Arts: Creative Industries Day & Second Annual Arts-Based Business Pitch
As a strategic partner of the 2014 Entrepreneur Season spearheaded by The Idea Village, the DDD, along with the Creative Alliance of New Orleans and Louisiana Cultural Economy Foundation, will host “Creative Industries Day” during New Orleans Entrepreneur Week 2014 on Wednesday, March 26th. Attendees can look forward to a host of forums aimed at engaging industry leaders and emerging creative artists in a dialogue on growing the profile of the creative industries.
The event will culminate with the Second Annual Arts-Based Business Pitch, which is aimed at identifying and supporting entrepreneurs working on an arts-based project or product in the creative, architecture, technology, digital media or film and entertainment fields. The DDD and other partners will provide the 2014 pitch winner with a prize package valued at over $25,000. The prize package will consist of cash as well as numerous hours of professional legal, accounting, public relations and marketing services.
“After the success of last year’s event, we are excited about the Second Annual Downtown NOLA Arts-Based Business Pitch,” said DDD President and CEO Kurt Weigle. “Downtown is the region’s hub of creativity and entrepreneurship, and the DDD is committed to offering and promoting the resources that allow local artists and entrepreneurs to grow and succeed Downtown. This year’s Pitch will benefit not only the winner, but all of Downtown New Orleans.” downtownnola.com
Events: New Orleans Entrepreneur Week
The whole city’s abuzz with Idea Village’s upcoming Sixth Annual New Orleans Entrepreneur Week, happening from Saturday, March 22 to Friday, March 28. Touted as the “premier showcase event for the New Orleans entrepreneurial ecosystem,” this engaging, week-long event will be filled with seminars, demonstrations and challenges hosted mainly at the Hyatt Regency, Gallier Hall and Idea Village’s offices on Girod Street. Events include “Destination Hackathon,” inspiring programmers and designers to create frameworks for mobile applications to benefit tourism; a “Water Challenge Day” centered upon the state’s rapidly expanding water economy and a “Failure Fest,” where local, successful entrepreneurs will discuss their own failures and the important lessons they learned from those experiences. noew.org
Music: Wednesday at the Square
Get ready to doff your heels and loosen your tie at the Young Leadership Council’s annual springtime concert series: Wednesday at the Square. The 12-week, springtime concert series at Lafayette Square kicks off on March 19 and will be the hot post-work spot every Wednesday until June 4, featuring fantastic local musicians, food and drink vendors and even a mini-art market. This year’s lineup includes performers like Marcia Ball, Honey Island Swamp Band, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, The Iguanas, Gravity A, Billy Iuso & the Restless Natives, Flow Tribe and more! Proceeds from this annual event benefit the Young Leadership Council and their tireless effort to recruit and retain young professionals in New Orleans, developing leadership and involvement through community events.
wednesdayatthesquare.com
Breakfast: Ruby Slipper Café
Devour a decadent New Orleans breakfast at the Ruby Slipper Café’s fourth location, recently opened on Canal Street. Café owners Erich and Jennifer Weishaupt have renovated a historic building that once housed a McCrory’s department store, where civil rights activists — including Oretha Castle and Rudy Lombard — staged sit-ins at the lunch counter in 1960. Although there is another Ruby Slipper Café only a hop, skip and a jump away, the restaurant’s long lines and inevitable popularity made opening a second location in the same vicinity a no-brainer. All of the four eateries offer slightly different menus, and the Canal Street restaurant is no different. You will still find their famous Bananas Foster Pain Perdu and Gulf Shrimp & Grits, but you can also sink your teeth into Chicken St. Charles: crispy fried chicken breast over a buttermilk biscuit with tasso cream sauce, or a Hot-Smoked Salmon Bennie. therubyslippercafe.net