: : : : : : : : : : DAY THREE
Another one of those 8am mornings. Coffee better be strong, especially after a night on Oak Street.
We’ll visit other industry-related sites in the morning then move to the NOCCA, the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts, for a panel discussion. Folks, reading about this center gives me goose bumps. Imagine. Creative high school kids, many who struggle in traditional classrooms, have a chance to learn in an environment that supports their desire to pursue a creative career. Those NOLA folks may lose me in this place.
A late lunch with industry leaders at the restaurant Ste. Marie, then some down time. We’ll need it by then.
I’m really looking forward to the afternoon event. We meet at Manning’s for NOLA’s first annual Big Idea event, a ‘pitch extravaganza.’ We’ll hear 19 of New Orleans’ most promising start-up ventures, then cast our ballot for the best entrepreneur. That lucky winner will walk away with $100,000 in seed funding. This event will be especially interesting to me after all the time I’ve spent in Atlanta’s entrepreneurial community at ATDC.
Dinner’s at Maison on Frenchmen (menu options include alligator sausage, crawfish or chicken gumbo) with an optional night out on Frenchmen Street. I’m taking bets on whether I’ll make that or not.
From their website, I quote: “The New Orleans Center for Creative Arts is a regional, pre-professional arts training center that offers high school students intensive instruction in culinary arts, dance, media arts, music (classical, jazz, vocal), theatre arts (drama, musical theatre, theatre design) , visual arts, and creative writing, while demanding simultaneous excellence. NOCCA was founded in 1973 by a diverse coalition of artists, educators, business leaders, and community activists who saw the need for an institution devoted to our region’s burgeoning young talent.” Admission is by audition only and is tuition-free to all Louisiana students.
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