The Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum promoted five staff members to executive director, associate director or director roles within the museum’s creative, culinary, events and museum services teams. Details below.
Creative
Tess Pardee has been promoted to associate director of creative project management. In this role, she assists in overseeing the project management team and leads the execution of a variety of creative projects, as well as streamlines processes and helps to manage resources for the museum’s creative department. Since joining the museum in 2023, Pardee has managed creative development for the museum’s general marketing materials, exhibitions and special projects, including the museum’s annual Medallion Ceremony, ongoing core exhibition updates and more. Prior to joining the museum, Pardee worked in entertainment and advertising industries for nearly a decade in Los Angeles, New York City and Austin, Texas. She holds a bachelor’s degree in film, television and digital media from Texas Christian University.
Culinary
Marshell Ruffier has been named associate director of food and beverage operations. In this position, Ruffier oversees the banquet team as well as the museum’s café, Red Onion. With more than 30 years of experience in the restaurant and banquets industry, she works with the service managers and the kitchen team closely to ensure high quality hospitality for more than 1,400 third-party and private events held annually at the museum. Ruffier’s responsibilities include managing servers and bartenders and ordering equipment for private and internal events. She also works with the operations team on the museum’s sustainability initiatives, including composting and recycling efforts. Since joining the museum in 2009 as banquet manager, Ruffier now manages more than 80 staff members between banquets and Red Onion.
Events
Alex Krompic has been promoted to director of production and technical services. In this role, he oversees the events teams for production audio, video and lighting. These teams manage and execute more than 1,400 third-party and private events annually at the museum. Since joining the museum as a contractor in 2007 and a staff member in 2015, Krompic’s most recent role was manager of production and technical services. For more than 28 years, Krompic has worked in lighting, audio and rigging fields all over the world. Prior to joining the museum, he worked in live concerts — touring with many country, pop and rock artists.
Emily Zirkle has been named associate director of events administration and entertainment. In this position, she tracks and manages revenue and expenses for more than 1,400 third-party and private events annually, which support the museum’s nonprofit mission. In addition to her administrative duties, Zirkle is responsible for the execution of all publicly ticketed events in the museum’s CMA Theater, including the museum’s artist-in-residence shows, as well as engagement and experience events for museum staff. She joined the museum in 2017 as an events intern and has since served in multiple roles in the events and culinary department — most recently as senior events administration manager. Zirkle also oversees the events department interns and has managed and mentored more than 15 interns during her tenure, leading to several full-time hires within the department. She holds a bachelor’s degree in entertainment management from Missouri State University.
Museum Services
John Sloboda has been promoted to executive director of exhibitions and curatorial services. In this position, Sloboda oversees the exhibits, curatorial and registration teams, including guiding all phases of the museum’s gallery exhibitions — from conception and design through fabrication and installation. He leads the exhibits team in collaboration with curatorial, creative, education and editorial staff to create approximately 12 temporary exhibits each year that draw from the museum’s unparalleled collections and interpret the history of country music. Sloboda also manages updates to the museum’s permanent exhibitions, helps guide collecting initiatives, and works to increase the museum’s conservation efforts. He previously served as director of exhibitions. Prior to joining the museum in 2022, Sloboda worked in the exhibitions department at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame for nearly 13 years, ultimately serving as the director of museum design and exhibitions. He earned a bachelor’s degree in illustration and graphic design from the Cleveland Institute of Art.
Subscribe to our FREE Newsletter!
