CONTACT: Rising Tide Programming Committee at programming@risingtidenola.com
WHO: Rising Tide NOLA
WHAT: 9th
Annual Rising Tide New Media Conference
WHEN: Saturday, September 13, 2013, 10am – 3pm
WHERE: University Center, Xavier University of Louisiana, 1 Drexel Drive, NOLA, 70125
CALL FOR PROPOSALS
Rising Tide NOLA, Inc. will present its 9th annual new media conference centered on the recovery
and future of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast on Saturday, September 13, 2013 at the University
Center of Xavier University of Louisiana.
This year, Rising Tide invites participation from community and university organizations from across
New Orleans by issuing this request for proposals for programming, panels, and presentations at the
event. The conference is a one day event with programming presented in a variety of formats including
but not limited to individual presentations, directed conversations, keynote addresses, and onstage
panel discussions. The space available allows for significant flexibility when it comes to programming
proposals.
Successful proposals will address issues relevant to New Orleans and the Gulf South’s ongoing
recovery, diverse history, unique culture, or emerging concerns. Additionally, proposals could focus on
or incorporate aspects of new or social media, information technology and access, and creative uses of
communication. Collaboration between organizations to present programming is encouraged to add
multiple and diverse perspectives. While programming is free to address political topics, Rising Tide
maintains a strict nonpartisan forum, current elected officials and campaigning candidates for political
offices are discouraged from participating in programming.
PROPOSAL FORMAT
Proposals should include the following: a brief description of the topic being considered, with an
indication of the relevance of the topic to local issues and what the audience should take away from the
experience; a list of participants/presenters that describes their roles to the presentation and describes
their relationship to or expertise on the topic; and a draft facilitation plan for how the programming will
be presented to the audience, and how the audience will be involved in the presentation through
questions, participation, discussion, etc.
Please email brief (2 page max) proposals in plain text, word documents, or PDF attachments to Jeffrey
Bostick, Katy Monnot, and Patrick Armstrong at programming@risingtidenola.com.
PROPOSALS WILL BE ACCEPTED THROUGH JUNE 2, 2014. Acceptance notifications will
follow within two weeks.
CONFERENCE BACKGROUND
While hosting the event at the Xavier University Center, attendance has averaged more than 300
attendees, media, and volunteer staff annually. The conference content has been live streamed on the
web with over 1000 unique viewers during each event, with archives on our website. For this
conference, organizers are hoping to coordinate programming for three separate spaces: a large
stageoriented venue with seating for up to 200; a medium venue with seating for between 30 – 40; and
a seminar or group discussion venue for seating around 20. Program length can run from a minimum of
30 minutes for presentations or directed conversations in the smaller venues, to hour and a half panel
discussion for the stage-oriented space.
Last year's conference featured a keynote address from Lt. General Russel Honore, U.S. Army (ret.), a discussion on Creating Community for Writers of Color by members of the Melanated Writer's Collective, as well as panel discussions on charter school accountability, tourism in the NOLA economy & recovery, a slate of programs on new media in Tech School, and an "unconference" for fashion and style bloggers. Past conference speakers have
included author Lolis Eric Elie, Tulane historial Laurence Powell, Treme and The Wire creator David Simon, geographer Richard Campanella, journalist Mac
McClelland, entertainer Harry Shearer, and authors David Zirin, John Barry, Christopher Cooper, and
Robert Block. Schedules, list of previous panelists, and descriptions of programming history can be viewed on the Rising Tide website.
More information is available at the Rising Tide website: www.risingtidenola.com; at the Rising Tide
blog: www.risingtideblog.blogspot.com; on the Rising Tide Facebook page; and the organization can be
followed on Twitter @RisingTide.
Rising Tide 9 is sponsored by The Center for the Advancement of Teaching at Xavier University.
Rising Tide NOLA, Inc. is a nonprofit organization formed by New Orleans bloggers in the aftermath
of Hurricane Katrina and the failure of the federally built levees. After the disaster, the internet became a vital connection among dispersed New Orleanians, former New Orleanians, and friends of the city and
the Gulf Coast region. A number of new blogs were created, and combined with those that were
already online, an online community with a shared interest in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast
developed. In the summer of 2006, to mark the anniversary of the flood, the bloggers of New Orleans
organized the first Rising Tide Conference, taking their shared interest in technology, the arts, the
internet and social media and turning advocacy in the city into action.
Rising Tide Nola
Katrina NOLA New Orleans Hurricane Katrina Think New Orleans Louisiana FEMA levees flooding Corps of Engineers We Are Not OK wetlands news rebirth Debrisville Federal Flood 8-29
The Rising Tide Conference is an annual gathering for all who wish to learn more and do more to assist New Orleans' recovery. Leveraging the power of bloggers and new media, the conference is a launch pad for organization and action. Our day-long program of speakers and presentations is tailored to inform, entertain, enrage and inspire.
