As Hurricane Gustav approached the Louisiana coast, I thought back to how lucky I was to have spent several days in the beautiful city of New Orleans just a few months before Hurricane Katrina hit in August of 2005. I really enjoyed my time there and consider myself fortunate enough to have seen the great city before devastation hit.

Laurie was attending a convention for her job and I joined her for some days of relaxation. Her work days were over by mid-afternoon, which gave us plenty of time to check out the city. In the mornings, I usually roamed around on my own, basically walking a different direction every day.

We stayed about a mile away from the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. This is a spectacular facility (hosting about 95 conventions a year) spanning 10.5 city blocks along the waterfront. It is not simply spacious. It is beautiful and well run.

During the mornings, I checked out the French Quarter, the SuperDome, the lakefront art area and Harrah’s Casino. It was odd to see the French Quarter early in the day, when the wild crowds were not everywhere partying.

Together, we took a couple tours; one was a tour of hauntings. I am not a real believer in the supernatural, but this was an outstanding tour. I learned the origins of “graveyard shift” and “dead ringer”. Of course, some say it is simply folklore, good for naive tourists. Either way, it sounded plausible and was interesting,

The tour also pointed out the home of New Orleans royalty, Archie and Olivia Manning. Archie was a star quarterback for the New Orleans Saints in the early years in the 70s. Despite the team being horrible, Archie was excellent and the fans still love him (and his sons Peyton and Eli, current NFL star quarterbacks).

One of the best parts of our trip was after one of the tours. We decided to walk back to the hotel. We underestimated the distance, but we got to see so many great sites. We were very tired, but it was worth it.

Laurie was determined to eat some authentic New Orleans food, eschewing our cabbie’s suggestion of Harrah’s buffet. She eventually did find some good down-home cooking. Inspired by her, I even had a bowl of turtle soup (tastes like chicken).

We had our fortune told by some hipster in the Riverwalk Marketplace. I gave him no hints and I am not a believer, but I have to say he nailed some really oddball things in my life (past and future). Again, believe or not, but it was interesting.

We jammed quite a lot into those several days, and yet it was so relaxing (the Big Easy?). We really felt we experienced New Orleans. As the events of the last few years have unfolded, I feel horrible for the citizens of New Orleans, who have gone through so much. I also look back fondly at the wonderful times I had there.

-John Wroblewski, distribution specialist

The more I spend time on the West Coast, the more I understand why my West Coast friends put labels on us from the East - there are definite differences. However, what I’m talking about this time is not personality differences, but physical coastal differences!

At the NBTA conference in LA last week, I experienced my second earthquake and I will admit - I was scared! It registered as a 5.4 and was followed by over 50 aftershocks. At the time of the earthquake I was with fellow GTers Kim Krol and Courtney Centeno at the OpenSkies press conference on the third floor of the convention center. Managing Director of OpenSkies, Dale Moss, was announcing their new route to Amsterdam as it felt like someone began to kick my chair. This feeling quickly led to the whole building shaking from side to side. I thought the roof was coming in.

I would say half the room was filled with New Yorkers who looked at each other like deer in headlights! Finally, someone shouted to get under a doorway and the rumbling finally subsided. The experience was a great icebreaker for networking conversations at the trade show, but when I talked to friends who are from California, I found it did not faze them one bit. Everyone attending the conference from NY was certainly more shaken up from the quake. One West Coast person even remarked, “Come on, an earthquake in LA is like rain in Seattle!” To that, I made a retort about hurricanes and I saw the fear in their eyes! I guess, like everything else, it comes down to what you’re used to. And as for which coast is better, I believe the best way to say it is that neither is better, or worse, just different (but you won’t find me living in LA)!

-Alex Young, vice president and associate publisher

Hello all,

Your team at Global Traveler is attending the NBTA conference in Los Angeles. At the conference, the newest and best business and first class seats will be on display - this will greatly aid me as I write our annual Business and First Class Survey, which is to appear in the September issue.

The opening kickoff party was held at the still-to-be-completed LA Live, and ended with a concert by Cyndi Lauper in the Nokia Theater. It was a great introduction to LA, the opening to the conference and it kept your Global Traveler bloggers - Kim Krol, Alex Young and Courtney Centeno - dancing in the aisles!

More to report next week!

-Fran Gallagher, publisher and CEO

The village of Rosemont, IL was founded in 1956. Rosemont sits between northwest Chicago and O’Hare Airport. It is roughly 1.7 square miles and houses about 4,000 people. Because of its location, almost every major US hotel chain has a property in Rosemont, including the InterContinental which is due to open in September 2008.

If you are in Rosemont on business, chances are that you will be at a convention at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center. Built in 1975, it boast 840,000 square feet of exhibition area. Its proximity to O’Hare, many fine restaurants, hotels, parking, public transportation and nightlife make this an attractive convention alternative to Chicago.

According to Susan Prather, spokesperson for the Stephens Convention Center, the Convention Center ranks #1 in Illinois in terms of volume (about 100 conventions per year) and #2 to McCormick Place in overall revenue. Prather stated, “Conventions (and residual business) bring in over $100 million to Rosemont annually.”

Besides the raw numbers and rankings, one important fact must be noted. “The unique thing is that it is one of, if not the only, municipally-owned center which returns revenues without any subsidies and that is truly remarkable,” explained Prather. That is a great testament to the success of the convention center.

Another part of the success is that is has not become outdated. It is still an attractive, accessible, comfortable place to attend a business event. It has adapted nicely and fits right in with the ever-growing surrounding area.

Within a quick drive of the convention center are many dining choices from the usual fast food franchises to top-notch restaurants. Gibson’s Bar & Steakhouse, Rosewood, Harry Caray’s, Morton’s and Maria’s are a few of the excellent dining options. Shoeless Joe’s or many of the fine hotel bars are great for relaxing after dinner.

For other amusement, the Allstate Arena (formerly Rosemont Horizon) is home to the 2008 champion Chicago Wolves (AHL hockey), the defending champion Chicago Rush (arena football) and the DePaul Blue Demons (NCAA basketball). The Rosemont Theatre is a plush, intimate venue for concerts, musicals and more.

Business conventions don’t have to be 12 hour days followed by room service in a small hotel room. The best ones limit the hassle and maximize the enjoyment while you are on duty and offer a wide array of activities when you are off the clock. The Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, IL is one of the best.

-John Wroblewski, distribution specialist

In Chicago, one of the hot topics is the possibility that Sam Zell (the new owner of the Cubs) will sell naming rights to Wrigley Field. Selling the name of arenas, buildings and other things of importance is relatively new, but rapidly becoming commonplace. I wonder where it will stop.

Many US cities have been renamed for various reasons. East Detroit, MI became Eastpointe, MI in 1992, to disassociate it from Detroit, MI. Perhaps the most famous name change occurred in the 1950s when Hot Springs, NM became Truth or Consequences, NM as part of a promotion for a radio program of the same name. Halfway, OR became Half.com, OR in 1999, in exchange for $100,000 and other considerations.

There is a government department which controls such matters. In fact, the United States Board on Geographic Names dismissed a proposed name change by Hamilton, OH. The city proposed a change to “Hamilton!” to generate more excitement. The USBGN ruled the proposal as frivolous.

Apparently, $100,000+ was not frivolous to Halfway, OR. However, by today’s standards that amount is minimal. Companies have paid more than $75 million dollars for long-term naming right to various athletic stadiums like U.S. Cellular (Chicago), Minute Maid Park (Houston), Qwest Field (Seattle) and many more.

If companies are willing to pay that type of money to have their names on stadiums, how long will it be before we start seeing cities like Coca-Cola, GA and Hasbro, RI? In 1912, the Kohler Company created Kohler, WI as a planned community. Why go through all of that hard work when you can plunk down cash and buy an established city?

 I understand the economic impact, but I dislike the concept. I liked the old names of stadiums. I like the Hoosier Dome (Indianapolis), Mile High Stadium (Denver) and The Spectrum (Philadelphia). These names had uniqueness, history and staying power. The new names are interchangeable and subject to the length of the contract.

I have already lost the stadium name battle. Now, I just hope it ends here without affecting cities. I would hate to see future students learning their city got named after a major corporation plunked down $200 million.

Although I love the map books of the local mapmaker (especially important in the distribution business), I don’t want to live in Rand McNally, IL.

-John Wroblewski, distribution specialist