NEW ORLEANS — The New Orleans Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB) has issued its second quarter convention sneak peek for 2018, including a list of NOCVB-booked business for the months of April, May and June.
Highlights of the first quarter include several major conventions and events – Wizard World’s New Orleans Comic Con, which brought more than 18,000 fans of all ages to celebrate the best in pop culture, as well as the Rock ‘N’ Roll Mardi Gras Marathon that welcomed more than 20,000 runners and raised more than $310 million for participating charities. Additionally, the first quarter welcomed attendees from the American Chemistry Society, the American Association of periOperative Registered Nurses, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and the American Physical Therapy Association, collectively attracting more than 50,000 health and science industry professionals. Finally, rounding out the first quarter, the Allstate Sugar Bowl Crescent City Classic will gather at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome for their 40thanniversary. Starting in 1979 with 902 participants, this year’s 10k event will feature nearly 25,000 runners and walkers, and will end with a post-race festival in New Orleans City Park.
The momentum continues in the second quarter as festival season kicks off with French Quarter Festival presented by Chevron, which is the largest showcase of Louisiana music in the world and the largest free music festival in the South. The festival features local jazz, R&B, funk, folk, gospel and many more musicians on 23 stages throughout the French Quarter. April will also feature WrestleMania 34, an event that anticipates more than 30,000 wrestling fans to convene at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. The iconic and highly anticipated New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival presented by Shell will close out the month of April and kick off the month of May, welcoming more than 80,000 music-lovers. In addition, the New Orleans Wine and Food Experience, Bayou Country Superfest and FestiGals will showcase the very best of New Orleans culture through their respective events.
The second quarter of 2018 will continue to bring conventions and events from many industries, including Collision, America’s fastest growing tech conference, the National Athletic Training Association’s 69th Annual Symposia and Expo, the American Library Association’s Annual Conference and Exhibition and the American College of Physicians’ Annual Internal Medicine Meeting.
Media alerts will continue to be distributed a few days prior to the larger conventions (3,000+ attendees) as well as the prominent smaller meetings with newsworthy events. This will give you the opportunity to connect your beat reporters with industry experts to cover trends in a variety of fields.
Below is the list for April, May and June, which represents conventions and events that will bring in more than 130,000 attendees and millions of dollars in economic impact to the city collectively in the second quarter:
April 5-10
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (WWE)
WrestleMania 34
30,000 attendees
WrestleMania is considered WWE's flagship event. This will be the second WrestleMania to be held in the state of Louisiana and it will be the second held at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.
April 10-14
American Association of Geographers (AAG)
Annual Meeting
9,000 attendees
The AAG Annual Meeting is an interdisciplinary forum open to anyone with an interest in geography and related fields.
April 15-17
Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP)
International Conference on Fundraising
5,000 attendees
The AFP 2018 International Conference on Fundraising is the premier event for the global fundraising community. From education sessions, first-class exhibitors and social gatherings for all, it is the must-attend conference for anyone in the philanthropic community.
April 19-21
American College of Physicians (ACP)
Internal Medicine Meeting
10,000 attendees
The multidimensional meeting program from the ACP includes hands-on learning, 200+ scientific and interactive sessions, and dynamic presentations, all from nationally-recognized faculty.
April 21-24
American Planning Association (APA)
National Planning Conference (NPC)
5,500 attendees
APA's 2018 NPC is the premier planning event of the year, bringing together the hottest topics in planning, the latest tools for planning professionals, and will feature leading industry speakers.
April 27-29
Le-Vel Brands, LLC.
THRIVEpalooza
8,500 attendees
THRIVEpalooza will be a high-energy party, recognition and business growth event hosted by Le-Vel Brands. This will be a private event for THRIVE users and employees of Le-Vel Brands.
April 28-May 2
American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS)
Annual Scientific Meeting
5,000 attendees
More than 5,000 neurosurgeons and other neuroscience professionals are expected to attend the AANS 86th Annual Scientific Meeting, which will feature the latest neurological surgery research, exhibits and will include industry speakers.
April 30-May 3
Founders US Inc.
Collision Conference
10,000 attendees
Created by the team behind Web Summit, Collision, “America’s fastest growing tech conference,” has grown to almost 20,000 attendees from 119 countries in three years. Attendees include CEOs of both the world’s fastest growing startups and the world’s largest companies.
May 8-10
Nutanix
.NEXT User Conference
8,000 attendees
The .NEXT User Conference features learning, networking and industry specific resources for enterprise cloud users of Nutanix and beyond. Topics for this year’s conference include: big data, network, security, workload lifecycle, hybrid clouds and machine learning.
May 9-11
Marijuana Business Daily
MJBizConNEXT
5,000 attendees
MJBizConNEXT will bring together 4,000 industry innovators and 275+ exhibitors, offering a look ahead at everything to come in the cannabis industry all in one place.
May 17-20
Helen Brett Enterprises, Inc.
International Jewelry & Merchandise Show
15,000 attendees
Helen Brett Enterprises, Inc. is a full-service trade show production and management company that currently conducts quarterly gift and jewelry shows in New Orleans. Qualified buyers only.
May 19-23
American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA)
Annual Conference
9,000 attendees
The AAPA conference is geared towards healthcare professionals and will feature educational events as well as career and networking opportunities.
May 24-26
New Orleans Dental Conference (NODC)
Annual Session
3,500 attendees
The NODC Annual Session is planned by a host of volunteer dentists from the New Orleans and Louisiana Dental Associations. This annual dental convention dates back to 1948.
June 10-12
International Dairy-Deli-Bakery Association (IDDBA)
Annual Conference
8,100 attendees
IDDBA is dedicated to moving the dairy, deli, bakery industry forward through education, training, networking and selling opportunities. Since 1964, IDDBA has strived to be the essential resource for relevant information and services which add value across all food channels for the dairy, deli and bakery categories.
June 15-19
National Sherriff’s Association (NSA)
Annual Conference & Exhibition
4,000 attendees
The NSA Annual Conference and Exhibition is one of the largest of its kind and displays products and equipment relevant to every facet of police work, jails, prisoner transport and courtroom security.
June 21-26
American Library Association (ALA)
Annual Conference & Exhibition
20,000 attendees
ALA, the oldest and largest library association in the world, will hold the world's biggest library event, bringing together librarians and library staff, educators, authors, publishers, friends of libraries, trustees, special guests and exhibitors to engage and participate in the ongoing transformation of libraries.
June 26-29
National Athletic Trainers Association (NATA)
69th Annual Symposia and Expo
11,500 attendees
The NATA 69th Annual Symposia & Expo is an industry-specific event and will feature the latest trends and technology in sports medicine
– by Alexa Harrison, associate news editor