Last weekend we attended the MTNA (Music Teachers National Association) Conference in Las Vegas. Now, when it comes to conferences, we’ve gone to our fair share of consumer and electronic events, such as the NAMM Show and the SAE IMSTA Festa. This conference, however, was our first one that focused specifically on music teachers. Being that this was a new crowd, we were eager to show those in attendance what we had to offer.
Showcase
The first day at the conference, Chris Vance (CEO) hosted an hour-long showcase of Playground Sessions to a room of teachers. As the room filled up, many teachers were excited about the technology that Playground offered and the popular songs the program taught its users. Chris demonstrated Playground’s features as well as how Playground could be used as a great supplemental tool for teachers. Once the teachers saw Playground in action, they loved it! The end of the showcase was filled with questions from various teachers as to how they could get signed up, how they could sign their students up, and where they could learn more information.
After the showcase, our display booth was flooded with consistent traffic of teachers and students who wanted to test out the program. We enjoyed demonstrating Playground’s use and technology to all who stopped by, but we especially enjoyed the enthusiasm we received from different students. After all, it’s the students who would be spending the most time on Playground Sessions – so if we can get excitement out of them, we know we’re doing something right!
One of the most exciting things about this conference was the attendance of Lang Lang. He hosted a piano masterclass and announced the release of his new “Technique” books for piano players. Although he didn’t perform any full length pieces, he did dazzle the crowd while playing excerpts from his books.
After Lang Lang’s classes, he spent some time on the main showroom, where Chris was able to share a few words with him.
Being that this was the first conference we attended that catered to music teachers, our goal was to raise awareness of our product amongst institutional and private piano instructors. By the end of the conference we made a lot of great contacts and reached a lot of people who were as passionate about our mission and our product as we are. The 2015 MTNA Conference was a success and we look forward to attending the next one!