Tweet All Photos by Randy Stern, except otherwise noted Six years ago, I had to convince the pass gate people that I was there to meet with a communications person from Chrysler on the first day of the Twin Cities Auto Show. It was six year ago when the trajectory of this work went into …
Tweet The Geneva International Motor Show never disappoints. It is not just the intriguing products that will never come to North America. This show also includes those that will come here, but with a certain flair designed to engage and excite. Of the debuts that popped up at PALEXPO, there has been plenty of both …
Tweet All Photos by Randy Stern I could do a standard-issue look at the 109th edition of the Chicago Auto Show. However, I have done that plenty of times. In fact, this is my tenth time I visited the show. This marks the 15th anniversary of my first one – credentialed as media. That now …
Tweet Photo by Randy Stern The Chicago Auto Show is almost here. This will be my seventh straight time I have been credentialed to work as a member of the automotive media. This will also be my ninth Chicago show I have worked since 2002. With the additional visit in 2008, this will make my …
Stockard Channing had this monologue in the movie “Six Degrees of Separation” where she proclaims that her encounter with the young man who turns out not to be Sidney Portier’s son was “an experience” and it perceived to be “an anecdote” to her life. Now, I don’t know about all that, but I must say that my first foray into “serious journalism” back in 2002 was an experience nonetheless.
As I mentioned before, I love cars. Through the experience of reading the automotive enthusiast magazines, I entertained the idea of a possible career as a road test reviewer. To be able to drive some of the hottest cars on the market for 1,000 miles at a time and criticize its characteristics seemed like to be one of the coolest jobs on the planet.
Before I was asked to write for Midwest Ursine, I already dreamed of being an equal to the likes of L.J.K. Setright, Georg Kacher, Csaba Csere, David E. Davis and P.J. O’Rourke. Unfortunately, Mr. O’Rourke graduated to be being a right-wing, whining Baby Boomer pinhead with a successful portfolio of books. Yet, unlike the late Mr. Setright, I cannot ride the two-wheeled variety of vehicles he fancies alongside the Rolls-Royces, the Bristols and the Ferraris.
So, I wanted an opportunity to expand my journalistic world away from commenting on the bear community. I love my bear/leather/chub brethren, but there’s more to life than bar nights, bear runs, sleep disorders and sex.
For this leap into “serious journalism,” I picked the 101st Chicago Auto Show, which was held at the massive McCormick Place convention center south of The Loop. To make this work, I had an accomplice, Tom Wray, Midwest Ursine’s (now Great Lakes Den) publisher. We ran around in our badges, took shots of concept cars, the latest productions vehicles and having Tom witness squeezing my large body into everything from the Chrysler Prowler to the rear seat of the Lincoln Town Car Cartier L. All of this with the intent on creating a main story piece relating the auto show experience for its intended readership.
Tweet It has been a few years since I last attended the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. I have been credentialed, but never attended since 2013. It could be disappointing on one hand, but getting all the news one needs from afar is truly advantageous. There had been some major introductions in Detroit …
Tweet I would've gone to the Los Angeles Auto Show this year. But… Excuses, excuses. You heard it all. And, you probably heard how much the marketing tie-up between Nissan and Disney/Lucasfilm created an attractive exhibit this year on the floor of the Los Angeles Convention Center. The place is replete with Tie Fighters, movie …
Tweet Mid-cycle refreshes abound, but New York was not a waste – I promise. New York, the city that is, is a global epicenter, but the auto show that shares its name has always fallen a bit flat in the automotive community. This is because it focuses more on refreshed, volume creating cars rather than …
Tweet As a part of our Fifth Anniversary, I brought on some of our most creative people from our car community to show their coverage of the Twin Cities Auto Show. Five of these highly creative lensfolk responded to a call for photographers to cover the show's media preview. Of the photographers showcased on V&R …
Tweet Having a home auto show to work at has its advantages. For me, the Twin Cities Auto Show is home turf. Living here enables my resources to maximize the value of attending and working the show for almost every year I have lived in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. Each year adds another layer of …