In 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans. Eighty percent of the city was washed away. And with it, many of the pillars of a singular cultural landscape: vibrant music traditions (blues, jazz, zydeco), Creole cuisine and Mardi Gras.

"The day after Katrina, everyone became an entrepreneur and New Orleans became a startup city," said Tim Williamson, speaking from The Nieux, a building as distinct as the city that surrounds it. 

Back in the mid-80s, an ambitious local procured pieces of the Eiffel Tower, shipped them across the Atlantic and refashioned them on St. Charles Avenue, right on the Mardi Gras parade route.

“It’s the strangest, craziest building in the city of New Orleans,” Williamson said. “Growing up here, this was where the Red Room was – bar mitzvahs, parties, everyone has deep, deep memories [of this place]."

Williamson was born and raised in New Orleans. In the 80s and 90s, he did his “walkabout” in various U.S. cities – New York, Boston, Atlanta, Pittsburgh. In 1993, as cable TV was gaining popularity, he founded two video marketing startups. In 1997, he helped build some of the first digital news media sites with Cox Interactive Media. 

Returning to New Orleans in 1998, he found himself amongst a small group of future-focused entrepreneurs. “We were all from New Orleans – moved away, came back,” he said, remembering one night when five of them met at Loa Bar, a cocktail spot near the French Quarter. “We all went to different high schools – and we didn't like each other – but we were all building on the Internet. And we came to the realization the city was not progressive or forward-thinking. We needed a culture shift here." 

Ted Williamson

That shift started with Idea Village, a non-profit with a “focus on building the ecosystem of innovation.” Williamson shepherded the organization for 16 years, playing a crucial role in the city's post-Katrina renaissance. In 2021, the community had its first wave of major exits ($2.8 billion).

"These are the folks born out of the ecosystem – primarily people who had come here to save the city and then, more importantly, scale it up.” Williamson said. “And we said, it's time to build our home.”

Before considering The Nieux, Williamson imagined a space for a modest-sized society – 50 members or so. Then one of his partners, Patrick Comer, suggested they could use the verification mechanisms of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to dream bigger.

"When I did Idea Village, I had all these people in my network, but how did I know who was in and who was out?” Williamson said. “I [wasn’t] a web3 expert, but if there was a piece of technology that allows us to authenticate membership in a way that provides new value, that was interesting to me."

They meticulously designed an NFT launch to reflect New Orleans' culture and numerology. Launched on May 4, 2022 (5/04), the Nieux Society minted exactly 504 NFTs – the city's area code – priced at $2,000 a piece (the original investment made by each of the five Idea Village founders). Each NFT bundled digital art from local artists, with a “voodoo magic song” by New Orleans bounce legend Big Freedia.

"This was the most interesting, difficult, crazy time in the world because of all the folks, five percent knew what we were talking about,” Williamson said. "We actually had to onboard people hand by hand.”

Still, by August, they’d sold out, appealing to a community of “entrepreneurs, artists, mavericks and scholars.” Of the buyers, he estimated, five percent were crypto-savvy, 40 percent thought the concept was “interesting,” another 40 percent saw business potential, and the rest were motivated by FOMO. Notable members include former Saints quarterback Drew Brees and author Walter Isaacson – part of what Williamson called the city’s "civic leadership.”

In the initial mint, the Nieux Society tested a “‘quasi DAO’ (decentralized autonomous organization),” Williamson said. But “it was hard.” Only 10 percent of the membership was engaging in governance. “We tried ‘everyone's making decisions’ and at the end of the day, it's just a few people who care.”

People do seem to care, though. Only one person has sold their NFT (because they left the city). And one other lost access for violating the society’s explicit "no assholes" policy. “Just don't come around,” Williamson remembers telling the guy. “You can keep your token, but you can't come in."

The Nieux, abandoned in the wake of the pandemic and Hurricane Ida, is now a thriving events space and innovation hub. In August, the Nieux Society wrapped up a second round of mints, selling another 504 NFTs. At one point, Williamson pointed his camera at a stack of 504 beer bottles. “We put all 504 NFTs on the labels," he said.

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The building loomed large around him. Members milled about in the background. "Some people use [their membership] to work out of here,” Williamson remarked. “Others because they can go to the bathroom here during Mardi Gras." 

The Nieux Society is about to spin out an AI business model to “strengthen the community,” he said. “We see value in technology that can help us strengthen this,” he said, gesturing towards the space.

“In 2021, I would have thought there would be a movement of Nieux Society concepts born out of these cities that used technology to strengthen themselves. And I still believe that, but of course New Orleans should be out front on this, because we're the best in the world at it,” he said, smiling

“This is a city where you come and your brain is discombobulated – through our arts, our cultural rhythms and rituals,” he continued. “Creativity, human connection and joy – those are things that we want to preserve. And how do you sustain that? It's not about an NFT project. That’s just something that connects us. If you were crazy enough to buy it in 2021, there's just something in your DNA.”

lead image: the Nieux Society, courtesy of Josh Brasted Photography