Business in the great state of Tennessee is not handed out lightly. Authenticity matters. As does respect. VML was the only out-of-state agency invited, and it had little tourism experience.
Our pitch team set out on a six-day road trip around the state. Nashville to Knoxville to Chattanooga to Lynchburg to Memphis to Jackson to Nashville again. My ECD, a strategist and I joined two videographers who documented our journey, the people we met and the truths we learned. I interviewed business owners, musicians, college students, tourists and residents and quickly came to know the heartbeat of the state. We learned more from driving around in a Suburban than weeks of Google search could ever provide.