After record attendance at Frontrunner 07, we had been questioning whether the event could get any bigger. The answer to that question was a resounding 'yes', with the first two days of Frontrunner 08 hosting close to 90 delegates from dealers around the country.

The biggest news this year was CMI's entry into the hi-tech software and hardware arena. The announcement of this exciting development in their business was heralded by a key-note introduction from the director of Asia Pacific Music Marketing, Roy Adams , who introduced Arturia and Native Instruments to dealers and took the opportunity to introduce Jason Hearn - the man to spearhead this new department for CMI.

Guest presenters included Sandra Thompson from catalogue distributors, PMP, who provided dealers with some invaluable insights into getting the best from catalogue campaigns and demystified the distribution process; business analyst, Steve Carey , whose industry experience provided dealers with invaluable advice and tips on running successful businesses; and Chris Mott of Melbourne Finance who specialises in finance options for the entertainment industry.

Harold, Michael, Andreas - discerning observers

This year saw one of the biggest-ever line-ups of international guests, including ESP's marketing director, Allen Steelgrave and clinician, Prashant Aswani whose combined presentation showcased some great playing and ESP's artist-relations and marketing philosophies; Arturia's Antoine Barry , who provided illumination on the Arturia company history and gave dealers a sneak peek at the groundbreaking Origin synth; Jan Stammnitz of Native Instruments who filled everybody in on the history of Native Instruments and product trends in the software world; and Frontrunner veteran Doug Reynolds from Randall who gave an overview of the product range and some insight into the uses of different models.

Other presenters included Ralf Jung from Digitech - here on his second Frontrunner visit - who gave fascinating demonstrations of some great Digitech products and some of his awesome playing. His presentation was augmented by Digitech's international sales director, Matt Western . Andreas Mayerl was here under both the Hughes & Kettner and HK Audio banners and his presentation on Hughes & Kettner outlined the amplifier categories in H & K's range and the philosophies behind the development of their products. Michael Herweg and Harald Von Falkenstein of dB Technologies proved popular with their unveiling of the new DVX series and further developments in their product line; while Robb Mason and Denis Valente of Belkin - a company whose roots are in the computer industry - gave a fascinating presentation outlining Belkin's move into the MI industry, giving hints at some of the amazing products that will be hitting MI stores in the not-too-distant future.

Joe Sofo with his award The ever smiling Brad Parker shows off his plaque

CMI's own presenters included Paul Mowson who announced some timely and exciting additions to their growing drum department; Andy McIntyre , who reminded everybody of the huge number of Pro Audio partners who've got on board with CMI in the past year and the marketing initiatives they've undertaken in this area; and Dale Keating whose guitar skills were heavily utilised demonstrating Randall, Hughes & Kettner and Digitech products. The Awards The dinner nights offered a great chance for dealers and CMI staff to relax and get to know each other better and of course gave CMI the opportunity to present awards to their high-achieving dealers. ESP Dealer of the year: BMusic SA Washburn Dealer of the year: Joondalup Music WA Randall Dealer of the year: Guitar World WA Digitech Dealer of the year: Cranbourne Music Vic Wharfedale Dealer of the year: Drumpower Vic dB Technologies Partner of the year: Entertainment Warehouse Hire Vic HK Audio Partner of the year: Parker-Black Pro Audio Vic CMI Rep of the year: Nathan Brady NSW Entertainment this year proved what world-class talent we have here in Australia with Brett Garsed, Craig Newman, Stuart Fraser and Angus Burchall ('The Farnham Band') putting in a hot instrumental performance before being joined by one of Australia's legendary singers, Daryl Braithwaite, for a run through a set of Daryl's solo hits.

The Special Audio Night
Monday 16 June saw CMI - as part of the Frontrunner Show - host close to 100 audio dealers and AV professionals from around Australia for Frontrunner Audio 2008. CMI has seen unprecedented growth in the number of Audio Partners over the last 12 months and the turnout was the biggest yet with huge interest in the dB Technologies, HK Audio and Wharfedale products in CMI's range.

Peter Trojkovic and the infamous roll of Gaffa

A number of dealers were seen wearing 'opposition' brand logos on their shirts and - in welcoming dealers - it was light-heartedly suggested by Peter Trojkovic that these visitors use some gaff-tape to cover the logos! CMI's Andy McIntyre then proceeded to discuss the growth of the HK and dB Partners networks over the previous 12 months and revealed that Cohedra training sessions are flagged for September. In the Wharfedale arena, he also showcased the new SHO series passive speakers which are at the high end of Wharfedale's range. Delegates from dB Technologies - Harald Von Falkenstein and Michael Herweg - talked at length about the popular DVA Line Arrays and revealed all about the new DVX series and Arena Pro series speakers which - when demoed - showed impressive performance and clarity.

Andreas Mayerl from HK Audio discussed the Firnet controllers at length. The Firnet incorporates all the functions necessary to equalize, protect, control and remotely manage COHEDRA, COHEDRA COMPACT, and CONTOUR SERIES systems. Interest was high.

After a session of listening to the range of black boxes on display it was again awards time with the Audio Partner Awards going to Parker-Black Pro Audio for HK Audio and Entertainment Warehouse Hires for dB Technologies. CMI offered congratulations to both of these companies for the accolades and thanked them for their commitment to the products through the year.

The night proved the growing awareness of the HK and dB Technologies brands in Australia with a number of very impressed AV operators and dealers from around the country enjoying the chance to hear and see the CMI Audio story first-hand.

CMI would like to thank the following:

• Ernie Rose whose massive Digico D7 console was 'control central' for all the audio presentations in the main Frontrunner arena.
• A big thanks to all the international guests for attendance this year in what proved to be CMI's biggest line-up yet.
• All the CMI staff for their hard work.
• All the CMI dealers. Especially those that gave up time to spend working on CMI's collective business.

We look forward to an even bigger and better event in 2009.