Hey y'all, since CanJam NYC 2022 is going to be the first CanJam for many of you, I want to share some tips and tricks that I've learned over the years. These are things that I wish I knew, or had thought of, when I first started going to CanJams. Most of these tips are related to logistics and time management, but this first (and perhaps most important) tip stands apart:
1. Never pass up opportunities to meet and hang out with somebody new.
I'm sure you've seen some posts attesting to the same, but CanJams are great places to strike up new friendships with people - some of which will be deep and lifelong friendships that can affect your life in positive ways that are hard to imagine beforehand. I even know people that have struck upon friendships that transcended audio/music, where their families now vacation together. As for my own experience, the very first person I met at my very first event was Jude. Nine years later, he is one of my very best and closest friends, and I now work at Head-Fi. Beat that with a stick (or absurdly stiff power cable if that's your thing)!
2. The show isn't truly two days long, so skip lunch.
I know it sounds like you have plenty of time, but trust me, you really don't. Assuming you attend every minute of the show, that's eight hours on Saturday, and seven hours on Sunday, for a grand total of fifteen hours.
I know that still sounds like a lot of time, but it goes by faster than you think, and there are any number of things that can and will reduce your audition time: conversations with exhibitors; audition stations being occupied when you walk up to them; technical issues with gear or music streaming; necessary personal breaks; seminars (which can be very worthwhile but still take up time); etc.
One of the best ways to reclaim time is to have a large breakfast, loaded with protein to last you through the day, and then skip lunch entirely. Lunch is a huge time suck at shows. It's not just a matter of how long it takes to eat, there's also having to wait in line (because everybody takes lunch more or less around the same time), and possibly additional time spent in traveling to/from off-site restaurants. Srsly, if you can, skip lunch, and have a large breakfast instead... which brings me to my next point.
3. CanJam Breakfast! 
If you're going to have a large breakfast, and you're not averse to meeting new people, y'all should organize a Head-Fier's CanJam Breakfast for Saturday morning before the start of the show! I've organized a few of these in my day, but since I'm going to be working the show, I won't have time this year.
If you're thinking of taking the reins and organizing one, what you'll want to do is get everybody sync'd up for a single start time. 7:30a is good if you can't make breakfast reservations and need to wait in line, 8:00a is good if you can make reservations. As for the venue, that's up to you. However, I can tell you that the Marriott Breakfast Buffet, wherever it might be in the world, is fairly consistent in terms of quality, and it's just downstairs.
You're probably thinking "that's crazy early, I'm not gonna eat for two hours!" No, of course you're not. But history has shown that these breakfasts invariably turn into mini meets, as everybody starts to whip out their portable rigs for sharing. "Oh you have the 7Hz Timeless? I've been curious about that." Next thing you know, you've been rolling tips for the past twenty minutes when someone says "hey the show's gonna start soon."
4. Plan on being there both days.
One of the most common points of feedback we get is that sometimes the show is not quiet enough for a detailed audition. That's a function of the exhibition nature of the show, as well as social gregariousness as people do talk/laugh/cry/etc. during the show. There simply is no practical way to overcome that. HOWEVER...
The first hour or two on Sunday morning tends to be deathly quiet in comparison to any other time of the show. I've seen it time and time again. For many people, 10:00a on Sunday morning is just too damned early, and you can take advantage of that. If you're at a point where you've narrowed what you want down to several options, spend some time on Saturday trying to get your choices down to the final two. Then take advantage of this natural quiet hour on Sunday to get in some better auditions to make your final choice.
There are a bunch of other tips as well, but as they tend to be situational, I can't think of them off the top of my head right now. But I hope that the above helps you have a better time at CanJam NYC 2022.
