What makes your city a top meeting/convention destination?
Our Music City brand, coupled with our convenient location. Nashville is located within a day's drive of 50 percent of the U.S. population. We also enjoy a reasonably mild year-round climate.

Our sweet spot is groups of 1,000 to 2,000 attendees.
Tell us about a meeting you've just signed or a recent meeting you're very pleased with.
The International Music Products Association, known as NAMM, outgrew Nashville three years ago but will be returning here in the summer of 2008 based on the fact that we're one vote away from approval on a new convention center. We love all groups, but we're particularly happy that NAMM is coming back because of our 11-year relationship with that group.
What is your perspective on destination leadership?
It's a brave new world out there. Destination leaders must be involved in all facets of a city and its growth, because as an industry, we're being more and more recognized as a vital component of cities' economic well-being. It's our job to advocate in that regard.
What is your city's roadmap for the future?
Our brand and appeal are stronger than ever.

Gaylord Entertainment announced over the summer that it is moving forward with plans for a major expansion of the Opryland Resort and Convention Center. The expansion is expected to be complete in 2011 and will add more than 400,000 square feet of convention and meeting space and a new 400-room, luxury all-suites hotel adjacent to Opryland's existing facility.

As I mentioned, we're also close to getting approval on a new downtown convention center from the Tennessee legislature. Together with the Gaylord expansion, a new convention center would take Nashville out of the middle tier of cities, competing against places like Indianapolis, Charlotte, and St. Louis, and put us back where we were in the early 1990s, competing against places like Atlanta, New Orleans, and Orlando.
What green initiatives is your city/convention center undertaking?
LEED certification for the new building will be a must, as we want to be on the front end of environmental responsibility. We're also looking at other initiatives, as are many of our supplier partners.

How have destination marketing organizations (DMOs) evolved over the past 10 years, and how do you see the role of the bureau changing in the future?
DMOs have gone from being pure sales and marketing organizations to playing a major role in destinations' economic development and growth. This evolution will continue, with more demand on private revenue sources inducing organizations such as ours to come up with more initiatives to distinguish one city from another.
What is your biggest challenge as a DMO?
Competitive pressure. If we do our jobs and communicate our cities' messages effectively, most of that pressure will disappear by itself. But that communication must go beyond just marketing materials, to include everything from getting the word out through technology, such as the Internet, to partnerships with customers.
What is it about working in this industry that grabs you?
No two days are alike. You never know what challenge or opportunity will greet you in the morning.