Less than 2 months after the idea’s initial spark, we pulled into the Disneyland portion of Anaheim to NAMM on the evening of set-up day as the doors were closing for exhibitors with just enough time to hoist our massive banner. The following 4 days were filled with excitement and exhaustion, but what a ride! Not only were we in an incredible spot next to the classic Coffin Case brand and seen by tens of thousands of people, but we got to watch as jaws were dropping to the floor for many of those people as they, for their first time, saw the crimson glow of our Hottie (the new name we’d given to our illuminated stand the day before the show).
One of the greatest parts, besides a bunch of orders we got, was that we made fans at the show and many of our new fans were performers we’ve been fans of for years. Celebrities from Fishbone’s Norwood to Lita Ford to Robin McAuley (Michael Schenker Group/Survivor) to members of Lady Gaga’s band were astounded by the bright ideas we were presenting.
Going to NAMM with the goal to find out if people would want to buy our ideas only to find that more types of people we could have ever considered would be buying them three at a time – all the way from kareoke hosts to major TV show producers, from churches to metal bands. Beside being our public debut, The NAMM show was also the first time a Hottie was used in a performance and it was by Great White’s Jack Russell. Highlight after highlight. Good times.
