Bobette Dudley
Country Music Association
Her Big Event: Bobette Dudley oversaw the Country Music Awards’ first ceremony in New York—and its first time ever out of Nashville—on November 15 at Madison Square Garden. The awards spawned a week of related activities, including concerts, record label parties, and restaurant, Broadway, and shopping promotions, for an estimated $30 million impact on the city’s economy. While a separate production team handled the CBS-televised stage show, Dudley, the Country Music Association’s (CMA) vice president of events and program development, oversaw everything else—all operations, logistics, tickets, seating, media relations, arrival areas, and the official after-party at the Marriott Marquis.
How the Move Happened: NYC Big Events—the group led by Maureen Reidy that woos large gatherings like the Republican National Convention to New York—approached the CMA with the idea in July 2003. The CMA had considered using several other host cities in the past to increase the show’s audience, but the board didn’t agree to move the show until considering New York’s status as the media capital of the world and its potential for promoting country music. “[The state of New York] is a large sales market for us, which surprises some people,” Dudley says.
How She Handled It: During her 19 years at the CMA—11 of them in charge of the awards—Dudley, 43, has planned a conference and several board of directors meetings in New York. So she knew the market. But planning such a large event here was quite different from doing it at home, where she also oversees the CMA’s four-day music festival for 300,000 people, controls an annual events budget of around $5 million, and has longstanding relationships with vendors. “Without having much repeat business,” Dudley says, “my negotiating power [in New York] is kind of slim to none.” Over the two years leading up to the awards, Dudley came to New York about a dozen times, and she camped out here for a week before the show, which required about 30 independent contractors to supplement her four-person full-time staff.
Her Favorite Part of the Move: “Working with a lot of new people—very talented folks in New York who have been so helpful and accommodating, really nice, caring people who took ownership in this huge event and have been so fantastic to work with. I love New York and have always had great experiences working there. But I knew this was an unprecedented undertaking for CMA, so I was a little worried at first.”
Her Biggest Challenge: “Trying to plan and prepare for places that you’re not there to see. Even though you’ve got digital photos and maps, it’s still a challenge to plan something when you’re not there.”
—Chad Kaydo
Posted 11.16.05
Country Music Association
Her Big Event: Bobette Dudley oversaw the Country Music Awards’ first ceremony in New York—and its first time ever out of Nashville—on November 15 at Madison Square Garden. The awards spawned a week of related activities, including concerts, record label parties, and restaurant, Broadway, and shopping promotions, for an estimated $30 million impact on the city’s economy. While a separate production team handled the CBS-televised stage show, Dudley, the Country Music Association’s (CMA) vice president of events and program development, oversaw everything else—all operations, logistics, tickets, seating, media relations, arrival areas, and the official after-party at the Marriott Marquis.
How the Move Happened: NYC Big Events—the group led by Maureen Reidy that woos large gatherings like the Republican National Convention to New York—approached the CMA with the idea in July 2003. The CMA had considered using several other host cities in the past to increase the show’s audience, but the board didn’t agree to move the show until considering New York’s status as the media capital of the world and its potential for promoting country music. “[The state of New York] is a large sales market for us, which surprises some people,” Dudley says.
How She Handled It: During her 19 years at the CMA—11 of them in charge of the awards—Dudley, 43, has planned a conference and several board of directors meetings in New York. So she knew the market. But planning such a large event here was quite different from doing it at home, where she also oversees the CMA’s four-day music festival for 300,000 people, controls an annual events budget of around $5 million, and has longstanding relationships with vendors. “Without having much repeat business,” Dudley says, “my negotiating power [in New York] is kind of slim to none.” Over the two years leading up to the awards, Dudley came to New York about a dozen times, and she camped out here for a week before the show, which required about 30 independent contractors to supplement her four-person full-time staff.
Her Favorite Part of the Move: “Working with a lot of new people—very talented folks in New York who have been so helpful and accommodating, really nice, caring people who took ownership in this huge event and have been so fantastic to work with. I love New York and have always had great experiences working there. But I knew this was an unprecedented undertaking for CMA, so I was a little worried at first.”
Her Biggest Challenge: “Trying to plan and prepare for places that you’re not there to see. Even though you’ve got digital photos and maps, it’s still a challenge to plan something when you’re not there.”
—Chad Kaydo
Posted 11.16.05
