ASLA 2025 BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING AND CONFERENCE IN NEW ORLEANS - OCTOBER 7-11, 2025

The spirt and energy of this exciting and friendly grand place, along the Mississippi River was seen throughout the sites and warm and welcoming people of New Orleans. The ASLA Board of Trustees meeting took place on October 9 and October 10, 2025. After an 18 hour travel time (cancelled and late flights, etc.) from Honolulu to New Orleans there is a reason to travel early to these 7:30 AM meetings. It did give me a chance to see and experience this wonderful city. A 3 hour tour of the City with a visit to the cemeteries and to the first Cafe Du Monde to eat a beignets, a tour of Oak Alley Plantation, with beautiful 200 year old Oak Trees, a swamp tour, where I held baby Bruce, walking around the French Quarters, enjoying the City park, and eating the delicious food from the home of Louis Armstrong, the fabulous New Orleans.

The breakfast meeting and Board of Trustee Meetings were informative and inspirational. They expressed that we are a creative and caring profession and we work with people who want a better world, moving us like music. After a year of BOT monthly (and more) meetings we met to vote on important issues, announce that the new ASLA website will be online in December 2025, talks of building lasting relationships with the community, climate and biodiversity action, with Landscape Architects Webinar Series, and the grand announcement that ASLA will be on network television, reaching millions. of people to promote landscape architecture, CBS is partnering with ASLA for the America by Design programs hosted by Mr. Mike Chapman, that will start with 10 award winning landscape architecture projects.

The inspirational talks continued at The Great Hall at the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. The Conference speakers included ASLA CEO Torey Carter-Conneen and Mike Chapman to announce the partnering and keynote speaker, the former 61st Mayor Mitch Landrieu of New Orleans. Landrieu is also the founder of E Pluribus Unum, which collaborates with leaders and communities across the American South, providing tools and support to bridge divides and foster connections across differences. I was inspired by the speeches about building lasting relationships with the community and by connecting by experiences. He mentioned that crisis and disasters often provide the opportunity to influence what happens next. Care for people and places because collaboration creates resilience. Lead with kindness. Think of your community with gratitude and hope and not for rewards and recognition. Spaces become places for each other. Don't build to get an award, build in the spirit of the place to make it better to connect neighborhoods. and assume things you are building are for people who will be using the spaces.. Rise to the occasion. Lift up not put down, connect not separate, find courage, speak the truth. One piece of advice, don't back up, stand up. Experience matters, stand in your strength. Find the right balance, do what you do but better.

As they spoke they inspired us to see the towns that we visit for the conferences. Here are many of the places I saw and experienced in this beautiful city, New Orleans.