CHARGING AHEAD - Music Inc. Magazine

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46 I MUSIC INC. I MARCH/APRIL 2009
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“I thought it was worth the
expenditure, the time, the
effort, the sweat, the tears —
I’m sure there was some blood
in there, too,” said Mike Belitz,
CEO of Ultimate Support
Systems, with a laugh.
First-time exhibitor DBZ
Guitars, led by guitar industry
veteran Dean Zelinsky, mentioned
visiting with quality
attendees. “It’s still Friday, but
we’ve been busy,” he said
halfway through the show.
“And more importantly, we’ve
seen very important [attendees].
It seems the international
community came out in
droves — Germany, the U.K.,
Australia, South America.”
Music retailers seeking ways
to survive in the tough market
hit the NAMM University sessions
in full force. The NAMM
U. Breakfast Sessions boasted
an 11.4-percent increase in total
attendance from last year.
“Our members once again
demonstrated their determination
and persistence as the
best and brightest from
around the world gathered to
experience four days of new
products, NAMM University
1. Shure’s Chad Wiggins; 2. Allen & Heath’s
Michael Palmer; 3. Roland’s Eric Klein (left)
and Michael Barrett; 4. beyerdynamic’s Paul
(left) and Dana Froula; 5. Blue Microphones’
Blake Jarsky; 6. Solid State Logic’s Damien
Egan; 7. Core One Creative’s Ted and Kimmy
McCann; 8. TC Electronic’s Uffe Kjems
Hansen (left) and John Maier; 9. Stage
Ninja’s Brent Eskew; 10. From left: Jensen’s
Brian Campanella, Noreen Cravener and Orin
Portnoy; 11. From left: Harman’s Paul Faby,
Randy Garrett and Michael MacDonald; 12.
IK Multimedia’s Enrico Iori; 13. Loud’s Pyotr
Belov (left) and John Boudrea; 14. Essential
Sound Products’ Joseph Webb, Tony Smith,
Michael Griffin and Vuyani Wakaba; 15.
Ultrasone’s Paul Taylor; 16. Waves’ Shachar
Gilad (left) and mixing engineer Tony
Maserati; 17. Samson’s Mark Wilder; 18.
From left: Steinberg’s Sam Varma, Kyle
Painter, Matt Schuler, Jeff Davis and Matt
Hepworth; 19. Olympus’ Ray Acevedo and
Amy Leslie; 20. From left: Musicorp’s George
King, Scott Reutenauer and Eric Miller; 21.
Auralex’s David Paxton (left) and Tim Martin;
22. American Audio’s Tom Freret; 23.
Sennheiser’s Ben Escobedo; 24. From left:
Audix’s Lofty Whitaker, Desiree Gregg, Cindy
Bigeh and Cliff Castle