Rising Tide 2, the second annual Katrina bloggers’ conference in New Orleans, is only a few days away: Aug. 24-26, with Sat. 25th the main event at the New Orleans Yacht Club (map here). RT2’s theme this year is “No Holding Back” (which we interpret as determination, efforts?-we hope they’re not referring to the levees). A $20 ticket gets you in to a gathering of bloggers, writers, activists, and more, all coming together to talk and brainstorm and organize actions on behalf of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast’s recovery. Kickoff is 7:00 Friday at Buffa’s on Esplanade (1001 Esplanade, corner of Burgundy). Tickets can be purchased through PayPal. Rising Tide’s toll-free phone number is 866-910-2055.
Organizer Kim Marshall says this year’s emphasis is on ground-level, grass-roots efforts. “It has become clear to us in south Louisiana that we will have to watch the watchmen, and take the upper hand in setting the city back on track. To that end, there will be presentations on local politics and how to influence them, making civics sexy, sustainability, levee engineering, and media outreach.”
Saturday, Aug. 25, at the New Orleans Yacht Club is the main event: a day of panel discussions and workshops. Sunday, Aug. 26, everyone is invited to pitch in with a hands-on service project for the New Orleans public schools.
Sat. Aug. 25
Keynote Speaker: Dave Zirin, author of Welcome to the Terrordome and a regular contributor to The Nation and the Los Angeles Times.
Timothy Ruppert, president of the Louisiana section of the American Society of Civil Engineers, will report on the current status of levee protection
Other presentations and panels will feature • Matt McBride of Fix the Pumps will present via video conference • community activists • Karen Gadbois of Squandered Heritage • Bart Everson of B.Rox • Peter Athas of Adrastos • Mark Moseley (“Oyster”) of Your Right Hand Thief • N.O. political sage Michael Duplantier • Joshua Clark, author of Heart Like Water
“We aim to be a ‘real life’ demonstration of internet activism,” says Kim Marshall, “as the nation prepares to mark the two-year anniversary” of a massive double-disaster, one natural, one governmental.
The conference is being held on the anniversary-weekend-before-the-storm. (Katrina hit on Monday, Aug. 29, 2005.)
We will be there-we hope to see you at the Yacht Club and at Buffa’s too.