We often don’t get as many chances as we would like to meet our customers in person. Customers we like to call our 64 Family. We are typically up to our ears in innovating audio technology, so when we get to step outside of our lab for a trade show, we get really excited. Trade shows have been a path for us to connect with our customers, fans and all members of our growing 64 Family. They have become a big part of our schedule every year, but things weren’t always this way.
In the beginning, back when we were 1964 Ears, we catered primarily to local musicians and audiophiles who were driven to have the latest and greatest audio technology. But other professionals who needed custom in-ears were a little reluctant to purchase from such a new company.
In efforts to squash that reluctantly, we wanted to get our revolutionary products out to a broader community of professionals, musicians and audiophiles. So, we began to attend trade shows. Vitaliy Belonozhko, the founder of 64 Audio, would personally attend each show to establish personal relationships with audiophiles, musicians and music professionals alike. Through valiant efforts of demoing our products and creating connections, Vitaliy and his team started to show the music industry that although we were new, our IEMs are top of the line.
Rocky Mountain Audio Fest
We attended our first trade show in 2012, as 1964 Ears. The team packed up and headed to Colorado for the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest (RMAF). The RMAF is the largest consumer audio and home entertainment show in the United States. Representing more than 400 companies from North and South America, Europe, Australia and Asia, RMAF provided a perfect environment for us to meet owners and engineers associated with companies that manufacture and sell a wide variety of high-end audio equipment.
At RMAF, we found our niche at a show-within-a-show called CanJam. CanJam is sponsored by HeadFi.org and dedicates itself to portable and personal audio equipment. Here, we continued to build our reputation by establishing face-to-face connections with new customers while they demoed our IEMs. Additionally, we got to meet the people behind other companies that we had a great deal of respect for.
NAMM
The RMAF was just the tip of the iceberg for us and we couldn’t wait to attend more trade shows. So, in 2014, we attended our first NAMM show. NAMM, the National Association of Music Merchants, hosts a trade show bi-annually in Anaheim California and Nashville Tennessee. According to the CEO Joe Lamondon on namm.org, “NAMM is a global not-for-profit trade association representing 9,000 manufacturers and retailers of musical instruments and sound products.” This show is known as the “world’s largest trade-only event for music products industry.”
We went on to attend NAMM every year and as we kept growing, so did our booth size. In 2014, we were fortunate enough to partner with Truth Drums out of Beaverton, Oregon. They allowed us to use a small portion of their display space to showcase our products. In 2015, Truth Drums allowed us to use half of their booth to showcase our products. But by 2016, we grew large enough to have our own custom vendor booth set up. We will never forget Truth Drums for the kindness they displayed during our first couple of years at NAMM.
“I love attending trade shows and NAMM. It gives me a chance to personally meet some of my clients that I have been assisting over email or phone. The booth is always busy with lots of people either wanting to demo our In Ears or people just wanting to learn more about our products.”
Isabel, Customer Support Representative
Connecting with Our 64 Family
Trade shows are and always will be an invaluable experience for us every year. We attend approximately a dozen events every year (not all of which are strictly trade shows). Some of these include (but are not excluded to) Axpona in Chicago, CES Asia in Shanghai, MxU in Chicago, Summer NAMM in Nashville, Portable Audio Fest in Tokyo, Russia NAMM in Moscow, as well as CanJam in London, New York and Singapore.
“It’s great to meet all the musicians that come up to us at the booth. It’s also amazing to see people’s reactions when they first hear our product. To see their smiles on their faces, it shows us right away if they like the product or not.”
Roman Belonozhko
We feel that without this value personal connection, we would not be the company we are today. These trade shows have given us the ability to personally connect with people we make in-ear monitors for. Nothing beats watching people demo our product and getting to know them face-to-face. We also love when current 64 Family drops in to say hello. We feel that personal connection is one of the best parts of the job.
As we gear up for more trade shows during 2017, we hope we get the opportunity to meet you and have you listen to our innovating IEM’s. If you’d like to follow our journey until then, be sure to check us out on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and of course, our website.