Plan Your Meetings

New Orleans has gotten some bad press lately, but traditional convention and meeting areas such as the French Quarter, the Warehouse District and the Central Business District are safe and open for business. In fact, there are more restaurants and hotels than before the storm.

Long-time New Orleans resident and meeting planner Carling Dinkler, president of Custom Conventions, is concerned that all these great new amenities won’t stay open if the business doesn’t come back, and would like to help set the record straight.

“We were always a city that prided ourselves on going over the top on attendance,” Dinkler says. “The media reporting the sensational stories don’t seem to understand that has a psychological effect on the decisions people make. … The planner of the association, the guy that wants to get his numbers, has to be careful, because if the perception is that New Orleans is not safe, then he won’t get his numbers.

“Any meeting planner seriously considering holding a meeting in New Orleans who has not been here, all they have to do is get a plane ticket, and I will be happy to arrange the rest on as near a comp basis as is possible. We need planners to believe in our city as a great place to have their meeting.”

To take Dinkler up on his offer, send him an e-mail.