New Orleans isn’t just known for its culture, food, and festivals — it’s also an economic hub for business conferences, trade shows, and professional networking events. Whether you’re a startup founder, small business owner, corporate executive, or freelancer, the Greater New Orleans area offers consistent opportunities to connect, learn, and grow your network throughout the year.
Below is a helpful overview of the business conferences and networking events you can find in and around New Orleans, plus where to find the most up-to-date schedules.
Strive Networking in New Orleans
If your looking to jump into the world of in person Networking, Strive is a good place to start. The have an event in December in New Orleans. If you have never attended such an event, it’s sort of like speed dating for business contacts. Yes, there are going to be other web design solo acts and smaller companies at most of these events. Tickets are around $20.
New Orleans Chamber of Commerce Power Hour
Hosted once a month in downtown New Orleans. All attendees will have the opportunity to give a 1-minute presentation about the products or services of their business. Attendees exchange business cards and marketing materials so that they can follow up with the people they meet. They also have other events, including thier big annual meeting. Tickets to that are around $200.
Startup NOLA
a hub for local startup & entrepreneur meetups; they host monthly meetups, pitch events, demo days, and community-oriented startup networking.
Meetup Events Small business networking events
If you looking for a a wider range of events and some more industray and interest speciifc events, the small business networking meetup feed has a big list to browser. It can be tought to find events big enough to make it worty the time.
Click Here for New Orleans Meetup Listings
EventBrite Business Networking
Much of this feed is dominated by Strive’s Events, but it’s worth keeping on your radar to find some other businesses networking events around New Orleans.
Mardi Gras Krews
Yes, most of the krews are still pretty tough to join, and you must know a sponsor. But some of the walking krews are a good place to start. Just about anybody with a dog can walk in Barkus, Some other ones to consider are Krewe of Chewbacchus, Krewe of Krampus,a nd Krew de View.
Sports Leagues
If you don’t like playing sports, this is probably not a good options. Most of the time it takes a big commentiment of time, and you need to be very sutbtle and paitnet in this setting. Most people are not there for business networking. In the good old days, golf was knows as one of the better social networking sports. Today, pickleball is probably the better option. For one, if you dont’ know how to play golf or pickleball, pickeball is way easier to learn.
Charity Events
Business networking at charity events creates meaningful connections in a relaxed, purpose-driven setting. Supporting a good cause naturally brings people together and opens the door for authentic, long-term professional relationships. There is a litle more of an expectation at Charity evnets that business networking bill be apart of the situation, but it still has some of the drawbacks that the sports leagues do.
Trade Shows and Confrences
We plan to write another blog articles on al the trades shows that are coming into New Orleans the next year. Any trade show in you how town means you don’t have the added expense of travel and a hotel. Many of the shows can be on the expensive side, even if for just a bandge. Getting a both at a trade show can run. several thousand dollars, but it can be a great way to genearte some hard to find B2B leads in just a few days.
Final Thoughts on Business Networking in New Orleans
Business networking in New Orleans is more than just exchanging business cards — it’s about building real relationships in a city that thrives on connection, culture, and community. From major conferences and professional mixers to charity events and casual meetups, New Orleans offers endless opportunities to grow your network and your business. Whether you’re a startup founder, small business owner, or established professional, business networking in New Orleans opens the door to partnerships, referrals, and long-term growth. If you’re serious about expanding your reach , staying involved in the local business networking scene is one of the smartest moves you can make.