For Disney's Iger, New Orleans meeting is personal
Source: Reuters
By Gina Keating NEW ORLEANS, March 8 (Reuters) - For Walt Disney Co. <DIS.N> chief Robert Iger, the decision to hold the entertainment giant's annual shareholder meeting in New Orleans on Thursday 18 months after Hurricane Katrina was as much personal as professional. Among the thousands who lost homes when the devastating storm struck the historic Gulf Coast city on Aug. 29, 2005, were the uncle and brother of Iger's wife. Iger, who had not been to New Orleans since Katrina struck, toured storm-damaged areas shortly after arriving on Wednesday and viewed rebuilding efforts, including those of his brother-in-law. In an interview with Reuters, the Disney chief executive said the California-based company's decision to stage the annual meeting in New Orleans "was not only a professional arrangement, it was also very personal." The city is still struggling to rebuild after Katrina, which caused massive flooding and killed about 1,300 people. "We thought it would be a great signal to send that New Orleans is important, that we believe in New Orleans and in a way it was our means of not only expressing some appreciation but of giving back," Iger said. The company announced at its annual meeting that its new animated film, "The Frog Princess," would be set in the French Quarter of New Orleans. Iger said it was "pretty devastating" seeing the lingering damage from Katrina. "You can't appreciate the level of devastation until you see it up close, and I was almost shocked at that," Iger said. "It's also disturbing to see entire city blocks, blocks of houses that are completely empty or in some areas, people living in FEMA trailers." "On the other hand, you see new houses, new trees, fresh flowers cropped up and signs of life in a lot of places that a year ago you never could have expected that to happen."
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