What's Up Downtown
4 March 2016 Issue
Creative Industries Summit
Finalists, Downtown Nola Arts-based Business Pitch 

New Orleans Entrepreneur Week

NOEW, Monday, March 14, 1pm - 5pm, join the DDD, CANO and LCEF for the 4th annual Downtown NOLA Arts-Business Pitch aimed at identifying and supporting entrepreneurs that have a scalable project situated in the creative field. Finalists competing for over $40K in resources are:
 
Culturalyst -
a web platform that creates an organized and highly visual directory of a city's creative population, accompanied by a support mechanism.
 
Escape My City - an ongoing scavenger hunt game in Downtown New Orleans which invites players to visit various businesses and cultural institutions.
 
Girl's Guide - a resource for women on the go in major cities, providing a web and mobile interface that gives members full access to a curated and accurate list of everything a city can offer, including shopping, dining, bars, salons, and so much more. 
 
LIBERTAD - a self-guided digital tour app that allows an immersive and personal exploration of slavery in the CBD section of New Orleans. It will be the first in a series of "Uncover New Orleans" Tour Apps that highlight under discovered aspects of the living museum that is New Orleans.
 
PatentDive - an application to allow artists, creatives, and inventors to create design patents in minutes.
 
In anticipation of the pitch, CANO and LCEF will host two forums focused the creative economy.  "Breakthrough Coalition for the Creative Industries" and "Pipelines and Lifelines for Creative Industries Business Development."
 
Click here to Register for the event.
 
Other sponsors for this year's pitch include Postlethwaite & Netterville, Jones Walker, Wisznia, beta and Corporate Realty.

NOEW Lineup

VOTE Big Idea Pitch

Check out the lineup for this year's New Orleans Entrepreneur Week (NOEW), presented by IBERIABANK, an eight-day business festival engaging New Orleans' entrepreneurial community. Produced by The Idea Village, NOEW will be held on Fulton St. in Downtown New Orleans from March 11-18, culminating with the crowd-driven extravaganza - the Blackstone Big Idea, featuring 10 finalists.
 
Cast your vote to select those 10 who will compete for $25K in cash and prizes. Click here to watch videos & learn more about the 20 Blackstone Big Idea semifinalists and then make your choice.

WEDNESDAYS AT THE SQUARE 


Tab Benoit will be the featured performer at the March 9 Wednesday at the Square Concert at Lafayette Square. Also performing will be N'awlins Johnnys.
 
The 12-week concert series will continue each Wednesday through May 18. The Young Leadership Council presents the weekly event that features live music, food and beverages and arts and crafts. The DDD is a major sponsor. For a complete list of performers and to volunteer, Click here.
 
MULTI-GENRE VIOLIN VIRTUOSO REGINA CARTER PERFORMS 
NEW ALBUM 'SOUTHERN COMFORT' THIS SPRING AT THE CAC

      

Regina Carter's Southern Comfort
Friday, March 11, 2016 | 7:30pm & 9:30pm
Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans
 
The Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans announces upcoming performances by Regina Carter of her album Southern Comfort, a collection of songs that pays homage to her grandfather's roots as a coal miner in Alabama. A celebration of the joyous folk music that infused her early childhood, Southern Comfort traces blues, gospel, spirituals, folk, and country music as they evolved alongside jazz, R&B, and many other global influences from the latter half of the 20th century.

PINK BUNNY REPLACES PINK BUNNY OUTSIDE SUPERDOME

Favorite Local Sculpture Replaced by New Artistic Interpretation
 
For the past two years, Poydras St. commuters, Saints fans, and visitors have gotten to know the pink bunny statue by Baltimore duo Grendel's Mother installed in front of the Superdome as part of the Poydras Corridor Sculpture Exhibition presented by The Helis Foundation. The pink bunny's popularity was even immortalized on a shirt by Dirty Coast. That pink bunny has been removed and replaced by a new sculpture, "Shayla, The Pink Bunny" by Texas-based sculptor Jeffie Brewer. The new sculpture, a two-dimensional minimalist take on the pink bunny theme will call the neutral ground in front of the Superdome home for the next two years.

Crescent City Books


The DDD would like to welcome Crescent City Books to Downtown. Finding a treasure is half of the fun at Crescent City Books. This two-story retailer nestled in the heart of the French Quarter specializes in scholarly and antiquarian books. Collectors are sure to find a wide variety of rare and collectible books on history, literary criticism, philosophy, social history, and art in the tall shelves that line the walls of this cozy shop.

DOWNTOWN NOLA APP


Download the free Downtown NOLA Mobile App featuring the Downtown guide, SafeWalk and ways to communicate directly with the DDD about Downtown matters. Download now by clicking on one of the links below to have Downtown NOLA in the palm of your hand.

ADD YOUR BUSINESS TO THE DDD WEBSITE

Downtown organizations may register and add their company and/or event to the site for freeClick here to begin your post. 

 

Don't miss this opportunity to let us help promote you!

 

And be sure to follow us on Twitter @DDDNewOrleans & Instagram @DDDNewOrleans and like us on Facebook at Facebook.com/DowntownNola


TRAFFIC ADVISORIES for Downtown


Picayune Pl.
Picayune Pl., between Natchez and Gravier streets closed to vehicular traffic with no on-street parking, during work hours while crews perform exploratory excavation work. Due to underground utility conflicts, the Sewerage and Water Board must redesign placement of the new waterline prior to installation. Once exploratory excavation work is completed, the street will be temporarily asphalted and open to vehicular traffic until waterline replacement work begins.
 
Waterline replacement work is scheduled to begin in March 2016 and last approximately three months. During this time Picayune Pl., between Natchez and Gravier streets, will be closed to vehicular traffic with no on-street parking, during work hours.
 
Gravier St.
Beginning Monday, February 22, 2016 and lasting approximately three months, Gravier St. between Baronne and O'Keefe streets will be closed to vehicular traffic with no on-street parking, during work hours. The scope of work includes excavating a portion of the roadway, replacing damaged or leaking water lines, placing fill material beneath the roadway, and paving the damaged portion of the roadway.
 
In both projects, construction crews will be working from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Work on the weekends is not anticipated; however, inclement weather may alter the project schedule.
 
For more information about these projects, or to sign up for regular e-mail status updates on the FEMA-funded Waterline Replacement Program, contact Kristen Sawyer at [email protected] or 504-658-8483.

TRAFFIC COORDINATION MAP 

View Areas Impacted by Construction

 

City of New Orleans Department of Public Works has traffic coordination maps for the major portions of the City that are currently being impacted by construction including Downtown New Orleans. Visit www.nola.gov/dpw/traffic-coordination to view them. The maps are updated every 2 weeks.

 

SAFECAMNOLA.COM 

Register Your Security Camera with NOPD to Help Fight Crime

 

If you own a security camera in New Orleans, you can now register it with NOPD to help detectives solve crimes in your neighborhood and provide strong evidence to put offenders away. 

 

The New Orleans Police and Justice Foundation, in partnership with the NOPD, launched a new online service called Safecam NOLA.  The program allows residents and business owners to register their security cameras with New Orleans Police. The SafecamNOLA project is an expansion of "Safecam8," which was an on-line program that Downtown residents and business owners in the Eighth Police District have been using for years to register their cameras with Eighth District police.  The 1,302 8th District cameras that are in that system are now included in the citywide SafecamNOLA system.  

 

Please visit www.SafecamNOLA.com to enroll today.

 
RECYCLING BINS BEING DELIVERED DOWNTOWN

Glass Recycling Included 

Citizens in Downtown New Orleans can call 311 to request delivery of the blue recycling bins if their property is eligible for collection by the City.
 
Residents and small businesses can recycle paper, small metals, cardboard and plastics (#1-#7) on Tuesday of each week. Glass will be collected on Thursday.
 
Collection of recyclable materials operated by Empire Services. For more information visit www.nola.gov