Last fall, while the world watched Hurricane Katrina destroy New Orleans, Robert Kolinek was quietly making plans to go ahead with his trade show at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, despite the chaos being displayed daily on TV.
"Everyone—attendees, exhibitors, the media—thought I was nuts," says Kolinek, who, as president of Helen Brett Enterprises in Lisle, IL, has been bringing the New Orleans Gift & Jewelry Show to the Crescent City since 1952. "But we've dealt with tornados, blizzards, you name it, and with disasters like that it's important to bring back business as soon as possible."
In near-daily contact with building personnel, Kolinek was told he could hold the expo with minimal delay if he avoided the most damaged areas. While building staff set to work repainting, replacing moldy carpet, and removing graffiti and other damage, Kolinek launched a campaign to convince exhibitors and attendees that the show could go on.
Sunny Side Up Kolinek's biggest challenge was fighting the media. "It's been proven that the media gives you over 4,000 negative images every day," he says. "But I was going down there, talking with the CVB, with restaurants, hoteliers—everyone who could give us real information. Yes, there's been tremendous loss and devastation, but a lot of positive things are coming out of there."
Such as? "There's a whole new attitude toward food quality and service," Kolinek declares. Because so much of the support staff at restaurants was displaced, he explains, head chefs have been forced to be more hands-on. "We found that a lot of the pre-Katrina standards in these areas were no longer taken for granted."
Kolinek parlayed his upbeat personality—"I always see the glass as half-full"—into giving exhibitors a reality check: "We had people who didn't want to exhibit because of potential disease in the convention center. We'd say, 'When was the last time you visited your factories in China?' Ironically, these are the same people who are flying to places with a potential bird flu epidemic." If they asked about mold, he'd note that the city had set up a hospital in the convention center during the storm: "How could they have done that if mold and disease were a problem?"
Renaissance Kolinek's show opened just four weeks off, in mid-February. "We were not disappointed one bit," he says. "The building has gone through a major facelift, and a lot of the hotels took the opportunity to do major renovations that they didn't have the chance to do before." He was so impressed, in fact, that he's bringing a new, outdoor-recreation show to the city next year.
Attendance at the gift expo was down only five percent, but to a natural optimist like Kolinek, that's no surprise: "Our show is gifts, jewelry, and general merchandise," he offers. "We sell lamps, paintings, floor coverings, rugs—stuff that people who are redoing their houses need. If you import, design, or manufacture those things, why wouldn't you want to exhibit?"