New Orleans Hosts Library Assn. Show

Last month, with the help of nearly 17,000 librarians, the New Orleans tradeshow community got an economic and psychological boost.

J. Stephen Perry, president and CEO of the New Orleans Metropolitan Convention & Visitors Bureau, said the city's first post-Hurricane Katrina citywide tradeshow, American Library Assn. Annual Conference & Exhibition, represented a milestone in the rebirth of the city.

"On behalf of the New Orleans' hospitality industry, we are deeply grateful to the American Library Assn. for giving us an opportunity to prove why New Orleans is still one of the most historic, most walkable, most authentic meeting cities in the world," Perry said.

ALA President Michael Gorman said the group was "proud to be a part of the city's revival and to show the world that, not only do libraries build communities, but librarians do as well."

The annual rotating show, No. 165 on the Tradeshow Week 200, took place June 22–28 at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. It was expected to use 8,000 peak hotel room nights in almost 30 hotels and provide $20 million in economic impact.

The convention featured speeches by First Lady Laura Bush, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, TV reporters and authors Cokie Roberts and Anderson Cooper, and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin.

"You are pioneers, and you are sending a signal to the world that says New Orleans is OK," Nagin said, at the convention's opening session.

The convention also featured a community service project where more than 1,000 volunteers — both exhibitors and attendees — helped clean and repair New Orleans libraries.

Before the ALA came to town, the New Orleans hospitality community took measures to ensure the city was prepared for the crowds.

For one, the CVB introduced the "We're Jazzed You're Here!" customer service campaign and philosophy, designed to gear up everyone — from local hotels to transportation providers and restaurants — for the city's summer conventions.

The bureau also organized a one-day cleaning effort on June 19 called "Company's Coming," where hospitality industry members cleaned the streets of the French Quarter, Central Business District and Warehouse Arts District.

Perry said, "We all know what we do when company is coming to our home — we clean. This is no different."

The Morial center, which first reopened a few exhibit halls in February to host the 14,000-attendee New Orleans Gift & Jewelry Show, has completed most of its restoration and renovation work.

For the ALA show, the center had 741,257 square feet of exhibit space, 99 meeting rooms, its 4,000-seat auditorium and a 36,000 sq. ft. ballroom available. The remaining portions of the building will open in November.

As for the Louisiana Superdome, restoration construction is still underway and on schedule (including the replacement of its roof). The venue, home field of the New Orleans Saints, is expected to be "football-ready" for a Sept. 25 reopening.

More than 27,000 of the 38,000 pre-Katrina hotel rooms currently are available in New Orleans. Two major hotels, the Fairmont New Orleans and Ritz Carlton, are scheduled to reopen in December.

And at the Louis Armstrong Intl. Airport, there are 107 daily departures to 34 cities, which represents 77 percent of the airport's pre-Katrina level.

In other New Orleans news, the Natl. Automobile Dealers Assn. in June announced that it will hold its 2009 NADA Convention & Exposition in New Orleans, as originally scheduled. The group drew 27,000 visitors to the last show it held in New Orleans in 2004, with an estimated economic impact of more than $50 million.

Finally, industry-related charity has continued to stream into New Orleans and the rest of the Gulf Coast.

In May, Portland, Maine-based Diversified Business Communications was recognized by the American Red Cross with the Circle of Humanitarians Award for its support of post-Katrina relief efforts.

DBC contributed more than $70,000 to the Red Cross for its hurricane relief fund and 12 of its employees — now known locally as the Portland Twelve — traveled to Mississippi to assist with recovery efforts first-hand. The company arranged with its Workboat magazine advertisers to donate revenue from the issue that ran during the month during which the canceled 2005 Intl. WorkBoat Show would have taken place. It also held a fundraising reception at its Pacific Marine Expo.

Last month, the Harrah's Employee Recovery Fund issued $2.1 million in assistance to nearly 2,800 current and former Harrah's Entertainment employees that were impacted by last year's hurricanes. The fund has to date provided $6.6 million to 6,300 employees.