NASHVILLE (CelebrityAccess) -– On Wednesday, the Country Music Association announced the hire of a spate of new staffers, as well as a slew of international promotions.
New hires at CMA include the addition of Director of Communications Catharine McNelly, Digital Strategy Manager Bobby Dirienzo, Marketing and Communications Executive Assistant Alex Sharp, Communications Coordinator Lisa Valentine, and Marketing and Social Coordinator, Katherine Wong.
McNelly comes to CMA as Director of Communications at Columbia Records where she was Senior Publicist, working on campaigns for artists such as Leonard Cohen, Celine Dion, Calvin Harris and others. Her previous experience includes stints at Atlantic Records.
Before joining CMA, Bobby Dirienzo toiled at 12South Marketing where he spent five years as project manager for the Nashville-based digital marketing agency, overseeing both internal and outsourced projects.
Valentine joins the Communications Department as Communications Coordinator. She previously worked as a contractor on a number of projects for CMA, including media relations and CMA Close Up production. Prior to CMA, she worked in experiential marketing and event management roles
Wong joins CMA from Universal Music Publishing, where she worked in copyright and royalty administration. She has previous experience with the CMA organization after interning for their marketing department.
Alex Sharp joins CMA from the fashion world and has previous experience as a blogger in that field.
The following current CMA staff members have been promoted to new roles: Ben Balch, to Senior Manager of Budgets and Reporting; Emily Evans, to Senior Director of Strategic Partnerships; Mary Overend, to Senior Marketing Manager; Justin Randall, to Network Manager; and Alina Thompson, to Marketing and Partnerships Manager.
