Morial CC Opens for Business

New Orleans—The doors to halls E and F of the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center could not have possibly opened fast enough Feb. 17.

Crowds of women (some store buyers, others just there to shop for themselves) anxiously waited to pick up purses and necklaces at the cash-and-carry New Orleans Gift & Jewelry Show organized by Helen Brett Enterprises.

To the accompaniment of a New Orleans jazz trio, the women cheered during a ribbon-cutting ceremony announcing the reopening of the center, which had been closed for nearly six months in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

In addition to proclaiming that New Orleans is back in the tradeshow business, speakers cracked jokes about the high value of badges to get into the event.

"The ticket for this show is more popular than Super Bowl tickets," said Warren Reuther Jr., president of the New Orleans Exhibition Hall Authority, the center's governing board.

Reuther told the crowd of a few hundred people that since being interviewed by a national network news station that morning, people hadn't stopped asking him how they could get in. "I need 12 more tickets," he said.

New Orleans City Councilwoman Renee' Gill Pratt also cracked a joke. "I see these ladies, and we know a lot about economic development, don't we?" she said.

Other speakers included New Orleans Metropolitan Convention & Visitors Bureau President and CEO J. Stephen Perry, Louisiana Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu, New Orleans Executive Director of Arts & Entertainment Ernest Collins, and Robert Kolinek, president and CEO of Helen Brett.

Perry noted that, along with the gift show and the center reopening, the week also brought the announcement of a star-studded lineup for the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and the official start of Mardi Gras parades and balls — all events the Crescent City badly needed after Katrina.

"New Orleans is vibrant, open, ready for visitors. The city has been reborn," Perry told the crowd.

Perry later that day told Tradeshow Week that the week's events were attracting plenty of attention. "I'm doing CNN six times between now and next Saturday," he said.

Helen Brett distributed buttons reading "New Orleans Proud" to exhibitors and "I Survived Katrina" to attendees. The semiannual tradeshow, New Orleans' longest running, spanned 60,000 net square feet with 600 exhibitors. Kolinek said he expected 15,000 to 20,000 attendees.

Attendee Phyllis Seely of the Unique Creations store in Marrero, La., called the event "very inspiring."

As a New Orleans native, exhibitor Mark Katz of Tricia's Baby Station in Birmingham, Ala., said the opportunity to be involved in the center's reopening meant a great deal to him. "Once (news of) this show gets out, it says New Orleans is back for business," Katz said.

Exhibitor Bill Hicks, of Morgan's Fudge in Gaylord, Mich., said he wanted the show to "bring some hope to the (New Orleans) citizens."

Another exhibitor, Bill Johnson of Gifts & More in Hartville, S.C., drove 12 hours to get to the show. "This is what New Orleans needs," he said.

Many exhibitors displayed New Orleans rebirth flags and T-shirts along with the city's fleur de lis symbol on items. One company, Decorate Your House, donated 10 percent of its proceeds to Habitat for Humanity, gave a $500 shopping spree to a Katrina-displaced family and decorated six homes of Katrina survivors.