Not “Miss” New Orleans, but “miss” New Orleans. I haven’t been back in a number of years and I am missing the city. I hear different people talk about what has or hasn’t changed, and I realize that I need to go back and check it out for myself. For example, at this point I don’t even know if the St. Charles streetcar is running again.
Part of my problem in getting back is a clear sign that at least one this is still not working, and that is the convention business. I am one of those people who takes most of my trips, at least on the surface, to attend conventions and conferences. I may spend more time in the town and do a lot of other things, but by picking and choosing my trips carefully I can make at least the airfare and some of the lodgings be a business expense. Well, it has been quite some time since I have been able to do this with New Orleans.
Microsoft had planned the 2007 Tech-Ed conference for the convention center in New Orleans, but either the infrastructure wasn’t ready or the powers-that-be at Microsoft thought they weren’t. Or perhaps they just thought that people weren’t ready to see the city again. Or, and this is very likely, perhaps the hotels and restaurants are not yet capable of handing a 10,000 to 15,000 person influx yet.
Whatever the reason, the conference was moved to Orlando and New Orleans lost the publicity and revenue. And I lost an easy chance to get back to the streets that I love so much. I am going to make sure that is not the case over the next year though. I need to get back and see for myself. I need to see the people and hear the tales. So yes, I do not what it is like to miss New Orleans.
