Apply to Host An Event
Every Nashville Design Week event submission is reviewed and selected by our team. Here's how it works:
01
Submit your application by October 22
02
our team ANONYMOUSLY reviews every submission
03
selected hosts will hear from us by mid-november
04
you’ll get started making your event come to life!
Before you apply, read about The Hub and our FAQs below. Questions? Reach out anytime. We can't wait to see your ideas!
FAQs
-
To be a part of the conversation that strengthens and unifies the vibrant design community in Nashville. To connect with others of like mind. To amplify new and innovative ideas, methodologies, or relevant and timely conversations.
-
Anyone in the creative community in Nashville. We are seeking event submissions representing industries such as, but not limited to: Animation Design, Architecture, Arts & Crafts, Culinary Arts & Design, Digital Design, Education, Environmental Design, Experiential Design, Fashion, Film, Fine Arts, Graphic Design, Illustration, Industrial Design, Interior Design, Landscape Architecture, Manufacturing, Music, Photography, Product Design, Urban Design, User Experience, Visual Arts, Writing & Design Criticism, and Design Enthusiasts.
-
We always have volunteers working check-in for each event, but we don’t typically recruit additional support. We will do our best to accommodate volunteer requests for your event if we have enough interest and availability. You should plan to have your own team for logistics.
-
We suggest a minimum capacity of 50 people for each venue in accordance with official room capacity and fire code standards, and a capacity of 25 for hands-on workshops. We want you to be able to maximize your time with the NDW community and give as many people as possible the opportunity to interact with your event. Our ultimate goal is high quality programs.
-
For 2027, NDW will determine the ticket price, manage all ticket sales, and retain ticket revenue generated through the event. If your event requires supplies, materials, or other expenses, these costs should be clearly outlined in your application.
-
Event Submissions will be blindly scored at the close of the Call for Events window, October 22nd. Our Content Curator team is a diverse group of designers, design enthusiasts, experts, and community organizers that have been selected to ensure that our programming is unique, collaborative, and aligns with the mission of Nashville Design Week.
All the submitted event proposals will have any identifying information removed from them. Please do not include identifying information in the description if your event idea does not make sense without it. We will remove it regardless. This helps our Content Curators score all of the events without bias. Once the scores are submitted, the Board reviews the event proposals and further curates the calendar based on a breadth of industries, event styles, and times of day.
-
The Call for Event Submissions will span from September 24th until October 22nd. We will have a submission form on the Nashville Design Week website to submit your event ideas with the basic information about the event and programming. The form will be available until 11:59 PM on October 22nd.
-
You will need to state the event style you would like to host, explain how your event relates to the overall concept and prompt, and provide specific speakers that you are hoping to, or already secured, ahead of the submission. The more information you can provide us with, the better the Content Curators will be able to score each event.
-
Once your event has been chosen for the NDW ‘27 Calendar, one of our Content Production Managers will be paired with you to coordinate the event. Event Hosts work with Content Production Managers to finish planning details and execute the event itself!
-
We understand that many people who are submitting events may have a company to support their efforts while others are bringing an idea as a fresh perspective with limited connections in town. However, as an event host, you are responsible for all the costs associated with planning an event.
Consider some of the components that come with the style of event you are hoping to host and what time of day you’d like to host it. Simple breakfast or lunch keynotes, panels and galleries are probably the most affordable, while happy hours and evening parties or showcases are going to be the biggest investment. Consider whether you are interested in providing speaker or participant honorariums and build that into your budget as well.
-
Unfortunately, as a 100% volunteer-run organization, we operate on a very tight budget contingent on the generosity of our amazing sponsors, so we cannot provide any financial support to Event Hosts at this time.
-
Our Board Members and Content Production Managers (CPMs) can help share our design community connections if you are looking for additional perspectives to add to your event, but you don’t know where to find them. Our Partnerships team is able to connect you specifically with businesses and venues who have offered up their support. The CPMs are responsible for making sure you are coordinating everything in a timely manner; they are not responsible for organizing your event for you. There are strict deadlines that you must agree to upon being selected as an Event Host.
-
As a 100% volunteer-run organization, we appreciate in-kind contributions by means of venue spaces to hold events, food + beverage sponsorships, rentals, volunteers, and other support. Feel free to connect with us via email at partnerships@nashvilledesignweek.org.
Commitment to fairness + Inclusivity
At Nashville Design Week, we are committed to fostering a vibrant and inclusive creative community that celebrates diversity and innovation. As part of our commitment to supporting the entire Nashville design ecosystem, we strive to provide equitable platforms for all voices to be heard and celebrated.
We want to assure all applicants that our application review process will be conducted with fairness, integrity, and transparency. Each submission will be evaluated based on its alignment with the mission and goals of Nashville Design Week, as well as its potential to contribute meaningfully to the Nashville design and creative community.
To ensure fairness and impartiality, the scoring process will be blind, meaning that reviewers will not have access to identifying information about applicants during the evaluation process. This approach allows us to focus solely on the merit and relevance of each proposed event.
We believe that diversity in programming enriches our community and strengthens our collective impact. We welcome submissions from individuals and organizations representing a wide range of backgrounds, perspectives, and design disciplines.
Thank you for your interest in participating in Nashville Design Week. We look forward to reviewing your submissions and working together to create an inspiring and inclusive week-long event.