I read recently at the Meetings Industry Megasite that the New Orleans Convention Center had been renamed.  I was expecting from the title of the post that it was no longer going to be the New Orleans Convention Center.  In tact, it was not called that to begin with, but was called the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center.  This is an interesting twist and I wished that I was a fly on the wall as they hashed out why the name would be called the The New Orleans Morial Convention Center in the marketing materials.

My interest is why they decided to only rename the convention center “in marketing materials.”  To me this says something about the reasons for the name change, but the new president of the exhibition authority states:

“For us to get New Orleans into the title is a positive thing,” Melvin Rodrigue, newly named president of the Ernest N. Morial New Orleans Exhibition Authority, told the Times-Picayune. “New Orleans is what most people associate with.”

The last part of that quote is the part that matters most.  I have always said, we live in a Google world, where everything that everyone does to find something is to look for it in a Google search.  What is most easiest to find when looking for information about the convention center that might be in New Orleans?  The name of the person it was named after or the city in which it is housed.  Good show for the marketing people at the Ernest N. Morial New Orleans Exhibition Authority.  Perhaps now you will be findable on Google.

I was running through my inbox last night and as I scanned the content of a few emails at a time, something caught my eye as it related to some event planning opportunities.  There is a group that I follow and a terrific organization that puts on a convention  each year, and in fact has split the convention into two parts, one being business and the other its flagship event, BlogHer.  The convention I refer to is the folks at BlogHer.org.  I thought I would help them spread the word that there is a need for them to have some event planners nd perhaps if you are looking for an opportunity they have some work:

Speaking of having a full roster…

As you may have heard, in addition to our BlogHer Business event in New York (April) and our Annual Conference in San Francisco (July), we are embarking on our first BlogHer road show — the “Reach Out Tour” in October of 2008.

And we would like a little help from our community.

Specifically, we are looking to hire local event planners to help with some of the on-site conference elements in each of our Tour cities. So, if you have prior professional experience as an event planner and are local to one of our Reach Out Tour stops, please contact Kristy. Don’t forget to include your contact info., relevant background info., and resume.

As a reminder, our Reach Out Tour stops are:
Boston
DC
Greensboro
Nashville
Atlanta
New Orleans

Thanks in advance

I can remember when this group was a small handful of people thinking that it would be cool to put together a conference like this and I’m glad they have made it happen.  If you are an event planner and have a need to get your services noticed, this group is definitely the group to unite yourself with in being noticed.  If you live any any of the cities they are planning their events, give them a line and see if you can help them out.