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David Covell
Location: San Francisco, CA / Category: Digital Media
NOLAbound Blog
TOUCHDOWN NEW ORLEANS: I’M OFFICIALLY #NOLABOUND
It seemed like it took forever for this week to arrive, but it’s here. The week me and 26 others travel to New Orleans to participate in the NOLAbound program. It’s going to be awesome.
MANY YEARS OF FLIRTING, BUT NOW WE’RE GETTING SERIOUS
I’ve spent a lot of time in New Orleans over the years. My first visit was as a conference attendee about a decade ago. Up to this point, conferences and their host cities—hot spots like Orlando and Phoenix—all seemed bland and trying too hard to be cool and interesting but managing only to be perfectly average. This time it was different because I happened upon a special place called New Orleans and was immediately smitten. And so began my love affair (that only intensified when I met my wife, Susie, who was born and raised in Louisiana).
After my first visit I was totally hooked. I’ve visited a lot of cities—really awesome cities—all over the world and none is special like New Orleans. It has an endearing and enduring culture that pervades the people, the food, the music, the language, the architecture, the everything. This city and Louisiana will forever hold a special place in my heart and I can’t get enough…so I keep finding more reasons to be here and more reasons to love it.
Up to now, I’ve only flirted with New Orleans and it’s time I got serious. Susie and I want Louisiana and its culture to be part of our family’s culture so we hope to move here for some time when we have children. I can’t do that unless the changes starting to happen, continue at a fast clip—namely job opportunities, good schools and safe living. I’m getting serious about New Orleans now so that I can do whatever I can to help catalyze those changes.
A WIDE OPEN MIND (AND A FEW EXPECTATIONS)
I agree with my fellow NOLAbounder, Max Mednick (@maxmednick) who suggests going into the program with no expectations and waiting to be pleasantly surprised. I have no doubt all of us NOLAbounders will be pleasantly surprised.
That said, I do have a few things I’m sure will happen. I expect…
- to meet a whole lot of awesome people who are motivated to make New Orleans better. (Seriously, have you seen the @beNOLAbound crew?)
- to be inspired by the people, the culture, the potential, the passion.
- to have a long list of to dos for myself when we’ve finished the week. This week is the beginning of a more serious relationship with New Orleans.
- to be greeted with warm hospitality, incredible food, lots of song and dance, and all the romance and charm that woos me every time I visit.
MY HOPES FOR THIS ADVENTURE
I believe the biggest issue facing New Orleans (and biggest impediment to me settling here) is creating and sustaining economic growth. After Katrina, the population shrank dramatically and tourism plummeted, which meant a loss of revenue. Rebuilding and creating economic growth isn’t easy with less revenue and fewer people. To create growth, the city needs big, sustained investment—public and private—to diversify and strengthen its economy. There are some strong industries, but they’re slow growth, too entrenched or very volatile.
New Orleans has most of the ingredients for growth, among them: strong community, creativity, great universities, global exposure, economic incentives…and momentum. If you don’t believe me, you can read the compelling business case for New Orleans. My hope is that I leave with a better understanding of the business climate and culture, the economic development infrastructure that’s being built or rebuilt (e.g., schools, training programs), etc. It’s neither easy nor fast, but it’s possible and it’s been happening since Katrina devastated the city. I want to be a part of it.
I want to pick the brains of business leaders, policy makers, investors and others working hard to make New Orleans bigger, better, stronger. There is tremendous potential and I want to be a part of turning that potential into real, diversified, sustainable growth for New Orleans. That’s why I am NOLAbound.
FOLLOW THE JOURNEY
All of the NOLAbounders will be sharing their stories of their journey and you can follow @beNOLAbound for updates from the program team. I’ll be posting there, on Tumblr, Twitter (@davidnotdave) and keeping my “places journal” on Foursquare. Whether you know and love New Orleans, have never been and are curious or anything in between, I’m sure you’ll enjoy following the NOLAbound journey. It’s sure to be a great adventure and a wonderful learning opportunity.
posted: March 14, 2012
NOLAbound Applicant Details
In what city do you currently reside?
San Francisco, CA
What do you love the most about where you live?
San Francisco is a tight-knit community chock full of curious people and that’s my favorite thing about living here. Curiosity breeds creativity, big-thinking, progressive, adventurous people doing awesome things together even when it means challenging convention—or maybe because it challenges convention. Why can’t I start a one-man klezmer band? Why can’t I create fuel from algae? Why can’t I serve creme brûlée from a little cart on the side of the street? Why can’t I build a self-driving car? Why can’t neighbors work together to create an affordable community solar grid? This culture acts like a talent magnet and continues to reinforce itself. It’s an inspiring place to be.
In what other cities have you lived?
Mumbai, India
What is/was your favorite city and why?
I’m lucky to live in my favorite city, San Francisco. I’ll talk about my second-favorite: Mumbai. I’m a sucker for adventure, so I jumped at the chance to move to Mumbai.
At first blush, Mumbai seems like utter chaos with its noise and congestion. Get close to see there’s a “language” spoken in that chaos that everyone understands and that’s rooted in a feeling that we all have to work together to do what we’re doing and get where we’re going. The city has an undeniable kinetic energy wrapped in vibrant color and filled with warm, hospitable people. It’s awesome.
What do you hope to gain from NOLAbound?
I know New Orleans personally and I want to know her better professionally. I want to see New Orleans thriving and to be part of the story that’s yet to be written there. There is a tremendous amount of potential and I want to be a part of turning that potential into real, sustainable growth to ensure New Orleans becomes the strong, vibrant, world-class city she should be.
What is your overall opinion of New Orleans?
San Francisco might be New Orleans’ snobbier cousin. They share a lot of family traits: both community-loving, creativity-celebrating, progressive cities with loads of curious people doing awesome things. They are both inspiring in that way.
New Orleans, though, is unlike any place I’ve ever been and it holds a special place in my heart. I’ve visited a lot of cities all over the world and none—not SF, NY, Paris, Hong Kong—is special like New Orleans. It has an endearing and enduring culture that pervades the people, the food, the music, the architecture, the everything. I can’t get enough.
Single most important issue facing New Orleans?
The issue in New Orleans is the issue in the U.S.: creating and sustaining economic growth. After Katrina, the population shrank dramatically and tourism plummeted, which meant a loss of revenue. Rebuilding and creating economic growth isn’t easy with less revenue and fewer people. To create growth, the city needs investment—public and private—to diversify and strengthen its economy. There are some strong industries, but they’re slow growth, too entrenched or volatile. New Orleans has most of the ingredients for growth, among them: strong community, creativity, great universities, global exposure, economic incentives…and momentum. It’s time to make it happen.
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