Danae Columbus: New Orleans is the big winner when Essence comes to town

Oakland California residents Teila Evans, Destiny Bennett and Zena Dave’ couldn’t be more excited about the 24th Annual Essence Music Festival which opened Thursday and runs through Sunday. “This is our first time to attend Essence. We’ve been planning this trip for months and are going to take in as many activities as possible,” said Evans, who manages client partnerships at a California company called Envoy. Dave’ is a marketing manager and Bennett works in social media. Female professionals are Essence’s target audience.

Since the Essence Festival began in 1994 almost 500,000 people have attended the empowerment seminars and marketplace at the Morial Convention Center, the evening concerts at the Louisiana Superdome and the myriad special events. This year will be no different. The empowerment seminars have become so popular that they are now dubbed the “Essence Empowerment Experience” and will occupy an even larger footprint. Already 70,000 people have signed up for one of the eight conference tracks.

d4 Tabletop Gaming Café makes a roll on Oak Street

The new d4 Tabletop Gaming Café offers a hub for New Orleans card and board game players to meet, eat, and play for hours long on Oak Street.

Owners Mark and Tracy Meyer opened the café in March this year. Mark Meyer is a city local with 20 years in the restaurant business, and Tracy Meyer has over 10 years in the business as a pastry cook. Meyer said he and his wife “dreamed up” the idea to combine their love for gaming with their cooking experience, since Meyer needed to create a job for himself after injuring his back. After a two year process, they opened d4 in March this year.