After two months in limbo, I will be packing up and heading back to New Orleans tomorrow. Assuming no further mischief, I will be re-opening my New Orleans office on Tuesday, November 1 (All Saints Day). But before I do that, I'll be shooting free videos for the AuthorViews video project all day Saturday, October 29, at the New Orleans Bookfair. We hope to capture the commentary of the city's top writers with impromptu interviews at the fair, which takes place at Barrister's Gallery, 1724 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd. in Downtown New Orleans.

Two other important communications firms in New Orleans have notified me about their repatriations: Deveney Communication, headed by PRSA board member John Deveney, returned to New Orleans over a month ago to set-up a media program for the city. John's team is partly responsible for the wide distribution of the news that violence in the aftermath of Katrina was greatly exaggerated (see this story from Reuters). It's rare to see a retraction get as much coverage as Deveney garnered for that important message. Deveney is working today to help rebuild New Orleans' shattered tourist industry.

The other firm is Trumpet, which re-opened for business in New Orleans on October 10. Known for "hot creative" advertising and strategy-driven branding, Trumpet is working with Louisiana Economic Development to help displaced businesses return to the city. Trumpet co-founder Robbie Vitrano eloquently expressed the feelings of most returning refugees when he said, "The inspiration of our extraordinary, unique, humanistic city has driven us from the beginning. It sustains us today, as we plan for the future and fully engage in the rebirth."

Thanks to the members of IAOC and the readers of this blog for your support these past two months. I will be taking a brief leave from this blog for relocation. Look for fresh, new programming in online communications coming this November.

Yours Sincerely,
STEVE O'KEEFE
Vice President, IAOC
Executive Director, Patron Saint Productions