Katrina 5.0 at @LAStateMuseum last night

Mugnier photo of the Presbytere from the late 1800s.

Usually I don't do "shout-out" posts, because my memory is horrid and I inevitably forget someone. Better to not do the post at all than slight someone by omission. Still, last night's "Katrina 5.0" event at the Presbytere was so enjoyable that I'm going to write about it.

"Katrina 5.0" was a panel discussion presented by the Museum staff as part of the development of their new exhibit, Living with hurricanes - Katrina & beyond, which opens on 26-October. Last night's panel included author Troy Gilbert, local blogger Bart Everson, Dr. Len Bahr, editor of LaCoastPost.com and costal restoration advocate, Ky Luu, Director of the Disaster Resilience Leadership Academy (DRLA) at Tulane University, and Chris Knowlton, who is a Marine Research Associate at the University of Rhode Island.

The presentation was an excellent mix of Katrina reflections and discussions of the future. Mr. Luu generated the most questions from the audience, with his passionate relaying of the work and studies DRLA have done on Katrina and, more recently, the Haiti earthquake.

A reception followed the panel discussion, and we got the opportunity to see various artifacts and rooms in the museum's Katrina exhibit as it's being built. It's going to be a fascinating look back at the storm, and will be one of those things where, for a while, locals can tell visitors to the city, "Go down to the Presbytere" when they ask what Katrina was like.

Thanks to Victoria Salisbury of @LAStateMuseum for inviting me, to Andrew Nelson of Peter Mayer Advertising for showing me around a bit, and to @LunaNOLA for putting up with the snarky asides I made as she sat next to me. Thanks also to Sam Rykels, the Museum's director, for letting Victoria run with this event. It was a great pleasure to meet Sharon (@sophmom) in the flesh after all these years, as well as to thank Troy Gilbert (@gulfsails) for the contact info on book signings he shared with me over the summer. It was also great to meet @geekandahalf, as well as to see @CallMeAlva.

At one point in the panel discussion, I noticed an attractive young lady in the front row, who had HootSuite open and was live-tweeting the event. At the reception, we figured out that she's @MissMalaprop, one of the most talented craft-gals in the city. Her stuff is great and her shop is worth a look.

I'm really looking forward to Living with hurricanes - Katrina & beyond, as well as other good stuff from the Louisiana State Museum staff!