On a weekday evening in early February 2023, Ricky Templet was visiting with friends and colleagues in the lounge of the Waldorf Astoria hotel in Washington, D.C.

Templet, then a Jefferson Parish council member, and his wife, Christine, had checked into the hotel that day to attend events related to Washington Mardi Gras, an eight-decade-old celebration of Louisiana culture that now draws more than 3,000 people to the nation’s capital to mingle with Louisiana’s federal, state and local leaders.

As he waited for Christine to join him, Templet struck up a conversation with David Cresson, then the head of the Coastal Conservation Association of Louisiana, about an artificial reef project in his district.

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The discussion only lasted a few minutes, but it paid off big. Templet said Cresson connected him with a corporate partner that ultimately picked up most of the reef project’s nearly $500,000 tab.

It might have been a chance encounter, but, in many respects, that conversation — and countless others like it — are the reason that Washington Mardi Gras has become a bigger and bigger draw for anyone doing business in the state.

“It’s the premier networking event for the state of Louisiana,” Templet said in a phone interview last week. “It’s a chance for all 64 parishes to meet with representatives and their peers, hear about the best new ideas and move projects along.”

At this year’s D.C. Mardi Gras, scheduled for Jan. 27 through Feb. 1, there will be more of those business networking opportunities than ever before as more groups host receptions, schedule panels and set up hospitality suites in the hopes of capturing more of that deal-making magic.

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It’s all happening because recent history shows that, despite the event’s boozy and festive atmosphere, it’s a time and place where a critical mass of decision-makers get together to make deals happen. 

“If you made a list of the thousand most influential politicians and private sector leaders in Louisiana — CEOs, elected officials, lobbyists, subject matter experts, you name it — they are all there,” said Susan Bourgeois, secretary of Louisiana Economic Development, a state agency that is increasing its presence at D.C. Mardi Gras this year. “There’s no denying the effectiveness of attending.”

‘There’s no more target-rich environment’

Templet’s coastal restoration windfall is far from the only successful deal to come out of spur-of-the-moment conversations at Washington Mardi Gras.

What could become the biggest outside investment in Louisiana history, the Meta Hyperion data center in north Louisiana, was partially conceived during interactions at the 2024 gathering, when executives from Entergy, the state’s biggest utility, tipped off leaders at LED that Meta was on the hunt for a location for its massive project.

On a smaller scale, but still transformational, the $200 million redevelopment of the former Cortana Mall site in Baton Rouge into an Amazon distribution center also traces its roots to Washington Mardi Gras, when execs of the tech company struck up a dialogue with members of the Baton Rouge Area Chamber, according to Adam Knapp, the chamber’s former CEO who now leads Leaders for a Better Louisiana, the state’s business roundtable.

“We scheduled a meeting in the hallways at the Hilton to brainstorm site selection,” Knapp said. “They had some fulfillment centers at that point but hadn’t yet built large distribution facilities in the state.” 

Hoping to create more moments like that, Louisiana business champions are creating more opportunities for networking. That means an event that began in 1945 as a party for homesick politicos has evolved into a more decentralized business gathering that has programming for plenty of people who may not even attend events produced by The Mystick Krewe of Louisianians, the private social organization that hosts the Saturday-night ball and other parties. 

In the Washington Hilton — the event’s epicenter — businesses, nonprofits, chambers and others pay for hospitality suites that welcome visitors and meetings throughout the week. A Friday economic development lunch has become a particularly in-demand gathering.

“Everybody throws a party now,” said Ruth Lawson, president of the Jefferson Chamber, which has hosted a Hilton hospitality suite for nearly two decades. “You could be at a different event every 10 minutes.” 

Three years ago, Greater New Orleans Inc., the south Louisiana regional economic development nonprofit, began co-hosting events at the Hilton as well. Jasmine Brown DeRousselle, who oversees GNO Inc.’s annual brunch, said she’s seen an increase in business events just in the four years she’s attended.

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“That’s why we started our series,” she said. “A lot of people didn’t know how to be a part of the moment without being in the krewe.”

LED is revving up new programming this year, too, debuting what Bourgeois calls a “hospitality suite on steroids” at the Hilton. The space, modeled after a tent the agency set up in downtown New Orleans before last year’s Super Bowl, will host panels on the energy and logistics industries, and a conversation focused on innovation.

Bourgeois, who plans to spend the entire week in D.C., said most of her senior staff is attending the event as well because “there is no more target-rich environment for the work we do.”

Beyond the Hilton

Washington Mardi Gras programming has long since outgrown the Hilton, where one of the lounges is temporarily renamed “The 65th Parish” for the occasion and rumor has it that the weekend sets records for liquor sales.

For the last three years, the New Orleans Chamber has hosted a hospitality suite and reception across the street at The Churchill Hotel. The chamber has a 40-room block to accommodate anyone who wants to be close but not too close to the action across the street. The Thursday night reception, expected to draw several hundred people, attracts elected officials and business leaders from all over the state who want to make connections with their counterparts in New Orleans.

A 10-minute drive away, The Willard Hotel has been home to D.C. Mardi Gras-related events for more than a decade.

There, Leaders for a Better Louisiana (formerly the Committee of 100) hosts a members-only conference of the state’s top CEOs on Wednesday and Thursday before the Washington Mardi Gras ball. Several hundred members attend daytime policy briefings, meetings on Capitol Hill and plenty of parties. 

“Credit to my predecessors, who saw an opportunity to do more than the economic development lunch,” said Knapp. “So many business leaders are there already that it’s an opportunity to give them more content about big issues.”

Throughout the week, other businesses and organizations host events in Capitol Hill offices, corporate lobbies, embassies and other locations around town. Entergy is a frequent host, as are trade groups representing the state’s energy, petrochemical and port industries. 

It all can test the average human’s capability for schmoozing, but Gray Stream, the Lake Charles-based businessman who is serving as the ceremonial king of this year’s event, said he’s making a point to attend as many events as possible to help promote the state.

He’s also spending big to host a king’s lunch of his own, meaning he and his family have been planning invitations, menus and other details for months.

“My wife is calling the whole thing ‘Gray’s wedding,’” he said. 

New perspective

Bryan Jones, a lobbyist for the national infrastructure firm HNTB, has a new perspective on the event that he’s attended for roughly 15 years.

A member of the krewe that hosts it, Jones said he and his wife used to treat the gathering like a weekend getaway, leaving the kids home with their parents.

Now that he’s been promoted to HNTB’s Washington, D.C., office, where he oversees the company’s Mid-Atlantic footprint, he has to balance the party with getting home in time to make lunches and help with homework, but he sees the business value more than ever.

“Washington Mardi Gras allows for people to get together outside of Louisiana, have conversations about business and politics, build those relationships and then come back home and see those deals through,” he said. “Some of my closest business relationships over the years have been forged there.”