Faculty
Robyn Bass, DMCP
Robyn Bass is a long-standing and genuine leader in Nashville’s event and hospitality industry. She’s worked in restaurant & venue management, destination management sales and operations and transportation logistics over the past three decades, bringing a wide variety of experience to the organizations she now runs. Robyn is the Owner/CEO of Maple Ridge Events, Oak Ridge Association Management Company, Aspen Ridge Entertainment, Redwoods Management and Cedar Ridge Nashville. Currently serving in the role as Director of Industry Relations with the Association of Destination Management Executives International (ADMEI), Robyn is responsible for strategic partnerships & opportunities within the Events Industry Council (EIC) and ADMEI’s scholarship advancements.
Robyn was the 2010-2011 president of the Tennessee Chapter of MPI (Meeting Professionals International), a past recipient of Supplier of the Year for 2008-2009 and received the President’s Award in 2015-2016. Robyn teaches the MPI Tennessee Leadership Academy presented to members career pathing for service on the Board of Directors.
Robyn’s current work focuses on strategic planning and organizational growth. She is a true champion for continuing education within her teams. Robyn is a leader, teaching others coming up in the industry hard work and integrity win every time.
Recently, she was named a Woman of Influence from the Nashville Business Journal in March 2019.
Angela Layton, CMP, CMM, DES
Angela Layton is a certified meeting professional (CMP) dedicated to producing high-impact meetings and events that deliver on strategic goals. With a certificate in meeting management (CMM), Angela brings a high-energy approach to meeting and event planning and production, as well as marketing, public relations, communications and project management in the corporate, government, non-profit and association industries.
Angela has served as a local and international volunteer in multiple capacities including Meeting Professionals International (MPI) Tennessee Chapter president, MPI Global Membership Advisory Council chair and Professional Development Task Force chair. She also served as a commissioner of the Association of Destination Management Executives International’s (ADMEI) Destination Management Company Accreditation.
A three-time recipient of both the MPI Tennessee Chapter Planner of the Year Award and MPI Tennessee President’s Award, Angela is dedicated to sharing her love of the industry with seasoned and aspiring meeting professionals. A graduate of Middle Tennessee State University, Angela holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mass Communications with an emphasis in Public Relations.
DeAnna Beedy
DeAnna Beedy is the Vice President/Managing Director – Head of Events for AllianceBernstein. She relocated to Nashville in 2018 from New York. DeAnna has been in the hospitality industry for over 25 years. She started her event planning career with the American Camping Association where she managed a trade show. DeAnna then moved to the Jacob Javits Convention Center and was able to manage very high-level events within her first year. After leaving the Javits Center, she worked for the New York Academy of Medicine. While in this position, she received national accreditation for CME credits. DeAnna then moved to a special event company called RAIV Productions where she worked on high level events including hosting Morgan Stanley clients at the 2002 Olympics in Park City, Utah. While working for RAIV Productions, the team became internal to Morgan Stanley where she became the Director of Event Operations. She joined AllianceBernstein in 2006 as the Vice President-Director of Event Operations and was promoted to her current position in 2019.
Shannon Jones, CMP
Shannon Jones, CMP, Conference Services and Events Manager at Butler Snow LLP, has lived in Nashville for over 14 years. Her first encounter with Nashville was a college internship with Citadel Communications where she fell in love with the city and never looked back. Shannon started her career as a meeting professional in the hospitality industry as a banquet captain at Big River. She quickly moved up in Nashville’s hospitality world helping to open Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville Nashville and then The Pub Nashville in the Sales and Events Department. From there, Shannon expanded her industry knowledge and experience as Member Relations and Events Director at Westhaven Golf Club. She currently works for Butler Snow LLP as Conference Services and Events Manager in the Marketing Department where she plans and manages the firm’s meetings and events.
Shannon also volunteers on the Board of Directors for Meeting Professionals International, Tennessee Chapter. She has served the Tennessee Chapter for 8 years in roles of Special Events, Education, Membership, and most recently as the 2019-2020 President. In the past, Shannon has held volunteer roles with Davis House Child Advocacy Center as the Co-Chair to their annual Button Ball as well as an active role on the committee for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s 65 Roses Ball.
Shannon loves her career in Nashville’s Meeting and Events community and her volunteer roles giving back to the city. She says that she is one of the few Nashville locals that still gets goose bumps looking at the neon signs of Broadway on a Saturday Night.
Gary Musick
Gary Musick is the President of Gary Musick Productions, Inc. and Gary Musick Scenic, Inc. He began his career in the entertainment industry as a performer with Opryland USA. He soon became an accomplished studio vocalist in the Nashville recording industry, with numerous credits on major jingles and country and contemporary Christian recordings. In 1982, he joined the company that would eventually become Gary Musick Productions, now one of the most respected corporate event and entertainment production companies in the country. Musick’s clients in the corporate event and theatrical entertainment markets are among the largest and best known brands in their respective industries.