Cornell Team - Day 1

Day 1: Southeast Louisiana is huggin’ country

The members of the Cornell team were finally able to navigate the late winter travel obstacles and come together just around dinner time on Saturday night, the inaugural evening of the New Orleans Entrepreneur Week. We raised our glasses around a typical New Orleans table piled high with lobster, oysters, and shrimp and prepared ourselves for a pretty great week with our partner organization, Schedulist, and its CEO and founder, Chris Laibe. I even conquered my own aversion to sea life and indulged in an oyster wrapped in herbs and butter. I’m still alive.

Sunday morning served as a somewhat unexpected, but crucial and rewarding start to the week. The Cornell team knew that it was headed to the St. Bernard Parish to lend its hands to the St. Bernard Project, but I’m not entirely sure that the team was aware of the gravity of the troubles still facing the region, almost 5 years after Hurricane Katrina. The St. Bernard Project is a non-profit organization that was started in March 2006 to help rebuild houses in the local neighborhood that were affected by the hurricane. Since then, the group has rebuilt over 260 homes, and has served as a source of inspiration, hope, and service to the community. The project employees are quick to point out that there are still approximately 9,000 or so homes that remain unlivable. We spent the first portion of the morning listening to the organization’s co-founders, Zach Rosenburg and Liz McCartney, speak to the experiences and mission of the group, and then we headed out to sand and mud drywall at a working site. I’d be remiss if I didn’t give a shout-out to Danny Hest and Henry Parry-Okeden for their pretty keen mudding skills; both led the way during an enjoyable and productive morning.

After a short lunch break we were able to have a chat with Mr. Mendoza, a client of the Project’s, and a former resident of the St. Bernard Parish. Mr. Mendoza, who is still living in a contaminated FEMA trailer, spoke to his own displacement, and the scattering of his family, including his mother and brothers, friends, and associates. He talked about the altered neighborhood dynamic, the loss of his job, the trust, and lack thereof, between certain businesses in the community and its residents, and the family spirit and ethic that were damaged as a result of the hurricane. We concluded our lunch by visiting Mr. Mendoza’s new house, which upon the completion of some remaining electrical work, will serve as his first proper home in over 4 years. If I was a greater poet I would perhaps be more subtle in describing the profound nuances of the visits, but unfortunately I'm not. And at the risk of being overly transparent, I have to say that much of the experience with Mr. Mendoza and the St. Bernard Project was inspiring and humbling, to say the least. It also served as a great glimpse into the New Orleans community, and all of its humility, hard work, altruism, and desire to grow together. There’s certainly a tangible family spirit in this town. In Mr. Mendoza’s own words, “Southeast Louisiana is huggin’ country.”

The day proceeded with a more than entertaining bus tour of the city, both its good parts and bad, and ultimately concluded (or so we thought), with a fantastic dinner at Café Reconcile. Café Reconcile is yet another inspiring story inside New Orleans, of which I would encourage everyone to click on the preceding link to learn more about the endeavor. After a pretty fantastic serving of the Café’s award winning banana foster bread pudding to finish up the meal, Chris packed up most of the crew for a trip to Snug Harbor, where we ended the night with a great jazz set, before hitting the hotel to ramp up for a new day...

Walter Isaacson versus Mark Cuban

I thought my blog post today would be mostly about Walter Isaacson, President and CEO of the Aspen Institute, and his exhortations regarding doing well and doing good. There's a lot one could blog on the topic and I fully intended to do so. Walter delivered an inspiring speech that got to the heart of what we're in New Orleans to do as part of the Idea Village's Entrepreneur week: render a bit of MBA smarts to social ventures that seek to make a some cash while giving a little something back to the community at large.

But then we were treated to an animated talk by Mark Cuban later in the day. Mark's a known quantity. His controversies are well storied and his colorful remarks really shock few people at this point. He's got his "I don't give a shit" persona down pat and that's just how he describes his brand: "My brand is I don't give a shit." Apparently he gives a shit enough to make a lot of money. People who don't give a shit usually wind up living in their parents' basements, get fat eating Twinkies and grow excessive amounts of facial hair. Mark gives a shit.

Sandeep registers delight at the loss of Mark Cuban's Mavericks — Mark couldn't give a shit.

But what he doesn't agree with is Walter Isaacson. At the conclusion of his highly entertaining talk he took questions from the audience. Well, that's not entirely true. He took questions that had been submitted in advance. One asked about his approach to Walter's thoughts on doing well by doing good.

Marks response: "That's bullshit to me!" I guess when you're Mark Cuban you're free to proffer opinions of that kind. Far be it for me to tear strips off a man whose net worth is larger than more than a few nations. But I wonder if somehow Mark's way isn't the only way. I'm sure he'd get along well with Milton Friedman. Or perhaps Ayn Rand. Or maybe not Ayn. I doubt he'd have time for her laborious prose. But my guess is that he's got time for some more of what he calls his "f*ck you money". Pardon the expletives.

Truth be told, Mark Cuban didn't exactly crowd out the rest of the day; we spent time refining our entrepreneur's business plans and we were thoroughly entertained by the Hornets versus Mavericks basketball game. Yeah, the Mavericks are owned by Mark Cuban. They lost handily to the Hornets. You know I almost felt sorry for Mark. Almost.

Booth Update #1

We got to the blogging game a little late, but we wanted to share the highlights of our NOLA visit thus far. Yesterday started with a visit to the St. Bernard Project, www.stbernardproject.org , followed by an unplanned hour long tour of the 9^th ward (lesson: bring your own directions on bus tours). The founder of the St Bernard Project welcomed us with a passionate speech about the continued need for housing in this city. After all they have been through there are still an estimated 12,500 families who are without housing. Prior to Katrina most of the families in St Bernard Parish were home owners, there was 4% unemployment and extended families all lived within a few blocks of each other. This tremendous asset became a liability when Katrina hit, as all the resources for entire families was destroyed. Having heard about this great need, we got to work on rebuilding a home. We only had a few hours, but we managed to hang some drywall and make a little progress. It was really inspiring to see the St Bernard Project’s work and the huge impact they have had on the lives of over 300 families.

You can’t come to St Bernard and not think about Katrina- evidence of it is everywhere. The homes still have the grim spray painted markings that were left by the army and National Guard searchers indicating how many bodies were found inside. Many homes are boarded up, and there are empty lots everywhere from homes that were torn down. Amongst this damage are beautifully restored homes that have no sign of damage.

After using our MBA finance skills to hang drywall, we used the other half of our degree at a Sustainable Greenbuild house networking event. Outside of the delicious Cajun jumbalaya, the “write on your hand photo event” was the undisputed high point.

What is that, you’re thinking? Here’s how the process worked: (1) Have someone write your desired message for New Orleans across the palm of your hands (2) Enter a small white room converted into a temporary photo studio (3) Awkardly (speaking for myself) stand in front of light, put your newly inked hands extremely close to your face, and send off your message with a smile.

Both participatory art and party activity, this photo event united us through our shared messages of hope and progress for New Orleans. Even though one or our photo-shy team members twice deviously evaded the pressure to sully his hands, most people appreciated the activity à recommend for replication at future events.

In the evening, we gathered at Café Reconcile for dinner. Amazing food and we got to really gather as a team for the first time. Here I have to brag that the Booth team is lucky enough to have the best entrepreneur- Darren is a musician, entrepreneur, a Macrobiotic (you know- ying, yang, salt, sugar) and all around great guy. We took our team out to one of the city’s best jazz clubs and heard a great set played by Jason Marsalis and band. Sitting in the balcony, sipping a Ribbeta Strawberry beer was the quintessential NO experience.

Monday Morning:

We gathered at 7:15 to head to the Contemporary Arts Center. The unseasonably cold weather persisted, making us feel like we never left Chicago.

The events started at the new Contemporary Art Center in downtown New Orleans, a massive building full of open concrete plans, curving stairwells and exposed ductwork. I didn’t see any of the art, but I hope it is as cool as the building.

Walter Isaacson, CEO of the Aspen Institute/New Orleans Native. A man with both a local and global vision, he focused his speech on the role of entrepeneurship in revitalizing New Orleans. He highlighted Katrina’s role in reawakening the city’s creative roots, causing the city to cast off the tradition of returning to a post-hurricane ‘malaise.’ A TFA board member, he was particularly enamored by viral growth of charter schools in the New Orleans Area, as the city moves towards having one of the most decentralized school districts in the country. He now (jokingly) suggests that ailing cities get their own hurricane to help them start over again. (I wouldn’t suggest repeating that unless you’re from New Orleans.) He also discussed the uniquely creative New Orlienean culture. One of the more racially integrated cities, New Orleans history and present as a place of where cultures clash, New Orleans is a natural home for new ideas and creative industries.

What a welcome!

Well it is on in NOLA. It is a pleasure to join the Idea Village blogging community as the representative from the Kellogg School of Management.

It’s the third day that I’ve been here getting to know the Idea Village and the entrepreneurship community in New Orleans. For the past two days, I have gotten immersed in New Orleans. We kicked off the trip with a crawfish boil, second line parade, home build in St. Bernard parish with the St. Bernard Project, tour of New Orleans, and dinner at Café Reconcile – among many other fantastic experiences.

Today, the team is excited to see our entrepreneur’s wares in local boutiques. Cecile Hardy, a New Orleans native, created NOLA Couture. NOLA Couture is a New Orleans based clothing line known for its unique prints that are inspired by New Orleans and the South.

So what am I most looking forward to today? It’s a long list: getting to know Cecile better, seeing her business in action, and capping off the day watching the Hornets play the Mavericks.

We’re starting this morning with a speech from Walter Isaacson, CEO of the Aspen Institute. See ya later!

~ Jessica

Dusty But Worth It

Business school is really about two things: networking and time management. Full schedules are an expect part of any MBA student's lifestyle. Today, we were put to the test.

The cold, windy New Orleans morning didn't deter the bleary-eyed teams from piling into their respective buses sometime around 7:30am. A handful of students appeared somewhat rough around the edges, bearing all the hallmarks of a night spent compromising sleep in favor of more active exploits. A cloud hung over whether or not everyone would actually make it downstairs in time to make our appointment with St. Bernard Project Build. Those doubts were unfounded.

I'm familiar with Katrina fatigue. I've felt it personally. Sometime around the second week after the hurricane hit I found myself tuning out any news about the event and the devastation that followed in its wake. Five years later my attitude hadn't changed. To my mind so far removed from New Orleans, five years seemed like enough time to do just about anything. Why would nearly every every trace of the disaster not now be eradicated from sight? Well, the reasons are manifold and today my personal Katrina fatigue was put to rest.

The UC Berkeley Haas team spent the better part of the morning lending a decent amount of elbow grease to the nascent home of Delia Doty. Like many residents of St. Bernard Parish, Delia's life was thrown into chaos in the wake of the hurricane. Five years later she and her daughter are on the bring of seeing some measure of normalcy return to their existence courtesy of a steady stream of volunteers who have worked on her house. The work is coming along nicely.

The Haas team got to work smoothing over the efforts of a prior set of UMass Amherst undergraduate students. I mean that literally; the Haas team spent the entirety of the morning sanding over Spackle—or mud as the locals call it—and dry wall. The dust that erupted from our labors was tremendous. It navigated its way into every open orifice: ear, nose and mouth. Plus the eyes. Mine still sting a little.

Were it not for those UMass students we'd not be doing any of this.

But we got the work done and it was rewarding. The owner, Delia, took the time to stop by and thank us for our efforts, thereby directly connecting our meager labor to its impact. There's no better reward.

Team leaders, Carmen & Mike, after partying with Scarface himself, Tony Montana

With the morning's work complete we were ready to dash back to the hotel for a quick shower to remove the thick layer of white grime from our bodies. "No," we were informed, "there's no time." So resigned to our filthy fate, and looking like we'd spent a night partying with Tony Montana, we carried on through the rest of our day's schedule. It didn't let up almost without a break until 10pm. But with the thought of the impact we'd had on Delia's life, who cares about how much we stink?

Becoming a New Orleanian at Entrepreneur Week: Lots of Crawfish and a Second Line Later... (Day 2)

New Orleans Entrepreneur Week got off to a dazzling start today as the students, business leaders, and entrepreneurs who are making it all possible congregated for a real “N’awlins” experience—a Welcome Party Crawfish Boil, replete with all of the culinary and cultural extras.

The location—the 9th-floor lobby of 930 Poydras, one of New Orleans’s newest, most original living spaces—provided the perfect setting for the vibrant gathering. Already, the business students were presented with the opportunity to communicate directly with business leaders. And, of course, they did what they do best; enthused by the opportunity to make a lasting difference, they exchanged ideas with one another and huddled around the entrepreneurs to hear about their products and begin discussing plans for the future.

A little bit of “water moisture from the new condos,” as the Downtown Development District’s Kurt Weigle cleverly phrased it, didn’t dampen the mood, either. Everyone moved inside to the lobby, where the conversations and a bit of weekend brain churning continued.

That is, of course, until a little surprise showed up.



A classic New Orleans brass band, just a little taste of things to come!

Given that the team meetings for the national teams don’t officially begin until Monday, you might ask, "All of that, only on a Saturday afternoon?"

That’s called passion, and it’s the reason why Entrepreneur Week will galvanize the entrepreneurial movement and propel New Orleans—already a city laden with potential—to new heights, creating a sustainable model for the rest of the nation to follow.

If you missed out on today’s event, footage can be found here. We will also be posting photos from the event, so stay tuned!

IT'S ON IN NOLA

New Orleans Entrepreneur Week: Day I

You may have woken up this morning and assumed that it was just another Friday. But, as you read the morning paper, waiting for your coffee to brew, a group of local New Orleans business students from Loyola, Tulane, and UNO had already gathered to collaboratively provide ideas and strategic assistance to two local entrepreneurs, Sustainable Environmental Enterprises (SEE) and Jack and Jake’s.

That means that today marked the official first day of New Orleans Entrepreneur Week 2010!

This is a special time for New Orleans. Whether you’re a participant, an entrepreneur extraordinaire, or someone who simply enjoys supporting the cause, we want you to get involved! Especially during Entrepreneur Week—an event that thrives on collaboration and the free exchange of ideas—it would be great if you could send us your pictures, ideas, experiences, questions, comments, and anything else you may find conducive to the celebration and fostering of entrepreneurial talent and ideas in New Orleans!

AND IT IS NOW OFFICIALLY ON IN NOLA!

Stay posted as we update you on all of the great things that are sure to happen in New Orleans this week! Also, if you haven’t done so, be sure to check out noew.org to learn more.