual time of year. I could see sitting out 2022 and 2023, but not sure about this one?

2024 NAMM is really going to show whether the Winter NAMM can regain its former glory, or never be quite the same again as many companies decide they can skip it with no perceptible hit to their bottom line.

[mikehalloran]

I'm still on the fence about going but need to decide soon. Not liking that news.

[dix]

I wonder if this is because the hardware side is having supply chain issues still. It might not make sense to be there without any new hardware products.

[Michael Canavan]

If it's any consolation Mat has hinted pretty heavily that a new version or well updated version of DP is right around the corner here. .

[James Steele]

If it's any consolation Mat has hinted pretty heavily that a new version or well updated version of DP is right around the corner here. .

Oh yeah. I have no doubt that DP development is ongoing. Just the speed with which they rushed DP 11.23 which was a hotfix shows me that they're still still on the ball with DP!

It may really be more of an issue that MOTU, like many other companies, realized during the pandemic that the massive expense of exhibiting at NAMM wasn't really increasing their sales? I know one company that it was costing nearly half a million bucks to exhibit each year when you totalled up all the costs and they decided it simply wasn't worth it.

It may be that companies realized they don't need to exhibit at NAMM to be successful.

[James Steele]

I'm still on the fence about going but need to decide soon. Not liking that news.

I already paid for a pass and have room reservations for Friday & Saturday as is my habit. The pass was $150... ouch!

This does perhaps signal the end of an era as far as the annual MOTUnation/MOTU-MAC Dinner at El Torito on Friday night. The times are a changing and I'm sad to see what appears to be the end of that tradition.

[mikehalloran]

NAMM is not cheap for me to attend, that's for certain. Besides hotel and parking, I need to rent a scooter. I did it in my unpowered wheelchair a couple times—never again.

I can get a free pass directly from NAMM for the favors I've done over the years but the people I want to talk with aren't interested in me unless I'm a buyer for my business, then it's Let's talk! So, I need to renew my Membership for the trip to do me any good but that includes 3 extra passes.

Hmmm... maybe I can convince a friend to push me around for a pass...

[dix]

If it's any consolation Mat has hinted pretty heavily that a new version or well updated version of DP is right around the corner here. .

I just watched the replay from yesterday’s webinar. Did you catch what bug fix Matt inadvertently revealed, Michael? I didn’t understand.

[stubbsonic]

I got sick last month, then I got sick again a couple weeks ago. This covid/flu season is wreaking havoc in the circles I travel in. If I was given a choice whether to go be around throngs of people, I would most definitely skip this year, and probably every subsequent year. Just sayin.

[James Steele]

I got sick last month, then I got sick again a couple weeks ago. This covid/flu season is wreaking havoc in the circles I travel in.

Sorry to hear that. It whacked me pretty hard a few weeks ago. It was flu... not COVID. Still it ended up morphing into a sinus infection as I found out after very reluctantly going in to urgent care. I'm from the school of "tough-it-out." Doc told me that wouldn't have worked and I had to go on antibiotics for week. Right as rain now, but what a PITA!

[stubbsonic]

Sorry to hear that. It whacked me pretty hard a few weeks ago. It was flu... not COVID. Still it ended up morphing into a sinus infection as I found out after very reluctantly going in to urgent care. I'm from the school of "tough-it-out." Doc told me that wouldn't have worked and I had to go on antibiotics for week. Right as rain now, but what a PITA!

Sorry you got the crud, too. My Oct "project" was COVID, but this recent one was just some intense flu thing.

I don't know if in some parts of the country people might be saying-- "We have X people out sick, and Y people don't want to risk bringing something to their families, etc. etc." So I was just musing that if NAMM was a required part of running a business, but COVID/Flu/RSV was a potential consequence of attending a super-spreader event, I might get cold feet.

[James Steele]

...but COVID/Flu/RSV was a potential consequence of attending a super-spreader event, I might get cold feet.

There was one year, pre-COVID, where something really nasty got spread around at NAMM. A lot of people came home and were sick. It was jokingly referred to as "NAMM-thrax." Since then it hasn't been that bad. Just get plenty of rest, and some people thing it's all in your head, but I like take an Airborne every now and then too.

[HCMarkus]

NAMM-thrax

[mikehalloran]

NAMM-thrax

The late Rick Turner called it that.

[thracks]

It's a bummer, but totally understandable. A lot of the bigger companies started peeling away from trade shows even pre-covid. MOTU always had such an awesome booth. Couldn't have been cheap or easy to pull off.

Even tho I didn't attend every year, it was always fun to meet up at El Torrito on Friday night. Big thanks to Jim Watson and James for organizing. End of an era indeed.