When I heard that NAR had chosen New Orleans as the site of the 2007 National Convention, I was disappointed.  I didn't think the city was going to be ready for 30,000 people and selfishly, I knew that finding a hotel for our Cyberprofessionals  group would be difficult . NAR, in the past, would not let us book a block of rooms together.  But NAR was determined to get people back to New Orleans... so this year, with the help of Judy Burkett , past president of the Baton Rouge Association of Realtors, NAR agreed to allow us to book 30 rooms in the same hotel.

I blogged about my first day here and the tale of the mouse.  You can find that here.  On the second day we took a tour of the city.  The tour ended with a visit to the 9th Ward...it was a scene I will never forget. I've included one of many photos we took of the devastation in just one area. The tour guide was obviously unhappy (more like angry) with "the government" including FEMA and the Army Corps of Engineers. And he was frustrated at how slow the restoration project was going and the unwillingness of congress to send more money.  He didn't exactly blame the president but you could tell he was holding back.  But now having seen it for myself, it is hard to blame anyone.  The rebuilding project is so huge and the task is so overwhelming, it is hard to get your arms around it.  And while the media focuses on New Orleans, there are other sections of the gulf coast in dire straights.  I understand Mississippi needs to completely rebuild 77,000 homes. 

After the tour, we visited the Riverwalk Mall.  I talked to several of the merchants and they were thrilled about the NAR Convention being here.  They were absolutely excited to have a big group of paying customers!   The NAR convention is the largest since Katrina.  We had a group dinner at K-Pauls - they thanked us for coming to New Orleans to help fuel their economy.  Seeing the genuine appreciation of the business owners convinced me that coming here was the right decision after all.