frankly… Episode 77: Cars, conversations and community at the Detroit Auto Show

In this episode of frankly…

The transcript below is AI-generated and may contain minor inaccuracies. Tune in to the episode audio to hear the full conversation! 

Transcript

Rachel

Hello, welcome to Frankly.

Dan

Welcome.

Rachel

We have Sam Klemet on the podcast today. He’s the executive director of the Detroit Auto Dealers Association and the Detroit Auto Show. And he really gives us a little peek behind the curtain of his vision and what’s going to take place at the 2026 show and more, I think, just the impact that the show is having, how it’s being reimagined. He co-directed the show with Rod Alberts last year, who was head of the organization for, I think he said, 34 years. So big, big shoes to fill, and it sounds like he’s doing a great job.

Dan

Yeah, so we get into a little bit of the kind of storytelling that goes into promoting the show and connecting with the community throughout the year. And then And the importance of the show for the city of Detroit and the region, kind of not just in January, but all the time, how this kind of ties into the automotive community, how it ties into education, into charitable giving, all of these things.

Rachel

And as a communicator, that really just makes me feel good. Because that is something that I think I’ve preached and I’ve learned along with clients is like you might throw an event for a day or two, but you have to stay relevant year round.

Dan

Yes.

Rachel

That’s just important. So with that, we’ll hand it over.

Dan

Hi Sam, welcome to Frankly.

Sam

Thank you for having me.

Dan

Yeah, thanks so much for coming on. So tell us a little bit about yourself. What does your career path look like and how did you get to your current role with DADA and the Detroit Auto Show?

Sam

It was kind of an interesting path. I mean, if… You would have asked me, where would I be at this point in my career? I never would have guessed being the Detroit Auto Show. But it’s pretty special. I’m from Metro Detroit. I grew up here and was a Brother Rice Kid and went to Michigan State and did four years there and I was a journalism major. And so it was my goal to be the next Ernie Harwell or George Blaha, growing up, that was my goal. I didn’t quite attain that.

Dan

Slightly different path.

Sam

But yeah, I mean, I was a huge sports fan growing up and still am to this day, but I wanted to do journalism. And so after college, I bounced around the Midwest as a journalist. I was a news and sports director. I was a reporter in southern Illinois right out of college, and I was the news and sports director at a station in Minnesota. And then ultimately got hired by a public station in West Lafayette, Indiana, and spent a number of years there covering local politics and Big Ten sports and so that was a nice mix. And ultimately ended up at a station called WFY in Indianapolis, which is the public station down there. Worked there for a number of years, and then ultimately I got married and just didn’t want to cover stories from 6 a.m. till 11 p.m. Yeah, I wanted a little more of a balance.

Rachel

A lifestyle change, a huge one.

Sam

I have a lot of respect for those that do that, but it wasn’t for me at that point, and so I got into the association management side and I got hired by a company called Arlen Communications. They ran the Indiana Broadcasters Association. And so I spent about six years doing that. And I was the number two there. And so I got to learn from a mentor there, Dave Arland and ultimately, the Michigan Association of Broadcasters, their president and CEO was retiring after about 36 years.

Rachel

Wow.

Sam

She did a great job, Carol White, and they were looking for someone to replace her. And so I’d been running in those circles and they asked me. And so I moved back home to Lansing, East Lansing, and ran the MAB for about three years. And we did some really innovative stuff there. We did a lot of stuff to connect young people to the industry. We created a thing called the Great Lakes Broadcast and Sports Media Academy, which is, they used to have career fairs and they’d just do it like hotel ballrooms. And I was like, how can you get kids excited for that kind of stuff? You’re doing it in a hotel. So we moved it to Ford Field. And so we launched this and now it gets over 1000 kids. They’re still doing it. Other state associations have mimicked it and they’ve done it. Like Lambeau Field has done it. They’ve done.

Rachel

That’s cool. You built like a blueprint.

Sam

Very much so. Yeah. And so like those kind of things were really interesting and we revamped how we did our awards programs and those kind of things. And that caught the attention of some individuals, and so when Rod Alberts was retiring after thirty-four years here at the DADA and the auto show,

Rachel

You keep replacing these like long time,

Sam

I replaced, I replaced, I’ve been very lucky to follow in the footsteps of a lot of them

Rachel

Big shoes to fill.

Sam

And so I stepped into this role last May and learned from Rod. He and I were co-executive directors through the show in January, so I had spent about 8 months side by side with him, which was great because I got to pick as much of that thirty-four years of institutional knowledge as I could. And then took over solo as the executive director in February

Rachel

Which congratulations.

Sam

Thank you, thank you very much.

Rachel

It’s very exciting.

Sam

Yeah, it is. I love it. I love it.

Rachel

2026 is going to be a good show from what we’ve seen, and I know there’s more to come.

Sam

I believe so, yeah.

Rachel

Okay, I’d love to hear it. What’s your vision for the event, right? What are you, know, ran things for a long time. Auto shows are changing. How does your vision kind of align with that and also innovate from that?

Sam

Yeah, I think, you know, I think it is a time for evolution. seeing it from this perspective, but working side by side with Rod was very helpful. I think if they would have just said, hey, it’s yours, go figure this out, it would have been a disaster. And so, you know, taking the elements that we’ve always had that have made it successful, I mean, the cars will, as they say, they’ll always be the stars of the show. But I also think that the nature of shows, not just auto shows, but conventions in general, have changed quite quickly after COVID. And I think it was probably coming, but COVID accelerated that. And so, my ultimate vision is I want this to be a celebration. I think Detroit is uniquely positioned from an auto standpoint because this is the Motor City. This is the auto capital of the world.

Rachel

Yep.

Sam

And so I want it to be a celebration not only of the cars that are debuting and are new, but of the people that have made this industry great, who are from here. And those people make this city great and this state great. And so I want it to be a two-week stage that we have at the start of the year to celebrate the city of Detroit, to celebrate the state of Michigan, because it’s a spotlight that we can own and we get that every single year and really aren’t competing with other things at that time of year. We think about things like the NFL Draft we had in 2024 and that was an incredible way to spotlight the city. But as I’ve told people, that event’s not coming back for 20 to 30 years, right?

Rachel

If it even it does.

Sam

Right, if it does. And it’s not because it wasn’t a success. It was a massive success, but it rotates. But so what are the annual things that we can do as a city to remind people that the renaissance is here? You know, Detroit is back and to keep that spotlight on the city. And I see our show as having that responsibility to a degree. And I think that we need to evolve in a way that is a reflection of Detroit’s evolution and is inspiring for people to come here and want to be a part of this.

Dan

Yeah. And I think, you can kind of see that from the Detroit Auto Show throughout the year, even with things like the My Drive, My City, My Show program that I think debuted just last year. Yeah. Talk about that a little bit. It’s kind of like the storytelling side of the show outside of the show walls.

Sam

Yeah, I think this is where my journalism kind of comes in a little bit.

Rachel

I was just going to say that this feels very journalistic.

Sam

You can’t abandon it forever. one of the issues is, I think the show has had such a massive success that we could just show up in years past and say, hey, the auto show’s coming, it’s December 1st, guess what? Everyone knows the auto show’s coming in January. But they, moved the show into the summer months during COVID, and obviously we understand why that was. But so the move back to January, we kind of had to reintroduce ourselves and say, like, this is who we are. This is a new evolution of the show. And so the campaign, My Drive, My City, My Show, was all about how do we have a presence 365 days a year. I don’t want to come on December 1st and let people know, hey, the auto show’s coming. I want people talking about the auto show in March, April, May, so they know when January comes, like it’s locked in on their calendars. They know it’s something exciting. And from an OEM’s perspective, they know that too. They can feel the lift. There’s an energy that comes through having a presence throughout

Rachel

A helpful sales tool for you guys too, to get people on board and get activations and OEMs involved.

Sam

Absolutely, it’s a way to highlight cars and car culture that isn’t just taking a picture of something that was on the auto show floor last year and saying, oh, we’re posting something to post something. I don’t want to do that. That’s not engaging content. That doesn’t drive anything forward. But these stories do, because these stories are about people and their relationship with cars, which is really the foundation of an auto show. That’s where you create these memories, you create these stories. And so it’s been a huge success. it won like 18 marketing communication awards. It was nominated for two Emmys.

Rachel

Good for you.

Sam

But the biggest piece for me is it allows us to get into the community and talk to people that normally we wouldn’t have.

Dan

Right.

Sam

And so it’s really just opening our audience. And I think that we’re going to see that really pay off here in January and with the growth of the show.

Rachel

What’s been your favorite story?

Sam

I love them all. I have to be judicious.

Rachel

You got to pick your favorite kid, though. At least one of them.

Sam

Depending on the day, I can’t. No, I honestly, like, I don’t have a favorite. The next one, I like hearing what these stories are. I mean, you get something from all these stories. You get a perspective or a nugget from everyone. You create relationships with people.

Rachel

Yep.

Sam

You find other partnerships that come out of these stories. And they’re just so unique. And Detroit is very much reflected in that. I mean, Detroit, you go from one city, one neighborhood to the next, and it’s very different, yet all under one umbrella of the city of Detroit. And I think you see a lot of that in those stories.

Rachel

I feel like everybody here, I mean, what is it, six degrees of separation. But in Detroit, everybody is almost directly connected to the auto industry in one way or the other. And if not, it’s one degree of separation. And so there’s so many stories to tell. I mean, people have to just have.

Dan

Yeah, it’s a great series. It’ll never run out of time.

Sam

It’ll never run out because of that. And I think that’s the best part, right? That allows us to then continue to do things throughout the year. And like you said, you know, we’ll find new ways to tell stories. We’ll find these, you know, nuggets of people that, you know, their grandfather did this and then they they connected with this and be like, we’ll bring the people together because of these stories. I’m excited about it.

Dan

Yeah. So you mentioned a little bit ago, kind of overall shows, conventions, everything has kind of changed since COVID and even a little bit before. But where do you kind of see the biggest change in the auto show specifically going forward? Or where do you see kind of the future of that changing a little bit?

Sam

I think the biggest change has been how OEMs, do their reveals. They don’t necessarily need us as a place to do that. I think there’s still a great opportunity to use an auto show to do that, particularly the Detroit one, just because of our relationship to the industry. But we have to be flexible with that. If they’re going to have one-off events to unveil a vehicle, that’s okay. But for us, and the reality is, we are still, yes, we are a media show. We will always be that. But we’re also a consumer show. So if an OEM unveils a car wherever, and they say the first time you can see that car is in Detroit, or you can see this car in Detroit, because most people aren’t going out to California or some of these remote locations to see the unveil, they can see it on social media, but you still want to see and interact with the car. Like you’re not, very rarely are you buying a car without seeing it. It’s the same thing with the auto shop.

Rachel

Well, they’ll unveil cars that you’re not even going to be able to see in a dealership for another year, right? But they’ll have it sitting, they’ll have one sitting there.

Sam

They’ll have it at the floor, and so I think just embracing the fact that you can get into these vehicles, you can see these vehicles that no matter where they’re revealed, that it is what it is. I can’t make those decisions. I hope they come to Detroit to make those reveals. But if not, we want to show those cars here and still get the community to interact with them. And I think that that’s kind of the biggest change. And you know, some, you know, of course, I read everything. And you know, the biggest knock is, you know, Detroit can’t get reveals anymore. And you know what, if that’s the case, you know, it might, that may be true to a degree. But it doesn’t mean that the show doesn’t have a lot of value.

Dan

Right.

Sam

Because we still have a lot of people that don’t have access to these kind of high-end events that still want to engage with the vehicles. And we can create these interactive experiences with the vehicles, whether it’s, you know, last year we gave 100,000 rides on our tracks. So how can we engage with these vehicles is very different than just opening a door or scrolling on social media and seeing it.

Dan

Yeah, and I think, you know, Detroit…. per capita, probably the highest percentage of auto workers. But also, I’m sure on the auto enthusiast sides, we have to be up there in the top one also.

Sam

Absolutely, and I think that’s what makes our show so special. Excuse me, it’s because people are so passionate about this industry. This show means something to the community. It’s not just another thing to do on a random weekend. This show has real economic value. It’s really important to the people. It’s important to the identity of the city.

Dan

Yep.

Sam

And so I think people are passionate about that. And so I love that. And that’s why I’m not afraid of the criticism of the things. I want people to tell us the things that they want to change because I want it to be the best show that it can be for the people of Detroit.

Dan

Yeah.

Rachel

You can’t argue, too, that going to car dealerships can be an exhausting experience, and you will spend, if you just want to look at vehicles, you will spend an entire day and six headaches trying to go to every brand that you want to go to. You’re going to sit at desks you don’t want to sit at and talk numbers that you aren’t even going to buy. You just want to see these vehicles. This show as a consumer, I’ve always said, allows you to do that in a way that is enjoyable. You’re not, you’re spending a Saturday doing that and more versus dealership hopping dealing with situations that you’re just like, I just want to see these cars. Just like, can you unlock one and let me like look inside? And I think the show gives consumers the ability to do that all in one place with a much better experience. Like you can’t deny that.

Sam

Yeah. And when we see, you know, we hear our post-event survey, people will come in and say, I had an idea of what I wanted.

Rachel

Yes.

Sam

But I saw this other brand or this other vehicle that I wasn’t even thinking about, and it kind of changed my perspective. So you’re right. It’s in a non-threatening environment.

Rachel

Yeah.

Sam

You know, it’s a way there’s a lot there’s fun going on there. There’s engagement. And so you can still kind of peek at the cars, even if you’re not in the market for a car right now. Like what, this is interesting. It’s piqued my interest. And so I think that’s a huge value. And that’s not something that you can do on, you know, a Saturday. If you’re gonna look at, you know, if you go to a dealership, you’re gonna look at maybe 5 cars and over the course of hours. Here you can see hundreds of them over the course of two hours. And so that’s really important.

Rachel

And entertain your kids and other things, right? So talk about maybe how, you know, OEMs are going to get involved in the way that they want to and the way that they want to activate, and that’s great, but what other opportunities has the shift in the show brought in for maybe other businesses in the city of Detroit? What other opportunities has that brought for companies other than the auto industry even maybe, or those tangential industries?

Sam

I think we have to be a community steward. And so again, we have this two-week stage. And yes, you can see hundreds of cars while you’re there. But what are the other things we can do to lift up the community? How can we have small business feature? How can we put people on panels that talk about the value of Detroit or maybe that the arm’s length away from the auto industry, but they’re doing things in education? You know, one of the things we’re going to lean into this year pretty heavily is educating the next generation. whether it’s through auto technicians or designers or engineers, how do we help them connect with even the first step of a skill that might excite them to consider a path in this career and do something very strategic on the show floor for that. So it’s not just an auto show, it’s a place where education and entertainment come and it just becomes a, like I said, a celebration, a festival of the city of Detroit. And I think that’s the exciting piece that we’re trying to put together.

Dan

Yeah, and on that side of things, kind of going beyond the consumer aspect of it, you mentioned it’s always been a media show. It’ll still be a media show. So talk a little bit about what’s coming for the first couple of days. I know the Mobility Global Forum moving to the main show floor. Talk about that, you know, what you see as exciting for folks in the media.

Sam

In 25, we had our industry and media days in the middle of the show. And so to move it back to its traditional format before charity preview, which really does give people a sneak peek as an industry and media, I think that’ll be very important. And I think we have some incredible panels that are being put together because I think that’s a huge piece of it as well, right? It’s not just the cars, it’s the conversations about where the industry is going, the economics of the industry. And so we’ll have some of the best thought leaders in the world that’ll be a part of that. I think that’s a huge piece. We’ll definitely have some reveals at the show. I feel pretty confident saying that. And so that’s exciting. But I think bringing just industry and media together to have these conversations at the start of the year, I think that means something as well. It’s the kickoff of the year. It kind of sets the tone for the next 12 months. And so I think that move back to the traditional before charity preview is going to be monumental.

Dan

Yeah, I love that move. And talk maybe a little bit about some of the big trends, topics, things that you expect to see during those first couple of days, if you can.

Sam

Yeah, no, I mean, I think from a topic standpoint, I mean, EVs are still top of mind, right? I mean, obviously, where we’re going as a country and our manufacturing base and what that looks like will be front and center in any conversation we have. How do we keep jobs here in America? How do we keep jobs specifically here in Detroit? I think those will be big topics. I mean, AI, I think, is certainly going to be on everyone’s mind.

Rachel

You can’t ignore that.

Sam

You can’t ignore it. And so, but again, I think the value of having these conversations here is now we can get ahead of the conversation. It’s not like we’re, oh, we should have had this conversation five years ago. What does it look like in the next 5 to 10 years? And we can start that conversation here in Detroit. And so I think you’ll see a lot of those from a trend perspective.

Dan

Yeah. So changing topics a little bit, but we’re on the subject of media. So I want to go back to your background in media and talk a little bit about, you mentioned My Drive, My City, My Show is kind of, leaning on the storytelling broadcast. But what else kind of carried over from the newsroom to your current role now? Like what are some of the lessons you learned early that really helped you in this stage?

Sam

Patience is a very good one. You know, sometimes when you’re a journalist, you want that story to be done, but it takes time to build data and you have to get the information and you want to write it, but you don’t quite have all the facts. And so I think that’s been a huge piece to just be like, all right, I’m trying to piece together something big. in an auto show, but it takes time. And there’s a lot of different elements that go into that. And you can’t rush things. I think that’s the biggest takeaway that I’ve learned over these last couple of months. But to have that greater vision. And I think having touch points throughout the years is another thing. I mean, in journalism, you have a story that might start here and then, oh, there’s a follow-up to it. And then, oh, the information has changed. So for the auto show, I think it’s the same thing. We have to have relationships that give us a presence throughout the year. And I think we’ve done a really good job with that. I also think just being a better steward of the community. And I referenced that earlier. We have to, I think the show has been such a behemoth that in a way that we could just expect people to want to be a part of the show. But I think that’s shifted a little bit. And I think we need to do a better job of reaching out to the community and saying, how can we help you? How can we be an advocate for what you need as a city of Detroit? And I think that you’re starting to see that. One example that I’ll give is earlier this summer, we invested $25,000 into an engine building boot camp. And this is, 40 young men and women who are in the city of Detroit and they’re considering careers in engineering fields and design fields and mechanic fields. And they couldn’t support, they couldn’t pay their teachers. And so what we said as well, we want to make sure they have high quality educators who are always going to be there and we don’t want that to stop. And so we invested in that and then these kids graduated over a course of eight weeks and now they have these skills that they could literally step into a dealership now and work in the shops. And so that’s how I think you build something that’s greater than the show. Because if those 40 kids, even if five of them say, you know what, I’m going to go into the auto industry and now I’m going to do that here in Detroit. Now you’re building a generation of talent. You’re building a generation of leaders and hopefully they’re investing back into their community. And there’s real value in that. And that, you know, you don’t really think about what that’s what the auto show’s role is, but I think it is. And I think that, you know, moving forward, that is a huge piece of how can we be someone that connects young people to the industry? How can we connect the industry to the city? in a better way. And so those are the kind of things that I want to do more of.

Rachel

I think that’s the reminder that DADA does more than just the auto show too, right? It’s really easy, especially once we get to, you know, Q4 and Q1 and the holidays to just focus on the show itself. But DADA does more than that. Maybe talk a little bit about kind of those other things you’re doing. they might be related a little bit to the auto show, but also unrelated. Like what else is going on with the DADA? I mean, there’s so much to do.

Sam

Yeah, obviously we’re a huge advocate of the industry at large. So, you know, when it comes to legislation, you know, we play a role there. We do a lot of training for our dealers. I mean, today we have dealers in our building, they’re doing trainings. And I think, you know, that’s important too, to make sure those experiences are better, to make sure they have an understanding of, you know, the changes in regulation. And so I think those are huge pieces. But Again, I think the other part is just being present in the community. I mean, we have a huge platform, we have a huge stage, and I think we would be negligent not to take advantage of that to talk about other great partners that we have. We just struck a partnership that we announced with Forgotten Harvest.

Rachel

Yeah, I saw that.

Sam

So we’re really excited about that. We knew that there was a big need for food insecurity in the city. And we’re not in a position now to add to our charity preview roster, but I said, well, how can we bring in another group into the mix? And so we’re using our gallery event, which is our ultra luxury vehicles, your Lamborghinis, your Ferraris, and we’re going to turn that into a fundraiser for Forgotten Harvest. So hopefully we can raise 10s of thousands of dollars that goes directly into this organization that helps feed families in Detroit and the metro area. And that’s a great, I think, opportunity. And I think the more that we can do of that, the better. And that’s not doing it to say, oh, look what we’re doing. It’s because there’s a real need. And if we have people that are going to the factories or dealerships who are hungry, that’s a detriment to the industry. So we want to make sure that people are fed. We want to make sure that young people can go to school and not be, you know, feel hungry. And so they’re learning better. So they can go on to these careers in our industry and for the city that are helpful. So it really, there really is a relationship there.

Rachel

Yeah, your, what I keep hearing, like what it keeps coming back to for me is like your investment in stewardship and really your your investment, whether it’s monetary or through partnerships that you are making, has such a long-term effect, right? If those people get fed and stay in the city and fill these roles, your investment comes back tenfold, right, as steward of the community. So it’s kind of going outside the box of the traditional, like, how do we give back in the auto industry, whatever, to be able to make such a difference? in the city and for the people that are in this city. I remember there’s so much conversation about the tourism dollars that used to come, or still do, but that come in from outside of Detroit, like the NFL draft, right? All the people that flew in and brought their money here. But I think that what’s important about what I’m hearing you say is that it’s also how do you engage the local people here? Like, yes, we want people to come in, but at the end of the day, you want the people that are in Detroit, in Michigan, in the metro community to see the show, see what you’re doing, and also be a part of giving back. I think that’s important. You can lose sight of that when some, you know, back in the day when it was huge and everyone used to fly in. I think you’re almost making more of an impact on the city long term with what you’re doing now.

Sam

There’s 60 auto shows across the country and there’s dozens of others across the world. But if our show doesn’t feel uniquely Detroit, I feel like we’ve missed something there. The people of the city should feel reflected in the show that’s in their hometown. And I think that that’s why we’re doing that kind of thing. We will always have an international presence.

Rachel

Sure.

Sam

We will always have an international audience. But if it doesn’t feel like we’re taking care of home, then I think we’re missing point #1.

Dan

Yeah. You lose the market.

Sam

Right. And so we want to make sure that we have a show that feels like a show for the city of Detroit.

Dan

Well, we always like to close on kind of a fun question, but thinking back to coming out of journalism school when you were just getting started, what’s one thing that you’ve learned along the way that you would tell your 21-year-old self just getting started?

Rachel

A piece of advice.

Sam

Chill out. I think you’re so determined to do the next great thing that sometimes you kind of forget about how far that journey is and how long you’ve come or how far you’ve come. And so not to worry so much. There’s always an answer. It may not be the easy solution. It may take some time. It may require you to pivot a little bit, but there’s always a solution. And so not to put so much stress on having to figure out the answer in that moment, but take a step back and kind of evaluate and then make decisions. So just chill out a little bit.

Rachel

Love it. I love that it’s so simple. Just relax. I think every 21-year-old could use that at that point when you’re eager. So, well, thank you so much for joining us, Sam.

Sam
Thank you for having me.

Rachel

I really appreciate it. We’ll link to the show in the link to the auto show. show in the show description for this episode so you can find that, but looking forward to everything that’s going on.

Sam

Yeah, January 14th to the 25th this year at Huntington Place. Really looking forward to have everyone come down and thank you guys for the platform.

Dan

Yeah, see you there.

Rachel

See ya.

Dan

All right, well, thank you to Sam for coming on again. And for anyone listening in the area or coming into the area, we’ll see you July or January.

Rachel

Mark your calendars.

Dan

14th to 25th for the auto show. Really looking forward to this year’s show. Loved hearing about some of the partnerships that the DADA and Detroit Auto Show are developing and just like you said at the beginning, get a peek behind the curtain of the auto show coming up.

Rachel

Yeah, absolutely. Mark your calendars and make sure you make it up there to see what the show’s got to offer next year. And we’ll see you next time.

Dan

See ya.