Your boss just pinged you to remind you that the conference is only six weeks away. Or maybe you are the boss and you just remembered you said you’d cover it…So now you’re frantically searching for Nashville corporate event ideas.

Well, the good news is you’ve made a smart decision and decided to hold your corporate event in Nashville. It’s fun, it’s accessible, it’s urban and sophisticated, yet approachable and easy to get around.

Best of all, the growth Nashville has experienced in the past few years has led to a plethora of quality corporate event services. Yikes, I just realized this is starting to read like a travel promotion blog and that’s not my intention. So I’ll move you toward the good stuff.

The Do’s and Don’ts of Planning

  • Don’t listen to everyone; because passionate ideas typically don’t come from committees. They come from individuals. Start with your own hunches and ideas to create a short list you can then share with your key stakeholders.
  • Don’t ignore the unique personality of your destination city. For example, Nashville is a/k/a Music City. So searching for Nashville corporate event ideas that incorporate music makes sense.
  • Do your homework and dig a little. Once you find some ideas, take time to read reviews and speak with someone at each of your potential event suppliers. You really want to make sure the people you choose to work with understand your specific goals and the culture of your organization. Just because an event works for one group, doesn’t mean it will be the best fit for your specific conference.
  • Do include fun but don’t get cheesy. I’m a huge believer in fun at every corporate event. Fun and boredom can’t exist at the same time. Think about it – when you’re ‘in it’ having fun, your never bored. But when it comes to company programs, you need to make sure fun doesn’t equal cheesy.  Make sure whomever you choose to provide your events programs in Nashville has authenticity, expertise and depth. Fun doesn’t necessarily mean lightweight. Good times can be productive too.

Top Nashville Corporate Event Ideas

Let’s start with music. As I mentioned above, Nashville is known as Music City so it’s natural to make music while you’re here. This city has a fascinating and long music history that you can immerse yourself in while you’re here. Over the past twenty years, Nashville has become a magnet for people working in all facets of the music biz. So don’t just think we’re all country music. You’ll be surprised at the options for music based events that include jazz, alt-rock, classical and more.

So consider your upcoming Nashville meeting as a unique opportunity to tune into your own creative abilities, get-out-of-the-box and make some musical meaning.

  • Songwriting programs will bring your entire organization together as you co-create powerful takeaways, your company songs. Music brings a great mash up of intellect and emotion. These programs are great for motivation and engagement. But bottom line and most important, programs with music are fun, while being productive. Songs are part of the narrative of everyone’s life so everyone in your group will relate to these types of events. Disclaimer! Songwriting programs are what we do here at Kidbilly Music, but hey… we got this and you need to check us out! We’ll help you bring the power of emotion, song and story to your organization.

    • a drum program is one of the best Nashville corporate event ideasDrum up some enthusiasm – Drumming programs are high energy, visceral, highly engaging fun. A main takeaway is learning how to collaborate and work together to achieve a unified result. This result is your final drum performance. Drumming programs are great conference openers and closers. They’re effective as short sessions and will wake everyone up. We’ve partnered successfully with a world renowned drum leader to offer our own style of drum programs in Nashville.  There’s challenge and context along with the opportunity to get loose!
    • Be an aficionado – For years The Bluebird Cafe in Nashville was a best kept secret.  It was the place locals knew to go. The place you’d hear legendary songwriters and performers in an up close and personal venue. That all changed with the exposure the venue got through the ABC television show, Nashville. But a fundamental truth remains the same; going out to hear hit-songwriters perform their own, close-to-the-heart versions of the well known songs they’ve written is a once in a lifetime experience. You can bring this experience to your corporate conference. You’ll get to hear stories and songs as award winning songwriter-performers play their hit songs, tell personal stories about the stars who recorded them, and share the details that inspired the songs. The stories behind the songs are sometimes inspirational, sometimes funny and always entertaining. This program could be an opener, a closer or the centerpiece of an entire evening. You can also combine this show with your own songwriting program. So you can write your own company ‘hit-song’ and then listen to the pros perform for you.
    • Enter a legendary recording studio – For groups of up to 175 people, you could also consider going into a legendary Nashville recording studio. You’ll be immersed in music business history, as you make your own music where the stars record. It’s always so much fun to see people’s faces light up and their eyes open wide as they enter the world of the recording studio. You’ll leave your day-to-day experience behind as you create and record your own songs, or listen to famous performers, or do both. You can even sit in as a recording session happens. You’ll get to watch and hear how a song becomes a record. It’s fascinating, fun and totally different.

    Venues With Menus

    All the music based programs described above work at a variety of venues. That will make your planning process easier. Your hotel, the convention center, a live music venue or studio all work well as places to host any of these Nashville corporate event ideas. So yes, you can eat, get immersed in a meaningful program and come away with a unique Music City experience.

    A menu of Nashville experiences:

      1. Interactive song programs
      2. Drumming programs
      3. Hit songwriter shows

    If you’re still reading this, you may still be looking for some non-musical options for your corporate event. So to be fair, here are other great things you can do in Nashville if for some strange reason you don’t want to make music in music city, ha ha.

    There’s top golf, sophisticated scavenger hunts, escape rooms, ropes courses, cooking programs and river cruises – all the stuff you’d expect from a great destination city.

    About Billy Kirsch

    Billy is a Grammy & Emmy nominated, CMA & ACM award winning songwriter with numerous Top 10 hits to his credit. His team building programs and keynote speaking presentations help people tap into their creative abilities to become more innovative and engaged in their work. Clients include Fortune 100 companies and organizations throughout the world.