the road ahead
|
New surveys reported in Media Post
Publications and one from Auto Pacific
provide a snapshot of where Internet communications
appear to be heading. Erik Sass reports in
The Social Graf that new findings by
Forrester Research, suggest that “while
the number of people using social media still may be
growing the number of people who are actually
creating original content has leveled off in the
last few years.”

Forrester classifies only 23% of the U.S. online
audience as online creators. The research notes that
15 of the top 20 most-watched videos on You Tube
are professionally produced. Sass opines that
contrary to early expectations for a flood of
user-generated content, the actual number of people
who want to be online creators is limited, noting
that "the vast majority of blogs are abandoned after
a few updates, while 90% of Twitter users are
‘lurkers’ who just like to read what other people
post.”
Karlene Lukovitz, reports in Marketing
Daily that Gen Y consumers (age 18 to 34) are
less likely than consumers age 35 and older to base
their actual purchasing decisions on issues they
deem important. Instead, according to research by
Resonate Networks, they are most likely to buy
products that reflect and convey their personal
achievement and success to others. According to a
national Gen Y survey by Auto Pacific, that
means they favor Toyota, Honda,
Ford, Chevrolet, Nissan,
Hyundai, Volkswagen, Kia, Dodge
and Subaru in that order, with newcomers
Hyundai and Kia, replacing Mazda
and Jeep.
For an even younger generation, participants in
Media Magazine’s “Future of Media Forum”
focused, for a period according to Joe Mandese,
writing for Media Daily, “on the addictive nature
with which children consume media, and increasingly,
pay for it via premium online distribution
platforms.” Mandese reports, the media honchos
attending the Forum “all seemed to agree that
Millennials do differ from previous generations in
that they expect to get their media content
on-demand, when and where they want it, and that in
many cases, they would pay for it.”
Speaking of paid content, The London Times
has lost 4 million readers since going behind a
paywall but it is making more money from
subscriptions than it did from online advertising
when it was free.
Click here to comment online: Road Ahead
TOC
|
|
passing scene |
The Associated Press has dropped the “writer” from its byline because,
according to a staff memo by AP Standards editor Tom Kent: “These days,
the byline on an AP story may rightfully belong to a text reporter, a
photographer, a videographer or a radio reporter...some of our staffers have
extensive multimedia skills and work with several platforms every day. Saying
simply "Associated Press" focuses on the important thing: that the material is
from an Associated Press journalist.”
Advertising Age rates Ford as the year’s best marketer among
automakers although its many successful ad campaigns were probably topped by
simply saying “No” to the government’s TARP funds. Ford marketing chief
Jim Farley told the trade magazine turning down the loan was worth “more
than $1 billion in coverage and consumer interest.” . . . Not likely to reach
those proportions but Toyota’s new corporate campaign, reported in
Marketing Daily, cleverly combats negative recall residue without bringing it
up. Called “Ideas for Good” it talks about how the company repurposes
automotive technology it has developed to benefit society. And it encourages positive
awareness by spotlighting five of its technologies where prizes will be awarded
to consumers who come up with the best ideas for re-purposing them in
non-automotive uses.
A reason why more car bloggers should attend BlogWorld as Tom Kelley
urges or enter Keith Griffin’s Blogger of The Year Awards, is this quote
of the week relayed from England by Media Digest: “A lot of bloggers
seem to be socially inadequate, pimpled, single, slightly seedy, bald,
cauliflower- nosed young men sitting in their mother’s basements and ranting.”
GARAGE "FINDS"
1929 Bugatti

1937 Ford House Car

Click here to comment online: Passing Scene
TOC
|
road signs |
Not AWCOM’S forte but this car found buried in the November
Amsterdam Journal is new to us. “Urbee Hybrid – the first car to have
entire body 3D printed.” It is
manufactured by Stratasy headquartered in
Eden Prairie, Minn. and Kor Ecologic, Winnipeg,
Canada. According to the
Journal "All exterior components - including the glass panel prototypes - were
created using Dimension 3D Printers and Fortus 3D Production Systems."
The electric-fuel hybrid claims more than 200-mpg highway and 100 mpg in U.S.
gallons. Also, “The car is charged overnight for pennies from any standard
electrical outlet. Alternately, it can be charged by renewable energy from a
windmill or a solar panel array small enough to fit on top of a single car
garage.”
The Detroit Bureau reports research by Ford and MIT
counters some concerns about in-car technology contributing to driver
distraction. The study found automatic parallel parking and Cross-Traffic
Alert, can relieve driver stress and improve overall driver safety and
wellbeing. . . . MediaPost Raw News reports that the online editor for
the U.K.’s Sun Newspaper, Peter Picton, is joining News Corp’s
Daily Planet Project, to develop a mass-market national U.S. title on
tablets . . . . Wooden Horse News reports US News & World Reports’
December issue will be its last in print. The company’s popular guides will be
printed for newsstand and targeted distribution along with four other special
editions. Otherwise, it will be a digital publisher.
Women now prefer web sites to word-of-mouth for gathering information about
products and services with automobiles at the top, a Research Brief from
the Center for Media Research reports. But, based on the Harbinger
Women & Word of Mouth Study, females still prefer to share opinions by word
of mouth and they are most likely to share them about automobiles, restaurants
and entertainment . . . . Possibly good news for auto writers is a report by
MediaPost writer Max Kalehoff that new software under development erases
advertising on the Internet – even in videos. The alternative being, presumably,
learning about products from articles.
AutoTrader.com’s acquisition of Kelley Blue Book adds 900 sales
reps to KBB’s limited national crew and enables the combined services to guide
consumers from model and market price to the dealer lot nearest them.
Edmuds.com is on the verge of re-launching its site with multi new features,
including dealer ratings. Marketing Daily’s Karl Greenburg quotes
Edmund’s CEO Jeremy Anwyl's explanation for the overhaul five-years in the
making, "If we don't solve problems for consumers, we have no relevance. Most
of our traffic is people who came to us from Google or Bing with a
real need," he says. "If we can't solve that, we have failed.". . . From
Steve Goldstein's MIN Online interview with David Zinczenko,
SVP/editor-in-chief of Men's Health and editorial director of Women's
Health: “My recommendation for people who want to be in the media now is to be a voracious consumer of
information technologies, so that you have a full appreciation of all the ways
it is possible to reach an audience. The old-school media are not going to go
away, but they have been and will be joined by increasing numbers of outlets
that up the ante and the immediacy of the work we are producing. Why settle for
being in somebody's briefcase when you can flow in through their eyes and ears and
inhabit their heads? That's the skill today's editors need to have.”
Click here to comment online: Road Signs
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.
Tom Kelley is a freelance auto journalist specializing in
trucks. He is founder of the Southeast Automotive Media
Organization and Executive Director of the Truck Writers of
North America. Reach him at:
tom.kelley@deadlinefactory.com
Back From The Edge
Blogger Convention Moving Mainstream
|
Tom Kelley |
As little as one year ago, BlogWorld, the trade show of the blogging industry
(yes, industry), could have been viewed as being out there on the “edge” of
media and communications. My report from last year’s event (see the November ’09
edition of AW.com at
http://autowriters.com/blog/the-tom-tom-a-view-from-the-edge/ )
emphasized that through its title, “A View From The Edge.” This year, both the
show and the industry are moving in from the edge and becoming a mainstream
facet of mass-market communications.
The 2010 edition of “Blog World & New Media Expo” marks my fourth visit to the
show. I continue to recommend attending the show to anybody who is serious about
still being in the journalism business beyond the next few years. Yes, for a
freelancer like myself, it is an out-of-pocket expense, rather than an auto
manufacturer funded junket, but what I learn on a “free” junket will only help me
write a few stories, while what I learn at BlogWorld will help me create and
distribute content for the rest of my career.
Although the official attendance statistics remain elusive as of this
just-before-deadline submission, early reports place the 2010 attendance at more
than 3,000, up more than 35% from the 2009 event, which is impressive given the
current state of the economy.
What continues to perplex, however, is the absence of autowriters at the event.
This is not to say that the auto industry was absent from the event. Ford was
again a top-level sponsor, with an expanded presence on both the show floor and
test-drive fleet outside. Had Ford been at the event to reach current and future
auto-centric bloggers, they would have been just as disappointed as I was by the
absence of mainstream automotive journalists.
Ford’s key reason for supporting and attending the show was to reach “vertical”
market bloggers, those who write about multiple topics for a specific audience
segment, with “mommy-bloggers” being a key example.
While saying this may qualify as heresy among dedicated autowriters, there are
great numbers of car buyers out there who care nothing about how quickly a car
can make it through an autocross course, or the difference between pushrod and
OHC engine, or least of all, whether the writer has their own helmet, fire suit
and SCCA license.
“Moms” are the sole decision makers for a significant percentage of car
purchases, and are highly influential in the decisions for another large
percentage of purchases, yet the autowriting fraternity has vastly underserved
them. Only a handful of “traditional” autowriters have ever pursued this
audience. Is it any wonder that Ford is reaching out to a growing cadre of
mommy-bloggers and their hyper-loyal audiences?
Beyond the audience demographics lesson, there were many informative sessions to
attend, 120 sessions featuring 300 speakers over 3 days, as a matter of fact. As
a gear-head, I would have preferred a few more “nuts & bolts” technology
sessions, rather than business or strategy sessions, but the split was well
balanced for the wider audience.
The most important take-away from the event, however, wasn’t something that
could be learned from a sponsor or during a session, but rather, was a lesson
that was best learned from a 30,000-foot view of the entire event. That lesson,
sorely under-learned by many in the traditional media, is the example set by the
collegial atmosphere at BlogWorld, and in the blogging industry at large.
At many auto press events, there are dozens of less-than-collegial behavior
examples, from hiding keys, to deliberately trashing vehicles, or my favorite
example, those at auto shows who just have to go that last four to eight inches
of obnoxiousness by flipping their camera flash units to the bounce-flash
position to shoot a subject who is 80 feet away, and who is already lit to
melanoma-inducing levels with about ten bazillion watts of HMI lights. Excuse me
Mr. Ansel Adams-Wannabe, your four AA flash batteries are of no consequence to
the photo you’ll never use, but you’ve effectively screwed the sightline and/or
potential shots of anybody behind you.
Conversely, if one sets aside the occasional right/left political humor jibes
that get tossed around, mostly in good fun, it would be tougher to find a more
collegial gathering than BlogWorld. The blogging community has many “stars” in
the truest sense of the word, and virtually all of these stars attend BlogWorld,
sharing what they know by leading the sessions, helping the show managers with
organizing session tracks, and networking with even the newest of bloggers.
While being there is the only way to really learn the lesson of collegiality,
the show organizers have gone to the effort to make much of the show’s content
available to those who could not attend, but still want to learn more about
blogging. Most of the keynote speeches can be viewed for free at
http://www.ustream.tv/BlogWorld,
and recordings of most sessions can be accessed for a fee far lower than the
cost of attending the event.
Borrowing the spirit of BlogWorld, there are efforts underway to re-start the
“conference” side of the International Automotive Media Awards. What would you
like to learn there? What subjects could you teach there? Would you attend such
an event even if there is a small cost involved? Please let us know.
Send your comments to:
tom.kelley@deadlinefactory.com
Click here to comment
online: Tom-Tom
TOC
|
new
roads |
BCT Publishing announced the re-launch of Automotive Traveler magazine
with a 100-page November 2010 issue. The online-only monthly publication
targets automotive and travel enthusiasts seeking the next great road
trip. It uses a proprietary technology to produce a viewer that works
with any browser, on any device and is fast and expandable as new
technologies emerge. After publishing four award-winning, quarterly
issues, three years ago, parent company BCT Publishing LLC of
Scottsdale, Arizona, decided the magazine was just a bit ahead of its
time. Now, editorial director Richard Truesdale says, “Some estimates
say more than 20 million tablet PCs will be sold in the next 12 months -
and with our versatile platform, we plan to be participants."
Writers searching for new outlets may want to check out the burgeoning
auto magazine market in Singapore. Cheryl Tay lists more than a dozen
English language outlets (three added this year) in her Updated:
Automotive
Journalism Scene in Singapore.
Click here for her listing
with descriptions and contact information. . . .
Denise McCluggage will launch her new
www.denisemccluggage.com around
Thanksgiving. The Tuesday Car Table site planned with her New Mexico car
cronies she regularly lunches with when in town never got beyond the
menu. So as usual, she is striking out on her own to share her
thoughtful take on the intertwining of her life and autos.
Dr.
Robin Segal, a self-described automobile non-enthusiast, was recently
appointed new cars editor at www.bellaonline.com, a website by and for
women. According to the announcement, “Segal joins the ranks of
automotive journalism with her weekly articles for people who need, but
do not love, cars.” . . . Real Times Media and Who’s Who Publishing are
producing “DRIVEN: A Tribute To African American Achievement in the
Automotive Industry.” Award-winning auto journalist Warren Brown will
pen the introduction.
A post in The NewsCloud Blog, which is
sponsored by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and provides
social media software solutions for Facebook, posts: “With Facebook's
native applications for photos, email, events and groups already in
place, a built-in news application is inevitable. Such an application
would help Facebook take on Google News and further broaden its walled
garden of content. Unfortunately, a Facebook News application will not
bode well for media companies. Suddenly, Facebook will funnel news to
you from a variety of sources based on data it already knows about you
and your friends. Whereas Google News (theoretically) knows little about
you until you personalize it, Facebook knows your demographic, your
interests, stories and pages you've liked, your friends and news they've
read, liked and commented on. Readers
won't realize they're consuming
news from an echo chamber designed by Facebook's feed algorithm. The
role of editors to curate important stories will be diminished.” Some
ways news organizations can prepare for this future are offered in this
same post.
Sam Moses has recast his www.newcarsnark.com to be short
on copy and long on photos when available. Those from his Land Rover
Colorado Adventure,
shot by truly intrepid photog Gunnar Conrad are enough to thrill
flatlanders without inflicting the chills of trekking high mountain
trails.
Click here to comment online: New Roads
TOC |
regional news |
The Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA)’s 2011 Board of Directors:
Michael Herzing- President, Don Armstrong- 1st VP, Guillermo de la
Corte- 2nd VP, Gretha Gudmundsson- 3rd VP, Michael Marrs- Treasurer,
Linda Water Nelson- Secretary, Lynn David Cole- At Large, Jeff Yip- At
Large, and Harold Gunn- Immediate Past President.
The “Truck of Texas” as determined at TAWA’s annual truck rodeo is the
Ram Laramie Longhorn. Nineteen other vehicles earned class awards. The
Southern Auto Media Association (SAMA) named the Chevrolet Volt and
the Nissan Leaf as the best vehicles at the recent Miami Auto Show. The
fourth annual “Star of The Show” trophy went to the Volt after SAMA
members decided it was the single vehicle on display at the show that
South Floridians most wanted to see. The Leaf was picked as the “Best
Green Technology Vehicle” and Jeep’s Lower Forty was named the show’s
“Best Concept Vehicle."
The Motor Press Guild (MPG) has announced three finalists in four
categories of MPG Best of The Year Awards. The Dean Batchelor Award will
be presented to the category winner judged to have produced the single
piece of work which best represents the professional standards and
excellence demanded by Dean Batchelor during his life as an editor,
writer, and chronicler of the automotive industry. The Dean Batchelor
Awards Dinner will be held at the Petersen Automotive Museum on December
7. A Lifetime Achievement Award is also presented from time to time at
the discretion of the MPG Board of Directors.
Click here to comment online: Regional Automotive News
TOC |
pit notes |
The auto racing community is being asked to reach out and help one of
its many, many unheralded workers pay to
restore the face and future of his granddaughter who survived a crash
that took the life of her mother and left her
in need of major reconstructive surgery. The full, horrific story and
address where donations can be sent is at
www.samanthashope.com. As
“Lugnut” responded to the plea, “I donated. If everyone who reads this
donated even just $1, we could easily raise the $100,000 they need. It
only takes a minute to change this little girl's life forever ... for
the better.”
Frank Stephenson, design director of
McLaren,
provides an impressive “walk around" of the new MP4-12C McLaren super
car on Cruise Control’s You Tube site:
http://www.youtube.com/user/CruiseControlVideo.
In two segments he articulates how the esthetic appeal of the mid-engine
beauty accommodates the car’s engineering priorities, many of them
established on the race track. Form following function.
Stephenson will
join design professionals from Pixar Animation Studios and others at the
2011 AutoWeek Design Forum during the North American International Auto
Show (Jan.10 –14)
Worth noting if missed, the original James Bond
Aston Martin DB5 seen in “Goldfinger” and “Thunderball” then sold in
1969 for $12,000 went for $4.6 million (including fees) at auction
recently. The Detroit Bureau reports Harry Yeaggy of the Buckeye state
was the winning bidder. . . . Official Gunther Raupp 2011 Ferrari
Calendars (Myth and Rosso Corsa) are available at
www.BullPublishing.com
while they last. Also, Raupp’s large-format book, Ferrari:25 Years of
Calendar Images. . . . Jeff Mohr is on a crusade to get people with ball
mounts on their vehicles to remove them when they get done towing. He
says there is a 22% higher risk of a whiplash injury when a car with a
ball mount in the receiver gets rear-ended. He explains it at:
superbumper@qwestoffice.net . . . . In a piece for
GQ, “Bentleys in
Bahrain & Other Mundane Moments," veteran auto journalist Jamie Kitman
offers the “Kitman-Floss Special Sauce Five Stages of Automotive
Journalism." He advises, “Remember them well, car fans, as
everything you ever read or will read in the world of road-test
literature can be viewed through this prism: elation, enthusiasm,
bargaining, depression, nostalgia/retirement.”
Click here to comment onlien: Pit Notes
TOC |
rules of the road |
Along with changing the variety and amount of content and the ways it is
delivered, the New Media is also renewing concerns about how content is
produced. Pro Publica’s editor-in-chief, Paul Steiger expressed some of
his in a lecture at the University of Georgia. Mike Webb summed them up
for Pro Publica:
“Steiger pointed to four distinct issues that journalists need to
examine: the blurred line between presentation of fact and opinion; the
quest for building a larger audience versus the need for journalism of
substance and civic importance; the new business challenges facing the
industry; and the need for greater transparency from news organizations
.Jeremy Gilbert and Jan Leach covered a Next Ethics Workshop hosted
recently by Kent State University and The Poynter Institute. Among the
workshop “take-aways” the pair reported in their “Everyday Ethics” piece
for Poynter Online:
“...the task of seeking truth from so many different viewpoints is
more difficult than ever.
The line between facts and opinions is also blurring.
When presenting large data sets, a combination of transparency and
editorial judgment is critical.
Online comments on news stories can expand, narrow or expose the
community.
Transparency becomes even less apparent as the relationship between PR
folks and the media changes. In today's fast-paced online news environment, PR and journalism depend
on each other more than ever, but with that dependence comes a need for
transparency about who generates stories and how they are published."
Closer to home, the Auto Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC) wants
its members to be perceived as “credible and trustworthy.”
Towards that end, it is soliciting AJAC members’ comments on a new draft
of ethical guidelines for the organization.
Click here to read them.
Click here to comment online: Rules Of The Road
TOC |
lane changes |
Geri Tucker becomes the new editor in charge of auto coverage for
USA
Today on Nov.15. New to the auto world, she has been playing “catch up”
the past weeks before stepping in to coordinate the work of Jim Healey,
Fred Meier and Chris Woodyard. Tucker can be reached at
gtucker@usatoday.com.
. . . Suzuki Product PR Manager David Boldt has returned to Texas and
auto journalism as a freelancer based in Duncanville where he will write
for AutoTrader.com and others with a specific focus on trucks and the
truck industry. Telephone him at: 562-458-5877 or email him at
djboldt@sbcglobal.netdjboldt@sbcglobal.net
. . . Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Jeff Holland has been promoted to
Associate Director of Public Relations and Social Media for Suzuki. He
will continue to manage the company’s PR portfolio and adds social media
initiatives and digital promotions.
Deepa Seetharaman has
transferred from Reuters’ New York bureau to its Detroit Bureau to
helpcover
the auto industry: dseetharaman@thomsonfreuters.com . . .Tony Heugel who
compiles back country travel guides from his Idaho digs has a new email:
tahuegel@gmail.com . . . So does
Bruno Bornino, a long time auto writer
for the Cleveland Sun Newspapers:
bornino581@roadrunner.com
. . . Diane
Tierney replaced Michael Goetz. as World of Wheels editor in Oakville,
Ontario. She can be reached at: Dtierney@metroland.com
David
Cohen’s new email address is: david@pinkmagazine . . . Lima, Ohio’s
“Mr. Wheels” talk show host at 1150 a.m. radio, Tom Grothous, can be
emailed at: trgotat@unoh.edu . . .
Phil Howell, editor-in-chief of
4Wheel Drive and Sport Utility has moved back to Utah’s Dixie region.
His emails remain the same but his phone is new: 435-635-5335. . . . .
Car technology is in the sizeable portfolio handed Jeff Jones upon his
return to Penton Media IT Group as an industry news analyst. He has the
same task for all Penton publications.
Click here to comment online: Lane Changes
TOC |
across the finish line |
Christine Laidlaw the first editor of IMPACT (originally the IMPA IMP)
and wife of Angus, a founding member and former officer of IMPA.
A memorial service will be held 2-5 p.m. Saturday, December 11, at the
Montclair Women’s Club, 82 Union Street, Montclair, NJ.
Click here to send a note to the
family.
Jim Hunter – NASCAR vice president of corporate communications who, from
both within and without organization contributed mightily for more than
40 years to the growth and character of the sanctioning body and to auto
racing.
Pontiac - GM has officially ended production. 0-60
Magazine - blogs report it will cease production in December.
Click here to comment online:
Across The Finish Line
TOC |
- 30- |
Much as we enjoy producing the Autowriters.com
Newsletter and the occasional beers and kudos that come our way, we
truly enjoy spending as much of the Holidays as we can with our sizeable
family, unencumbered by deadlines and digging for data.
We hope that you, too, can celebrate freely and
joyfully and enter the New Year refreshed and grateful for what it
promises.
Glenn F. Campbell
Principal
autowriters.com |
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table of contents |
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subscription info |
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CALENDAR |
November 2010 |
15 |
APA, Luncheon, Detroit Athletic Club, Steve Rattner |
16 |
IMPA, Luncheon, New York |
17 |
WAPA, Luncheon, Nat'l Press Club. D.C., Gov't Vehicle
Tech Programs |
17 |
MPG, L.A. Auto Show Keynote Breakfast |
17-18 |
Media Days, L.A. Auto Show |
18 |
IMPA, Luncheon, New York City |
18 |
SAMA, Luncheon, Smith & Wollensky's, South Beach Miami, GM |
20 |
National Automotive History Collection, Authors Book Fair,
Detroit |
27 |
SAMA Rides & Smiles Charity Event, Homestead, Miami
Speedway |
30 |
NEMPA Annual Holiday Party, Boston Globe |
December 2010 |
2 |
MAMA, Luncheon, Oakrook, Ill, Shell |
4 |
2nd Petersen Museum Garage Sale & Swap Meet, Los Angeles |
7 |
MPG, Dean Batchelor Award Dinner, Petersen Museum, Los
Angeles, CA |
9 |
National Automotive History Collection, Vehicle of The
Future Award,Detroit |
16 |
APA, Luncheon, Detroit Athletic Club, North American Car
& Truck of the Year |
16 |
IMPA, Luncheon, New York |
January 2011 |
10 |
15th Annual Urban Wheels Awards, Motor City Casino Hotel,
Detroit |
10 |
APA, Welcome Reception, North American Int'l Auto Show,
Detroit |
10-11 |
Press Preview, NAIAS, Detroit |
12-14 |
Automotive News World Congress, Detroit |
26 |
WAPA, Green Car Summit, Green Car Journal, Cannon House
Bldg, D.C. |
26-29 |
Qatar Motor Show, Doha Exhibition Center, Qatar |
27 |
WAPA, Washington Public Policy Day, Keynote, GM |
27 |
SAMA, Luncheon, TBA, Acura |
February 2011 |
9-10 |
Chicago Auto Show Media Preview, Chicago |
17 |
SAMA, Luncheon, TBA, Lincoln |
TOC
|
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
|
|
TOC |
|
podium
|
It is the “Awards and Honors” time of the year. Here are a few that have come
across AWCom’s computer screen:
Mothers®
10th Annual Shine Awards
Honoring excellence in vehicle design the 2010 Mothers® Shine
Award was presented at SEMA to this 1970 Ford Mustang Mach 1 "Dragon"

Additionally Mothers®
presented 12 Choice Awards. One of our favorites - this 1961 Mercedes 190 SL "Merecedes
Bent":

Click here for all the winners and pictures.
Automotive Journalist of the Year - Canada
Jaguar Land Rover Canada recently presented Mark Richardson of the Toronto Star
with the Automotive Journalist Association of Canada (AJAC)’s 2010 Automotive
Journalist of the Year award. A panel of judges praised him for his "Good
imagination, clear writing and well-rounded choice of topics." The award was
established by Land Rover in 1984.
Urban Wheel Awards

Ford Motor Company’s Tony K. Brown will
receive the Executive of the Year award during the 15th Annual Urban Wheel
Awards event on Jan. 9, at Detroit’s Motor City Casino Hotel. Brown, Group Vice
President of Global Purchasing is being honored for his proven success in
management, dedication to furthering diversity in the auto industry, and
commitment to advancing his company's multicultural goals.
Also slated to be
honored at the event is Max Siegel, a groundbreaker for African Americans in the
motorsports. As NASCAR'S highest-ranking African-American executive, Siegel
oversaw the entire DEI organization including competition, marketing, sales,
sponsorships and distribution for all DEI's properties including motorsports
teams, licensing, promotion, business development and the Dale Earnhardt
Foundation.

Subaru of Indiana Automotive, Honda Motor Company, Ltd., Nissan
Motor Company, Ltd., and Toyota Motor Corporation have been named by Decisive
Media as
“The Greenest Auto Companies In America” and will be honored at the Urban Wheels
event, as well.
Green Car of the Year
Finalists for the 2011 Green Car of the Year®, award to be
announced Nov. 18 at the L.A. Auto Show are the 2011 Chevrolet Volt, 2011 Ford
Fiesta, 2011 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid, 2011 Lincoln MKZ Hybrid and the 2011 Nissan
Leaf.
SEMA Hottest Awards
The Chevrolet Camaro, Ford F-Series and Jeep Wrangler were named
winners in their respective classes of SEMA’s first annual “Hottest Awards” The
awards identify the most accessory-friendly new models displayed at the annual
SEMA show in Las Vegas. Named “Best New Product” at the show was Continental
Tire’s Pro Contact (tm) for its innovative low-rolling resistance and
fuel-saving features.
Auto Pacific & IntelliChoice Motor Choice Awards
Instead of vehicles classes, Auto Pacific and IntelliChoice combined their skills to research and establish 15 driver classes
according to their lifestyle and then match the premium and popular auto brands
favored by each. For example: Youthful: Dodge Challenger and Lexus IS, Kid
Friendly: Toyota Sequoia and Mercedes-Benz GL.
Click here for the complete list of Motorist
Choice Awards.
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beer!
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talkback
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Re: “Gen X, Gen Y Gen Buy”
"Generation Y is accustomed to multi-tasking, processing information
five times faster than do their parents."
I don't buy it. So-called "multi-tasking" has been shown to be a
myth. As for processing information "five times faster," that would
require a development in human physiology that hasn't happened.
I give this kind of un-scientific consultant claim as much credence
as cold fusion.
Bob Beamesderfer
mx5bob@att.net
Re: "Automotive Bloggers Need To Come Together To Move Forward"
Comment
You bring up a number of excellent points Keith.
A few years ago at IMPA Test Days, one manufacturer's PR guy asked
me how he could validate a blogger or new media outlet. I explained
some of the various metrics tools that exist but admitted that there
is still a touch of personal contact that needs to be accomplished.
It is one thing to develop readership, but quite another to be
responsible with a free press car.
When it comes to organization, I agree that a new media association
would be a good thing. That said, many (not all) traditional media
organizations have become more accepting of those who work in new
media over the past few years. Others still seem to doubt the
legitimacy of the medium, especially when the publication is
independently owned.
Having been part of the automotive
blogging community since the early days, I can tell you that most
bloggers or new media types are more than happy to work with each
other, even if it is not organized. In fact, those who have been
around for years understand that properties feeding off each other
is a large portion of what makes search engines function. Like it or
not, search engines are the primary source of readers.
As a member of IMPA and ARPA, I would be
more than happy to be involved with an organization that sets the
standards for new media auto publications.
Gary Grant
Correction: 10.2010 Autowriters.com Newsletter
Greetings!
I appreciate the mention in your newsletter, but the publications
listed were incorrect. I am the group technical editor for the
Advanstar automotive group, but the books that make up this group
are Motor Age, Auto Body Repair News or ABRN, and Aftermarket
Business World. All three are recognized leaders in the B2B
community and Motor Age is the oldest automotive trade publication
in the country.
The Advanstar auto group consists of not only these three print
publications, but several digital media outlets including our online
community site, the AutoPro Workshop at
www.motorage.com ...open to
anyone and everyone associated with the automotive service industry.
We are also active in a variety of social media in order to provide
our Generation Y audience with up to the minute information.
I, myself, came from a career as an ASE Master Auto Technician with
over 35 years experience. I started contributing to the magazine
five years ago and began helping editorially two years ago before
coming on full time.
I appreciate the mention in your newsletter, and look forward to
learning from its pages.
Peter F. Meier
Technical Editor, Advanstar Automotive Group
pmeier@advanstar.com
Re: 10.2010 Autowriters.com Newsletter
Hi Glenn --
Thanks for another fine issue of Autowriters. I liked everything
except the lead piece excerpting Paul Bradshaw's "Brave News
Worlds."
In his obsession with data, I believe he is confusing
journalism with mathematics. I would hate to see the result if he
were assigned to write an article about motor racing. The level of
reader interest would probably be minus twelve. If you don't have
reader interest you don't have readers and you can't sell
advertising.
In spite of a certain amount of splitting up, the mass
market is still a powerful force. And, please, let's retire the old
bromide "Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted: the
trouble is I don't know which half." That statement was made in 1936
by the head of Lazar's Department Store.
You and I both know how
much more accurate advertising research has become since then. We
know from serving in the vineyards of the Kenyon & Eckhardt agency
as it worked toward saving Chrysler Corporation in the Loan
Guarantee Era.
All the best,
Carl Goodwin |
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