This post may be a bit off topic from my usual posts, but I wanted to share this story nonetheless.

This past weekend, I had the good fortune of spending a few days in New Orleans to celebrate my upcoming marriage later this month.  On the surface, one might note that with the New Orleans Saints football team in the Super Bowl, that this might just be another big party weekend in the Big Easy.  But peel a few layers back, and this weekend meant so much more to a City that was nearly covered by the floodwaters of Hurricane Katrina.

Before I elaborate, I wanted to share what New Orleans means to me.  Nearly 20 years ago, I made my first trip to Southeast Lousiana with a group of ambitious friends with whom I had shared an amazing internship experience at IBM in New York.  These friends were from all over the country, and some of my best friends in the world came from the 5-6 months we shared in New York.  We worked hard to keep in touch (a task that has become much easier in the social networking era), and we planned to meet at Mardi Gras every year as a reunion.  That first year in the early 90's we had a large group and a great time.  Over the years, as friends got married and started families, our group got smaller and smaller.  Still, some of us went back for more than a decade, sharing the festivities of Mardi Gras, while making new friends and growing to love the City even more.

When I went back to grad school at UCLA and later at Thunderbird, I made a point of getting back to New Orleans every year.  When I finished, I decided to take 2001 off, and my Uncle and I invested in a four unit shotgun commercial property in Mid-City New Orleans.  The building sat abandoned and in poor repair, although one of the units was livable enough to serve as a residence.  I distinctly recall making arrangements to close on the building while in Havana, Cuba as part of a month long trip there which was to be my capstone class at Thunderbird.  Little did Fidel know the capitalist workings going on in the Internet cafe of the Hotel Nacional in his capital city!

I spent six months in New Orleans that year working hard on the building - demolishing old kitchens and bathrooms, reinstalling red oak floors, painting, repairing and getting that old building back to some semblance of its former self amongst other stately homes lining Canal Street.  In the process, several Mardi Gras parades passed right in front of the building, close enough for us to catch beads from the roof over the front porch.  The property was about a 15 minute walk from the French Quarter and about the same distance to Jazz Fest at the fairgrounds.  Despite all the hard work, I managed to indulge in the festivities, food, and friendships of some of the warmest people around.  It was with some sadness that I decided to leave and move back to my adopted home state of Florida, but I knew at the time the move was right for me.  The City lacked the entrepreneurial energy that I needed to keep me focused on business.

In 2003, we sold the building to some local investors and made a decent profit in the process.  Before doing so, my friends and I managed to spend another two Mardi Gras' and Jazz Fests there, staying in whichever unit happened to be vacant at the time.

During Hurricane Katrina in 2005, my former building, which was four feet off-grade, sat for quite some time in about 8-10 feet of water.  When I returned the following year for Mardi Gras, the whole first floor had been gutted and the water mark on the front door was clearly visible.  All that work I had done was ruined!  Despite that fact that I had sold the place, it was still sad to see.  During Katrina, I had several sets of friends come and stay with me in Jacksonville Beach, while they tried to figure out what to do next.  Invariably, they all ended up going back to help pick up the pieces of their city.   When the Superdome reopened and the Saints took the field once more, the City's pride, deeply shaken by Katrina, took root once again.   Four years later, the Saints brough a championship home to a city that has worked so hard to rebuild.

During the weekend, New Orleans also had its mayoral elections, and Mitch Landrieiu was the runaway winner, bringing all the people of New Orleans together the day before the Big Game.  He replaces a much criticized Ray Nagin and brings hope for even more change and growth in the city.  Still other groups are working in the Big Easy to bring growth and jobs, most notably the Idea Village, a group working to encourage and develop entrepreneurial activities in the city. 

I had a chance to walk around New Orleans from the French Quarter to the fairgrounds, along Bayou St. John, and past my old building, before riding the Canal streetcar back downtown.  Every time I go back, things look better there, although I note that the hospital near my old building is still shut down and surrounded by chain link fence and barbed wire.  New Orleans still has a long way to go, but with new leadership, civic pride from a championship football team, and new ventures springing up, the future looks bright.  The parallel for many today, suffering from the floods of economic turmoil is that hard work, belief, and a little inspriration can go a long way towards rebuilding.

When I knew the Big Game was over this past Sunday, I stepped out onto Bourbon Street to soak in the moment.  As the seconds of the game ticked down, people flooded into the streets to celebrate the victory.  Prefect strangers gave me hugs and high fives, and there were smiles on every face, as people jumped up and down in a state of pure joy that is rare to witness.  People flooded into the French Quarter by the thousands to join the celebration that will no doubt last through Fat Tuesday next week. 

Who dat, indeed!

Todd Smith

Blue Horizon Venture Consulting

www.bluehorizonvc.com