- 2 days ago
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🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00Well, it's game time, and I'm not even going to lie, it's kind of intense.
00:10Major construction is happening back there. We got kicked out.
00:14Republic is more of a club, and the theater is more, because I'm seeing the drama of the Sandman and bringing all of that back.
00:21We are requesting and requiring all attendees be vaccinated.
00:30Good morning, everybody. Good morning, everyone.
00:40How excited are we to be back in person?
00:47And for some, this is your first Festival of Culture with Essence.
00:53But we want to welcome you to our first in-person and fully virtual Festival of Culture Sponsor Walkthrough.
01:05Everybody plays a role. Not the same role, but the role that they are best positioned to impact.
01:13And the choice not to play a role still plays a role.
01:19So I look forward to seeing what all the role-playing today will deliver on behalf of this brand,
01:25will deliver on behalf of this community, and will deliver on this vision that we have
01:30to return blackness to greatness through the black woman.
01:33Thanks for joining us.
01:45Well, it's game time, and I'm not even going to lie.
01:48It's kind of intense, because this is when the, I wouldn't say the monkey wrenches,
01:53but this is when the rubber meets the road, when the seat, the actual plans can really be executed.
01:59We are 65 days out, and we have a lot to do.
02:03We have a lot of planning, working with the sponsors, making sure they're supported,
02:07and building out their footprints, working with each of the venues and the experience leads
02:11to make sure they have all the logistics that they need and the support that they need.
02:16We have to become comfortable that we can't not deliver this very important routine and tradition
02:22for a lot of people, but we don't rush just because we have to deliver.
02:28It's four months of really focused, micro-detail planning with Citi, with employees, staff,
02:35making it all come to life.
02:37It's hours of conference calls, hours of meetings, and just, again, checking things off the list
02:44to make the magic happen.
02:46We're still finalizing a lot of these deals, while also parallel pathing.
02:51So we're trying to parallel paths to really understand how our partners are really looking
02:54to serve their community, get a sense of their activations, their booth concepts,
02:59and where they actually plan to show up at this year's event.
03:03It doesn't necessarily have to be a headset.
03:05It doesn't necessarily have to be something that you step in or put on.
03:10You can actually use your phone.
03:12And then it comes to life.
03:13And you can see an entire gallery or another world.
03:17Yeah, I love that.
03:18It's super exciting.
03:19I'm happy that we're actually having this new sponsor preview.
03:23You know, we have a lot more sponsors that are on deck for these past three days
03:26that have signed up for festival, and now getting to understand, like,
03:30what their activations will be and how we can partner and really bring the theme of
03:35It's the Black Door for me to life.
03:37The Republic is more of a club.
03:42And the theater is more, because I'm seeing the drama of the Sandman
03:46and bringing all of that back.
03:48Like, will you be able to do that in the Republic versus the Wolverine?
03:52I mean, or maybe you just divert them to work on it.
03:56Anyway, I'll let you do what you do.
03:58I just want to, I...
04:00I think either way, we're going to need a celebrity host for it
04:04to make sure that we drive that traffic.
04:06And then we're going to need, I would still put like a headliner performer after.
04:10This is our first year planning virtually, right?
04:14We're usually in a war room together and planning out festival.
04:17But now we're all at home planning virtually.
04:20We have Zoom calls.
04:21But there's nothing like the energy when we are in a room together.
04:25It's really the human factor.
04:26It is easier to navigate when people actually know each other FaceTime.
04:31You know, we've been in Zoom, so that it's not really personal.
04:34And so getting people together so they get to know each other,
04:38they can have FaceTime to talk.
04:40Now the next time they talk when we go back home,
04:42it's a different scenario because now I'm connected to you
04:45and know we're all going toward the same goal.
04:48I think our team is really focused on making sure
04:52that we have New Orleans in Essence, right?
04:55And the locals, the vendors, right?
04:58All of those, the venues, all of that.
05:00That's important for Essence because that's a fabric,
05:03that's a part of the fabric of Essence.
05:05It is phenomenal.
05:11One, because it's coming back live.
05:14So now all of those businesses will have the visitorship, the support,
05:20but also the fact that Essence is now going to also have the virtual marketplace.
05:26So there will be people who can order merchandise,
05:29who can help the local businesses monetize their work,
05:32not only here locally, but globally.
05:35So it's really, it's a double-edged sword of economic growth, and we're just excited.
05:41So we plan for this because the majority of event planning is not just the event,
05:46but what could happen along the way.
05:49That's true.
05:50And being able to have multiple options and being flexible.
05:54Because if your plans are not flexible, things can hit.
05:57You know, for example, venue changes.
05:59Last minute we're talking about now moving something to another venue 60 days out.
06:04Also, it could be another event pops up in the last minute.
06:07And how do we deliver on that?
06:09Because at the end of the day, it has to be flawless to anybody's experience.
06:13It has to look like we've spent eight months planning it.
06:16I feel fantastic.
06:17You know, we've got a long way to go, don't get me wrong.
06:21But I feel fantastic because we have an incredible team.
06:24We've got extraordinary partners.
06:26We're in the greatest city on the planet.
06:28And we serve the most precious, most valuable community that exists.
06:37And that's black women.
06:39This year, obviously, a lot of the mandates have lifted over the past couple of weeks and months
06:45in the city of New Orleans as well as across the country.
06:49As it stands right now, we are requesting and requiring all attendees be vaccinated.
06:55I think the key is going to be that we're going to keep a pulse on what the trends are.
06:59Not only locally, but globally.
07:01And ensuring that we are responsive to keep not only New Orleans safe, but everyone who comes to our city safe.
07:08We're doing a parallel path to figure out every single scenario, right?
07:13Like what staffing, what do we need for vaccination only?
07:16What do we need if we're accepting PCR?
07:18What does it mean if we're just going to do away with everything?
07:22We have a great partner in UHG who has tons of data, real-time data, where we're watching what the trends are.
07:29And we will continue to watch it and we'll make that call when we're comfortable to.
07:35But right now, we are requiring for our attendees to be vaccinated.
07:39We have been just really, really, truly immersed into keeping up with the trends.
07:45And I'm really proud to say that our mayor and the team that we've been working with has been just phenomenal
07:52in making sure that the safety of everyone who comes to New Orleans is probably at the forefront.
07:58At Essence Festival, we don't look at the attendees as, you know, that's another head counter ticket sales.
08:04We treat it like our family, so we want to make sure everyone is as safe as possible.
08:08And also, as I said, we're the first event really at this scale happening at the Superdome and at the Convention Center.
08:15We're not trying to shut down the city because Essence just went crazy and now every festival after us got canceled.
08:20So we have that in mind as well.
08:23The major construction is happening back there.
08:38We got kicked out.
08:40Will it be ready in time for festivals?
08:42It's a little nerve wracking walking through a construction zone with our partners.
08:48But Superdome has assured me that the construction will be cleared up and out of the way for what we have for Essence Festival.
08:57Yeah, if we could just have a better understanding of where our branding goes, that would be important.
09:03And there is an onstage moment.
09:05Yes, we have one every night.
09:07Even though the Superdome was under construction, the management team knew that Essence was on ground and made it possible for us to walk through, to look at the spaces and really, you know, start ideating with our sponsors how we can activate.
09:20You know, construction, yes, hard hats, stay away from the dust, you know.
09:24But that shows dedication to the Essence brand and to make sure that anything that we do is going to be successful.
09:41The last two days have been very productive.
09:43And each time we have one of these gatherings, it just makes me feel more and more secure as I see the teams getting together and they're doing their floor plans
09:53and the creative and the sponsors are excited.
09:56We're really elevating the experience and elevating certain experiences that people are used to year over year.
10:03Those experiences will still be there, but, you know, it'll be really, really, really a different kind of experience, which I'm excited about.
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