Piano World Home Page Forums Fun Stuff! - Parties, Tours, Projects & More... Forum Members Parties, Tours, Cruises, & Meetings Picts & Comments from NAMM 2007

Thanks for the info & pictures Frank!

BTW, after you've read this thread, you might want to drop in on the...

1st Annual After NAMM Contest thread...
http://www.pianoworld.com/ubb/ubb/ultimatebb.php?/topic/1/16810.html

Frank,

I'm still very curious about this post quoted from Page 1 of this thread -- I'm more curious about this one than everything else about NAMM that's discuss here.

Please tell us more about your encounter with the poster and his booth.

A former moderator should not troll. :p

They are generally sold to one of the larger California dealerships. Special doscounts are given.

Hi Ax,

While you wait for Frank to respond....
I too was approached by Mr. Wilson. He came into the Samick booth (where I was working as a consultant), looking for me. We had a discussion that I would describe as confrontational but not overtly so.

I'll start a new thread about this encounter as soon as I catch up with business.

Steve,

Please don't. Seriously.

David

Folks, you're getting off topic here.

I didn't want this thread hijacked (and I do have a little pull around here :-)

This thread is for pictures and reviews of the NAMM show.

If it will help quiet the curious among you...

I wouldn't know the Piano Superstore if I fell over it (apparently I did).

I was chatting with Shawn in the PTG booth about Piano World and advertising. He said there was a booth just up the aisle from them that was promoting pianomoving.com (or thepianomovers.com, or something like that).

So I went up to chat with them. They were nice to me and said they were already familiar with PW. I'm not surprised anymore when people in the business tell me that. He did mention there had been a rather negative thread on the forums about his business (didn't say what business), and that didn't surprise me either, it happens.

I pitched them on advertising on PW and left, end of story. BTW, I've never read any of the threads about piano superstore, and as most of you know, I try to stay out of the middle of things unless there is a need for me to step in.

Now...
CAN WE GET BACK TO REVIEWING THE NAMM SHOW? !!

Oh, all right.

Other than the M&H B, were there any new and exciting piano models introduced?

What about the piano I saw in your pics that resembled an upright in the shape of a grand???

SORRY, man I hate these progressives...

Figured out for yourself that it's a vertical with a grand shaped display against the back?

Steve,

Two things I saw with the new Samick site that might need some attention: I DID like the idea of separately-designed microsites for each brand. It continues a different branding "feel" for each piano, even down to the way the site looks and works.

Having said that, on the Pramberger site [ahem] at a quick first glance it's not clear to the user what's going on with that page. Giving it the quick 2-second glance and doing what a "typical" user would try to do, the eyes go right to the center of the image and the navigation bar at the top becomes "invisible." I try to click on the two lines of type to see the two different lines of pianos, and.... nada.

The fix would be to either make those big type elements in the center clickable (that's the easy fix) or change the whole graphic to pull the navigation elements from above, down into the lefthand side of the page somehow. (more difficult - requires a redesign of the page. I'd go with clickable elements in what they have now, first.)

The second one is the Sohmer site. I'd lose the splash page since it does nothing AND they'll lose up to 50% of their traffic at that point by folks who just click back to Google/Yahoo! and on to the next link on the list.


Can you tell what I do for a Day Job?

CozyWriter,

If you are refering to the sites at the current samick link, I don't think you're seeing the new sites yet.

A lot of what I saw was in mock-up and/or test-site mode (correct me if I'm wrong Steve, wouldn't be the first time).

well at least they won't HAVE to do a lot of work on the other sites

Hi Frank - It looks like you've had a good time there. Hopefully some of the leads will prove to be fruitful after all.

I look forward to trying the new M&H B at the tour.

John

Th new site will launch in the next couple of months.

And Cozy is right. The current site leaves a lot to be desired.

Wait 'til you see the new one! It's really nice.

Frank:

You are correct in advising Cozy that the current website is the one we (SMC) has been using for a long time. The new site is completely different and will be interactive, as you saw at the booth on Saturday. I am sure that there will be some hoopla and we will let the PW readers know when it is launched.

well if you need a knowledgable UI savvy focus group......

I'm at home on my bum for another month, trying not to go batty watching Oprah and Super Surgery.

Thank you for sharing this NAMM incident with us.