Essence Festival Trip 2009

First Day In New Orleans

Today was an adrenaline rush of emotions. As everyone got ready for the trip at trio we took roll and then hit the road. Our first stop was for lunchAll the cool kids ate Sonic. After that we all boarded the bus. Now the busride that was straight out crazy. Some of us were straight wilding out. We had people everywhere on the bus. Once we got there we found
out that we had an interview and tour with Essence today. Then, we went to hotel to check in. The hotel rooms are roomy. We walked around Bourbon Street to search for a restaurant to eat. We ate at Sugar Shack which as very awesome. I recommend the fish sandwich, it was appetizing. The street band, however, was spectacular and was a one in a lifetime chance. It wa something this generation was missing, old fashion funsomething this generation was missing, old fashion fun.

A Change of Pace!!!

By: L.Michelle, Brittany, Alex & Chakavia

From the time to the weather…to even the buildings and bridge structures…New Orleans has definitely proved to be a change of pace.

What we expected from New Orleans was a town…possibly still struggling to recover from Hurricane Katrina. What we received so far…has been a city…where the energy is contagious…and the hospitality makes you feel like you’re one with Cajun Life. Here’s the breakdown:

From Brittany’s point of view: I really thought I would see more devastation…since Hurricane Katrina. What I see…is a city recovering…for the most part. Still…it seems unreal when you do see the buildings that are still in ruins.

From Alex’s point of view: I didn’t know everything would be so open. The people are very open. The people were so welcoming…and the food is so so good. Definitely Southern Hospitality.

From Chakavia’s point of view: Wow…there’s so much energy here!!! I did get a little choked up when I saw some of the devastation from Hurricane Katrina. It really becomes real to you when you see it in person. I was about to cry about the devastation.

Essence Lifestyle Notes: What We Love…and What We’ve Learned

We love the Food…it’s absolutely awesome!!!

We Learned…it’s more humid here than Florida…but less Mosquitos

We love the energy here…the city doesn’t seem to sleep.

We learned the time is an hour behind where we’re from.

We love…Essence Music Festival…our quick tour was like WOW. We can’t wait for tomorrow.

We learned most of the hotels in the French Quarter are vintage…which is pretty cool.

We love…Cajun Seasoning…definitely have to add it to all of our food.

We learned…shopping is everywhere…you can’t miss it.

All we can say…is this experience…is so far…so great!!! WOW!!!

Essence Music and Art

Today was our first day ever coming to New Orleans and we must say it was a great experience. The music is very LIVE. We saw people playing people blues and jazz on the corner of the street getting their grind on. It was so amazing to see people using their voices and their talents. The people are real open about their music and it seemed as though music were their lives. Here in New Orleans it seems like music is the best way to express yourself. But what amazed me was the age of the artists how talented they were, and the crowd they attracted.

Essence Insider

New Orleans is WOW! From the overly live people to the jazzy styling of the music, New Orleans is definitely the “Big E Z”! We started with the tour, which was spectacular. There were tons of equipment it was exciting to see the convention center in it pure rawest form. We cannot wait to see the convention center when it’s up and running, with everything full throttle. There were countless numbers of vendors and booths being set up, such as Dereon and coca-cola. Our whole group was completely speechless in awe. Everyone bursting with questions, kept them within, just to take the whole experience in! It’s crazy how we as high school students get to work with the vendors. Hopefully some of us will be able to get at least a little shut-eye tonight . . . tomorrow will be CRAZY!

Stage Set Lights On

Well today after working in the retail store we met up with Isaiah, the stage manager, and the rest of the stage crew. Today was just an overview of what the stage set up would be like. Isaiah told us the line-up of the people that were expected to come. Just a taste of some of the celebs are Mrs. Joyner, Shirley Strawberry, Steve Harvey, Smokie Norful, etc. Just know that this is going to be a hot weekend. So if you are anybody you would like to be here.

By: Studio Team (Brandi Massy and Brianna Dunlap)

Essence All Around

Can you say “Hot Commodity”? We were wanted everywhere and by everyone. We were so hot that we had to be called to come off the scene. Our day started with a very perky phone call at 6:15am. We then headed down to a very very light breakfast, I mean croissants and Danishes. Then we rode the trolley over to the convention center where the “Dream Team” went to work. First we were sent on a mission to find the Lincoln bags; we walked up to this big truck and practically opened up one of every package. We didn’t find not one thing that even had the word Lincoln on it. Then we were moved to retail where we folded moved and tagged clothes… It was so hot in there. . .

After a truly delicious lunch we moved on to our assembly line, wondering what was going on during the time while stuffing the coca-cola sponsor bags. Let me stop and tell you, what all companies are sponsoring the festival! There’s Coke, Ford, McDonalds, and my personal favorite. . . WAL-MART, the biggest retail store in the world. Now back to our assembly line, through the complaints and crackiness, we cranked out the bags like jello! Yes jello!!

After the Coca Cola bagging we had left sponsorship room for lunch the other interns seemed sad for us to leave. We had lunch on Riverwalk. The Riverwalk was a flamboyant mall of restaurants and shopping stores. We left the mall and bagged the last 300 or so gift bags for Coca Cola. Later we went to the retail center to help out but they were pretty much stable. As a matter of fact everyone seemed pretty much stable, but we were on a mission for more. We later got a call from Nick and found out that he found the Lincoln bags. We went to the seminar room immediately because we had a lot to work to do. There were so many FUZE boxes…literally thousands of bottles and bags. There were two assembly lines. They needed a whole crew to package all of the bags. The UB team was on it. Our fellow interns loved our energy! Nick came an hour or so later and he had another task for us. The interns didn’t want to see us leave. We left to the seminar area, to do signage. We used doubled sided tape to put up poster logos for Essence. We only had 45min, but we sadly had to leave early at about 5:30. We were stilled pumped for Essence and didn’t want to leave. WE CANT WAIT FOR TOMORROW!

By: Media Team(Alex, Melvin, JhaRonte)

Different from Many

Today was a day like no other. Starting at 6:25, I received a phone call saying get up Brittany and Susan. Then a little later Chakavia came through the door saying GET UP!! I was so mad but hey that’s what live is like when you are in New Orleans. We all were excited about July 1, 2009. It was the first day that we would be doing anything that would better the Essences Festival. We worked in the retail store, two words… HOT and HOT lol. We were able to meet different people from all across the world. We later worked on an assembly line. Okay, okay it wasn’t really an assembly line there but we made for ourselves. We were taking pictures in Mardi Gras store and the worker there saw as and told us that we weren’t allowed to take pictures. And believe it or not that sign behind us said the same thing. Driving here is so different, the crosswalks, the lights, and the people attitudes are different from we are used to. We took a trolley around New Orleans and even thought it was only 3:00 p.m. the party had already started. Their clothes are different and prices are so expensive. I saw a skirt and shoes for more than $58 dollars. By dawn the party had already started like it never end. We saw a sliver man that didn’t want us to take a picture without paying. We wonder what tomorrow would be like but I have a feeling that it would be much better.