Environmental Panel: Are we any Dam Safer?

Rising Tide X
Aug. 29, 2015
11:30 am

Xavier University
1 Drexel Drive

Rising Tide V (Howlin Wolf 2010 Fantastic time was had by all) featured a presentation on levee standards by Tim Ruppert. The presentation was cleverly titled "When can we get some Dam Safety in New Orleans?" The presentation does not appear to have been filmed. Luckily, Tim's annotations are still online. Here's the summary.

The thrust of my presentation is this: As long as we think of levees as protection for houses and furniture, there will be no motivation to increase the level of protection. Houses and furniture can be replaced and the government underwrites the insurance to cover those losses.

We need to talk about levees as serving a higher purpose: levees are often life-safety structures. When levees fail, people die. That’s what’s important and that’s what we should be designing for.

Five years after this talk and, of course, ten years after the catastrophic failure of New Orleans's flood protection system, Lens environmental reporter Bob Marshall writes that our standard is still inadequate. 

Of all the questions being asked about New Orleans’ progress 10 years after the disaster that killed nearly 1,500 residents and clouded its future, the most persistent has been this: Is it safer now?

Interviews with engineers and storm experts resulted in answers filled with caveats and concerns such as Luettich’s.

The best summation: It’s safer for houses, but not necessarily for the people who live in them.

That’s because the new system is the city’s best engineered and built ever, but it was designed to a lower level of protection than the one that failed. It’s also less than what Congress ordered in 1965. It was built to provide property insurance, not save lives. And experts insist it’s insufficient for an important city sitting on a sinking delta in hurricane alley during the age of climate-induced sea level rise and mega storms.

The legal standard for determining the safety of a dam is measured in lives. But "when levees fail, people die" also. And still we're building levees only rated to a standard that satisfies property insurers.  Shouldn't we be asking for more dam safety?

At Rising Tide X, Bob Marshall will participate in a discussion about flood control and about the deteriorating South Louisiana coastal marshes without which the entire system is moot. Here is the full panel.


Anne Rolfes, Founding Director of the Louisiana Bucket Brigade , began her career in Nigeria, collaborating with local communities to address oil companies’ destruction of the Niger Delta. She returned to Louisiana in 2000 and founded the Louisiana Bucket Brigade to end oil pollution in her home state. The organization has created cutting edge tools, including the iWitness Pollution Map, the Refinery Accident Database and in street based artistic performances.  Anne was born and raised in Lafayette, Louisiana where many people made their fortunes from the oil industry. She has seen the wealth and the poverty created by oil production and seeks to make the industry more equitable.  She has a Masters in International Development from Tulane; she has twice testified before Congress. Her work has been recognized by local and national awards, including the Jane Bagley Lehman Award for Public Advocacy and the Robert Wood Johnson Community Health Leader Award.

Bob Marshall covers environmental issues for The Lens, with a special focus on coastal restoration and wetlands. While at The Times-Picayune, his work chronicling the people, stories and issues of Louisiana’s wetlands was recognized with two Pulitzer Prizes and other awards. In 2012 Marshall was a member of the inaugural class inducted into the Loyola University School of Communications Den of Distinction. 

Jonathan Henderson manages the Gulf Restoration Network's  field operations in the Gulf region. By air, sea and land, he searches for, documents and reports pollution incidents such as leaking pipelines, well heads, platforms, and ongoing BP disaster impacts. He also documents the extensive O&G industry destruction of Louisiana wetlands. He is a founding member of the Greater New Orleans Water Collaborative of which he serves on the interim steering committee and as co-chair of the Advocacy working group. Jonathan is also the Founding President of Vanishing Earth advocacy consulting photography. Born and raised New Orleans, Jonathan grew up fishing and canoeing in Louisiana's bayous and creeks, visiting family along coastal Mississippi, and vacationing on beaches in Alabama and Florida. Jonathan has a Bachelor’s degree in Theater from LSU, a Master’s of Business Administration from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, and a JD from Southern University Law Center.

The Environmental panel will begin at 11:30 am in the UC Ballroom. 

Rising Tide X is August 29 at Xavier University. Check out the rest of the website for details about the extensive program. You can go for free this year but please register here. If you'd like to help defray the cost of production, there's a separate GoFundMe page here.   

She's Got Her Own: New Orleans Black Women Creating Their Own Spaces Online and in Print.

Rising Tide X
Aug. 29, 2015
9 a.m.

Xavier University
1 Drexel Drive

Admission is free.
Register at Eventbrite

Seminar Room: 2nd Floor - Xavier University - University Center

10 a.m. She's Got Her Own: New Orleans Black Women Creating Their Own Spaces Online and in Print. Panel will discuss the importance of women of color perspectives in print and online and the challenges they've faced in New Orleans to go from vision to fruition. Moderator: Charmel Gaulden. Kysha Brown RobinsonCo-Founder of Runagate Press Desiree EvansCo-Founder of Wildseeds: The New Orleans Octavia Butler Emergent Strategy Collective Kelly HarrisFounder of BrassyBrown.com Rachel GrahamCEO of Small Hinges - Strategies Communications Events

Gary Rivlin, Katrina: After the Flood

Rising Tide X
Aug. 29, 2015
9 a.m.

Xavier University
1 Drexel Drive

Admission is free.
Register at Eventbrite

Gary Rivlin, author of Katrina: After the Flood an investigative reporting fellow at The Nation Institute, is a former New York Times reporter and the author of five books, including most recently Broke, USA: From Pawnshops to Poverty, Inc.—How the Working Poor Became Big Business. His work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Mother Jones, GQ, and Wired, among other publications.

Panel Discussion: Transportation: How'd ya Get Where Yat?

Freelance writer Megan Braden-Perry created the popular Public Transit Tuesdays feature for Gambit Weekly where she became your friendly guide to the often daunting task of getting around New Orleans via RTA. Megan will moderate a conversation about how New Orleans makes infrastructure an obstacle course.

• Rachel Heiligman of Ride New Orleans
  
  
• Dan Favre of Bike Easy
  
  
• Jeff Januszek of Fix My Streets
  
  
• Amanda Soprano from #NOLATwitter @AmandaSoprano

This panel will begin at 10:30am in the UC ballroom.

After the Transportation panel, Amanda Soprano's taking over the classroom for a breakout session on New Orleans RTA issues specifically.

Rising Tide X is August 29 at Xavier University. Check out the rest of the website for details about the extensive program. You can go for free this year but please register here. If you'd like to help defray the cost of production, there's a separate GoFundMe page here. 

Author and Journalist Gary Rivilin Speaks at Rising Tide X

Gary Rivlin, author of Katrina: After the Flood an investigative reporting fellow at The Nation Institute, is a former New York Times reporter and the author of five books, including most recently Broke, USA: From Pawnshops to Poverty, Inc.—How the Working Poor Became Big Business. His work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Mother Jones, GQ, and Wired, among other publications.

Rivlin has spent the past decade in and out of New Orleans researching the city's recovery. Katrina: After the Flood was recently reviewed by Gambit.  

Katrina: After the Flood

By Gary Rivlin (Simon & Schuster, $27)

Rivlin covered the aftermath of Katrina for The New York Times and pieces together a tapestry of portraits and tales that should place this as one of the definitive books on the subject. He was a fly on the wall at meetings of the Bring New Orleans Back Commission (which was, of course, about bringing back some neighborhoods and not others), and examines the 2006 mayoral race, which brought 21 challengers against Mayor Ray Nagin, who had made headlines with his "chocolate city" comment. Along the way, Rivlin tells personal stories of New Orleanians just trying to get by, like that of Cassandra Wall, who believes the stress of the storm contributed to her mother's death from cancer, and the late Mack McClendon, who worked on his destroyed house all day and slept in a formaldehyde-poisoned FEMA trailer at night.

There are fascinating quotes on nearly every page, from real estate developer Pres Kabacoff ("It took a Katrina to finally turn things around") to Nagin, who allowed talk show host Oprah Winfrey to enter the Superdome only after swearing aloud, "I, Oprah Winfrey, promise not to hold the city liable financially or otherwise as a result of me going into this doggone stinky-ass Superdome."

Rivlin also resurrects a 2006 story by The New York Times' Adam Nossiter, who described boosters imagining a New Orleans that has become "an arts-infused mecca for youthful risk-takers, a boomtown where entrepreneurs can repair to cool French Quarter bars in ancient buildings after a hard day of deal making." You be the judge.

In Rolling Stone this week, Rivlin reports on a generation of young New Orleanians whose lives were affected by the disaster.

Gary Rivilin's talk will begin the day at Rising Tide X in the Ballroom at 10:00 am. 

Rising Tide X is August 29 at Xavier University. Check out the rest of the website for details about the extensive program. You can go for free this year but please register here. If you'd like to help defray the cost of production, there's a separate GoFundMe page here.  

Hello... Is this thing on?

Hi. It's Jeff.

I'm going to be posting some information here today about the schedule for Rising Tide X.. or Rising Tide 10.. or #RisingTideX as some have hashtagged it.. or #RTX as others have.. or you can even use #StillStanding which is a joke nobody gets.  But please do not call it #ThePartyWagonBubbleMachine because that is not funny.

The first thing you need to know about the conference this year, though, is that there are 10 things you need to know about it.

But another thing you need to know about it is, HOLY CRAP there are CUBES!


Whoever thought that Rising Tide would get so big and multi-faceted that we would need cubes. Nuts, right?   Actually, we're very pleased to offer the full... robust... schedule we'd always hoped to present.  This is going to be a great event. And the best thing about it is, unlike the big bright corporate sponsored, city endorsed events going on all week, Rising Tide is very much a homemade, volunteer, grassroots affair.

Okay, actually, the best thing about it is you can get in free for nothing if you want this time, which is something else we've always aspired to. (You can still help us cover costs with a donation if you like.) This is your conference, New Orleans. We couldn't be more proud to have presented it for a decade.

Stay tuned for some content updates. We hope to see you Saturday.

Rising Tide X is August 29 at Xavier University. Check out the rest of the website for details about the extensive program. You can go for free this year but please register here. If you'd like to help defray the cost of production, there's a separate GoFundMe page here. 

Civil Rights leader DeRay Mckesson to keynote Rising Tide X conference

The organizers of Rising Tide, the premier annual new media conference in the GulfSouth, are proud to announce that civil rights activist DeRay McKesson (@deray) will deliver the keynote speech at Rising Tide X (#RTX), Aug. 29 at Xavier University.

Since the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, McKesson has used social media to amplify protest and advocacy against oppressive systems. In the past year he has become one of the most widely-recognized civil rights leaders of his generation. His keynote, scheduled for 2pm, will highlight a full day of multi-track content at Rising Tide X.

Rising Tide organizer Mark Moseley said, "Part of Rising Tide's mission is to use technology to transform advocacy into action. No one has done that better over the past year than DeRay McKesson. He is at the forefront of an innovative digital movement to expose and resist systems of racial oppression. We thank him for accepting our invitation and look forward to his speech and presence in New Orleans on August 29."

Fortune magazine rated McKesson #11 on its list of “World’s Greatest Leaders.” The Los Angeles Times hailed McKesson as one of the “new civil rights leaders,” and New York Magazine profiled him in May and said he helped build the "nation’s first 21st-century civil rights movement."

For more on @DeRay, see his bio page here.

Rising Tide X will be free admission. Organizers aim to have free lunch for attendees, as well, but this will be contingent on the amount of donations received on the RTX Go Fund Me page gofundme.com/7y3bpndfw

Rising Tide X registration
Rising Tide website
Rising Tide X FB
Rising Tide twitter

The 10th annual Rising Tide New Media Conference will be held from 9am-5pm at the University Center at Xavier University of Louisiana, 1 Drexel Drive, New Orleans, Louisiana 70125 on August 29, 2015.

Rising Tide X - RFP Context

CONTACT: Rising Tide Programming Committee at programming@risingtidenola.com
WHO: Rising Tide NOLA
WHAT: Rising Tide X: Conference on Civic Activism & New Media
WHEN: 10 Years Post Deluge |Saturday, August 29, 2015
WHERE: University Center | Xavier University of Louisiana


Rising Tide NOLA, Inc. presents RISING TIDE X, the 10th annual civic activism & new media conference centered on the recovery and future of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. We invite you to be a part of it. If you, someone you know, or your organization is interested in participating, we have drafted a Request for Proposals.


We are looking for programming proposals in multiple formats. Rising Tide has focused on panel discussions, individual presentations, & small group discussions in the past. This year, we would love to include readings and oral histories, and perhaps some "soapbox/open mic" or moderated debate. (Based on past Rising Tides, some heckling may be involved in those last two!) And if you think you have an inventive format that your fellow New Orleanians would be interested in, let us know and we'll see what we can do.


We're looking for a diverse array of programming themes and topics regarding the past decade. Here's the non-comprehensive list of Rising Tide's "greatest hits:"

- Environment/Vanishing Coast/Oil Spills/Infrastructure
- Traditional Media, New Media, Social Media
- Activism & Citizen Engagement (online and otherwise)
- Sports
- Criminal Justice
- Education
- Urban Development, Gentrification, Land Use
- History & Culture
- Tech School
- Anything we didn't think of but you did.


Proposals will be accepted until May 1, but there are no points off for turning ideas in early. If you have any questions about this process, your proposals, or participating in Rising Tide, please don't hesitate to send us an email or contact us on Twitter or Facebook.


Thank you!


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

Rising Tide X - Request for Proposals

CONTACT: Rising Tide Programming Committee at programming@risingtidenola.com
WHO: Rising Tide NOLA
WHAT: Rising Tide X: Conference on Civic Activism & New Media
WHEN: 10 Years Post Deluge |Saturday, August 29, 2015
WHERE: University Center | Xavier University of Louisiana

CALL FOR PROPOSALS

Rising Tide NOLA, Inc. presents RISING TIDE X, the 10th annual civic activism & new media conference centered on the recovery and future of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. We invite you to be a part of it.

It has been 10 years since Hurricane Katrina and the Failure of the Levees.  In that decade, we have endured other hurricanes & evacuations, the worst oil spill in US History, and a disappearing coast. There's been an ongoing reorganization of public schools, Department of Justice consent decrees with police forces and prisons while violent crime continues to be a problem, a former governor out of prison & running for Congress, a current governor running for President, one former mayor reporting to prison. There's been rapid gentrification and unequal recovery, massive investment in tourism, selective enforcement of rules governing live music, and new hospitals we may not have the money to operate. At the same time, people interact with their communities, government, and news in dramatic new ways. From a daily paper to personal blogs to online newsfeeds to snappy Twitter commentary, we occupy a very different space from a decade ago in both physical and informational senses.  Each of those years, Rising Tide has hosted a conference to explore that space from outside the official narrative of What's Going On, to give voice to those left behind in the wake of the New Orleans Miracles, to remind folks that you can't advertise oil off the beach with a PR campaign, and to point out any number of places We Are (Still) Not OK.

At Rising Tide, we want to put that off-script, unofficial, read-between-the-lines story front and center. We invite you to be a part of it. We do so with this request for proposals for programming, panels, and presentations. 

PROPOSAL FORMAT

Proposals should include the following:

•  a brief description of the topic you wish to address
• a list of participants/presenters describing their relationship to or expertise on the topic
• how the programming will be presented to the audience
•  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 programming@risingtidenola.com.

PROPOSALS WILL BE ACCEPTED THROUGH May 1, 2015.

PROGRAMMING SUGGESTIONS

Rising Tide encourages:

• Focus on civic activism - making changes in the community
• Collaboration between organizations to add multiple and diverse perspectives
• Using social, alternative, or new media to share information, empower communities, and/or organize activism

Programming at Rising Tide is subject to broadcast via webcasts or social media tools.

While programming is free to address political topics, Rising Tide maintains a strict non-partisan forum, current elected officials and campaigning candidates for political offices are discouraged from participating in programming.

 CONFERENCE BACKGROUND

Rising Tide attendance has averaged more than 100 attendees, media, and volunteer staff annually. Conference content live streamed on the web averages over 1000 unique viewers during each event, with archives on our website.

Last year's conference featured a keynote address from education activist Andre Perry, and hosted programming on Lost New Orleans History, the Young Leadership Council (YLC), civic engagement to fix the Treme Center, and religion in Post-Katrina New Orleans . Past speakers have included Lt. General Russel Honore, U.S. Army (ret.), acclaimed local writer Lolis Eric Elie, professor of history Lawrence 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. Previous panelists and a description 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 NOLA, Inc. is a non-profit 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

Today is the day

We're going live in about 30 minutes!  If you can't be with us today (you should be with us today) check this out.  You can watch it on the Teevee!

If you enjoy today's content, consider clicking the Donate button on that page. 

Tech School too?!? What a value!

In addition to all the great panels and speakers featured on the Main Stage, Rising Tide will once again offer Tech School— a "how to" academy on digital topics where you can pose questions directly to the experts!

Here's the Tech School line up of panels for Rising Tide 9:

1. The Road to Publishing— both self-published and traditional
2. How Traditional Media is utilizing Social Media
3. Social Media Roundtable— led by Mary C. Long of Digital Media Ghost
4. How Businesses use Instagram to showcase their brands

Register for Rising Tide 9 today.

Programs announced for the ninth annual Rising Tide conference!

We offer you a hellacious array of content this year. 

From Chlorine and Corruption, to Confederacy and Leprosy, to Capacity and Community.  

If you attend only one grassroots new media conference in New Orleans this year, you better make it this one!!

Uncensored content, cheap as chips, and a consistent history of unplanned weirdness… what more could you want? Have fun while learning at #RT9 on Saturday September 13, at Xavier University. 

Register here right now and stay tuned for an exciting announcement about the keynote speaker!

Rising Tide 9 Programming Request for Proposals

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

Please do not attempt to adjust your set

The Rising Tide #RT8 live cast is on the air

Rising Tide this Saturday at Xavier!

#RT8 Keynote speaker Gen. Russel Honore is making news.

Former panelist Zack Kopplin doing the same.

Panels on Charter School Accountability, Creating Community for Writers of Color, and Beyond Tourism/Beyond Recovery.

Plus Tech School, an "unconference," lunch, and all kinds of fun for only $20 if you register today!

Posterized

Rising Tide 8 is this Saturday.  Tell your friends.  Tell them to bring theirs.

Lt. Gen. Russel Honore tells oil companies to clean up their mess

In a full page ad in today's Advocate. Jeffrey has the details here.

Honore will be the keynote speaker at Rising Tide VIII. Register today.



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

LT. General Russel Honore to deliver the keynote for Rising Tide 8

Rising Tide is pleased to announce that LT. General Russel Honore will deliver the keynote address for its eighth annual new media conference.

Honore commanded the Joint Task Force responsible for coordinating military relief efforts in areas effected by Hurricane Katrina and the flooding of New Orleans. His leadership in 2005 provided a stark contrast to failures by FEMA and other government entities. Currently Honore is a Senior Scientist with The Gallup Organization and a CNN Preparedness Contributor. 

His latest book is "Leadership in the New Normal."

This year Honore has spoken on preparedness topics related to the Bayou Corne sinkhole disaster as well as the Flood Authority's coastal erosion lawsuit against oil and gas companies.

Register for Rising Tide 8 here. 

More conference schedule information here. 

Charter School Access & Accountability panel

The panel on Charter School Access & Accountability will focus on the following question:

Are charter schools in New Orleans more or less responsive to democratic principles than our old School Boards, and how can we address the access and accountability issues for the present and future of New Orleans?

As 80% of our public schools are now Charter Schools, the business of covering charter schools has moved from weekly Parish-wide school board meetings to a variable number of meetings by a much larger number of Boards, which leaves the coverage up to more flexible news organizations like The Lens and Uptown Messenger.  Charter schools and these  reporters often tussle over the exceptions to open meetings laws, public records requests and other access issues.  Do parents have similar issues? What is the parent’s recourse if they are not happy with how their charter school is run?

Moderator:

Scott Sternberg is an attorney at the firm of Baldwin, Haspel, Burke & Mayer. Among many other clients he works for The Lens and Uptown Messenger, and represents clients before the Louisiana Board of Ethics and other governmental entities. Sternberg has worked with the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana, among  other good government groups.  Sternberg is married to an educator and consequently holds some teacher-oriented views on education policy.

Panelists:

Steve Beatty is the editor of The Lens news website. He originated the Lens’ Charter School Reporting Corps, which covers boards that govern over 75 schools in Orleans Parish. This year the Corps won The New Orleans Press Club’s first place award for Community News.  Beatty has three children who attend charter schools.

Jaimme Collins is an attorney at Adams & Reese who regularly represents charter schools.

In 2013, Collins received the National Diversity Council's Glass Ceiling Award for her diversity efforts and leadership in the workplace. In 2011, she received "Women of the Year" honors from New Orleans CityBusiness. Collins is a member of the Board of Directors for the Children’s Bureau of New Orleans— an agency which is dedicated to offering free mental health services exclusively to children.

Marta Jewson is a freelance journalist who covers charter schools for The Lens and Uptown Messenger. From 2010 to 2012 she served as an AmeriCorps member with Project Homecoming while working as a freelance reporter. After interning at Gambit, Marta began reporting for The Lens’ Charter School Reporting Corps in the fall of 2011. She began reporting for Uptown Messenger in the fall of 2012, and Mid-City Messenger in January 2013.

Aesha Rasheed is a consultant and researcher who formerly reported on education for the Times Picayune. In 2007 Rasheed created the  “New Orleans Parents Guide,” an essential resource for information on public and charter schools in New Orleans. She also founded the New Orleans Parent Organizing Network, which supports parents in their effort to organize for quality public schools. This summer Rasheed was recognized with a Point of Light award for her work to improve education in the city.

Announcing: Rising Tide 8 Panel Discussion

The eighth Rising Tide Conference will take place on September 14 on the campus of Xavier University. Register today at http://risingtidenola.com/

Beyond Tourism Beyond Recovery

In a recent editorial, Governor Bobby Jindal became the latest in a growing string of commenters to call New Orleans “America’s Comeback City.”   Since 2007, its population has grown faster than that of any other American city. And over the course of its long recovery from disaster it has largely bucked the trend of national economic downturn.

As the recovery period draws to a close, how is the city preparing to maintain this momentum? According to the Greater New Orleans Community Data Center, “the New Orleans area has experienced notable growth in knowledge–based industries, including higher education and insurance services, while maintaining older industrial strengths.”  In 2012 New Orleans led the nation in business startups per capita.  The New Orleans Business Alliance has completed a strategic plan to take advantage of these assets and build a stronger more diverse economy as the city moves forward.

But even with these developments in progress, New Orleans remains as reliant as ever on tourism.

Tourism has been the city’s traditional calling card and remains so through the recovery.  But its dominance is not without consequences. Tourism wields tremendous influence on the city’s business community, on its politics, and ultimately on the day to day life of its residents.

Residents often complain that the city prioritizes the needs of the tourism business over those of neighborhoods with regard to streets, lighting, transit and other basic infrastructure.   Meanwhile, within those neighborhoods, businesses dedicated to fostering New Orleans’s trademark cultural cache can create livability issues for nearby residents who have to deal with the noise, litter, and other inconveniences associated with city’s famous amusements.

Finally, the very act of turning the city’s unique cultural heritage into a set of mass produced touring experiences can diminish the authenticity of that very culture.  Is it worth it? According to a recent Loyola University study, the average salary in tourism and hospitality is only $26,000.

Can we do better by the waiters, cooks, musicians, artists, tour guides and the like who support the “cultural economy”? Does the industry  have too heavy and influence on the city’s major land use and infrastructure decisions?  How do we balance the demands of the tourism industry with the needs of neighborhoods and those of us who just like to live here?  And is the city doing enough to diversify its economy beyond tourism as it moves beyond recovery?

Moderated by Charles Maldonado: Staff Writer at The Lens

Charles Maldonado is The Lens’ government accountability reporter, covering the city of New Orleans and other local government bodies. He previously worked for Gambit, New Orleans’ alternative newsweekly, where he covered city hall, criminal justice and public health. Before moving to New Orleans, he covered state and local government for weekly papers in Nashville. In Knoxville, Tenn., Maldonado received numerous awards for his reporting of a billion-gallon coal ash spill at a Tennessee Valley Authority power plant. A native of Detroit, Maldonado and his wife are expecting their first child.

Kevin Fox Gotham, Ph.D. is a professor of sociology and associate dean of academic affairs in the School of Liberal Arts at Tulane University in New Orleans. He has research interests in urban redevelopment, real estate and housing policy, tourism, and post-disaster recovery and rebuilding, and sustainability studies.

He is the author of several books including: Race, Real Estate and Uneven Development (2014 SUNY Press), Authentic New Orleans: Race and Culture in the Big Easy (2007, New York University Press), and Critical Perspectives on Urban Redevelopment (2001, Elsevier). His new book (co-authored with Miriam Greenberg), Crisis Cities: Disaster and Redevelopment in New York and New Orleans (Oxford University Press) will be released in early 2014.

Brice Miller is a New Orleans jazz trumpeter and cultural engagement and public humanities specialist. For many years he taught jazz education for New Orleans Public Schools and created K-16 music and art education programs. He is presently an assistant director with Community Affairs at The University of Alabama, specializing in intercultural and diversity issues on campus, community/scholarly engagement and outreach using the arts and public humanities.

As a jazz artist and performer, Miller has enjoyed a phenomenal career as a musician and entrepreneur, traveling internationally since age 17. He is also the leader of Mahogany Brass Band, one of New Orleans’ only young brass bands maintaining the legacy of the tradition while still pushing the genre forward. Miller has performed at Carnegie Hall on three separate occasions, Kennedy Center, festivals throughout Europe including Umbria and North Sea jazz festivals, and Tivoli Gardens in Denmark to name a few.

Miller is a two-time graduate of Xavier University in New Orleans, where he earned a Bachelor’s in Music Education and a Master’s in Educational Administration and Leadership. Miller works for The University of Alabama Crossroads Community Center, an initiative of the Office of Community Affairs.  He is an Interdisciplinary Ph.D. candidate at The University of Alabama with a concentration in community and scholarly engagement using the arts and public humanities.

Meg Lousteau is the executive director of the Vieux Carré Property Owners, Residents and Associates (VCPORA), a non-profit neighborhood advocacy group formed in the 1930s to protect and preserve the French Quarter. Lousteau also serves on the board of the Historic Faubourg Tremé Association, and on the PRC’s Property Advisory Committee.

Lousteau earned a Masters degree in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of New Orleans’ College of Urban and Public Affairs. She worked as assistant director of the Preservation Resource Center’s Operation Comeback program, and later became founding executive director of the Louisiana Landmarks Society. After Katrina, Lousteau became involved in real estate and renovations. However, her love of preservation and advocacy lured her back to the non-profit world, and in November of 2008, she accepted a position as the first executive director of VCPORA.

Robin Keegan is a professional planner at GCR Inc. with over 18 years of experience in housing, economic development, community planning and housing program design. She is currently managing the New Orleans Economic Development Plan for the Business Alliance and spearheading housing recovery efforts in New York post-Hurricane Sandy. Before joining GCR, Keegan served as Director of Real Estate Planning for the Housing Authority of New Orleans and Executive Director of the Louisiana Recovery Authority, overseeing $14 billion in funds for housing, infrastructure and economic development initiatives.

Keegan earned an M.S. in Planning and Preservation from Columbia University and a B.A. from Macalester College. Before moving to Louisiana, Keegan provided economic development consulting services in New York, serving as Deputy Director for the Center for an Urban Future and Project Manager for the New York Industrial Retention Network. She has served as Adjunct Professor in Economic Development at Columbia, instructing on economic development through the arts.

Mark Romig serves as President and CEO of the New Orleans TourismMarketing Corporation (NOTMC), the city’s official leisure travel promotion agency. He is an established public relations and marketing professional and is accredited (APR) by the Public Relations Society of America. Romig has been involved in a variety of historic and milestone events throughout his career, including the development of the Hotel Inter-Continental New Orleans, the 1984 Louisiana World’s Fair, and the wildly successful Idea Village New Orleans Entrepreneur Week. Romig was recently tapped by the Saints to succeed his father Jerry as the Stadium Announcer for the home games in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. He was Co-Chair of the Media & PR Committee for the New Orleans Super Bowl XLVII Host Committee.

Romig is a member of the Board of Trustees and Board Secretary for Xavier University of Louisiana and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Emeril Lagasse Foundation. He currently serves as a member of the New Orleans City Park Board of Commissioners and on the board of directors for Covenant House New Orleans. Romig taught public relations courses at Tulane’s University College for several years.

Romig graduated from Brother Martin High School and attended the University of New Orleans, where he received his B.S. from the School of Business Administration (School of Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Administration). He was named the school’s outstanding alumnus in 2012.