BTW - Jimmy Landry did an excellent "Conversation with Ilan Bluestone" who is extremely hot in the trance world right now. There were lots of interesting insights, and I had my video recorder running the whole time. Assuming there isn't some horrible problem when I review the audio, I'll be posting it in Harmony Central's YouTube channel. I also recorded the panel discussion with Roger Linn, Dave Smith, and Tom Oberheim (moderated by Mitch Gallagher). It's long but will be well worth watching when I post it.
 
Looked to me like there were close to 10,000 people there this year. I will be interesting to find out how the final figures shake out.

One of these years I gotta make the short trip from South Bend to Ft. Wayne to experience the Gear Fest and meet you guys!

Gear Fest was a lot of fun.
Sensory over-load for a gear-head!
 
The Sweetwater staff was super accommodating and helpful... and the whole event was well organized.
 
Got to meet Craig right before his "Mastering in your DAW seminar".
A wealth of knowledge on gear/music/audio, Craig has been inspiring "electronic musicians" for years.
We didn't have a lot of time to talk, but it was super cool meeting him.
If you haven't been to one of Craig's seminars, I highly recommend getting to one.
No matter what your level of knowledge/experience, you'll walk away with new ideas/perspectives.
 
It was also really cool seeing several clients throughout the event.
 
Gear Fest is the next best thing to a NAMM show.
Reps/booths from many manufacturers... and thousands of folks in attendance (couldn't believe the number of cars)
I wanted to catch more seminars... and meet more folks face-to-face (missed the Cakewalk staff)... but we were pretty tired by Saturday afternoon.  It was time to grab a guitar and some odds-and-ends... and head home.

Jim Roseberry
Gear Fest is the next best thing to a NAMM show.

If you qualify that by "Winter NAMM," I'd agree...but if I had to choose between GearFest and Summer NAMM, I'd take GearFest because of all the workshops and other events. Besides as you pointed out, the Sweetwater staff is exceptionally accommodating and friendly.

I meant Winter NAMM...   
 
GearFest was a great experience from top-to-bottom.
We will definitely go again...
Devin (sales associate that helped us) was super helpful and a nice guy.  He was BUSY!
 
Craig, thanks for all that you do... and for being such a down to earth personality!

Made it to both of Crag's seminars, but didn't get a chance to say hi.
 
Both were very informative and entertaining - I got several tips to try on my current projects.
 
Overall, it was a great event - picked up some good deals, got some good info from the vendor reps we talked to and all of the seminars were informative.
 
I also want to note the Fab DuPont mixing seminar on Saturday - this was an excellent session.  I will be looking forward to seeing him again next year (if he's there.)  Also, anyone recall the name of the band whose song he mixed?

dwardzala
Made it to both of Crag's seminars, but didn't get a chance to say hi.

I'll let it go this time...but if you're there next year, you will receive a demerit that will go on your permanent record 

Fair enough - I am already making plans to be there and will definitely stop by and say hi.

I'm envious of you guys. Australia is just too small for events like that. I can't think of a single retailer with that sort of pulling power.

Anderton

dwardzala
Made it to both of Crag's seminars, but didn't get a chance to say hi.

I'll let it go this time...but if you're there next year, you will receive a demerit that will go on your permanent record 

Yeah, I'm still kicking myself for not stopping by after your talks at the AES 2012 Project Studio talks to say hi (which were excellent, btw!).  Would have been nice to say hi to some of the SOS guys too.