The Situation
The National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) is the not-for-profit association with a mission to strengthen the billion-dollar music products industry. NAMM is comprised of tens-of-thousands of member companies from around the world. NAMM partnered with Maritz for registration and lead retrieval services.
NAMM’s continued success led to long lines and wait times up to an hour for attendees to pick up their badges.
Maritz and NAMM worked together towards solutions for the following year with a goal of cutting wait times to under 20 minutes.
The Solution
With several proposed ideas to reduce the wait times and create efficiencies, badge printing with SATO printers was put into place— which cut print time from 45 seconds per badge to 4 seconds per badge.
In addition, a large badge will-call tent was set-up outside in the courtyard between the two convention hotels with signs encouraging guests to check-in and pick-up their badges before entering the convention hall.
Even better, the use of scan-and-go terminals allowed guests to either scan a QR code or enter their name and print their own badges.
The Results
The following year, the NAMM Show grew to be the largest and most inclusive event in its 114-year history. A record 1,621 exhibiting companies brought their entrepreneurial spirit to Anaheim. That represented a 6% increase for the largest exhibitor lineup ever.
Attendance was up 4% over the previous year, but average wait times were reduced to under five minutes.
In addition, nearly 50% of those attending opted to use the badge will-call tent, enabling them to receive badges before entering the convention hall.
