25-Year Veteran Leaves CMA as Organization Concludes Successful Year
The Country Music Association announced today that Bobette Dudley has submitted her resignation as Senior Vice President.
Dudley, a 25-year veteran of CMA, contributed to the organization’s outstanding growth and success including the relocation of Fan Fair®, now CMA Music Festival, from the Tennessee State Fairgrounds to downtown Nashville and the creation of the companion CMA Music Festival television special; the successful move of the CMA Awards to New York City and then back to its new home at the Bridgestone Arena; and the launch in 2010 of CMA’s latest TV venture, “CMA Country Christmas.”
“We thank Bobette for her many contributions to CMA over the years and we wish her the very best in her future endeavors,” said CMA Chief Executive Officer Steve Moore.
“In my years at CMA I have had the privilege of working with many of the greats in the Country Music industry,” said Dudley. “CMA provided me with wonderful challenges and opportunities including working on the transformation of Fan Fair to CMA Music Fest with music and events all over downtown Nashville; taking the CMA Awards to Madison Square Garden in New York City; and creating CMA events in Washington D.C. at the Vice President’s Residence as well as at The Library of Congress.
“I am truly grateful for the years and experiences at CMA as well as the pleasure of working with many fine individuals within CMA and the broader world-wide music and entertainment industry. I look forward to the pursuit of some exciting and new challenging opportunities.”
Dudley began her career at CMA in 1986 – a week before that year’s Fan Fair – and most recently served as Senior Vice President with direct oversight of the organization’s acclaimed Events and Special Projects Department. BizBash, a magazine covering the event-planning industry, named Dudley to their selection of the 15 Top Event Planners of the Year for her work overseeing the CMA Awards’ move to New York City in 2005. She is a member of NARAS/The Recording Academy, Nashville Film Festival, and SOURCE Foundation.
Throughout her career, Dudley demonstrated her skills as a creative leader. She has also constantly been quick to share credit for CMA’s successes with her professional team. In an interview marking her 20th anniversary with CMA in 2006 in CMA Close Up, she described her favorite part of working at CMA as “being able to work with so many talented people – our staff, independent contractors, our temp staff, industry associates, the artists and of course our Board members…It’s the ‘team’ and people working together that really means a lot to me.”
That commitment to working closely and productively with her colleagues is reflected in Dudley’s personal philosophy, which has been – in her words – “to be confident, patient, honest, compassionate, and to live each day with courage and a belief in myself and others.”
Dudley can be reached at Bobettedudley@gmail.com.
More than 6,400 music industry professionals and companies around the globe are members of CMA. Formed in 1958 as the first trade association for a single genre of music, the organization’s objectives are to serve as an educational and professional resource for the industry while advancing the growth of Country Music around the world. This is accomplished through CMA’s strategic imperatives: CMA Music Festival and the companion CMA Music Festival television special; “Country Music’s Biggest Night™” the annual CMA Awards; and CMA’s latest television venture “CMA Country Christmas.” All of CMA’s TV properties air on the ABC Television Network through 2021. For information about CMA visit
www.CMAworld.com