September/October 2006
An ReMA delegation visited New Orleans in July to find out whether the city will be ready to host ISRI’s NEXT convention. The answer is a resounding “yes.”
This February, ReMA made its first official reconnaissance visit to New Orleans for a firsthand look at the city’s recovery from Hurricane Katrina and readiness for ISRI’s 2007 convention. Chuck Carr, ISRI’s vice president of member services, meetings, marketing, and communications, toured the Big Easy on behalf of the association. In his trip report—printed in the May/June issue of Scrap—he noted that New Orleans was largely a tale of two cities at that time. On one side were the residential areas devastated by the storm. Those areas—which convention-goers would likely never see—were “stuck in limbo between an obstinate insurance industry and an immovable government process,” Carr wrote. The other side—the downtown section of New Orleans that convention-goers would see—was returning to normal at a rapid pace.
In late July, a delegation of ReMA officers and staff visited New Orleans on a second reconnaissance mission to see how the city had progressed since February. The main question on their minds was, will New Orleans be ready for ReMA in April 2007?
The answer, in a word, is “yes.”
The ReMA delegation—which included ReMA Chair Frank Cozzi and his wife, Josephine; ReMA Convention Committee Chair Kendig Kneen; ReMA President Robin Wiener; Chuck Carr; and ReMA meeting planners—found New Orleans in full convention form, already hosting larger events than ISRI’s annual gathering. Their verdict? New Orleans will be ready for ReMA in 2007.
Josephine Cozzi was so impressed with the city’s recovery that she wrote an open letter to all attendees of the 2006 ReMA convention. Here’s what Jo had to say, in her own words:
Dear Friends:
On July 19th, I traveled with my husband, Frank, ReMA Convention Chair Kendig Kneen, and ReMA staff to New Orleans, the site of the 2007 convention. Because of the news media’s depiction of cleanup and reconstruction of New Orleans being consistently dismal, I was not looking forward to the site visit. So when ReMA staff assured me that I would be pleasantly surprised, I remained very skeptical.
Well, I was more than pleasantly surprised. I was amazed.
The trip from the airport to the Sheraton Hotel [which will be the main ReMA convention hotel] showed a clean and busy city with highway construction not unlike any other major city in our great country. Upon arrival to the hotel, I saw absolutely nothing that would hint to the fact that a hurricane had passed through the area.
The founding fathers of New Orleans knew what they were doing when they built the original settlement, now known as the French Quarter, on higher ground. The French Quarter received very little damage from the hurricane and was untouched by the floods. There was some roof damage due to high winds and the same is true for some of the hotels that we will be using during the ReMA convention. But, from what I saw,
it appears that all damage has been repaired. Also, although no damage was done to the sidewalks in the area, the city has taken the opportunity to install beautiful slate sidewalks throughout the area and it looks great!
Canal Street and French Quarter shops are open. The business district and warehouse area are bustling since little damage was sustained to this area. The Superdome has a brand new roof, and Saints season tickets are sold out. The convention center has had a face-lift and looks amazing. And speaking of the convention center, wait until you taste the food the chef is preparing for us. I dare say it rivals any five-star hotel.
The Garden District, antiques stores, and restaurants are open. And according to the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau, the University Hospital and Tulane University Medical Center are operating and will be completely open by the time we arrive. These are facilities that we would be using if the need arose.
The only area of the city that was off-limits to us was the Lower Ninth Ward. There is still devastation to the area. This is the area that the news media and Hollywood actors tell their stories from. It is too bad they never tell you, or show you for that matter, all the positively great things that are happening all over the city.
A tour through the Lakeview area—the middle-class neighborhood that was hit equally as hard as the Lower Ninth Ward—showed some homes already restored and a lot of homes with construction underway.
Both Lakeview and the Ninth Ward are a considerable distance from any place we will be visiting (though ReMA does hope to provide tours for those of us who would like to see the areas that were hard hit), so it poses absolutely no problems for us. Overall, the city is much cleaner than I have ever seen it.
On a personal note, I must say I was one of those people who was of the mind to “not rebuild” the area of the city devastated by Katrina. I have since changed my mind. Touring the city has given me a totally new perspective. I never fully appreciated the history and beauty of the city. Unfortunately, it took Katrina to make me realize how very special a place New Orleans is, and how important it is to get the “real news story” of the city to as many people as possible. To lose the city to sensationalism in journalism for a “good story” would be shameful.
I came to New Orleans as a skeptic. I left not only reassured, but excited about returning to the city. If you have the opportunity to visit before our convention, please do. A visit will not only reassure you that New Orleans is coming back, it will help rebuild the city’s vital tourist industry.
Let me encourage you to join Frank and me in New Orleans next April for ISRI’s convention and exposition.
Sincerely,
Jo Cozzi
An ReMA delegation visited New Orleans in July to find out whether the city will be ready to host ISRI’s NEXT convention. The answer is a resounding “yes.”