New Orleans: Soul Is Waterproof
I ended the week with a complete change of scenery – flying to New Orleans to spread the word on Word of Mouth Marketing at the New Orleans AMA. I knew that I would enjoy sharing the WOMM stories that inspire me with a new group of people. What I didn’t anticipate was how much inspiration I would find in the Big Easy. Dinner at K-Paul’s with some fabulous hosts, a morning walk through the Quarter and breakfast at Cafe Du Monde, and some fabulous conversation with the resilient marketers of this extraordinary town put new wind in my own sails.
The night before the presentation, as we were walking down a pretty-full-for-a-Wednesday-night Bourbon Street, Malcolm Schwarzenbach told me not to be afraid to discuss “the storm”. Being a lifelong uptight WASP, I had no intention of bringing up any such thing. Malcolm saying that it was OK to acknowledge the elephant in the room changed the next 24 hours for me. I spoke with my hosts about property valuations, tourism, and the unique challenge of recruiting talent to the marketing and advertising companies within the city.
Before I left, Malcolm shared a recruiting card for his company Trumpet Advertising with this image on the front and the Ernest Shackleton challenge on the back: “Men (and women) wanted for hazardous journey. Small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful. Honor and recognition in case of success.” It is a unique touchpoint that highlights Trumpet’s attitude and creativity. Based on the amazing New Orleans tourism video that they produced below, it looks like their efforts to recruit talent have been quite successful. I hope it gives you a taste of how I felt after my brief stay. Enjoy the video but be warned, you may want to book tickets to the Big Easy immediately…
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