ABOUT THE EPISODE

Guest Devan Corbello, the Director of Public Relations at Visit Lake Charles, joins hosts Brady and Jillian on Louisiana's Playground to break down how Lake Charles landed a Today Show shout-out as an affordable alternative to Las Vegas, and what the "Vegas dupe" label gets right and misses. The trio digs into the earned media strategy behind the segment, the southern hospitality that can't be faked, and everything Lake Charles offers that a quick TV mention never had time to cover.

 

ABOUT THE GUEST 

Devan Corbello is the Director of Public Relations at Visit Lake Charles, where he shapes and promotes the stories that put Lake Charles in front of visitors and locals alike. A Lake Charles native who left and came back home, he works with the Visit Lake Charles team and its PR agency to pitch the destination to national outlets and turn earned media into real economic impact for Southwest Louisiana.

 

ENVIE EATS 

 

Saltgrass Steakhouse inside Golden Nugget Lake Charles is an award-winning steakhouse serving Angus beef alongside seafood, chicken, burgers, sandwiches, and salads. The menu runs from country fried steak with peppered cream gravy to bourbon-glazed prime pork chops and range rattlers, jalapenos stuffed with shrimp and jack cheese, with warm bread and butter to start. Portions run large and the southern-style cooking leans homey, from steamed broccoli to butter-loaded sweet potatoes. Sitting just off the casino floor near the parking garage entrance, it works for a night out or a lunch without leaving the resort.

 

RESOURCES MENTIONED 

 

EPISODE 101 TRANSCRIPT

[00:22] Cold Open

Devan Corbello: We work with our PR agency and we started to form the narrative of Lake Charles being the Vegas of the South. Kind of a cheaper, more cost-efficient dupe of Vegas. We have the casinos, we have the entertainment, we have everything like that. So we created this narrative. It was a lot of work too that went into it, but from networking to polishing the pitch.

[00:22] Intro

Brady Renard: Thanks for joining us on Louisiana's Playground Podcast, your guide to all there is to see and taste and do in Lake Charles. I'm Brady Renard.

Jillian Corder: And I'm Jillian Corder. We're excited to bring you the authentic stories and experiences of Southwest Louisiana. We've got all the tools you need to explore it, right?

Brady Renard: Yep, another terrific show, episode 101. Can you believe we're into triple digits? Keep pushing, keep grinding. Our second episode in our wonderful studio, bringing you video and clips on all the social media platforms, which I wanted to say thank you so much to all those who have started to follow and like. I have been blown away by the support already, and I can't wait for more and more people to get a chance to listen and enjoy the show that I spent a lot of time building and creating, and we've literally built from nothing four years ago.

Jillian Corder: That's right. I didn't have anything to do with the building part of it. I came in halfway. It's already a well-oiled machine, but I'm here for the ride.

Brady Renard: Sorry to interrupt this very, very important podcast conversation that we're about to have, but we've got some big news here on Louisiana's Playground Podcast. The episode 100 giveaway is officially closed. The entries have been counted and we have some winners to share with you. The entries came from all across Southwest Louisiana, over into Texas, and honestly, a few places that kind of surprised us. So thank you for that. It was honestly the best 100th birthday that anybody could ever ask for. So let's do this. A two-night stay to Golden Nugget Lake Charles, $100 Landry's gift card, and some Louisiana's Playground swag on the line. And the winner is...

Sydney Bean of Beaumont, Texas. Congratulations, Sydney. Straight down I-10 and you now get the perfect excuse to come and spend some time here in Lake Charles for a weekend or weekday whenever you want. Check your email. The instructions will be sent there pretty soon for you to claim your prize. And because one winner didn't really feel like enough, we have a swag bag of Louisiana's Playground hats and stickers for five other names. Congratulations to Samantha Pritchard, Victoria Brantley, and Katie Dupont of Lake Charles, Anna LeBlanc of Lafayette, and Caitlin Morrow of Iowa. All five of you have an email upcoming. Make sure to check it. Check your spam folder as well. You want to make sure it doesn't go in there, but you have an email coming with your pickup details as well. So if you didn't win this time, stick around though. Episode 100 was a great milestone for here. And of course, we like celebrating milestones, so you never know when the next giveaway might come. Back to the show. It's a lot of fun.

Brady Renard: So episode 101, we're talking about our mention that we had on the Today Show where they called us kind of a little Vegas, a Vegas dupe. Yeah, a Vegas dupe, even better, right? And so we're talking about that. A lot of fun conversation. We're bringing on Devan Corbello. He's our PR guy here at Visit Lake Charles. A great conversation, kind of opened the door behind the scenes a little bit. And we talk about where maybe we didn't even get enough credit, right?

Jillian Corder: Oh. Thought they should have had a longer segment.

Brady Renard: Absolutely. But that's coming up. Before we get to that, you know what time it is. It's Envie Eats.

[03:53] Envie Eats — Saltgrass Steakhouse at Golden Nugget

Brady Renard: And this week we head to Saltgrass Steakhouse in Golden Nugget, a spot that I'm sure our giveaway winner will spend some time in during the weekend here, right? It's an award-winning steakhouse who has a menu that features, I mean, it's a pretty vast menu, like seafood and chicken, burgers, sandwiches, salads, just a lot of good homestyle southern cooking.

Jillian Corder: Yep. It's delicious and does feel really homey, right? No matter what you order, it's going to fill you up, number one, huge portions there. You're going to get full. But also just that southern flair that, you know, to us reminds us of home and hopefully to visitors who are coming in, it gives them a little taste of what it's like around here.

Brady Renard: At these traditional steakhouse-style southern steakhouses, they always bring out the bread and butter. And right, like, you can't, they don't miss.

Jillian Corder: It's the little things in life. I don't need much, but bread and butter will do.

Brady Renard: And potatoes.

Jillian Corder: And potatoes.

Brady Renard: And a cream gravy. And some ranch.

No, but it's such a staple because it's so fluffy and the butter is so good and it's like you can't not have a slice or two or three, right? You know, it happens. But it's so good. We also opened, you did not partake, which I can understand why, the range rattlers. All right. So that was the appetizer of choice.

Jillian Corder: They sound good. Let me just, real quick, because you said, of course you understand why. Maybe people don't. I don't do spicy food.

Brady Renard: She thinks milk is hot.

Jillian Corder: That's what makes fun of me. But no, I can't handle spicy food. I start sweating and then it's like painful for me. So anything that says jalapeno in it, I kind of usually have to pass. But they sound delicious.

Brady Renard: Yeah. So jumbo jalapenos, shrimp. There's jack cheese, cilantro, and then there's ranch dressing on the side. This is like a huge chunk of jalapeno that's kind of wrapped, that shrimp is wrapped in it. It's fried. It's got such a huge flavor. Like if you like the flavor of peppers and jalapeno, this is right up your alley. They were really, really good. It's a perfect like a bar food snack, right?

Jillian Corder: Like a perfect little starter.

Brady Renard: I mean, really, really good. A lot of flavor. It's awesome.

Jillian Corder: Yeah, you were a fan.

Brady Renard: Yeah, absolutely.

Jillian Corder: If you minus the jalapeno, I'd love that. I'd love that. We'll talk about my meal then for a second. Let's pivot. So for a meal at Saltgrass, I said, how can you pass up a big old thick piece of, you know, plate-covering country fried steak? I agree. That's where it's at.

Brady Renard: It was an amazing look. I didn't take a bite. I should have.

Jillian Corder: It was big. And no, it was really good. And it's a southern favorite, right? So it's battered in this really yummy batter. It's got gravy on top of it, which was just divine, I think is what I wrote down in my notes. The gravy is divine. It had huge chunks of like cracked black pepper. Really, really good flavor, tender. Sometimes you get that chicken fried steak or country fried steak and you've got to kind of like work at it.

Brady Renard: Sure.

Jillian Corder: You didn't on this one.

Brady Renard: No.

Jillian Corder: Super tender, really good.

Brady Renard: I love that was the first thing you said. It was so tender.

Jillian Corder: It was so tender. That goes a long way with me. And I'm a texture person. And also sweet potato came with it that I just don't even want to think about the amount of butter and yumminess that was on it because it was absolutely delicious. So nobody tell me the calorie count.

Brady Renard: Yeah.

Jillian Corder: I'm on a diet and like...

Brady Renard: Look, on Envie Eats, it's kind of like how they say Chick-fil-A are the Lord's calories, right? This is Envie Eats calories. They don't really count.

Jillian Corder: Yeah, I hear that about a lot of things. We don't count hurricane calories here.

Brady Renard: None of that matters.

Jillian Corder: None of that matters. So Envie Eats calories don't count.

Brady Renard: Exactly. So I went with the prime pork chops. I was kind of debating between the ribs, the steak and the pork chops because I'm a man and that's what I eat, you know?

Jillian Corder: That's what men eat, apparently.

Brady Renard: And the seafood. The seafood looked really good too.

Jillian Corder: You just named everything on the menu.

Brady Renard: Yeah, so I was kind of balancing. I went with the pork chops, the bourbon glazed. It's two 7-ounce prime pork chops. Oh man, they were so good. So they had a really sweet glaze. And then the way that they cook it over the flames, there's a crispy outside texture to it. So it's kind of crispy. It's got that good chew that you expect out of a pork chop, that sweet glaze. And my stomach is currently rumbling because I'm now hungry thinking about this pork chop again. Thick, thick cuts of pork chop. I mean, 7 ounces, right? Each of them were.

Jillian Corder: Yeah, that's a lot. Mine fed me twice, by the way.

Brady Renard: Yeah, mine should have fed me.

Jillian Corder: My meal actually did feed me twice. I saved it for the next day's lunch.

Brady Renard: And I wanted a sweet potato. You got the sweet potato, so I said, I'll go broccoli. And the broccoli was awesome, man. It's perfectly cooked. They didn't try to do too much. Just some steamed broccoli, lightly seasoned on them. And you know what broccoli is. And it was perfect broccoli. And just so overall, it's such a great southern-style meal that you can't really go wrong. You're staying in the casino, you just want to have kind of a night out, even a lunch. It's a great spot to go and it's right off the casino floor right by the entrance to the parking garage.

Jillian Corder: Yeah, pretty convenient and a great spot within the casino among others.

[09:26] The Today Show Clip

Brady Renard: So now let's get to the conversation at hand, and we're going to do a little bit different format than normal because we're highlighting our appearance on the Today Show. So what better way for us, we're going to sit and watch it real quick just so we can give you the context as well. And then kind of had some questions for you that I thought were pretty interesting before we get to our guest. Is that good with you? All right. So here's the clip.

[Today Show clip]: All right, next one, a little more affordable Las Vegas experience. What do you got? So Vegas is one of my favorite places in the world. You would cut me in half and you'll see Vegas written through me. But I'm going to send you to Lake Charles, Louisiana, which has that same format. We're saying resort pools, tall towers, entertainment, Gladys Knight, Babyface, name-brand restaurants like Gordon Ramsay Steak. You've got everything you had in Vegas, plus this sort of Cajun bayou Creole overlay, which to me is a little je ne sais quoi."

Brady Renard: What did it feel like when you heard they were on the Today Show? Which is kind of ironic.

Jillian Corder: I watched it in real life.

Brady Renard: I was about to say, so working at KPLC, you are NBC.

Jillian Corder: We're an NBC affiliate. Yeah, when our show goes off, Today Show comes on. And so I'm sitting there in my office. I have this on at all times. I have two televisions in my office because I'm watching like all the networks at once. And I actually saw this in real time and I was like, wait, what did they say? What did they say about Lake Charles?

Brady Renard: Is that my home?

Jillian Corder: Yeah, I was like, oh, I know that picture. Wait, that's Shell Beach Drive. It was great. It was so cool to see. I love it when people, you know, give us a little shout-out that we rightly deserve. But I absolutely love this. I loved that they called us like Little Vegas or a dupe for Vegas. And I love the things that they pointed out in this. Like not only do we have like the casino atmosphere that you get in Vegas, and we've been to Vegas a time or two, and it is, it's a great lively atmosphere. And maybe we don't have that same feeling walking down the strip. Ours is more of a hometown. It feels like this amazing juxtaposition, we've talked about this before, but between small-town charm and a Vegas-type feel when you're inside those casinos, when you're on the floor of the casino or when you're at the pool or floating in the lazy river, I just, I am so happy that we got a shout-out.

Brady Renard: When you kind of think about it, I mean, I think about our times where I used to visit here when we lived in other cities and we had to visit here for different events going on. And you kind of went away and you felt like you were in a small Vegas, or I don't even say that, but just like a subset, right? A dupe, if you will.

Jillian Corder: Yeah, it just felt, it just feels different. And I'm so glad that they shouted this out. And a fun fact, so he talked about some of the different shows that have come to town and you get that experience of kind of like a big concert feel, the concerts outside, they do them inside. And he mentioned Gladys Knight. I actually was at that concert. I brought my mama to go see Gladys Knight and that was incredible. That was such a cool time, such a fun moment. And so...

Brady Renard: And she still got it. Of what he said, what do you think he really nailed on the head that he got right?

Jillian Corder: Just that it's a little bit of everything. He mentioned that not only do you get that cool, you know, vibe inside the casinos, but you get this like Cajun background to it all. It's just unique. It's just something that...

Brady Renard: I was about to say, when you leave a casino at Vegas, it's just more of the same.

Jillian Corder: Yeah. You step outside and it's the same.

Brady Renard: You leave the casino here and it's a completely different...

Jillian Corder: Different feel. A whole new world. That's copywritten and cannot be...

Brady Renard: Sung on this podcast. It's a very short period. We're good. And then finally, what is something you wish you would have said along with it?

Jillian Corder: I don't know, because I come from news, so I know he's got a very short segment of time to talk about Lake Charles. Yeah, like you said, I mean, if he could have dedicated some more time, that would have been really cool. But if there would have been some video...

Brady Renard: Our food, I think is what?

Jillian Corder: I think they missed out on that.

Brady Renard: You lean in a little bit more on the food, I think would have been really interesting.

Jillian Corder: That probably would have been good, but also some real video to go along with it too. We're a video medium here. And so, the pictures just don't do it justice around here, I feel like. So I would have maybe brought some people in a little bit more. But I love that we got a shout-out. And of course, social media went wild around Lake Charles. Whenever we got this shout-out, everybody was sharing it, everybody was throwing in their opinion, and it was just really fun to see play out.

[13:51] Guest Introduction — Devan Corbello

Brady Renard: Well, speaking of bringing people in, let's do a little TV magic and welcome on Devan Corbello. And like I said, TV magic brings Devan Corbello, the Director of Public Relations here at Visit Lake Charles. He was a Lake Charles boy who left and has come back home. And we're so much better for it. Thank you for being a part of our team. Welcome to the podcast.

Devan Corbello: Thank you. The prodigal son has returned, I guess.

Brady Renard: And look, this isn't his first podcast appearance, just his first as a guest.

Devan Corbello: And on TV, or the first on-screen appearance?

Brady Renard: He's been a helpful host a few times. Most recently, episode 97, I believe.

Devan Corbello: 97, yeah.

Brady Renard: It's nice to have you as a guest. And now Jillian has those Rapid Fire questions for you to see just how you play.

Devan Corbello: I forgot about this. Yes. I'm usually on the other end of this.

[14:43] Rapid Fire

Jillian Corder: So we're going to find out how you play in Louisiana's Playground. Are you ready?

Devan Corbello: I'm ready.

Jillian Corder: All right, here we go. Crawfish or gumbo?

Devan Corbello: Gumbo.

Brady Renard: Good choice.

Jillian Corder: Second follow-up question is, is there a gumbo season?

Devan Corbello: No, that's why I picked gumbo so I can have it year-round.

Jillian Corder: Okay, no gumbo season. That's Brady's.

Brady Renard: Look, Gumbo Wednesdays are a thing that exists.

Devan Corbello: Look, it's cloudy outside right now. I'm about to go home and cook some gumbo.

Jillian Corder: Yeah, heat index says 115, but who cares?

Brady Renard: We have some in our freezer that I look at every time and I'm like, do I want to defrost it tonight? Do I want to? And I keep like, oh no, I'll save it for sometime special. And so it's just still sitting there. I need to defrost it.

Jillian Corder: It's like a bottle of champagne. Just keep it handy. Aged gumbo. It's aged well in the freezer. Okay, here we go. Poolside or beachside?

Devan Corbello: Pool. I don't like the sand. It just gets everywhere.

Jillian Corder: Oh, y'all are the same person. Great.

Devan Corbello: We're neighbors, our offices are neighbors.

Jillian Corder: Y'all are too close already. Okay, and the last one, concert or comedy show?

Devan Corbello: Oh gosh. I'm going to combine them. There's this guy on TikTok. I don't know his name, but he does a comedy concert where he's like playing and has audience participation and makes a song through their names. And so it's fun.

Jillian Corder: That's really funny. Our favorite, some of our favorite comedians are also like musical comedians as well.

Brady Renard: We went to Los Angeles specifically to see Flight of the Conchords, which is a New Zealand-based comedy folk parody band. And so yeah, no, I feel you on the comedy music.

Jillian Corder: That's kind of our favorite as well.

[16:22] Coming Home to Lake Charles

Brady Renard: And so look, [we showed] a little bit in our pre-interview, right, where we talked and heard about the Today Show appearance and us being on there. Before we get to that though, what was it like for you to come back here to now start the job? Your career started elsewhere and to now continue your career in a place that you called home, something obviously called you back.

Devan Corbello: Yeah, for sure. So I was with the Arts Council before here, so tourism-adjacent, but then when I went to St. Francisville, Louisiana, adorable little town north of Baton Rouge, for their tourism office. Was there for about three years, over three years, and came back, came back to tourism here, and it's been great. It gave me the perspective of seeing Lake Charles through like a visitor's perspective. A lot has changed over the last three years, which is great. Oh yeah. And happy to see all of that change, like Port Wonder and the Mardi Gras Museum, things like that, new restaurants. But also just coming back home and feeling at home, going to my favorite restaurants like Luna Bar & Grill or 121 or Casa Mañana. And so it's a mixed bag and I really am glad that I went away and came back to experience it that way.

Jillian Corder: That's a lot how I feel. Growing up in Oakdale, this was kind of like where we went on the weekends.

Devan Corbello: The big city.

Jillian Corder: When you had to go to like really shopping, you came to Lake Charles, and I feel that same way.

Brady Renard: And I mean, even for me, I'm not from here, but I'm just from South Louisiana for a large part of my childhood and then moved away. And then you realize it's still Louisiana, but they don't really eat gumbo like we do. They don't crab. A lot of the things that I really love.

Jillian Corder: It was South Arkansas.

Brady Renard: Yeah. So I'm, you know, same.

[18:09] What a Director of Public Relations Actually Does

Jillian Corder: So okay, for listeners who don't know exactly, and for me who don't know, Director of Public Relations, what do you do for Lake Charles?

Devan Corbello: So as the name suggests, I help the public with their relations. So any relationship advice? No, but public relations is kind of building that narrative for people to read and to learn more about a subject. So with Visit Lake Charles, I am that person to help shape a narrative about Lake Charles and promote stories in a positive way to attract visitors and even to let locals know what there is to do and highlight those kind of random unique stories that you don't hear about every day.

Brady Renard: Yeah, but the ones that we do hear about, like on the Today Show, those don't just come out of thin air. What's the process like from the beginning of getting a seat for Lake Charles at the table?

Devan Corbello: Yeah, it's a lot of work. We have a great team here and it's one from setting a goal. Our boss, Timothy Bush, had set this goal before I even started. He wanted to get Lake Charles on the Today Show. Just because it was new, he, you know, I didn't know about the goal. But we work with our PR agency and we started to form the narrative of Lake Charles being the Vegas of the South, kind of a cheaper, more cost-efficient dupe of Vegas. We have the casinos, we have the entertainment, we have everything like that. So we created this narrative. And then our excellent PR agency, shout-out to Ivie Parker, she submitted the pitch to Mark Ellwood. He's the Today Show travel expert contributor. And then fast forward a few months later, I was at a PR conference a couple weeks before it aired, not realizing it was the Mark Ellwood that I met. And we were just networking. I told him where I was from. He mentioned that it's a really big Cajun and Creole heritage in the area, which I was shocked. Not a lot of people know that. And he's, I think, from London and he lives in New York. So it's like someone that you don't think would know about.

Jillian Corder: You shouldn't know about that.

Devan Corbello: Exactly. Yeah. And so anyway, we were just networking and we just, you know, hit it off. And then a couple weeks later, the Today Show happened. And so it was very serendipitous. It was a lot of work too that went into it. But, you know, from networking to polishing the pitch, to just being available and having all the right elements together at once.

Jillian Corder: Yeah. And I know people probably hear the word narrative. I think narrative is like, I don't know, gets a bad rap or something like that. It sounds like it's made up.

Devan Corbello: Right? Yeah.

Jillian Corder: It's not. What narrative are you pushing? Yeah, what you're doing is taking the story that is our life here in Lake Charles and just making sure everybody understands it.

Devan Corbello: Exactly.

Jillian Corder: Boiling it down to the simplest terms, right?

Devan Corbello: Yeah, it's not, yeah, it's not a narrative we have to make up at all. The elements are there, the people are there, the stories are there, and it's just my job to help raise those up so other people hear about them too.

[21:04] What a Today Show Mention Means for a Destination

Brady Renard: Yeah, for sure. And what does a Today Show mention actually mean for a destination? How do we quantify that impact?

Devan Corbello: Yeah. So it means a lot, especially for a small-market destination like ourselves, where we get overshadowed by like Houston or New Orleans or destinations like that. And it means a whole bunch because we are mentioned on a national scale, even internationally. And that translates. The Today Show has an estimated audience of about 3.5 million people, which that little 15-second spot equivalent is equivalent to about $125,000 in ad revenue or an ad buy. And so we would have to spend that to get something equivalent to that. Luckily, we didn't have to spend all that money. And now someone will hear that about Lake Charles and they'll come here. And then we capitalize on that by sharing it with our local audience through KPLC, through the American Press, the Advocate, things like that. So the locals have that, again, narrative, but they have that messaging, I guess, when promoting Lake Charles for their friends. So say your friend wants to do a bachelorette or bachelor trip to Vegas, but you're like, no, let's go somewhere a little bit more cost-efficient, a little closer to home. Let's spend our time in Lake Charles. And that translates to those people spending money here in local businesses with local artists and experiencing local culture, and then repeating that for other visitors in the future.

Brady Renard: Yeah, and I don't even think narrative is the right word, but for me, it is more along the lines of, this is how you should promote your home.

Devan Corbello: Exactly. Right.

Brady Renard: Think of it that way, if it's like, you don't think of it as being a dupe Vegas because you live here.

Devan Corbello: Exactly.

Brady Renard: We have that conversation here all the time. But what do others see it as? When you go out of town and you're taking your family somewhere to get away from home for the weekend, you don't see that the way that those people living there see it. And Lake Charles is the same way. We are a dupe in a way, right? Because you have those casino properties and they're not just casino properties, they're resorts.

Devan Corbello: Right. They're resorts. They have everything.

Brady Renard: I mean, all four of them have something completely unique from the next.

Devan Corbello: Yeah, absolutely. You know, from horse racing and Delta Downs to the first on-land actual casino, which is the Horseshoe in Louisiana, to, people don't realize it, but they are riverboat resorts at the Nugget and L'Auberge. But then you have those amazing restaurants at all of those locations. And then the pool, which is great for families, great for, they have adult sections, of course, which is my favorite thing, to go and swim and act like I'm not in Lake Charles.

Jillian Corder: I was going to say, I have heard people say this before where they tell them, what are you going to do this weekend? And they're like, I'm out of town this weekend. And what they're actually doing is they're just spending the weekend at the casinos. They got a room at the casino for the weekend and they're out of town.

Devan Corbello: Love a staycation?

Jillian Corder: Yeah. And I love that. I think like that's the biggest compliment you can give it to, is like, because it feels like if you're from here, it feels like you're going on vacation for the day. It's great.

Devan Corbello: Absolutely.

Brady Renard: And I know this isn't the first time that we've earned that type of national attention, right? How does this moment compare to some others that you know that we've kind of been a part of? I know that you necessarily haven't yet, this being kind of your first big one, but your thoughts of what you know of that and how do we build upon it?

Devan Corbello: Yeah, so we've been very blessed. And there's been a couple of wins in my six months here, which I'm really appreciative. And the Today Show is obviously the biggest, but I don't take anything that we get for granted. Someone can read the Des Moines Register or whatever that paper is, and it's like, oh, I'd love to come down south. Let me follow the Mississippi down to Louisiana and come to Lake Charles. And so every piece of earned media that we get is very important, and it translates to real dollars that help elevate our community in real ways. But to continue to find those stories, to continue to have those interesting people, those chefs, those artists to promote is a great way to continue to capitalize on that, to have that in the back pocket. Because the Today Show may call and they're like, hey, we would love to do a segment deeper about Lake Charles. And so they know that we have everything that they need. And it's not about a hurricane or something bad. It's about a local artist.

Jillian Corder: Not being named the most storm-battered city in the South, which we have earned that title as well.

Devan Corbello: I think one of the cool things just recently came across my desk this morning is Lynda Benglis. She just helped inspire Jonathan Anderson with Dior for his fall line for Dior. And so she has sculptures here at the Imperial Calcasieu Museum. So it's like those stories are really fun and a unique way to help shape and push the narrative of Lake Charles being really cool and fun.

Jillian Corder: Yeah, I love that. Yeah, Today Show. Keep, come a-callin'. We'll host you. You know, Al Roker and the team have been here before. We can just have them again.

Devan Corbello: Yeah, we'd love to. We'll give you, yeah, something to do.

Jillian Corder: Hit me up, email me.

[26:25] What Lake Charles Has That Vegas Can't Buy

Brady Renard: So we talked about the pools, the towers, the entertainment, Gladys Knight, Babyface, Gordon Ramsay Steak, all the names that he kind of mentioned that are absolutely here.

Jillian Corder: Leslie Odom Jr. is coming to town, guys.

Devan Corbello: Has that been announced?

Jillian Corder: Yes. It has. I'm not spoiling anything. It's already on Facebook. I want to be in the room where it happens as well.

Devan Corbello: I am excited about the oncoming. I'm so excited.

Brady Renard: There's so many great shows that are constant, like every few months you look and you're like, oh, that's happening, that's happening, that's happening.

Devan Corbello: Exactly. I mean, we're, you know, and it's in a more intimate setting than you would find in Vegas. We have just about everything here, and from the food to the entertainment, which is just world class. We have all those great entertainers coming, and from sporting events to Broadway stars and musical acts to comedians like Josh and Jace coming in a few months ago.

Brady Renard: Completely kind of, it wasn't impromptu on their end, but it kind of an impromptu thinking where they created a show because there was a desire for it.

Devan Corbello: And they were not even on tour. They were just, they just came to Lake Charles and then went back home to the UK.

Jillian Corder: It was a one-night only, you know. And all because the first time they came, they were met with such hospitality and friendly people and an amazing experience that they were like, we're coming back.

Devan Corbello: Exactly.

Jillian Corder: Yeah.

Brady Renard: And awesome. So the segment on the Today Show ended with him saying, quote, "there was everything you have in Vegas plus this sort of Cajun Creole overlay." What does Lake Charles have that Vegas just can't buy?

Devan Corbello: Well, I think going back to that is the southern hospitality. It's something that is very special to us. A lot of our partners really value customer service. One, I think it's in our heritage. It's in the Cajun and Creole heritage to be welcoming and to be hospitable to your neighbors and to visitors that are coming through. And so that also translates into our customer service with the casinos, the restaurants, attractions, things like that. And you can't fake that. That's not something you can really fake. And I don't know if it's very well duplicated anywhere else like Vegas. You go to a bar, you go to a restaurant, you find somebody and they hear an odd accent that they can't. It's not going to be a DeRidder or Oakdale accent, or it's not going to be a, it's going to be someone from the Midwest or from Europe. And they're going to want to talk to you. They're going to want to find out why you're here. And then they're going to give you their recommendations, their favorite places to eat, their favorite attractions. They may even invite you over for a bowl of gumbo. You know, you never know.

Jillian Corder: You'll never leave here hungry, number one. But I think that just selling it as a little Vegas is kind of underselling it a bit, right? Because that part is so core to who we are.

[29:25] More Than a Casino Town — Nature Trail, Live Music, State Parks

Devan Corbello: Yeah. And I think you said it in an episode previous that Lake Charles doesn't have to just be one thing. And so we aren't one thing. We have some really great options, from the Creole Nature Trail, going through Louisiana's Outback. It's 180 miles of road through native marshlands that you can't see anywhere else, through cheniers that are only in South Louisiana and I think maybe like the Carolinas. And then that is also in the direct path of two migratory birding paths. So you can see over 500 bird species a year. You can go see live music on a Tuesday night at Luna's or at Panorama, and then go swim in a resort pool at the casino. One of my favorite things to do on a Saturday is go hike at Sam Houston Jones State Park, go cool off at one of the pools. You can buy a day pass if you're a visitor, or even if you're not staying at the casino, you can get a day pass to the pools. And then go to a festival at night or music, which usually are free and open to the public. And so again, the cost-effectiveness of Lake Charles. And so, it's very special.

Brady Renard: So I love that you kind of went through that list of mentioning so many things. If someone were to book a trip, they saw it and said, I'm gonna book a trip, that's a good idea, let's do it. What's something that they get here and probably wouldn't expect?

[30:45] The Food You Don't Expect in Southwest Louisiana

Devan Corbello: I don't think you expect the hospitality, but also the diversity of our food here. We have been at a crossroads of culture for centuries, from Native American to between France and Spain and their colonies here, to just being No Man's Land. And then now between Louisiana and Texas. And so those influences from Latin America, from Texas, Cajun, Creole, the Caribbean, an American influence that's mixed into all of our food. No matter if it's a Mexican restaurant, a Latin American restaurant, or a Cajun, there's still those elements that you pull from every. So I think that's something that you don't expect, how good our food is here.

Brady Renard: Well, you even go, so we've got places that are fusion, like Mediterranean and desi-style, right? And then even yesterday, I went to a Lebanese restaurant that serves gumbo. Right? Like how many restaurants like that exist. Not very many. Exactly. But there's more than one here.

Devan Corbello: Right.

Brady Renard: And so that type of fusion, I do think, and it's so authentic to people who live here because a lot of these people move here and then decide, it's a pretty cool place to stay. So I love that.

Jillian Corder: On that note, the Today Show, let's say they opened a door for us a little bit with that shout-out. How do you make sure people are coming through it?

Devan Corbello: Yeah, so one, just giving them those opportunities to explore. Visit Lake Charles has a great staff that helps sell that narrative again, that we have a lot of things to do here. So if they just scratch the surface, they're going to find all the opportunities. And we have some really great stuff. Again, the narrative is not hard to push. It's not hard to form. We already have it. And so Visit Lake Charles, we're not in the business of false advertising. And so what you see is what you get on our socials. That's authentic experiences that we promote. And so they can experience that.

Jillian Corder: Yeah.

Brady Renard: Well, I appreciate your time, Devan. Thank you all. And I'll see you right across the hall.

Devan Corbello: Right, exactly.

Brady Renard: Pretty shortly. But thank you for joining us on the show.

Devan Corbello: Thank you all for having me.

[32:53] Sign-Off

Brady Renard: But as you know, the biggest thank you of all goes out to you, the listener, for taking time out of your day to join us on this here podcast. Whether you watched or listened or whatever, we just hope that you had a good time, maybe learned something, and leave us a comment, a review, any of those things, whatever it is, because as it does what, Jillian?

Jillian Corder: It helps us grow our audience and further share the unique experiences that Southwest Louisiana has to offer. Don't forget to go to visitlakecharles.org/podcast for more episodes, advice on where to eat and what's happening this very weekend. I'm Jillian Corder.

Brady Renard: And I'm Brady Renard. Thanks again for coming to play at Louisiana's Playground. C'est tout.