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ble activities be arranged to capture
the feminine interests during the Trade
Shows.
Suggest Breakfast Meetings
Question number three pertained to
whether or not the NAMM held too
many meetings during the Convention
week. The majority votes on this ques-
tion were also negative, however, many
of the Committee members did feel that
active Association members were kept
extremely busy attending certain meet-
ings and other Association functions to
the extent that they did not get suffi-
cient time to adequately visit exhibits.
As a result of this general feeling, it
was recommended that the NAMM con-
sider holding breakfast meetings for
both its Annual Meeting of Members
on Tuesday and its Reorganization
Meeting of the Board of Directors held
on Wednesday morning of Convention
week. These two recommendations
must be acted upon by the Board of
Directors of the NAMM. The Associa-
tions business clinics were considered
very valuable and highly constructive
and will be scheduled on Thursday of
Convention week in 1954.
Attendance Tabulation Change
Question number four and six con-
cerned the handling of attendance fig-
ures, both daily reporting of them to
the press and in the final computation
following the Show at which time the
registration list is mailed to exhibitors.
A large majority opinion felt that at-
tendance figures when handed out to
the daily press should be stated in two
groups: the first group being the buy-
ers from music, furniture and depart-
ment stores, etc. and the second group
to reflect the registration of commer-
cial individuals, exhibitors, press, ra-
dio and others. The final computation
of the exhibitors list following the
close of the Trade Show will be also
made in two separate parts: the first
section being the names of dealers and
their companies with the additional
names of company personnel, and the
second section to be made up of ex-
hibitors, distributors, and all other
commercial, radio, press, etc.
was generally believed that far too
many exhibitors merely relied on the
fact that there is the Trade Show, with
the presumption that all dealers will
attend whether or not the exhibitor en-
deavors to make attendance at his own
exhibit attractive and interesting. The
NAMM publicity regarding the Trade
Show will place more emphasis on
product publicity including those
things which will be seen at the Trade
Show. These stories will be designed
with interesting and varied sidelights,
all of which will help sitmulate en-
thusiasm on the part of the dealers to
attend the Show.
Mailing Stuffers
At the recommendation of the Com-
mittee, the NAMM will cease the issu-
ance of Trade Show seals or stickers
and replace that publicity item with an
attractive mailing enclosure to be avail-
able by April of each year, which ex-
hibitors may enclose with billings to
dealers or in other promotional mail-
ings calling the dealers' attention to
the Trade Show.
Greater assistance will be given to
all music dealers throughout the coun-
try in securing their Hotel reservations.
Hotel reservation sheets will be sent
to all music dealers with information
encouraging them to attend the Show
and to make early provision for their
Hotel reservations.
Location of 1956 Trade Show
The Trade Show Advisory Commit-
tee considered the feasibility of hold-
ing the 1956 Trade Show in New York
or Chicago. Surveys have shown that
the majority of exhibitors and the ma-
jority of dealers prefer Chicago as the
Trade Show location, however, it is
acknowledged that in consideration of
those persons located east of the Mis-
sissippi that the Trade Show should be
held in New York at least once every
fourth year. Therefore the Trade Show
Advisory Committee is recommending
to the NAMM Board of Directors that
it seriously consider scheduling the
1956 Trade Show in New York City.
The NAMM Board of Directors will
consider this recommendation at their
Mid-Year Meeting in February.
Urge Exhibitors to Promote New
Lines
Ban Teachers and Band Directors
Question number five pertained to
how dealer attendance might be in-
creased. The Trade Show Advisory
Committee recommended that all exhib-
itors be more active in their own be-
half by calling their dealers' attention
to new lines or instruments which they
would introduce during the Show. It
The Committee considered the cur-
rent controversy of whether or not
teachers and bard directors should be
admitted to the Music Industry Trade
Show on one day during Trade Show
week. This question was considered
from all possible angles including the
benefits to be gained by allowing teach-
ers and band directors to attend as
well as the disadvantages and problems
which would be provoked by such a
policy. Following considerable discus-
sion the majority opinion held that
teachers and band directors should not
be invited to attend the Music Industry
Trade Show. This final decision -was
based on the fact that these Trade
Shows should be reserved as a market
of musical merchandise, to be attended
by authorized purchasers and dealers,
and. therefore, "for the trade only".
All representatives shared the opinion
that the meetings of the Music Educa-
tors National Conference, at which a
large majority of music industry firms
exhibited, were the proper meetings
and exhibits which should be patron-
ized bv teachers and band directors.
Anenl Music Trade Shows
Of the Past and the Present
Charles S. Onderdonk, Jr., for many
years manager of the Wanamaker pi-
ano salons in Philadelphia, and now
retired, living at Wayne, Pa., wrote
the REVIEW last month the following
interesting comments anent present and
past Conventions.
"I was very much interested," he
said, "in your Editorial about splitting
up the music trade convention into two
parts—one, the piano fraternity, and
the other the small goods end. Many
others agree with me that since we ar-
ranged to have our conventions to-
gether, that they have become a hodge-
podge with little of the oldtime flavor
and the type of men attending the con-
vention, who to me are certainly a
different breed from those formerly at-
tending them. My early recollections
of them were such men as Fred Lohr
of Hardman, Peck & Co. and J. C.
Amie of Sohmer & Co. coming with
their families, with their silk hats and
even their butlers, men of distinction
and poise, gentlemen of the finest type,
certainly far different from the ones
I attended in the last few years when
I was active, which were flooded with
radio, TV and record men.
"In fact, after the last one that I
attended I made up my mind that was
the last one, as the type of men I met
were certainly not ones from whom I
could learn much. I don't think that
a music merchant interested in selling
half a million dollars' worth of pianos
a year is very happy to give up his
time and the expense of it only to be
constantly accosted by salesmen trying
to sell him phonograph needles or
some new gadget for the TV set."
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW, JANUARY, I9C4