• Case Study
  • Association Management
  • Event Production

First show back.
And it had to sell out.

PACE had not held an in-person conference in three years. The 2022 return show had to fill 500 seats, sell out the exhibit floor, and justify a full buyout of the JW Marriott. Current produced the entire thing.

CLIENT

PACE

Professional Association for Customer Engagement

INDUSTRY

Association Management

SERVICES

Brand & Theme Development
Event Strategy & Production
Marketing & Promotion
Onsite Activation

LOCATION

JW Marriott
Downtown Nashville, TN

YEAR

2022

The Challenge

A three-year gap. A return show that had to beat expectations.

PACE serves leaders in performance marketing. After three years without an in-person event, the 2022 conference couldn’t simply restart. It had to justify why anyone should attend.

The economics were unforgiving. A full buyout of the JW Marriott in Downtown Nashville meant room blocks had to be filled. Sponsorships had to be sold. Attendees had to walk away saying it was worth the trip. 

The audience was performance marketing leaders. “A good event” was not going to cut it. And Current had less than a year to make it happen.

  • The Approach

If you're going to do Nashville, do Nashville.

We did not treat the location as a backdrop. We treated it as the show. Every touchpoint, from the brand system to the set design to the after-parties, leaned into Music City. The theme gave us a reason to do things you could not do anywhere else, and it gave attendees a reason to talk about it the second they got home.
  • Brand & Theme

A show identity that traveled

“Get Discovered” became the show’s organizing idea. Built a full brand system, signage program, and design language that ran across every print, digital, and environmental asset.
  • Pre-Show Marketing

An aggressive registration engine

Coordinated social, email, and influencer campaigns drove registration, room blocks, and sponsorships in parallel. Urgency built week over week through tight content and offer cadence.

  • Onsite Execution

A turnkey production team

Run-of-show, stage design, signage deployment, vendor coordination, attendee experience, and a daily war room. One team accountable for everything that touched the floor.
  • Experience Design

Moments only Nashville could host

Tradeshow rodeo with live bull riding. Morning goat yoga. Local songwriters on the main stage. Dolly-esque voiceovers throughout the program. After-parties in real Nashville bars.
  • The Highlight Reel

Three days in two minutes.

The full recap. Sets, signage, songwriters, the rodeo, the room reveals, and the attendees who showed up to all of it.

  • From the Floor
  • Building it

Filling a 500-person show takes a system, not wishful thinking.

Building a show for 500 attendees is risky business after a three-year gap. Current ran an aggressive social, email, and influencer marketing plan that gave the community three things at once: the content they would miss, the networking they could not get anywhere else, and the Nashville experiences only this show could deliver.

Every channel had a job. Every job had a deadline. Every deadline had a number to hit.

  • The End Game

Sold out. Standing ovation.

Every target hit. Every risk defused. And post-event surveys made the verdict official.

500+

Attendees registered

TARGET MET

100%

Exhibit booths sold

SPONSORSHIPS FILLED

FULL

JW Marriott room blocks

NO FINANCIAL EXPOSURE

Post-event survey response

EXPERIENCE, ACCOMMODATIONS

One team. From brand to ballroom. 

  • In Historic Franklin, Tennessee

Have an event that has to land?

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