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1. The TMP/JAM crew hangs out during the Wednesday afternoon cocktail party. 2. Keynote speaker and CEO of FUBU Daymond John speaks. 3. From left: NAMM board member Chris White, NAMM CEO John Mlynczak, NAMM chair Tom Sumner, and NAMM board members Whitney Brown-Grisaffi and Joe Castrono - vo pose with keynote speaker Daymond John. 4. The closing ‘What’s Next?’ panelists discuss the future of our industry. 5. From left: Robert M. Sides Family Music Centers’ Peter Sides, Dansr’s Stephanie Murphy and Music Inc.’s Frank Alkyer. 6. The Industry Leader Roundtable panelists, from left: Taylor Guitars’ Andy Powers, Thomann’s Dominic Wagner, Gibson’s Beth Heidt, Martin Guitar’s Thomas Ripsam and NAMM’s John Mlynczak. 7. Mike Risko Music’s Miriam and Mike Risko with Proel North America’s Antonio Ferranti and Jenna Retana. 8. Country star Charlie Worsham performs during the opening breakfast. 9. The Gibson Garage evening event included live music on the Gibson Garage stage. 10. Forrester’s Brendan Witcher (left) discusses AI with NAMM’s John Mlynczak. 11. Marketing expert Mark Schaefer addresses the crowd during his session on AI.
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zak, president and CEO of NAMM, said during his welcome remarks at the event. “We’ve been talking as a board that we need to do more professional development for businesses. Do we need a NAMM show in January? Absolutely. Do we need to meet for a second show in July? Probably not. But do we still need to meet? Absolutely. This room is designed for ideas to ignite and for creativity to happen.” And ideas did indeed ignite. Leadership members and employees from some of the industry’s biggest companies — including Martin Guitar, Gibson, Yamaha and Guitar Center — attended the two-day intensive.
“NAMM NeXT not only exceed our attendees’ expectations; it exceeded ours,” Mlynczak said after the event. “We knew this event was needed to gather our in- dustry’s leaders and help strengthen their businesses, but what we did not expect was the overwhelming positive outlook on the future of our industry with a strong desire to collaborate. Our industry has been through a lot the past few years, but what we saw at NAMM NeXT is that when we gather and focus on the future, the day-to- day business concerns dissipate and the strength of our industry and resilience of music-making in society prevail.”
Jeremy Chapman, co-owner of The Acoustic Shoppe in Springfield, Missouri, made the trek to Nashville for the event, and said he returned with “fresh ideas, practical strategies and valuable connec- tions that will help us grow.” “While the winter NAMM show is al- ways exciting with its new products, video content opportunities and face-to-face ven- dor meetings, NAMM NeXT let us focus on networking and learning without the usual hustle,” Chapman said. “The seminars on AI, community building and staff coach- ing were very insightful, and hearing from leaders at Martin, Gibson, Taylor Guitars
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