On the flight home from a busy few days in the Midwest I'm just now starting to gather my thoughts about a busy week.
The first thought is that trade shows are very very hard work. I was genuinely happy and interested in talking to all the folks who stopped by to chat (sharing a booth with the great Sun He of Ultimate Brass Mouthpieces certainly didn't hurt traffic!). But spending hours listening to folks’ playing with great care as I was adjusting my mutes to their needs, and answering some very detailed questions took real concentration in that chaotic environment was a real challenge, and the concrete floor made it so that my feet, knees, and back hurt at the end of every day from standing all those hours. It was a real challenge and by the end of the show I was exhausted mentally she physically every day. I don't know how some of these exhibitors do multiple shows in a row (JEN, TMEA, and several other state education conventions are all right around the corner, than military conferences afterwards as well).
The second thought was that sometimes I wasn't sure if people realized how much work goes into every product in that room. The years and sometimes decades of |: design-test-redesign :| and |: troubleshoot machine and/or process-fix and/or adjust :| were certainly on my mind as I looked at so many beautiful and thoughtfully designed and made products all around me just waiting to make music more meaningful and enjoyable. I certainly have even more respect than ever before for all my maker colleagues.
Third was that it was interesting to watch a person of Sun He's caliber, who has multiple performers choosing his mouthpieces from top orchestras all over the world, try and field questions, sometimes started as assertions, about products he has a great deal of knowledge about and experience with. I guess I think I see both sides. As customers we really only have our intuition to go on, and sometimes that colors our perception to the point that it becomes our reality. Measuring mouthpieces with ones fingers or eyes often made people assume all sorts of things about them often before they even made a sound. I know my mind can play tricks on me with equipment for sure, so I appreciated Sun’s patience watching him on the one hand working to relate to a customer in his second (at least) language and give thoughtful and direct answers, and on the other hand trying to word things as to not offend when his knowledge contradicts an assumption. For example I picked up another IM mouthpiece from him (it's possible Sun made a model for me a few years back and we didn't tell anybody 😂), and let me tell you: I swore up and down that he changed the design and improved it and all sorts of things, only for Sun to tell me it was just silver plated instead of gold. That's it.
Fourth was fun. It was fun and rewarding to hear great players play my mutes. Maybe special is a better word. Watching people I appreciate and admire pick up my mutes, watch the look on their face as the playing and sound characteristics unveiled themselves, their body relax when some things became easier. A lot of the responses were heartwarming. Some were challenging: obviously not everything is perfect, and there are definitely some times where I think I need to make a choice between deciding that I designed my mutes to play and sound a certain way that I like, and between acknowledging that there might be a better balance to achieve. Not every person's opinion is taken equally, but they are all certainly considered carefully.
Fifth was money. The cost of that booth is high. Very high. Think thousands of dollars for a three day shot at maybe meeting some customers. Add to that travel and lodging in the hight of the holiday season, and food and transportation in a relatively expensive city. There is no way I could afford such a thing on my own, not to mention justifying time away from my family. For the booth rental fee we got floor space. That's it. Sun arranged for tables and chairs and table cloths and signage and a U-Haul and hand trucks (and I'm sure more that I can't remember) just so that we could function. That man is a pro. McCormick Place, the convention center, charges extra for every single amenity (like carpet) and continually worked to maximize their income. For example, there were no discounts for water ($5/bottle) or food (I paid I think $8 for a cookie to hold me over) for those exhibitors that already paid thousands for the booth and spent the entire day on that exhibit floor, or parking passes for load in and load out. As a matter of fact, the minimal parking rate was $26 for 16 hours. I don't begrudge anybody for making money, but it did start to feel a bit like extortion at a certain point.
In contrast to the convention center, my interactions with colleagues were heartwarming. Houghton horns helped us with mouthpiece cleaner, Jupiter/XO let people borrow horns to try mutes and mouthpieces, Eastman brought back Ultimate Brass mouthpieces that mysteriously ended up there, and Paxman Horns put up with my practicing every time I had a moment to play :). Since my trumpet mutes are a brand new design I talked to a few trumpet playing exhibitors as well. All were kind and patient and thoughtful in their comments, and I have to say, it was heartwarming to have a project that took the better part of 18 months get such a good reception. I know we're all competing for the same dollars, but I really felt everybody was supportive and helpful, and encouraging.
And now that my last trombone flight for 2024 is over, happy holidays and new year to all!
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