“We do big events, and it’s muscle memory for us,” said Michael Hecht, President and CEO of GNO Inc.
Dave Cohen and I spoke to Michael Hecht and Susan Bourgeois, Louisiana Economic Development Secretary, today on Radio Row at the Morial Convention Center and you could feel electricity in the air.
That electricity that only New Orleans can deliver.
“I was actually talking to a delegation from Australia this morning, and they're astounded at how the Super Bowl in New Orleans is not an event. It's what the city becomes. I mean, it's a total takeover,” Hecht said.
Hecht continued, “Nobody is like New Orleans because we've got a density that no other city provides. And this place is the place. It creates such an energy for like, for the media, for the fans, for the players, for the NFL. They love that.”
The best part is that there’s so much more in store and so many more events to attend. But that all doesn't just happen. It takes more than a village.
Hecht explained, “And let me just take this chance to give a shout-out to everybody in the city, the state, at Sewer and Water Board, nonprofits, and the private sector who have gotten this place together...We started 6 or 7 months ago and looked at our lists of 500-plus projects to get done. Over ninety-five percent of that list is done. But also things we didn't even imagine, like over 20 new murals going in. It's because everybody involved from the top on down just did the job with joy and competency and a great attitude.”
Susan Bourgeois summed the entire effort up so well when she told WWL, “It's not only the practical application of we keep it going, there's the philosophical application of everyone coming together. We all agreed on a higher mission, if you will, right? And we all pulled on the rope in our own lanes, but we all still pulled on the same rope, and look what we accomplished.”
“It's a critical example that we're offering the country and the world,” Bourgeois added, “that not only did we do the practical things like roads and sidewalks and lights and public safety, we also all came together and put some more of the parochial politics aside and said, we all need to do this the right way.”