The MOC convention centre on the Lilienthaler Allee in Munich is where the annual HighEnd Munich show takes place as organized by the German HighEnd Society. For reasons of cost and availability of exhibit rooms there, years ago a parallel show called HiFi Deluxe set up shop in the Marriott Hotel. But this year that wasn't the end of offboarding. Martion Audiosysteme set up right across the street from the MOC as did Gold Note in the Drivers & Business Club. Kudos and Revival, Linkwitz and Vertere were at Motorworld. Ensemble were in the Pullman Hotel, Silent Pound at the Hampton by Hilton. That's just the locations I learnt of. There were probably more. In years past some outliers like then newer Stenheim even were at the posh Kempinski Four Seasons. If a brand already has established distribution and simply wants to meet their international trade partners in one place at one time without any competitive distraction nearby, perhaps attempting to siphon off some MOC traffic particularly after hours can be a successful recipe? But brands which rely on maximum foot traffic because they're newer really suffer in poorly attended offsite locations. Asking press members to canvas one and all is hoping for miracles. Then there's the abduction scheme played by Göbel. Because their HQ locate just outside Munich, they love to whisk off press members to a factory tour with organized transport links to/from the MOC. How that can waste time SoundStage! contributor Matt Bonacchio chronicled here. Of course nobody is obligated to accept offers to visit a factory during show days. It's purely voluntary though perhaps still a somewhat predatory practice? If the appeal of the already enormous MOC is to have everything under one roof for the visiting hifi enthusiast and press member alike—I've never seen all of the venue's available upstairs space taken up—why dilute that convenience with more and more spotty offboarders? Should we feel like a cuckoo who forgot where he distributed all of his eggs? Chirp. Flutter. Crash.
But there's a flipside to this covered here…
