Nashville showcases in NYC

This article talks about leveraging the Country Music Award's 2005 appearance in NYC as a way to promote Nashville as a whole.

Nashville leaders play alluring tune for NYC - 11/13/05 - Tennessean.com:

"... about 130 Nashville executives, policy-makers and academics representing both the Convention & Visitors Bureau and the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce head to New York this weekend (paying their own way) to spread the gospel of Music City. Included in these groups are people such as Mayor Bill Purcell, HCA Inc. CEO Jack Bovender, and Vanderbilt University's vice chancellor for public affairs, Michael Schoenfeld.

"... Performers such as Kix Brooks and Sara Evans plan to attend a 'Music City' luncheon tomorrow at Gotham Hall in New York that will include a wide range of business-development consultants, national media and New York-based corporate executives."

"Vanderbilt's Schoenfeld said 10 or 15 years ago, the university considered Nashville's image as Music City a 'net liability' when it came to recruiting top faculty and students. Today, he said, Nashville has become an important selling tool for the school.

"That's been an experience shared by many others throughout the local business community, from law firms to health-care and insurance companies, [Convention & Visitors Bureau President Butch]Spyridon said.

"'About three years ago, as the CVB was going through a strategic planning process, we realized that we couldn't hide from this "Music City" brand anymore,' Spyridon said. From those discussions, the task became to tell the rest of the world what the average Nashvillian already knew: That "Music City" encompassed much more than just an outdated notion of country music. It includes rock, gospel, R&B, and classical, as well as numerous songwriters and studio resources.'"