NAMM Signs on for Six Years in Anaheim

The NAMM Show has been held at the Anaheim Convention Center for 27 years. But until this month, the show never had a long-term contract.

The formal agreement signed July 14 covering the years 2005 to 2010 guarantees the Anaheim Convention Center's biggest tradeshow — and the country's 27th largest — will stay around for at least six more years. In addition, the city will benefit from an estimated $420-million economic impact over that period.

Plus, the Carlsbad, Calif.-based NAMM Intl. Music Products Assn., which owns the show, benefits from certainty that dates will be available. "In the past, we haven't had a long-term agreement like this. The city responded to several of our concerns and we were able to put together an agreement that is a win-win," said Kevin Johnstone, the association's director of tradeshows.

Held in January, The NAMM Show comes during the busiest season for the venue, which has a 75-percent occupancy rate. "Both parties were interested in locking down the dates," said Greg Smith, the convention center's executive director, adding that other large Anaheim-based tradeshows could follow suit in signing long-term pacts.

A separate agreement covers rates with 10 local hotels. Johnstone said NAMM appreciated "the involvement of the hotel community to work on hotel rates that are going to be predictable over the long term. This was a mutually beneficial agreement not just for the convention center, and not just for NAMM, but for the hotel community."

The show's size has been relatively stable in recent years. The 2004 show, held Jan. 15–18, drew 1,344 exhibitors and 58,235 attendees and featured a 556,301 net square foot showfloor. That compared with 2003's 1,311 exhibitors and 51,787 attendees. The show's 556,460 net sq. ft. showfloor in 2003 earned it a No. 27 ranking on the Tradeshow Week 200.

The Anaheim Convention Center offers 815,000 sq. ft. of exhibit space in five halls. Johnstone said that should be enough to accommodate the show's growth — at least until the convention center's next expansion.

"We have some concerns for the future. We're obviously talking to the city about our future space needs," Johnstone said. "If they build more space, we could use it. If they don't in the short term, we'll make it work."

The NAMM Show has been held in Anaheim every year except for 1998–2000, when the convention center underwent an expansion that added 125,000 sq. ft. of exhibit space. During those years, the show was held at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

The $169-million convention center expansion was part of a $4.2-billion Anaheim Resort redevelopment project that also added two new hotels to the city's inventory. Anaheim now hosts 10 TSW 200 shows. The convention center is considering adding some meeting rooms, but no expansion of exhibit space is currently on the books, Smith said.

Johnstone said NAMM attendees feel comfortable and safe in Anaheim, home to Disneyland and a healthy number of hotel rooms and restaurants. "They're very comfortable. They know the names of the bartenders and the bellmen, they've been going there so long."

Although there is more than 100,000 sq. ft. of additional exhibit space available in surrounding Anaheim hotels, Johnstone said keeping the event in one building is critical. "People can't feel like they're in the other space or the basement or up in the attic. Anyone not on the main floor feels like they are in a lesser space," he said.