The Saints are really marching in now! Who dat? Who dat say gonna beat dem Saints? Their first game was held 43 years ago in the old Sugar Bowl Stadium at Tulane. It was packed. Seating was around 80,000. John Gilliam took that very first kickoff back 94 yards for a touchdown. New Orleans fell in love with dat black and gold! Me too!

The IEEE PES T&D Conference and Exposition was planned for New Orleans in 2005, but then Hurricane Katrina hit and the event was canceled. But the city that loves the Saints is ready to welcome us engineers back with open arms.

But, it don't matter none, no. Dat old stuff is history. We're all just out for a good time in “The City that Care Forgot” and that just won Super Bowl XLIV. We might continue that good time at the 2010 IEEE PES T&D Conference & Expo where we will sample the technology that will bring our industry to that next level.

As you peruse this show issue, you will find plenty to help you navigate the conference sessions and show floor. I'd like to complement that by giving you the insider scoop on navigating what is truly New Orleans. Let me welcome you to my city!

It's All About the Music

Jazz is the quintessential American music and it was born right here! I never realized that music was such an ingrained part of my being until I sort of accidentally took a Jazz History and Appreciation class at the State University of New York at Albany while I was working at PTI. I was surprised that is was largely about Louis Armstrong. Didn't everyone know about him and Sidney and Bix and Kid Ory and all of those guys? I realized how privileged I was to have sat out on the St. Peter Street curb listening to the music coming out of Preservation Hall. It was illuminating to learn Dixieland wasn't the only kind of jazz.

The very traditional jazz guys have been eclipsed by the likes of Wynton Marsalis, Dr. Michael White and Nicholas Payton. One of the coolest things about jazz is that the foundations laid by those early cats is constantly having new notes built upon them. Jazz is constantly old as it is being reinvented. Think about the power industry. What did Edison, Westinghouse and Steinmetz do that isn't being used today? Yet, the evolution of the digital grid, customer and utility is truly a new song. Today's manufacturers and vendors are expanding the boundaries of what is possible. This IEEE PES T&D Expo will give us all a chance to see and hear what is on the energy forefront.

Don't miss the best New Orleans has to offer. Add a few days to your trip and check out the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, which starts on April 23. There are 12 stages set up on the infield of the fair grounds to accommodate the non-stop music. There is a Gospel tent that seems to levitate with each “Amen!” There are marching brass bands and a wonderful New Orleans vibe. The music will range from the newest “stuff” to Dixieland to zydeco. Predictably, there are food tents there, too.

It's All About the Food

Kermit Ruffins is a New Orleans musician. His recording of “The Barbecue Swingers Live” was recorded at Vaughan's Lounge, one of those New Orleans institutions. His “What is New Orleans?” provides a variety of answers to this question. The first eight answers are about food. There is breakfast: grits with any kind of meat you want and some eggs, y'all. And, only at Mother's, stumbling distance from the convention center on Poydras, can you get your grits with “debris,” which is the shreds and bits at the bottom of the roast beef that is saturated with gravy.

Po-boys are sandwiches on sweet French bread that can contain all manner of meat or seafood. Parkway Bakery is renowned for its roast beef po-boys, and where else but New Orleans can you get oyster or shrimp or soft-shelled crab on a po-boy? Central Grocery on Decatur in the French Quarter makes the muffaletta, which is an olive relish sandwich that is “often imitated, but never duplicated.” And, there is still dinner!

Gumbo may contain anything that used to walk, crawl, swim or fly. Thank goodness that those Acadains, when they were escaping religious persecution, ran into the Choctaws near what is now Baton Rouge and found out that ground sassafras root could thicken and season a “soup.” Gumbo is served over rice. But, if you want to take care of the rice and make it a true meal in a bowl, go for jambalaya. One of the greatest practitioners of this art is K-Paul's Louisiana Kitchen on Chartres Street.

The main entrées at the expo will be transmission, distribution and substations. But that is only the tip of the proverbial menu. The expo floor will have exhibits covering almost everything. Whatever it is you have a taste for can likely be found as you wander around the show. And, it is quite likely that you will find things that you had not anticipated. Such is the likely outcome to a visit to N'Awlins, too.

Laissez les bon temps rouler!