the road ahead
|
Yes, we are going to be beset with more product
offers in more ways than ever before, according to a
MediaPost Research Brief (Trendy Trends for 2011)
reporting on the
11 top 2011 consumer trends to watch for, as
compiled by www.trendwatch.com. Number 3 among the 11 is:
reaching us
wherever we are. “Mobile devices and
social networks allow consumers to constantly
receive targeted offers and discounts, even at the
point of sale from a rival brand. Other trends
among the 11 are: acts of kindness as a brand’s means
to achieve a humanizing "touch" with consumers;
increasing consumer "openness" to new products, new
services and new ways of communicating; more "twin-summers"
groupings of consumers with similar buying patterns,
likes and dislikes and lifestyle leasing business
models where, for many consumers access is better
than ownership.”
Like Daimler's Car2go.
However,
these Internet trends are not the chief threat to
journalism and newspapers in particular, according
to a new book published by Oxford University’s
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. The
book is titled, "The Changing Business of Journalism
and its Implications for Democracy." According to
its authors, who studied the newspaper industry in
seven nations, "In many cases the Internet is not
the main challenge facing the business of
journalism."
Click here for review of the book "Crisis? What
Crisis? Study of the future of the international
news industry."
Another take on the Internet’s effect on
journalism is offered by Don Tapscott and Anthony
Williams, authors of Macrowikinomics: Rebooting
Business and The World. In a piece carried by
The
Huffington Post, they say print is dead in the long
term but journalism will survive because people will
pay for compelling, differentiated value and that
journalists as professional bloggers can make a
living contributing to virtual newspaper networks.
Daniel Ambrose asks, "in a world where every
piece of content is one click away, will readers
settle often for second best?" He says "no" in "Two
Platforms Are Better The One" written for Online
Publishing Insider. Ambrose believes, "quality,
actual expertise and genuine human connections will
rise to the top." From a business perspective he
quotes an early Internet entrepreneur and investor,
Bo Peabody, "high quality content has a lifetime
that allows it to keep on earning revenue after it
is first published." In addition to longevity,
Ambrose opines that high quality content, i.e., news,
analysis or entertainment, can and does transition
from one platform to another because "Trust
Travels." And, as he sees it, print publishers who
develop multi platforms for their product "will be
better able to invest in the high quality content
that builds audiences and profits."
This
theory is supported somewhat by The Chicago
Tribune's use of multi-platforms and channels to
increase its revenues and increase its staff by 12
percent while in bankruptcy. An instructive look at
the Tribune’s revitalization is provided by Dianne Mermigas, editor-at-large for
OMA Magazine, in "Second Coming in the Second City."
Click here to comment online: Road Ahead
TOC
|
passing scene |
Dan Ambrose "refudiates" long-held beliefs that giving away content on
the Internet accounts for the serious drops in print pubs circulation and
revenue. Headlined "Wrong All Along" in Online Publishing Insider, Ambrose says, "When we
study things closely, the 'giveaway-equals-decline' cause and effect simply hasn't
explained the successes and failures in the media community. Some magazines and
newspapers with the most aggressive audience-building, offer-it-free Internet
strategies have been the same properties that have the strongest circulations."
He cites a report by Guardian editor Peter Preston that new research supports
the contention that "giving away content doesn’t reduce demand!" Ambrose reasons
that the proliferation of media piece-meals the market but "When more people
consume a free article online, it builds the brand for offline demand."
The Truth About Cars editor Edward Niedermeyer relayed a report from
Carscoop
that Fiat is suing an Italian TV show for its remarks about the Alfa Romeo MiTo Quadrifoglio. Apparently Fiat feels the show’s mixing of earlier and new
comparison test data was unfair and thereby "defamed the MiTo." TTAC is
familiar with car manufacturer's ire but, to AWCom's knowledge, has yet to be
sued by one. Niedermeyer, understandably, thinks suing is a step backwards for
industry-media relations.
Gavin O’Malley reports in Media Post, "As planned, AOL’s hyper-local news
network Patch has launched its 500th Web site." They are all similar in look and
style but, quoting Bizjournals’ Portfolio, "Each one is staffed by an editor
devoted to writing about the people and businesses in that community." The Patch
network is growing rapidly. It began 2010 with 30 websites. . . . John 'Jay' Lamm
has opened an online store for the "lazy, tasteless"
fans of his 24 Hours of LeMons racing series. By clicking
http://store.24hoursoflemons.com,
they can access, "the ever-growing pile of shirts, hats, posters and sweatshop-made schlock from our
races...without leaving their
Lazy Boy. The goodies
also include the usual LeMons-cheap helmets, race suits and harnesses, etc." . .
. At the other extreme is Pirelli’s unveiling in Moscow of its always impressive
calendar before celebrities, dignitaries from the arts and business plus
politicians turned statesmen and stateswomen for the evening. This year’s
calendar, featuring some of the world’s top models, was designed by Karl Lagerfeld
and it is art (really dear, it's art).
Click here to comment online: Passing Scene
TOC
|
road signs |
All those paper, ink and distribution costs saved by digital apps disappear
before they reach a magazine publisher's pocket, according to David Link,
creative director of a design firm, The Wonderfactory. Jeff Bercovi, writing for
Forbes, reports that Link told him the problem is bandwidth. And, even when
bandwidth costs come down, app-based publishing, like print, will be a
cost-heavy, money-losing proposition, Bercovi predicts. That's because
app-publishers are already teaching consumers to expect digital magazines to be
rich with photos, videos and interactive graphics, for free!
And, if you
are asking what role Facebook, Twitter, Google, You Tube, XBox, and the like will
play in the communications chain that delivers your content, Joe Marchese,
writing for Online Spin, says they will become a new Media OS layer – the
interface through which people create, discover, consume and purchase media. . .
. Or, your content could become part of a videogame. (like "Car Dreams" "Truck
Luck" etc.) Media Digest reports that Ian Bogost, writing for New Scientist,
suggests that "the best journalism of the future might not be read, but played."
Bogost claims that videogames ability to
"simulate rather than describe the
world...reinvent journalistic principles, through their design, using
current events, infographics, puzzles, community action, and more." He points to
Burger Tycoon and Escapade from Woomera as examples of exposing corruption and
investigative journalism and argues that videogames amplify "the how instead of
the who...offering models of how the world works and how it might be
improved, rather than skin-deep stories about what ails it."
As fast as Facebook has grown and is growing, generating one-fourth of all of the Web pages
viewed in the U.S., it is still only one-fifth the size of our largest TV
network. Dave Morgan reports in Mediapost News, that CBS viewers spent 210
billion minutes in front of the screen in October while Facebook visitors spent
just 42 billion minutes on the site during the same month. . . . . A new browser
is closer to making a dire prediction in last month's AWCom Newsletter come
true. Christened "RockMelt," the browser offers an Orwellian prospect of mashing Search
and Social capabilities. For example, readers could be funneled news based on
their and their friends' likes and dislikes. They would not know it is from an
echo chamber designed by Facebook's feed algorithm.
Click here to comment online: Road Signs
TOC
|
autowriters
spotlight |
A name that has flown beneath AWCom’s radar for, perhaps as many as 15
years, resurfaced recently when two news releases from Myron Stokes
found our screen. The first release referenced the death of the late
U.S. Ambassador extraordinaire Richard Holbrooke, and the other
references possible legal action against executives of the North
American International Auto Show and others.
Stokes describes himself on his
eMotionReports.Com site
as an award-winning Detroit-based publisher, a special correspondent
and investigative reporter for Newsweek Magazine, Newsweek
Japan and Newsweek International and at one time the
magazine’s acting Detroit Bureau Chief. His work has appeared in several
other publications and he cites a number of big stories
in and out of the auto industry that he worked on in the late 80’s and
90’s. eMotionReports.com was founded in 2001 and is sub-titled: “Automotive/Aerospace Industries
Systemic Intelligence” and elaborated on as, “well placed to
influence those who shape the opinions of those who buy the industry's
product, buy its stock, set the price of its stock, and who regulate
them.”
The first release calls attention to his piece posted on the web “Richard
Holbrooke's World: Memories of a Newsweek Special Correspondent - A
Quasibiblios by Myron D. Stokes.” Its only connection to the auto
industry that AWCom saw was Stokes’ work on a Newsweek Japan cover story
on U.S.-Japan trade issues that brought Stokes in contact with then
Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown. This, apparently, led to Stokes’
involvement in some “dark” events suppressed until headlines about the
late ambassador’s death resurrected them. Stokes acknowledges off the
bat that he was not acquainted with Holbrooke but those headlines
prompted his own memories of the 1992-1995 Balkans war that he was
investigating while Holbrooke was in the midst of brokering what became
the Dayton Peace Accords. Stokes' recollections raise suspicions
about the plane crash in Croatia that took the life of Secretary Brown
(who had invited Stokes to join him on the flight), the siege at Sarajevo
and the genocide at Srebrenica. Proof perhaps that an enterprising auto
journalist can build on his or her smarts and contacts to become
involved in world affairs.
The second release suggests that such involvement may not be enough or
too much to get you journalist credentials for the North American
International Auto Show. This release contains news of Stokes being
denied media credentials to this year’s show –despite his having been
granted them starting in1988. The release says Stokes is pursuing the
viability of pursuing litigation based on the assertion/assumption of
discrimination. He says in the release, “I have reason to believe this
response is associated with the piece '2009/2010 Auto Industry
Analysis: GM's Transition to China' (http://slidesha.re/4F8lWe)
and subsequent analyses” and points to a third party, Shanin, LLC,
with connections to Chinese interests and the NAIAS/DADA as being part
of the decision to deny him credentials.
Asked what reason show officials offered for denying the credentials.
Stokes replied: “Bear in mind that whatever their stated reasons, it was
not the reason behind this activity. A parting comment from them was
'until I provided automotive stories' no credentials. That said, and as
was noted in the release, we fully expect resolution in accordance with
strategies appropriate to these circumstances.”
Stokes may be right in his suspicions. Jack Baruth has just
posted a TTAC piece (“How
I Trained My Fair Lady") about registering his girlfriend as a
journalist and escorting her around the NAIAS on press day although she
had no clips (other than those collected as a hairdresser) to document
her status. Ironically, a plug for NAIAS 2011 is (or was) on at least
one site where the Holbrooke piece appeared.
Click here to comment online: Autowriters Spotlight
TOC |
the
tom tom |
Tom-Tom rants, raves, rambles and ruminations are
volunteered and express the opinions of the writer.
Autowriters.Com invites readers to submit a tom-tom. Your reward: a byline and an audience
of your peers. All submissions are acknowledged,
queued and used at the editor's discretion.
Irrepressible PR Man and sometime journalist
Doug Stokes has come up with the
kind of "win-win-win" proposition promoters love. He writes: "Hey Glenn -
Here's a real deal that I conjured up for your faithful ... Great fun and you
get some "sunshine" for providing it!
AN AUTOWRITERS SPECIAL DRIVING DEAL
|
Doug Stokes |
Special Race Driving Deal For Auto Writer readers of AutoWriters.Com
One of our regular readers, Doug Stokes, has talked LA Racing (the fine stock car
driving school/experience people at Toyota Speedway in Irwindale, California
-
near Pasadena) into offering regular readers of this monthly bulletin a chance
to learn how to drive a full-size NASCAR-style stock on the fast and famous Irwindale half-mile oval.
All you’ll need is a story assignment, your non-skid sneakers and a (very)
light breakfast and you’ll be circulating the track nicknamed: "LA's
Half-Mile Super Speedway."
Go through the classroom training, and then climb through the window of a big,
nasty, gnarly stocker into an exciting world of speed, sound, and new sensations. All courtesy of LA Racing and Toyota Speedway.
Check out LA Racing on: www.laracingx.com
If the above sounds like something that you might relish doing all you need to
do is get in touch with good guy Ozzie Blackwell and mention that you are an
Autowriters.com reader and that you heard about this from Stokes (through the great
Autowriters.com service of course). He’ll set you up with a class date and you’ll be
lapping like a NASCAR pro in almost no time flat!
The deal here is to get some good ink not only for LA Racing, but for the
Speedway as well. And to get YOU (secret Speed Racer) into a race car.
By the way, this will NOT be an all-journalist ego-fest; you’ll be scheduled
with a regular group of attendees (which could range from 14 year old kids to
people even older than our fearless leader Glenn Campbell). That sort of
immersion always seems to pay off in two interesting stories: your experience and
the mother of five, or the lawyer, or the eagle scout, or the movie actress. Any
of whom could be taking the school for any number of interesting personal
reasons.
Call Ozzie at 877-901-RACE X 2030 to set your date.
This is a clean - no cost - deal. The quid pro quo is a story assignment (and an
outlet). We've done numerous such journalist rides. In fact there's a story
coming out in AUTOWEEK shortly by Patrick Paterne. Sneak up on it,
stay off the walls, see what it's like out there on the banked ovals. Write it
all down or film it.
Click here to comment
online: Tom-Tom
TOC
|
new
roads |
Wooden Horse News reports: Road & Track and Car And Driver among the US
and international magazines up for sale by French owner Lagardér.
Hearst
has been granted a month-long exclusive negotiating period in the deal
estimated at $700 million to $1 billion. If concluded, Hearst will
become the second largest US consumer magazine publisher behind Time
Inc.
"If you liked the book, you'll love the movie." That hoary
film promo is the hope of Steve Purdy (radio host of A Shunpiker's
Journal) and his partners who are producing a documentary film of the
book Sirens of Chrome. Working with him are veteran producer and
director Mark Ducker and Margery Krevsky, author of the popular
coffee-table book about the live models who graced the cars at auto show
over the years. . . . Kimatni D. Rawlins, president and publisher of
Automotive Rhythms, has added a blog, The Raw Truth, to the lifestyle
automotive media and marketing portal. It will provide his timely
personal take on a variety of experiences and happenings in the auto
world.
Newsweek.com
has been blended into TheDailyBeast.com following the merger of the two
companies.. . .Wooden Horse News says Forbes.com advertiser blog
program, where advertisers can run their blogs alongside editorial
contributors, "is in response to editors being pressured to increasingly
rely on unpaid contributors with the goal, as one former editor put it,
'of not paying anything for content.'"
Click here to comment online: New Roads
TOC |
regional news |
MPG members presented Pete Lyons with its 2010 Dean Batchelor Award for
the single piece of work which best represents the professional
standards and excellence demanded by the late Dean Batchelor during his
life as an editor, writer, and chronicler of the automotive industry.
Lyons won for his book, Can- Am Cars in Detail, which also won MPG's Book
of the Year Award. Arthur St. Antoine won for the year's best article;
Micah Muzio and Michael DeLano won for best auto visual and
Alison (Al)
Merion-Padron for best photography.
For the first time MPG’s Lifetime Achievement Award went to a PR Man
– John Clinard of Ford Motor Company. SAMA members did a turnabout at their annual Christmas party. They
presented appreciation awards to representatives of the auto
manufacturers that supported the organization in 2010. Hyundai
southeastern region representative Yvonne Lorrie is shown accepting her
award from SAMA president Paul Borden (right) and SAMA secretary
Bill
Adam.

WAPA will announce the winner of its annual Golden Quill Award during
the Washington Auto Show. The award recognizes an outstanding, original
piece of journalism (print, broadcast, or Web) related to autos or the
auto industry. It can be either a single article or a series of related
articles published in 2010 by a journalist working in the
Washington-Baltimore area.
MAMA members elected
Tom Appel President and Kirk Bell, Sr. Vice
President at its Jan. 5 meeting. Mike Hanley is Vice President,
membership; Wendy Orthman, Secretary and Don Sikora, Treasurer.
NEMPA has amped up its Winter Vehicle Awards to make it more rigorous
and put the competition on a more level snow and ice covered playing
field. The organization says every capable winter car should have ABS
and anti-spin technology, to heated seats and wing mirrors, plus bonus
options such as AWD or 4WD, remote starters, heated steering wheels and
more. (And proper tires.)
TAWA members will have a breakfast meeting prior to the opening of the
Houston Auto Show Jan. 26.
TOC |
pit notes |
Credentialing journalists for an Auto Show may be contentious in Detroit
but it is confirmative in Chicago where Nissan has taken over a long
standing sotto voce
program to help selected journalists with travel and housing costs while
covering the Chicago Auto Show. In addition, each exhibiting manufacturer will be
given a unique URL to use in
inviting up to 300 journalists per brand. Those invited will use that
URL to register with the Show offices and print out their own badge.
This will include social media communicators the manufacturers consider
important to them. Inquiries about these programs should be directed to
the Chicago Auto Show offices at
http://www.chicagoautoshow.com/media/default.aspx
For those who missed it here is a link to a TV spot for car lovers
submitted by one of our readers.
Shown only in Europe, it ostensibly is selling for Shell Oil Company but
it is the Ferraris used in it that make the spot sing!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_kwxzU4wL4&feature=related

CDWrite reports "Green Racing Is Go!" The EV Cup racing series was
officially launched January 13 and already has seven events scheduled in
the UK, Spain, Portugal and the USA.
The racing will include two principal one-make classes of zero emission
electric cars: the celebrity-supported City EV cars, where drivers will
compete in carbon-free, race-prepared urban THINK hatchback cars; and
the Sports EV class, which will feature 120mph Westfield iRacers. A
third category will be the Prototype EV class, based upon time trials
and showcasing the latest, ultra-fast, non-production electric race
cars, some with potential top speeds of 150mph and more. Hollywood's
Creative Artists Agency (CAA) will provide celebrity racers. For more
information query: news@cdwrite.co.uk.
Five new racing books with
outstanding photography or illustrations are being promoted by
Kristopher Skellenger. They are: Formula 1 Technical Analysis 2009-2010;
Porsche 956 & 96: Immortal Endurance Racers 1982-1994; Sports Car Racing
in Camera: 1950-1959; Pro Stock Drag Racing and Chevy-Powered Drag
Racing (What, no Hemi's?). For more information and possible review
copies, contact Skellenger at:
kskellenger@quaysidepub.com . . .Jim Kenzie, writing for the
Toronto Star, notes that the paper's
"Wheels" section which he helped start is entering its 25th year and he
believes it was the first dedicated automotive section in any daily
newspaper in North America.
The DetroitBureau.Com has posted "A
Dozen Ways To Improve Your Mileage." . . . Steve Parker reports "another
moment" in his life's hectic adventure: successfully conducting a
one-hour seminar/consultation and Q&A by phone from his second home (a
Cedars Sinai hospital bed) with automotive industry participants in
L.A., Boston, India and Japan. His health is relatively good, he says,
but he did have to overcome the screaming of a dementia patient in the
next room and a Tagalong-speaking Filipino nurse trying to interrupt the
session to take his blood pressure. Hardly the first big business deal
concluded at the famed hospital to the stars but perhaps the first
automotive one.
Click here to comment online: Pit Notes
TOC |
pit fight |
The selection of the
Chevrolet Volt as the North
American Car of The Year revives a PR firm's endeavor to help one of its
clients sell cars it has in stock. Offered as blog fodder, it was sent
after Rush Limbaugh and George Will criticized Motor Trend's selection
of the Volt as its car of the year and after the magazine's Detroit
Editor, Todd Lassa, posted a response to those two car "experts" at:
http://blogs.motortrend.com/rush-judgment-5957.html
 Here is the fodder offered by the PR firm:
Motor Trend Names Chevy Volt Car of the Year. Really?
Continuing a tradition of giving Detroit’s more questionable auto
offerings their moment in the limelight (remember the K Car or the Dodge
Omni?), the judges at Motor Trend have handed Car of the Year honors to
the Chevy Volt, a car that isn't even on sale yet, and won't be in most
parts of the country until perhaps 2012, when GM assures us that it can
make more than 10,000 of these semi-practical vehicles a year.
For the moment, let's forget about the partisan outrage of George
Will and Rush Limbaugh, or Motor Trend's poorly advised rebuttal, and
take a look at the Volt for what it is: a $41,000 car that benefits from
an optional $490 240-volt charger that costs around $1,475 to install.
Federal and local tax breaks could let you get behind the wheel for a
mere $35,200. That's $33,500 for the car and $245 for the charger after
rebates, plus that $1,475 installation for the charger. Assuming, of
course, that you can find one, which you can't, unless you live in
California, Connecticut, Michigan, New York, New Jersey, Texas or
Washington, D.C. and managed to land on the right side of the 1 in 12
odds of earning the privilege to buy one.
GM estimates that 120,000 people have "reserved" the new Volt. Only
55,000 are expected to be on the road by the end of 2011, which means
that more than half of those interested in owning one are looking at a
two-year wait. It's much quicker to get the new Bugatti Veryon, but that
car only gets 8 mpg city.
What Motor Trend has done, essentially, is hand out the most significant
marketing ammunition for any car company to a concept car. The Ford
Fusion, Motor Trend's outgoing Car of the Year, sold 17,362 units in
October. It would take GM more than three months, currently, to make
enough Volts to meet that demand. They don’t need the marketing support,
and until they prove that they can actually build these cars in
reasonable numbers and make them reliable they shouldn’t be taking home
accolades.
Given that Motor Trend looked at every new car that reached North
America this year, there are plenty of other worthy offerings they could
have chosen. Critics may be unhappy with the 2011 Jetta, but it’s
selling well and landed on the finalist list for North American Car of
the Year. So did the Ford Fiesta, Nissan Juke and the Chevrolet Cruze,
which is essentially the Volt with a normal engine and availability at
your local Chevy dealer.
Apparently 40 miles to the gallon just isn't sexy enough for Motor
Trend, or for the folks who gave the Volt the Green Car of the Year
award over something that people can actually buy. Perhaps Ford should
limit availability of next year's electric Focus to fewer than 5,000
models so that they can get a crack at these awards.
The only silver lining in any of this is that the Volt won out over
Nissan's similarly scarce electric LEAF, which lacks a gas-powered
generator to keep it moving when the battery runs out. At least the
highways in select cities won't be choked with Chevrolet Volts on the
side of the road, accompanied by befuddled drivers uncoiling extension
cords and looking for the closest electrical outlet.
Click here to comment online: Pit Fight
TOC |
lane changes |
|
John McCandless |
John McCandless, "the face of Toyota in Detroit" for 20 years, has
retired and opened Road Reports to provide "confidential consulting to
domestic and international clients in the automotive industry," the
long-time communications pro said. He became Toyota's Midwest Regional
Communications Manager in 1990 and at retirement was National Manager
for Field Operations, heading the industry's most extensive U.S. network
of regional communications. Previously, he was Manager of International
Communications at Chrysler Corporation. He can be reached at
313-610-5600 or j.mccandless@comcast.net.
David Reuter has been named
Nissan's Vice President of Communications for North, South and Central
America. Previously, he was head of Bentley's communications for the
Americas. . . . Rex Roy has added monthly technology stories for
Automotive News to his roster of outlets that includes: The Detroit
News, Popular Mechanics, Auto Blog, AOL Autos and
Winding Road.com. . .
. Shamit Choksey and Aaron Zeuli have joined American Suzuki Motor
Corp.'s PR staff. Choksey comes from MotorWeek where he was a
journalist and producer for the PBS television show. He is
product publicity manager and can be reached at 714-996-7040 ext. 2255
or
shamit.choksey@suz.com. Zeuli is a public relations specialist promoted
from within the company. He can be reached at 714-996-7040 ext.2509 or
arron.zeuli@suz.com . . .
Charles Trieu has succeeded Carter Jung as
editor of Import Tuner Magazine at Source Interlink
Media. He can be reached at 949-705-3152 or
charles.trieu@sorc.com.
Christian Wardlaw has left his position as Director of Content
Development with J.D. Power and Associates to become Managing Editor for
Salt Lake City-based Vehix, effective Jan. 1, 2011. He is responsible for
development of "in-market" content
for the decade-old site that specializes in dealer inventory of new and
used cars and offers research and information tools, car reviews and
news. . . . After 10 years with Motor Trend, eight of them as host of
Motor Trend Radio, Bob Long is moving. He can now be reached at
boblongradio@yahoo.com. His new show runs Saturdays and Sundays from 8
a.m to 10 a.m. on the Talkradio network. . . . Veteran auto reporter
and editor Bill Moore has checked in after his 3,800 mile west-to-east
trek in search of work. Now in Waterford, Connecticut, he remains
available at last report and can be reached at
hemmmingwa@sbcglobal.net.
|
John Stewart |
John Stewart is the new editorial director
for SEMA, replacing Matt Pierson who has taken a post out of the auto
industry. A veteran editor and publisher of consumer and aftermarket
magazines and marketing guru, Stewart is responsible for the monthly SEMA News Magazine, SEMA show publications and
SEMA eNews and will serve
as a voice for SEMA-member companies. He can be reached at: 909-978-6710 or
johns@sema.org.
Click here to comment online: Lane Changes
TOC |
across the finish line |
Tom Keane – Founder of Motor Matters and passionate author of the
"Keane on Wheels" column. Karl Ritzler – Retired Atlanta Journal–Constitution auto editor and
founding member of the Greater Atlanta Automotive Media Association (GAAMA).
Chuck Jordan – Retired GM design chief whose work inspired a generation
of vehicle designers.
Mercury - A car line loved by too few to stay alive.
Click here to comment online:
Across The Finish Line
TOC |
- 30- |
Glenn F. Campbell
Principal
autowriters.com |
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CALENDAR |
January 2011 |
17 |
IMPA, Luncheon, 3 West Club, New York, NY, Steve Rattner |
18 |
MPG, Luncheon, The Proud Mary, Los Angeles, CA, Toyota |
18 |
NEMPA, Dinner, Boston Globe, Boston, MA |
26 |
GAAMA, Luncheon, Atlanta, GA, Honda |
26 |
WAPA, Green Car Summit, Green Car Journal, Cannon House
Bldg, D.C. |
26 |
TAWA, Gen'l Membership Meeting, Houston Auto Show |
26-29 |
Qatar Motor Show, Doha Exhibition Center, Qatar |
27 |
WAPA, Washington Public Policy Day, Keynote, GM |
27 |
WAPA, Mazda Press Breakfast, Washington Auto Show,
Rebecca Lindland, IHS |
27 |
SAMA, Luncheon, TBA, Acura |
February 2011 |
1 |
APA/TI Luncheon, Detroit, MI |
9 |
WAJ, Dinner Meeting, So. San Francisco, CA, Toyota |
9-10 |
Chicago Auto Show Media Preview, Chicago |
15 |
NEMPA, Media Members Only |
15 |
MPG |
17 |
SAMA, Luncheon, TBA, Lincoln |
March 2011 |
2 |
GAAMA, Luncheon, Mazda, Location TBA |
8 |
NEMPA, Dinner, Boston Globe, Boston, MA |
17 |
SAMA, Luncheon, TBA, Chrysler |
April 2011 |
11 |
2011 PACE Awards Presentation, Detroit, MI |
12 |
NEMPA, Dinner, Boston Globe, HAARTZ, Boston, MA |
12-15 |
2011 SAE World Congress, Detroit, MI |
20-21 |
New York International Auto Show Press Days, New York, NY |
22-May 1 |
New York International Auto Show Public Days, New York,
NY |
TOC
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motoring press organizations |
The 15 regional automotive press associations provide
information and background not easily found elsewhere. If they are too distant for you to attend their meetings,
belonging usually gives you access to transcripts or reports of
these events and other benefits.
APA |
Automotive Press Association, Detroit -
Joann Muller, President,
jmuller@forbes.com
|
IMPA |
International Motor Press
Association, NYC, Fred Chieco, President -
info@impa.org,
www.impa.org
|
GAAMA
 |
Greater Atlanta Automotive Media Association
www.gaama.org
|
MAMA |
Midwest Automotive Media
Association, Chicago -
www.mamaonline.org
|
MPG
 |
Motor Press Guild, Los Angeles -
www.motorpressguild.org
|
NEMPA |
New England Motor
Press Association, Boston -
www.nempa.org
|
NWAPA |
Northwest
Automotive Press Association, Portland, OR, Jeff Zurschmeide,
President j.zursch@verizon.net,
www.nwapa.org
|
PAPA |
Phoenix Automotive Press
Association, Phoenix, Cathy Droz, President-
drozadgal@aol.com
|
RMAP |
Rocky Mountain Automotive Press, Denver -
www.rmapmedia.com
info@rmapmedia.com
|
SAMA |
Southern Automotive Media
Association, Miami FL, Paul Borden, President,
pborden41@yahoo.com
|
SEAMO |
Southeast
Automotive Media Organization, Charlotte, NC
www.southeastautomedia.org
|
TAWA
|
Texas Auto Writers Association
www.TexasAutoWriters.org, Mike Herzing,
mikeh@automotivereporter.com
|
TWNA |
Truck Writers
of North America, www.twna.org Tom Kelley, Executive Director,
tom.kelley@deadlinefactory.com
|
WAJ |
Western Automotive Journalists,
San Francisco - www.waj.org, Ron Harrison
rharr70210@aol.com
|
WAPA |
Washington
Automotive Press Association, D.C., Rick Trawick, President www.washautopress.org
|
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TOC |
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podium
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Carroll Shelby will be presented The Automotive News Lifetime Achievement
Award
by the paper’s editor-in-chief, Keith Crain at a dinner marking the close of
Public Policy Day at the Washington Auto Show, January 27. Shelby joins
Congressman John Dingell and Ralph Nader as the only persons so honored by the
paper.
North American Car and Truck of The Year
As voted by a select jury of
journalists from the U.S. and Canada.
Chevrolet Volt
Ford Explorer
Ford Motor Company won the R.L. Polk Automotive Loyalty Award presented to OEMs
that "demonstrate a manufacturer's ability to retain owners over repeat buying
cycles."
The
2011 Green Car Summit at The Washington Auto Show January 26 features a
forum of automotive luminaries headed by Jim O’Donnell, president of BMW North
America.
The
Internet Car and Truck of The Year web site announced its winners at The New
England Auto Show. The 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee was named Internet Truck of the
Year in consumer and press voting. In COTY voting, consumers favored the 2011
Ford Mustang GT, while the pros went for the 2011 Cadillac CTS. The late
Jerry
Flint was named the site’s "Internet Automotive Journalist of the Year"
Automotive News won a Digital Azbee Award, for a January video segment about
Ford Motor Co. CEO Alan Mulally, called "Detroit's Superstar CEO." The paper's
Leslie Allen, Jennifer Vuong, Lance Graves, Tom Worobec and
Dave Versical, were
involved in the segment. The award was presented by the American Society of
Business Publication Editors.
Speed Shop Founder and Hot Rod Icon Alex Xydias has been named Chairman of the
Board of the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum presented by Automobile Club of
Southern California. (That name wouldn't make it in most papers) The museum is
located on edge of the Los Angeles County Fairplex in Pomona.
20th International Automotive Media Competition
For
works aired between January 1 - December 31, 2010. Books, Graphics, Internet
Magazines, Multimedia, Newsletters, Newspapers, Public Relations, Radio, Video.
Submission deadline:
March 2, 2011
Click
here for IAMS Entry Forms |
talkback
|
Dear Glenn:
Print Dead? Not around here ... This is two days worth of Holiday catalogs
(about a pound and a half of "print" in fact).

Have a great season and keep up the good work.
The LA Auto Show in one sentence: The air is rife with hybrid hype
out west; all must electrify or die.
THANKS!
stokes
Skype: stokes5000
stokes28@earthlink.net
PS: Are you still a lineman for the county?
Glenn, Lysa, thanks for another great issue! :)
Josh Max
www.AutoGigolo.com
Re:
"Internet Communications: User Generated or Professional
Content?"
It's not surprising that the younger set listed Ford, Chevy, and
Dodge, as among their brand favorites.
When I am road testing Camaros, Challengers, and Mustangs, the
number of young people who come up and ask questions about this trio
is sometimes overwhelming. Many young guys (and some gals) who pump
gas at service stations (New Jersey won't let us pump our own) focus
in on what I am driving and want to know all about the cars and give
me their individual opinions.
Even when driving slow down
a city street, young folks wave and give a
thumbs up to the trio. Even some older drivers will stop me and tell
me about Mustangs, Camaros, and Challengers that they have owned.
I am also not surprised by Hyundai and Kia making the list. As an
auto writer, I have seen them climb the mountain, and they are going
to climb even higher.
That Toyota is still at the top of the heap, despite all the
battering the company has taken the past two years, is a tribute to
the loyal customer base that they have built up primarily due to
quality. I have road tested just about every Toyota, Lexus, and
Scion model, and have never experienced any of the problems reported
in the mass media.
As an automotive journalist, I have always been impressed by
Toyota's willingness to share information with the press as well
answer our tough questions. As a journalist for a small newspaper,
Toyota has always treated me with respect and given me the
information I needed.
That contrasts with Honda, which makes great cars, but, who, in
recent years has snubbed smaller newspapers.
Russ Dodge
Re:
"Road Signs: 3D Printing, Parallel Parking, Web v Word Of Mouth"
The Urbee Hybrid - the first car to have its body 3D printed shows
us what's wrong with modern cars. This thing looks like a cough
drop, a blob of unimaginative computer-generated garbage that was
imagined by some 30-something designer who has spent way too much
time gaming and texting and otherwise being self-involved.
Having been in this game for over 40 years, I am probably more than
a bit jaded but if this is what we will all be driving over the next
20 years, I think I will buy a horse. What ever happened to the
great automotive designers? Did they all pass away into extinction
like the dinosaurs did? Is there no modern Harley Earl?
I don't know about you all, but I for one am tired of cars that look
like blobs, computer mouses (Prius) or are just plain, butt ugly
(Nissan should be ashamed of the cube). Today, it seems that cars
are about connectivity and not about style, handling, and driving
fun. Why do we need a car that connects us to Facebook and Twitter
while we are driving (MINI Countryman). You know, auto writing used
to be fun, it is now a slog. I guess I'll keep my old Jeep, my MG,
and ride my Royal Enfield. These machines weren't even close to
being perfect, but they had a certain style, were fun to drive and
weren't loaded with electronic geegaws that distracted one's
attention from the task at hand, which was controlling the vehicle.
Sure, I appreciate the modern technical and safety conveniences that
are available, even if some of them are installed to protect the
"innocent" from them selves, but at least package the technology in
an attractive shell. And let's get rid of Facebook and Twitter
access from behind the wheel. Save that for your Blackberry, PC or
better yet, ignore it entirely. As Betty White recently said, "I
don't use Facebook or Twitter, it is all such a waste of time." I
think she has a point. Perhaps I'll post that on my Facebook page...
Peter DuPre |
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