Prevue January/February 2015 - (Page 8)

planner's pick PLANNER: David Beam President and CEO Insulate America, Shelby, NC New Orleans: Beyond Mardi Gras Insulate America experiences New Orleans like the locals do 5 TOP SPOTS THE LOCALS LOVE * Café Du Monde-for beignets and coffee * Frenchmen Street-to listen to today's jazz at the clubs * The "new" Freret Street-lots of new restaurants and bars to try * City Park or Audubon Park-to run, relax or picnic * Festivals-French Quarter Fest, Jazz Fest, Poboy Fest, Creole Tomato Fest On the menu: fresh shrimp gumbo T o David Beam, president and CEO of Insulate America, New Orleans is so much more than Mardi Gras. So for his company's stockholders meeting last May, he wanted to show attendees-300 construction industry business owners-the real deal. "For some newcomers, there's a preconceived notion of what New Orleans is going to be like, and for others who might have attended a convention there, they've probably only seen that part of the city. We wanted them to experience the everyday life of a real New Orleans resident." Over three days that's exactly what they did, from sampling down-home Cajun cooking by one of the city's top chefs to donning shrimp boots for an authentic Cajun fais do-do, a Cajun-style hoedown, on the Bayou. Surprises have become a tradition at Insulate America's annual meeting. Beam never discloses exactly where attendees are going- they're simply told what time to meet and what kind of attire to wear. On the ﬁrst of the two major event nights (arrival night consisted of a private party near the host hotel, The Ritz-Carlton, New Orleans), people were simply told to meet at 6 p.m. in cocktail attire. "At this point, believe me, they had high expectations," he jokes. They were transported to an old warehouse in a former sugar mill that had been transformed into a Baroque-style setting, with wrought iron candles, elegant décor and dinner prepared by local James Beard Award-winning chef Donald Link. But the highlight was an auction beneﬁting Insulate America's scholarship fund. As usual, Beam had a surprise in store. "I told everyone: 'We have a friend we'd like you to meet' and they had no idea who it was." That's when New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees took the stage to auction off a signed jersey and football. "The place went nuts," he says. The ﬁnal night, an evening at a rustic swamp tour terminal outside the city, was on its way to becoming a disaster when Beam got an afternoon call from David Rome, CMP, DMCP, director of sales from BBC Destination Management, who planned the program. The ground at the site was saturated with water from a previous rain. "If someone arrives tonight in nice shoes, they're not going to have a good experience," he informed Beam. Rome snapped into action and pulled together a team to scour the streets and purchase every pair of rain boots in New Orleans. By the time attendees arrived, 300 pairs of rubber boots in assorted sizes, colors and patterns had been set up with a "boot valet" to help people choose. The group enjoyed authentic Cajun food, moonshine tastings, a Zydeco band and moonlit swamp tours. "It was impossible that they found that many pairs in such a short time," says Beam. "For the attendees, it was a lot of fun to wear the boots with their cocktail clothes. It looked like we had planned it all along." At the end of the evening, they donated hundreds of pairs to local ﬁshermen. The ﬁnal evening event illustrates the goal Beam has for his annual meeting. "We try to do things that are authentic to the area we are visiting," he says. "We want to do business with local people and restaurants and to put something back into the community."- Barbara Scoﬁdio neworleanscvb.com; bbcdmc.com 8 | prevue magazine 08-09_PlannersPick.indd 8 1/8/15 3:07 PM http://www.neworleanscvb.com http://www.bbcdmc.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Prevue January/February 2015

Planner’s Pick: New Orleans
Fresh Meets: Hilton
Bureau Buzz: Raleigh
Good Business: Monaco
Sea Shores: Royal Caribbean International
The Era of Personalization
CONVENTION CENTERS INNOVATE
CORPORATE RETREATS
ONLY IN FLORIDA
On Location: Barcelo Bavaro
SOUTH KOREA
DUBAI
On Location: Caesars Entertainment
On Location: Grand Geneva
On Location: Guadalajara

Prevue January/February 2015