I don't know, the whole thing still doesn't seem right to me.
I would assume it was guests of the convention who were banging too loudly on the drums. Why would NAMM management shut down the vendor, rather than just having their security staff tell those particularly loud-drumming guests to tone it down or leave ?
It shouldn't be up to the vendors to manage the behavior of convention guests. The vendors don't invite people to the convention, NAMM does. Vendors pay a fee to have a booth, so you'd think that security should be working with, and for, the vendors... not against them.
What am I missing here ?
I think the thing is, NAMM has become sort of a circus over the ensuing decades. Because so many "non-industry" types are allowed to attend (like me), the prevailing modus operandi has become that this is now the world's biggest Guitar Center blowfest ever.
There used to be a time when only buyers and serious industry professionals attended (from what I'm told from some old timers). Vendors and Buyers wore suits and serious business is made. The whole idea behind the trade show is not for the general public to be allowed to come in and make as much noise as they can, but it's so vendors can meet buyers so the vendors can stock the buyers with product to sell in their stores.
When I went into both the Pearl and Gretsch rooms on the second floor, there was a display area, but also a walled-off section where they could attend to business in a private atmosphere, and both of those rooms were quieter than normal. Some of the bigger vendors on the main showroom floor had their own little encampments where they could conduct business while all the noise was being made outside.
I admit, I do like being able to visit a vendor and try a product, or talk about it. I don't need to play it very loudly or give a clinic demonstration - it's not about that. But most people come in with their own sticks and hit everything in site. I don't bring sticks (score one for me) as I can see what the product is and know how it will sound, so I've never understood the urge to do a full blown try-out of anything at a trade show. If you want something new, take note of it, and then go to your local dealer when you get home to order it for you when it's available, right? When you get it home, then give it a full test, when you can actually hear it and concentrate on what you're doing.
So I can understand shutting down somebody's booth to make a point. NAMM does not exist for people to try stuff. It exists for buyers (a different badge) to buy from exhibitors (another different badge). I think next year, rather than have my badge say "Exhibitor Artist", I should change it to "Nobody", because the vendors don't want to talk to me - I'm not buying anything!
