After the first year of the Fleur-de-lis Ambassador Program, co-founders Scott Cowen, President of Tulane University, and Arnie Fielkow, President of New Orleans City Council, today announced the 2008 Ambassadors who will serve the program as “messengers of New Orleans’ recovery”. Cowen and Fielkow, joined by Rod West, President and CEO of Entergy New Orleans, and Kim Boyle, Esq., Partner, Phelps Dunbar LLP, created the program in 2007 to convey the importance of New Orleans’ economic and cultural revitalization to media markets around the country, while also combating misperceptions about the city’s recovery. Today, the new group who will serve in 2008 was introduced.
Representative Neil Abramson, State Representative, District 98
Latoya Cantrell, President, Broadmoor Improvement Association
John Casbon, President and CEO, First American Transportation Title Insurance Co.
Darlene Cusanza, Executive Director, Crimestoppers
The Hon. Jimmy Fitzmorris, Fitzmorris & Associates
Senator Cheryl A. Gray, Louisiana Senate, District 5
Sandra Gunner, President and CEO, New Orleans Chambers of Commerce
Byron Harrell, President and CEO, Baptist Community Ministries
Marvalene Hughes, President, Dillard University
Alden McDonald, President, Liberty Bank and Trust
John Payne, John Payne, President – Central Division, Harrah’s
Greg Rigamer, President, CCR & Associates, Inc.
Nolan Rollins, President, Greater New Orleans Urban League
Timothy P. Ryan, Chancellor, University of New Orleans
Charles Teamer, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Dryades Savings Bank
Warner Thomas, President and COO, Ochsner Health System
Denise Thornton, President and CEO, The Beacon of Hope Resource Center
Tim Williamson, President, Idea Village
In 2007, Fleur-de-lis Ambassadors traveled to Boston, Birmingham, Jacksonville, Atlanta, Washington,
D.C., Los Angeles and New York. Presently, the targeted cities for 2008 include Chicago, Houston, Dallas, Miami, Memphis, Philadelphia, San Francisco, St. Louis, Tampa/St. Petersburg. A new component to the program this year will be a focus on cities in Louisiana in order to promote regional partnerships.
Last year, Ambassadors met with media personnel and outlets including Brian Williams, NBC Nightly News; The Wall Street Journal; Fortune Magazine; The Economist; Washington Post; NPR; Bloomberg TV; CNN; USA Today. Meetings were held with political leaders, including House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi; Office of U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Gulf Coast Recovery Chairman Don Powell. Additionally, they cultivated relationships with philanthropies who have demonstrated interest in supporting ongoing recovery efforts. Some of those organizations include Rockefeller Foundation; Wallace Foundation; Financial Services Roundtable and John Hancock.
New Orleans-based firms Peter A. Mayer Public Relations and Keating Magee Momentum Marketing have been retained to provide strategy and logistics coordination for the initiative. Together, the agencies are designing an integrated media relations campaign to facilitate meetings with key organizations and generate media exposure in each market the Ambassadors Program visits.
Past and present funders for the Fleur-de-lis Ambassadors Program include the Greater New Orleans Foundation, the New Orleans Business Council, Tulane University, Bill Goldring, Republic Beverage, Jay Lapeyre, Laitram Corporation. The program is named after the fleur-de-lis, a stylized representation of an iris with three petals tied by a band, which has become one of the enduring symbols of the City of New Orleans.
Uhhhh,,,,,, Look at Pittsburgh PA. What it is now, is not what New Orleans will be in two decades. We are in a class of our own...... The definition of insanity is doing the same thing time and time again..... and each time expecting a different result from the efforts employed. Written by Ahh... Turtle-turtle-turtle-turtle.
on 3/7/2008
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