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19 min

Live From Destinations International: Lessons Learned & Fun Stories from Music City

With 25+ years at the same DMO, Deana Ivey demonstrates how to grow as your city expands - plus, we hear about producing large events in-house, working on the set of their movie It All Begins With A Song, and giving a young Taylor Swift her start. Deana Ivey is President and CEO of the Nashville Convention and Visitors Corporation. 

"We spent a lot of time in a lot of sessions figuring out what Nashville is known for, how do we promote it, how do we change our marketing, and what visitors do we want to attract. What came out of that is the Music City brand as we know it now."

Intro: Recorded live from the Destination's International Convention in Tampa, Florida. Welcome to Brand USA Talks Travel. This year's Destination's International annual convention promises to ignite your passion and fuel your growth. We'll plug you into all the visionary leaders making that possible. Now, here's your host, Mark Lapidus. 

Mark Lapidus [0:20]: You're playing musical instruments. You're from the music city, so probably everyone asks you that question. 

Deana Ivey [0:25]: I'm probably the only person in Nashville who doesn't play any instrument. 

Mark Lapidus [0:29]: If you could play an instrument, what would it be? 

Deana Ivey [0:31]: Oh, an acoustic guitar. It's my favorite. Absolutely. It's hard, though. 

Mark Lapidus [0:35]: Oh, my God. How do you think I got into radio? I mean, it's really funny, but when I was 14, I got an acoustic guitar from my mom. She bought me a cheap one, and I tried to learn how to play it. I had no success at all. I was laying on my bed late at night, and I thought, What can I do? How do I involve myself in music? I was listening to radio, and I thought, That guy can do it. I guess I can try to do it. 

Deana Ivey [0:56]: You got the perfect voice for it. 

Mark Lapidus [0:57]: Thank you. By my It's her 16th birthday, I was already on the radio. Isn't that funny? 

Deana Ivey [1:02]: That's good. 

Mark Lapidus [1:03]: Sometimes it's what you can't do that drives you to the next thing. 

Deana Ivey [1:07]: You're exactly right. Yeah, got to use your talent that you have. 

Mark Lapidus [1:11]: I can't believe that we've never done a podcast together before. 

Deana Ivey [1:14]: I know. I'm glad to I'm glad you're here. 

Mark Lapidus [1:15]: I'm glad you're here. For those of you who recognize the voice, you know who she is, and you probably read the title anyway. But it's my pleasure to welcome Deana Ivey, the President and CEO of the Nashville Convention and Visitors Corporation. Dina has been with the organization since forever. 1997. I don't know how many people stay at one DMO that long. Not that many, probably. 

Deana Ivey [1:36]: I know. It's a long time. 

Mark Lapidus [1:38]: Previously, before she got this role as CEO, she was CMO. How many people make that transition? 

Deana Ivey [1:45]: I don't think that many. I don't think so either. I'm finding that out. 

Mark Lapidus [1:48]: You feel blessed, I would imagine, right? I do. How are you finding the conference this year? Any difference between this year and last year? 

Deana Ivey [1:57]: It's really good. Anytime we can spend time with our peers and especially other CEOs, that no one really understands the role unless you're in it. It's great to be able to compare notes and hear from other people. It's been really good. 

Mark Lapidus [2:11]: I think most people think of the CEO role as being PR because they're the face of the organization, always on television or radio. 

Deana Ivey [2:17]: It's definitely PR, but there's a lot more to it. 

Mark Lapidus [2:19]: What do you like the most and what do you challenge yourself with where you struggle and go, I have to do that, but I don't really want to do it? 

Deana Ivey [2:27]: I love every part of it. 

Mark Lapidus [2:29]: Nashville has seen dramatic growth in the time that you've been here. I mean, I could not believe what the city looked like. The last time I was there shooting a TV show, we shot us all the south there for Go USA TV, and I did not recognize your town. I still love it, but I mean, it's changed in a lot of ways and grown so much. 

Deana Ivey [2:47]: Sometimes I don't recognize it. Honestly, it has grown and changed so much that every once in a while you'll be driving around a corner and go, Whoa, where did that come from? 

Mark Lapidus [2:56]: So what could other destinations learn about your path to success? Because you had to grow with the growth. Like your city did not stay the same size. 

Deana Ivey [3:05]: No. And that's one reason I stayed as long as I have, because it has changed so many times. I feel like I've promoted at least four different destinations in one. Just evolving, changing, growing. Always something exciting to promote different opportunities. It's been amazing. 

Mark Lapidus [3:21]: So when did the Music City rebrand happen? That was like 10 years ago already, wasn't it? 

Deana Ivey [3:25]: 20 years ago, we pulled together about 150 business leaders and went through a strategic plan. One of the tracks of that plan was branding. We spent a lot of time in a lot of sessions figuring out what Nashville is known for, how do we promote it, how do we change our marketing, and what visitors do we want to attract. What came out of that is the Music City brand as we know it now. What we really learned from that is your brand is more than just your advertising or your logo or your marketing. It's what you live and breathe. What can you promise the visitor when they arrive? And deliver on. And deliver. At the time, I'll be honest and say, We couldn't deliver on every bit of it, but it was aspirational. We've spent the last 20 years building developing, developing, and creating ways to deliver on that promise. 

Mark Lapidus [4:19]: Because I worked in country radio for a time, I know that Nashville initially was always thought of as being a country place. I'm sure there was some discussion about that when you talked about Music City, because Music City is much broader than just country music. 

Deana Ivey [4:32]: It is. There was a lot of discussion, and there's still a lot of discussion on that. Oh, is there? Yes. Nashville is known for country music. I mean, it is the country music capital, no doubt. But it's also the capital of music of many, many different genres. You can find it all over the city, basically 24/7. You land in the airport and you're hearing live music, and it's not all country. 

Mark Lapidus [4:55]: I went to get a coffee, and somebody was playing in this little teeny coffee There was somebody in there with a guitar playing. 

Deana Ivey [5:01]: No, you can go to Taco Bell and you have somebody in there playing. Really? It's live music in Taco Bell. I'm not kidding. Wow. Mark Lapidus [5:08]: Well, at least musicians are working. 

Deana Ivey [5:09]: They're working. That's the good part. We put them to work in Nashville. 

Mark Lapidus [5:12]: You do everything from small to big. I know you do a lot of really big events. Over 600,000 people attended your 2019 NFL draft. How do you get ready for events that big? 

Deana Ivey [5:23]: The draft was such an exciting one. Really, we worked so well with the NFL that it gave us the opportunity to showcase Nashville and what we're best known for because they had never really had music with the draft. We put a live band on the stage instead of just having a couple of guys up there talking back and forth. Like, let's do it with music. We added 17 bands. And they're local band has been in Nashville, local bands can be A-list, A-listers. Sure, absolutely. And really changed the way that the draft is presented now. It was such a fun event. It was so exciting. 

Mark Lapidus [5:58]: So what's in the future for big events? Anything lined up we should know about? 

Deana Ivey [6:01]: A lot of opportunity for us with our new Dome Stadium. We're very excited that that will open in 2027. We're going after all the big events, the big sporting events that you can imagine, like Super Bowl and Final Four and all those. That's where I'm spending a lot of my time right now. 

Mark Lapidus [6:17]: I bet. Those presentations must be massive that you have put together. 

Deana Ivey [6:21]: Yes, they are. 

Mark Lapidus [6:22]: Did you hire an agency to help with that? 

Deana Ivey [6:24]: No, we do everything in-house. 

Mark Lapidus [6:25]: Holy moly. How many employees do you have? About 100. Well, there's a lesson for the That's amazing that you do all yourself. 

Deana Ivey [6:31]: We do all of our events in-house, our promotion, marketing, social media, everything in-house. 

Mark Lapidus [6:36]: Wait a second. When you actually do the event itself, you don't hire an event management company, you actually manage it yourself? 

Deana Ivey [6:41]: No, we do it. We're probably one of the few, I don't know if only, but one of the few CBCs who do our own events. We have a strong events team. I started it 20 years ago, and we have just built and developed and created our own events that we produce, but then we also partner with whoever's coming in. 

Mark Lapidus [6:59]: Folks who listen carefully to this podcast, hear me talking about our television network, Go USA TV. Two of the best movies that we have on the channel actually were made by Nashville, and we're proud to run them around the world. You co-produced the award-winning documentary, It All Begins with a Song. Tell me about that production, how long it took, what it was like. Take me backstage on that show. 

Deana Ivey [7:19]: Oh, it was such a fun project to work on. It actually took us, I'd say about 14 months to complete it because we interviewed so many songwriters in Nashville. Nashville is the largest community of songwriters in the world. There's so many options for us to choose. It was like, How do you choose? Because they're all great. If we interviewed about 80, we could do a couple of more volumes of that. Wow. 

Mark Lapidus [7:44]: Must have been really hard to figure out who to leave out and who you're going to make mad. 

Deana Ivey [7:48]: It really was. But it also came down to relationships and who could we get and the timing and if they were available. But it was such a fun project. Those songwriters are amazing. They have the best stories. They're so wise. They share all their wisdom. It was a great project, and I think it turned out really well. It did. 

Mark Lapidus [8:07]: They also clearly love being there, and they're happy to talk about their city. That's not always the case with celebrities. 

Deana Ivey [8:13]: No, it's not. None of that was scripted. Nothing was scripted. We asked a couple of questions, and then they just took off. 

Mark Lapidus [8:20]: How much of the shoot were you on? Were you in every single one of those? 

Deana Ivey [8:24]: Everyone. 

Mark Lapidus [8:24]: Wow. That's 14 months where your family didn't see you very much, did they? 

Deana Ivey [8:28]: Not much. Where's Mom? It was great. That was a fun project. 

Mark Lapidus [8:32]: Let's talk about the Taylor Swift effect because what podcast isn't complete without talking about Taylor Swift. How has she impacted Nashville? I know that they redid the Country Music Hall theme, updating their section of Taylor Swift. 

Deana Ivey [8:45]: They just opened that exhibit, and our team did a TikTok on the exhibit. After the first day, they had 1.3 million viewers. That's sick. The Taylor Effect is live. When she did her three nights of concerts in Nashville, we had a board meeting the next week, and the numbers had come in, and it was the strongest weekend we'd ever had in the city. Highest occupancy. I said, You know what? We know who to call when business is down. How about a Taylor Swift wax museum? There's an idea for you. We call the hometown girl. 

Mark Lapidus [9:19]: Could be. Is she from Nashville? 

Deana Ivey [9:21]: I didn't know that. Well, she's not originally from Nashville, but she moved when she was a teenager. Went to high school there. Fun fact, her father worked in our building, and he would come down all the time and bring us her CDs and her photos. We were like, Yeah, yeah, yeah. She's cute. She's 13, 14 years old. He kept asking, kept asking. We ended up putting her on a radio station concert. We did a partnership. We did a free concert for their fans. We were like, Okay, we'll put her on there. We're not paying her, but we'll put her on there. She comes out, she's the first performer, and she comes out on stage and starts singing the first song. The entire arena, we're at Bridgestone 20,000 people. The entire arena lights up and just goes crazy for. I look at Butch and I was like, I think they know something we don't. That was in April. We ended up putting her on our fourth of July. We had to do the big production. 

Mark Lapidus [10:15]: She was 14 by then? 

Deana Ivey [10:17]: Yeah, she was probably 15. She was our opening act for fourth of July. Between April and July, she had her first big hit. We looked like heroes putting her on there. But we like to say we gave her start. 

Mark Lapidus [10:30]: Do you still have her in your phone directly? 

Deana Ivey [10:32]: I wish. Sometimes I play that game with people like, What celebrity do you have in your phone? 

Mark Lapidus [10:37]: I've got a couple of dead ones in my phone now. It's a fun game to play. 

Deana Ivey [10:42]: It is fun. I have some in my phone. Butch had a lot more, and I told him when he retired, he needed to will me that phone. 

Mark Lapidus [10:50]: Is over tourism a problem for Nashville? 

Deana Ivey [10:52]: Starting to be a concern. The entertainment district is really, really busy, and we have a lot of bars. People like to consume, and sometimes a little too much. So we're looking at that. 

Mark Lapidus [11:07]: I mean, it's a great problem to have, and not many destinations have it. Is there a way of sending people to close by places that would relieve some of the population concentration during certain times of the year? 

Deana Ivey [11:19]: Yes. We have been promoting our neighborhoods really for the last 7, 10 years, and it helps. I mean, there are a lot of people that come to Nashville that don't go to Broadway. There's so many other things to do. Now they're coming for culinary reasons. They're coming for a lot of different reasons, and it has relieved some pressure. But then there are always the people that want to come as the new bars open and a lot of the celebrity bars open. People want to come to see Morgan Wallen's place or Eric Church's place, Garth Brooks’ place. So that brings in even more people. 

Mark Lapidus [11:49]: Are there any new tools or platforms that have caught your eye recently? 

Deana Ivey [11:52]: Tools or platforms? I would say everything with AI. We're bringing in the lady from New York Tourism, who is the expert in the field right now. She's coming in to speak to our members and to our staff to help us even expand our efforts in that area. 

Mark Lapidus [12:10]: With all the visitors that you have, how do you obtain visitor feedback? 

Deana Ivey [12:14]: That's a good question. Everything seems to be on social media. That's where we really pay attention. What are people saying? And it's not our social media, it's other platforms. We're looking at... There's a Nashville Visitors' page on Facebook. I watch it all the time. Just because I'm observing, so they don't know I'm on there or that I have anything to do with tourism, so I'm just watching all the conversation, and I'll take that back to our team and go, Okay, this is what the perception is, or this is what people are thinking, and this is how we need to address it. It's interesting to be able to see that almost in real-time, and it's not us asking the question. 

Mark Lapidus [12:51]: Okay, I'm going to do something very unusual with you, Dan. I'm going to let you ask me a question. You can ask me anything you want about Brand USA, and let me see if I can answer it. 

Deana Ivey [12:59]: I was going to ask you what celebrity is you have in your phone. 

Mark Lapidus [13:02]: Oh, boy, this is embarrassing. I still have Joe Walsh on my phone. 

Deana Ivey [13:06]: Oh, that's awesome. 

Mark Lapidus [13:07]: He's probably the biggest one that's alive. Let's see, I have Peter Noon from Hermant's Hermant's from the '60s. Remember that band? Because I work with Peter for a long time. Now, I haven't called these people in years because I don't know if it's still their cell phones, but I just can't. My father is still on my cell phone, and he passed away over a decade. 

Deana Ivey [13:24]: Oh, on the same way. 

Mark Lapidus [13:25]: Some people you just don't take out. That's really cool. So there's your answer. There's probably a couple more that you've never heard of that just means something to me, but they're hard to get rid of once they're in there. 

Deana Ivey [13:34]: Don't. Don't ever get rid of them. They should feel important. That's right. And then you can always answer that question. 

Mark Lapidus [13:39]: That's right. Anything you want to ask me about Brand USA? 

Deana Ivey [13:42]: What are you most excited about with the change with Fred Dixon coming on? 

Mark Lapidus [13:46]: This is a tough question because it could get me in serious trouble depending on how I answer it. But the reality is that whenever new people come in, and this will be true for my replacement eventually, is that they bring a new energy and a new perspective to an organization. The exciting part to me about Fred joining Brand USA is the fact that he has this major city DMO experience that he can bring to Brand USA. A lot of people come to New York City and that's all they go to. Then they go home. Fred has dealt with And we have to deal with that as a nation, because what we have to do is those people that are just coming to whatever destination it may be. It may be New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, wherever it may be this major gateway. One of the challenges that we face as a country is we got to get people beyond those gateways and into cities. I mean, Nashville, I hate to say this to you, but I'll be honest, is that it's a no-brainer for a lot of people. They're going to come anyway because of what Nashville is. But I could name dozens of cities where maybe they're not so top of mind, especially for international travelers, that we have to educate the world about. And that's why we have this television network and the websites that we do and the social media we do and blah, blah, blah, all that stuff. I think what Fred will bring to brand USA is this unique perspective of having these tours come to one place and then nowhere else. I know he's been dealing with that for years, and I haven't even had this discussion with him yet, but I'm just dying to hear how he dealt with it in New York and how he's going to apply that at a national level, because I'm sure that he will. 

Deana Ivey [15:12]: The other thing that Fred brings, and this is the beauty of his background and his history, he understands small towns. He understands destinations that are only dependent on the tourism industry. So he started in Tennessee. He started in Gatlinburg. And fun fact, I was his first boss. You weren't. I was, yeah. Oh, my God. And he'll tell you that. And we did some great work in Gatlinburg in the Smoky Mountains, and he understands that. He understands the destinations that are hungry that need help. So it's not just that New York perspective and the big city perspective, but it's a small town as well. 

Mark Lapidus [15:45]: Also, Brand USA is in a very different place today, Deana, than it was when Chris Thompson started it so many years ago. It was really a startup when I first got there, and I think I came in to be two years in after it had been formed. It still felt like we're still finding our path. He had to navigate that water, which is really different than today where we're established. We've been doing international representation for a long time. We have these platforms that we didn't have then. We have a staff that is in a different place now than they were 10 years ago. To have a leader that comes in and adds this new perspective. One of the things that Fred said on our staff call, maybe I shouldn't say this on this podcast, but what the hell? I don't care. He said that he was going to spend his first 90 days listening. I thought that was like, of all the things that I wanted to hear during the very first staff call that we had last week is when a CEO comes in and says, I am going to be listening to what you have to say. That just means a lot, I think, not just to me, but I talk to other people in the brand USA staff, and it means a lot to us as individuals because you do feel that you are giving your life to this organization. It means a lot to all of us. We have an emotional attachment to the place and the mission. If you're not being listened to, you feel powerless. The fact that Fred said, I'm going to be listening to everybody for the first 90 days. I'm going to do one-to-one meetings with every member of the staff, those were just the right words at the right time. 

Deana Ivey [17:14]: He means it. He really does. He's a great listener. Has always been a great listener. I actually just left his listening session because he wanted to listen to the members. He wanted to hear from us, which I think it's a perfect way to start. You don't ever want to assume that you know everything and you know how to make the changes without hearing from your people. I'd been at our organization for 25 years. I did the same thing when I took over as CEO. I met with every single staff person, just like I was brand new. I wanted to hear from them. That was really smart. That was a year ago, and it was the best thing that I could have done. 

Mark Lapidus [17:48]: How do you keep it fresh every day on the job? 

Deana Ivey [17:50]: There's always something exciting. Always something exciting. You can't ever get complacent. You can't ever get comfortable. We just have that MO of we always chase the next thing. We're always trying to improve and get better and not rest on our laurels. 

Mark Lapidus [18:05]: Well, this is what creative people do, and that's why I've enjoyed spending so much time with you on this podcast. Thank you for taking out the time today. 

Deana Ivey [18:11]: Thank you. I'm glad to finally do this. 

Mark Lapidus [18:13]: And that's Brand USA Talks Travel Live from Tampa, Florida. I'm Mark Lapidus. Thanks for listening. More episodes to follow. 

Outro [18:19]: If you enjoyed this Live from Destination's international episode, please share it with your friends in the travel industry. Production and music by Asher Meerovich. Media producer, Nthanze Kariuki, with assistance from Casey D'Ambra. Engineering, Brian Watkins, Kat Pommer, and Antonio Tyler. Art by Mimi Jung. Special thanks to Alexis Adelson, Phil Dickieson, Peter Dodge, and Colleen Mangone. More Live from Destination's international episodes coming soon. Safe travels.

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In This Episode:
Deana Ivey's headshot
Deana Ivey
President & CEO, Nashville Convention and Visitors Corporation

Mark Lapidus' Headshot
Mark Lapidus
Host, Brand USA Talks Travel Podcast; Vice President, Content & Marketing Technology