New Orleans: Where the Show Extends Beyond the Show Floor is a sponsored article from New Orleans & Company
For trade show organizers, the exhibit hall may be the center of the event, but increasingly, the attendee experience extends far beyond it.
In New Orleans, the destination becomes part of that experience.
Within a compact, walkable downtown, more than 26,000 hotel rooms, the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, restaurants, entertainment and cultural venues are concentrated within 2.5 miles. That proximity gives organizers an opportunity to create an event environment that moves naturally between the show floor and the city.
Turn Attendee Movement Into Engagement
One distinctly New Orleans way to elevate a meeting is through a second line. The tradition traces back to historic jazz funerals, where a brass band accompanying the casket formed the “first line,” while mourners joined behind them to celebrate the person’s life, forming the “second line.” Over time, the tradition evolved into a joyful expression of music, movement and celebration.
Today, trade show groups can experience that tradition firsthand. Led by a brass band, attendees can move together between the Convention Center, hotels and off-site venues, dancing through the streets and waving handkerchiefs along the way. What might otherwise be a simple transition becomes a shared, high-energy experience that creates connection, celebration and a distinctly New Orleans moment beyond the show floor.
Give Exhibitors More Ways to Connect
New Orleans’ restaurants, cultural attractions, museums and entertainment venues provide distinctive settings for client events, product launches, receptions and hospitality programs. Instead of recreating the destination inside a ballroom, exhibitors can use the city itself as the backdrop.
Live music can welcome guests to a reception. A historic venue can become an interactive event. An award-winning restaurant can turn a client dinner into one of the most talked-about experiences.
Create a Reason to Attend in Person
As trade shows compete for attendees’ time and travel budgets, the value of gathering face-to-face matters more than ever.
New Orleans gives organizers something that cannot be replicated virtually: a sense of place.
The city’s music, cuisine, architecture and traditions create natural opportunities for attendees to connect with one another while discovering the destination. Those experiences can strengthen the overall event, encourage attendees to stay longer and give them another reason to return.
Behind it all is a hospitality community accustomed to working collaboratively across the Convention Center, hotels, venues, restaurants and destination partners.
Because a successful trade show is no longer defined only by what happens inside the exhibit hall.
In New Orleans, the entire destination is Built to Host.
Contact:
Stephanie Turner, Sr. Vice President
Convention Sales & Strategies
(877) 393-5836
