NAMM’s New President/CEO Talks about the Live Event Production Industry
In February, NAMM named John Mlynczak as its new president/CEO – only its fourth since 1946. Mlynczak, who has a strong technology background, had been VP of Music Education & Technology at Hal Leonard, previously served as managing director of Noteflight, was a past president of the Technology Institute of Music Educators (TI:ME) and was the director of education for PreSonus Audio.
John, give us a little background.
I grew up in Richmond, VA. I have no childhood memories that don’t include music. My dad played guitar and drums, my grandma played piano and grandpa played guitar. I played trumpet in school.
What attracted you to music technology?
I was introduced to recording in college and fell in love with the technical aspect of it. This was the late 1990s to 2000s, when home computers were common and technology was becoming easily available. In grad school, I got into it at a higher level, editing, buying condenser mics and having Cubase on my Mac. Then I was recording school band performances and solos for other students’ auditions.
How did your career evolve after college?
I was going to be the best trumpet performer in the world — ever! [laughs]. But once I realized that no one needs a trumpet player at 9:30 a.m. on a Tuesday, I started teaching music at a Louisiana school district. Right away, I started including music technology in my curriculum, teaching a class on recording. I was told I had to call the class “general music” or something like that, because Music Technology was not an approved course by the state. So I went to the state and got it on the list, and then other school districts wanted me to do presentations on teaching the class. Then I landed at PreSonus Audio.
What’s your long-term view of entertainment technology?
It’s where innovation happens. Technology leads the way in all facets of music making, and if we want to grow, that’s where it is going to happen. Look at the concert arena: the advancements in sound and lighting are getting more people to the shows and giving them a better experience.
Relative to NAMM’s long history, the inclusion of the live event / concert touring aspect is relatively new — the first Parnelli Awards at NAMM was in 2018. What are your thoughts about this segment?
Bringing those communities into NAMM is essential. The reason live sound and lighting are part of us is because NAMM is the largest global gathering of the music product industry. NAMM has long outgrown just connecting manufacturers with retailers. [Previous president / CEO] Joe Lamond knew that when he pursued bringing your segment into the fold. We need multiple segments: performers, manufacturers, distributors, teachers and users. And where do all these segments come together? The stage.
What do you see as NAMM’s mission today, and has it changed since the pandemic?
We’re looking at [this next NAMM show in] January 2024 as an opportunity for a new beginning. January 2024 is not the end to the “craziness,” but the first year of the future of NAMM.
We will deliver the core of what people expect: An amazing gathering, an opportunity to connect with people, a chance to put your hands on gear, experience music making across the campus, and network. You’ll be able to walk away with more opportunities on Sunday than you had on Thursday. And we are back to a four-day show, and four nights of award shows — the Parnelli Awards being a key component.
The live event segment is different from “traditional” NAMM attendees – what are you doing to attract live event professionals?
We understand the manufacturers of the big audio consoles, line arrays, the latest moving lights, etc., don’t want to see 100 retailers at their booth. They want those top-level FOH mixers, lighting designers and production pros to put their hands on what they have and get their latest products on riders. We now know how to find those people. We can attract them and connect them with manufacturers.
Getting award-winning and FOH engineers and lighting designers to the show might be challenging. How will you attract them?
We’re about to announce a major change: Previously, only companies could be NAMM members; but now individual professionals, including live event pros, are eligible to join NAMM and take advantage of all its benefits, including the trade show. So instead of borrowing someone else’s credential, we want you to come to the NAMM show as a valued member of our organization. We are working on our member benefits to best serve that segment, and then through strategic initiatives, gather data to create a valuable experience.
That’s a big change. How much will this membership cost?
$150.
Let’s discuss the educational and training opportunities at the show.
You will not be surprised to hear me say that I believe education drives innovation and growth. So, this aspect will only get bigger and better. We just had a meeting on how we’re going to expand training opportunities, and that includes on audio and lighting consoles. People want that training, and we’re going to figure out how to get it to them.
Previously, we’ve strived to be product-neutral in our sessions. We’ve avoided sessions on a specific piece of gear, but at some point, we need to move beyond that. People want the training on specific consoles, for example, and we’re going to figure out a way to do it.
Will there be any changes with seminars and panel discussions going forward?
Right now, we’re evaluating it all — Zach [Phillips, director of professional development] does a good job every year on this. The traditional session tracks you have seen year-to-year exist because our audience wants them each year, but we always survey and re-evaluate to ensure we’re delivering what the industry wants.
AI is a hot topic. We know it’s top of mind. But rather than just an AI track, we’re looking at how to weave it throughout our programming. It’s a piece of technology, not a fad, and so we’ll include it in sessions organically in the context of the purpose the session serves.
Labor shortage is a universal problem. What are you looking to do for that?
This falls under what I said about our mission — not changing, but the execution is evolving. We will be promoting a music-making workforce and its development across the board, from quality sound engineers to luthiers. This fall, we’re kicking off the first of many steps to take workforce development to a broader scale. We need to make sure high school and college students understand how many opportunities, how many great careers, exist in this industry. How many times do you hear someone in this business say that they didn’t know such-and-such job existed?
So what will NAMM do?
Make sure the perception of every career in this business is exciting. It’s a huge piece of the future of NAMM. We will work to better connect college students to companies, career panels and job fairs. Beyond this next show, we will try to provide education about these careers.
Another universal issue is diversity…
It’s top of my mind, and why we’re growing our Women of NAMM organization and have our NAMM Young Professionals leading the way in diversity, and we’re focused on it. We all must work harder to ensure that women and people of color have opportunities.
This goes back to our general emphasis on workforce development. We need to gain a wider audience in the career possibilities we offer and enhance our diversity. It’s difficult, but that’s not going to slow us down. We have to reach the next generation of people, and that includes all people.
What type of growth can we expect in January?
I suspect that in NAMM ’24, we will land between 60,000 to 80,000 attendees. [April’s show had just under 50,000 –ed.] We won’t be bouncing back to the 115,000 of 2020.
Will we ever return to that number?
Only if it needs to. Top of mind is that everyone attending this show walks away having received an incredible value through the connections made and the experiences and educational opportunities had.
When you have a show of 60,000, you will see maybe 2% of the people; at a show of 115,000, you will see 1%. This is why we’re focused on segmenting and understanding all the various different people who come here for different reasons, and make sure they have an extraordinary experience. The goal is not necessarily a number, it’s value, and we will provide value at 60,000 or 120,000.
What will NAMM look like in five years?
NAMM will be a thriving global membership association that represents everyone who makes, sells, teaches and works with musical products. It’ll continue to host the largest global gathering that strategically makes the industry stronger. Members will have a robust organization where they will receive value 365 days a year.
Final comment to our live event professionals?
We value your contribution so much we created a membership category for you. We want you as a NAMM member and we will make it valuable for you to be one. Otherwise, we’ll see you in January.
