Any non-criminal US citizen can become president, but very few can afford to campaign to reach that goal. We are given the perception that the world is our oyster if we “work hard enough” or “have a good business mind”. But when we really look at it, so many opportunities in our lives are the result of the good will of others and being part of a community.
I attended my first NAMM Show in 2005 with a well-known guitar company I was working for at the time. It was my first job in the industry and my projects were all going to be on exhibit at the NAMM Show. No pressure. The NAMM Show is one of the biggest musical instrument trade shows in the world. There are two NAMM events a year. Summer NAMM is the smaller one, and its location moves around now and then. Winter NAMM is the larger event and takes place at the Anaheim Convention Center in southern California. Companies come from all around the world for this trade show. The company I worked for was very well-known in the acoustic guitar world. I remember my boss saying to me, “if we don’t do the show, people will think we’re dead.” When I asked him about how many guitars would sell at the show, he told me NAMM was about networking and meeting people and potential dealers. He also shared that every build going to the show was sold ahead of time and that is how he funded the show. At that time, the overall expense was $30k! That company could only muster the funds to participate in Winter NAMM at that time. It seemed like we were always preparing for the next NAMM Show.
The dream of “doing the NAMM Show” is something I’ve heard from many new luthiers. Even having experienced the glitz and glam of the NAMM Show from the vendor side, I didn’t have any interest in being an exhibitor. It would have set me back so far financially, I would have been working more jobs than I already had just to break even. I still don’t see the overhead as anywhere close to reasonable for any up-and-coming business. This “cost of doing business” is even a lot for a well-established business. I think the cost of pursuing that “NAMM dream” is what cripples and closes many startups. It’s not to say that no one finds some sort of success as a vendor at the show. But does success have to come with such a heavy toll?
There are plenty of events and venues who will happily take your money, not caring whether or not you end up in the red at the end of the year. Even local arts and crafts fairs and music festivals have a cost to do business and often long wait lists and no one to contact. Sometimes that cost is pretty steep and the effort too much for a situation where you don’t have consumers looking for high dollar products. “Organizing takes time, venues cost money, and people don’t work for free,” is what a local show organizer told me as an excuse for gouging people for vendor spots when I posed the idea of putting on a free show.
How can this current paradigm shift to support artists? I believe, through my own experience, that it is not that difficult to seek sponsorship in order to put on a free show. In addition, although it’s a lot of work, creating a community of like-minded artists is more rewarding than anything else. I’ve seen first-hand how powerful connecting people can be. In a world saturated in a consumerist mindset, the real answer doesn’t come through money, but in coming together with a shared passion and goal. People are willing to help one another without direct personal gain or monetary exchange. Let’s get to it!
The High Desert Luthiery Invitational will always be free to the vendors, and free to the public. It is a show dedicated to supporting the luthier and luthier-adjacent community as well as musicians.
