NEW ORLEANS – The Idea Village, a nonprofit business accelerator, has announced that New Orleans Entrepreneur Week (NOEW) will return with in-person experiences in 2022 after being virtual in 2021 and cancelled just a few weeks before opening in 2020 due to the pandemic. The event celebrates the spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation in New Orleans.
Now in its 11th year, NOEW brings together entrepreneurs, startup founders, industry leaders, forward-thinking investors, and business-minded creatives who are committed to imagining and building an exceptional future for New Orleans. The majority of NOEW events are free and open to the public.
“We’re looking forward to getting together in-person to celebrate entrepreneurship,” said Idea Village CEO Jon Atkinson. “As always, NOEW’s goal is to educate, facilitate connections, inspire action, and bring our startup community together. And this year we’ll be able to do that while supporting and enjoying some of our favorite venues in New Orleans.”
NOEW 2022 will take place at multiple venues around New Orleans, including Hotel St. Vincent and Hotel Peter & Paul. Seating capacity may be limited at different venues so early registration is recommended. Some of the events and panels will be livestreamed for remote participation.
NOEW themes for 2022 are:
- Monday: Celebrating Our Ecosystem NOEW kick starts on Monday when we will bring together and uplift the region’s entrepreneurs with NOEW in Your Neighborhood – a series of partnership-driven events around the community – followed by our Ecosystem Happy Hour. This day is all about spotlighting and celebrating the regions’ creative and innovative work and how the entrepreneurial ecosystem is growing across our great city.
- Tuesday: Our Diversity Is Our Strength How is innovation enhanced when we create a truly welcoming space for more players to be at the table, and how do we move from reflection to action? This programming will feature how diversity, equity, and inclusion is critical across all aspects of entrepreneurship.
- Wednesday: Emerging Industries + Where NOLA Can Lead New Orleans’ creative community is positioned to uniquely benefit from a new era of increasingly decentralized technology. In our Culture + Tech series, we’ll explore how local artists can participate in and help define the next waves of technological innovation. Additionally, we know that few communities are better positioned than ours to advance innovative solutions to our changing climate and its severe weather disasters. In our #ClimateTech section, we’ll explore what it would take for the central Gulf Coast to be a global leader in climate technology.
- Thursday: Built by NOLA – Local Innovation and Leadership. Plus, a Job Fair Thursday is a big day at NOEW. We will explore the ways that local companies are leading, including the future of work and what type of talent is most suited for the changing needs of New Orleans’ economy. Thursday’s job fair will feature employment opportunities at some of the city’s leading tech and entrepreneurial companies. Current open positions can be browsed here: https://jobs.ideavillage.org
- Friday: The Next 20 Years The New Orleans entrepreneurial ecosystem is alive and well. But we didn’t get here by accident. How do we continue this success into the 2040s and beyond?
NOEW 2022 is also accepting applications for speakers whose expertise aligns with the above themes. App here. All applications must be submitted by Monday, Feb. 7, 2022. Any business interested in sponsoring NOEW can email hello@noew.org. Current sponsors include: New Orleans Tourism and Cultural Fund, Halliburton Labs, Tulane Innovation Institute, Lucid – A Cint Group Company, Jones Walker, Pan-American Life Insurance Group, Greater New Orleans, Inc., LED Fast Start and Susco Solutions.
NOEW is produced annually by the Idea Village.
