Robbie Vitrano

Trumpet

Robbie is a co-founder and Chairman of Trumpet, a venture marketing company that is a manifestation of the reinventing New Orleans. His point of view: New Orleans is the Social Innovation Silicon Valley, an urban microcosm of the economic, political, social, environmental and cultural issues being re-evaluated in the U.S. and around the world. As such, Trumpet has evolved its full-service brand communications disciplines to launch new ventures, incubating and developing them inside its 12,000 square foot renovated warehouse in the Creole district of the historic Faubourg St. John. The work there comprises advocacy, optimism, and socially responsible capitalism.

Robbie has recently launched Trumpet Ventures, assembling a team of entrepreneurs, business strategists, media artists, technologists, cultural anthropologists, data analysts, and product/environmental designers --- inspired by the NOLA startup laboratory -- to help launch emerging businesses by helping them to become sustainable, authentic and profitable brands. Accordingly, Robbie has also recently come on board as a partner with Naked Pizza, a company re-skinning the $30 billion pizza industry and its take-out and delivery model with a social mission and the world’s first healthy/”functional” pizza, attracting the backing of billionaires Mark Cuban and Robert Kraft.

He is also a professor at Loyola University, serves on the boards of numerous social innovation organizations in New Orleans, co-founded and incubated the Idea Village and StartupNewOrleans.com, is an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year finalist, City Business' Innovator of the Year/Best Place to Work/Rising Tide,  Louisiana Technology Council’s technology of the year winner, GNO Inc. Digital Media Alliance co-chair, a two-time member of the Inc. 5000, an Adweek Creative All-Star, North American Board member of Worldwide Partners Inc. (world's largest network of independent communications firms), and co-piloted the 1996 pinewood derby winner with his son Shane.