In this episode of frankly…
Rachel and Dan sit down with Franco Vice President of Media Relations Brent Snavely to chat about his recent experiences from Sin City to the Motor City for this year’s Consumer Electronic Show (CES) and the Detroit Auto Show.
Tune in as Brent shares his adventures from CES breaking down the latest tech trends. He also shifts gears to discuss the buzz around the Detroit Auto Show. Read more on our blog here:
• Technological exuberance overshadowed by uncertainty at CES 2025
• Let’s Reframe the Discussion About the Detroit Auto Show
Let us know what you took away from this week’s conversation, and, as always, be sure to rate, review, and subscribe!
Tune in every other Wednesday and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts (Spotify | Apple Podcasts).
The transcript below is AI-generated and may contain minor inaccuracies. Tune in to the episode audio to hear the full conversation!
Transcript
Dan
Hello, welcome to Frankly.
Rachel
Welcome. I know it’s been a minute.
Dan
We’re in a new year. And we’re back on mobility. It’s kind of an annual tradition talking through the Detroit Auto Show, which by the time this is out, is just just wrapped up. But we’re also talking about CES with Brent Snavely, our VP of Media Relations. I joined him for the Detroit Auto Show, but he got to see both CES and auto show this this January. We’ll talk through a few things here, both on the kind of size and scale and complexity of CES and and how to go about a successful event, some of the cool tech and trends that Brent saw out in Vegas. And then, come back and wrap things up with with a similar view of of the Detroit Auto show and that really mobility focused event. Glad to have them both back in January.
Rachel
Yeah. And because I know that Dan won’t say anything since we last talked, Dan has been promoted to Vice President of Mobility at Franco. So maps for Dan.
Dan
True. Thank you.
I appreciate it.
Rachel
It feels very appropriate to talk about that here with the topic of the conversation that we’re about to have, so.
Dan
Kicking off at the right theme.
Rachel
Exactly. So Congrats to you and more to come in the mobility space this year and to good conversation with you and Brent.
Dan
Thank. Thank you. Yeah. So we’ll, we’ll kick it over to that and then. Here we’ll get back into it, into the regular schedule here moving forward in 2025. With that, turn things over to Brent. Brent, welcome back to frankly. Thank you.
Brent
Glad, glad to be back. Been a little. Yeah.
Dan
And it’s been a been an eventful month. In multiple meanings. Sure it has.
Rachel
End up talking to you this time of year because it’s such a a fun time in the auto industry.
Dan
Yeah. So, so Brent just got back from CES and then rolled right into the Detroit Auto Show. So we’re going to talk a little bit about both. I mean these are two of the bigger two of the bigger events now in the world of mobility over the past several years. Kind of crossed paths in January here. This will be the first time that Detroit is back in January. In a few years. So let’s let’s start with CES and start with CES from an automotive and tech perspective, what were? What were some of the standouts for you over that week?
Brent
Yeah. I mean, first I think I just start with overarching theme, which is you know at at the Las Vegas Convention Center at West Hall, which is the wing of the Convention Center where. Most of the automotive and mobility is typically displayed where the biggest exhibits are. Are you know so much to see? So many impressive booths. Amazing exhibits, technology buzz on the show floor. And it’s and it can be overwhelming. That said, step off the show floor and the variety of you know, cocktail parties, networking events that I went to and attended, and it’s kind of a different scene. Kind of. You know, there was, there was a whole lot of sort of angst and anxiety about where the auto industry is headed this year with a lot of uncertainty with with what’s going to happen with tariffs, what’s going to happen with regulation and threats from Chinese automakers. You know with with lower price D vs. It was. It was kind of like depending on where you’re at, you got a whole different vibe this year at CES.
Dan
Yeah. And, you know, I think. I think some of that not skepticism, but uncertainty is, is kind of everywhere right now. But behind all of that, or maybe in front of all of that at CES, I guess there is a lot of cool technology that’s been announced or that came out this year during the week. What I guess what were some of the? What did you see? A lot of like, were there any themes across that?
Brent
So yeah. So sort of three key technology themes this year at CES, you know, artificial intelligence, artificial intelligence kind of across the board. And yes, in automotive and mobility and a variety of different ways. It’s kind of everywhere and and also in every industry. Just just just AI is a huge theme now and then autonomous vehicles, you know, 10 years ago that was everybody’s talking about autonomous vehicles. It kind of. Took a back seat for a while. And now, now it was kind of another sort of prominent theme in CES, but not quite in the same way as before. You know, autonomous vehicles are still very much in the future, but they’re also in the present. So they’re out on the road here and there. And Waymo had a huge booth, incredibly impressive booth. And it’s so it’s not like the new thing anymore. Is just a theme that is part of the conversation.
Rachel
They also feel a lot more realistic now. I feel like before kovid, when these vehicles were getting a lot of attention, they felt very futuristic, like far ahead. And now, with companies like Waymo and things that they’re doing. It’s a lot more attainable on a short timeline, right? Feel so like Flintstones futuristic kind of.
Dan
Yeah. And you know, that’s actually not to get ahead of ourselves with between the two events, but at the Detroit Auto Show a couple times from different speakers or just different people. I heard the stat. Know that we are. 99.9 autonomous vehicles can do 99.9% of things that they need to do. And that’s so very close. But an automotive, you have to be able to do 99.99999999 things. And it’s it’s to the point now where autonomous vehicles can can drive in in nearly every scenario they could. They could handle most of the workload. Just those like edge cases, like if something rolls in front of the car, if there’s like. Someone in a million event that happens around the vehicle, it needs to be. What we need to address, and it’s how do you get the models to be able to address all of those? All of those infinite possibilities.
Brent
Right, I would. And then the third big theme was software and software defined vehicles and and that and that goes across the board too. I mean a lot of the, a lot of the biggest automotive mobility news and buzz this year was. Created not so much by automakers, but by chip makers. NVIDIA, Qualcomm, Intel. And and related to the chips, they’re introducing those chips basically. Support software support more. Support software you know, new software architectures for vehicles. So I mean. And Tier 1 suppliers. Also a you know a big part of what they were there for or what they were there to announce. It is related to their software products and vision of the future.
Dan
Yeah. And you know something? Saw that. That maybe connects both of those ave’s and sdv’s is, you know, in news coverage following CES, there was a lot of talk about CES not being as much of A. 20 years down the road, technology launches this year, but more so, here’s what we’re. Like today? Or here’s the software that we’re working on today or within the next one to call it three years. Was more of an immediate like future. Show this this year, would you say you saw some of that too?
Brent
Yes. So I would agree. And then I. I’ll probably keep coming back to NVIDIA because. Because that’s an example of what you’re talking about the. The NVIDIA CEO keynote was perhaps the biggest thing and biggest buzz of the week. And he made several announcements across a couple different industries, but part of it was automotive, and there it was like, and here’s our chip that is coming out soon. So.
Rachel
Yeah.
Dan
So outside of the outside of the themes or outside of the tack you’ve mentioned a couple times that you know this is a tough show to, you get a lot of value, but it’s a tough show to get value out of. Talk a little bit about, I guess, just the nature of the CES beast and how to go about it. Are some tips if you’re if you’re going to be heading out to Vegas next year.
Brent
Right. It’s exhausting. And almost everybody that goes will tell you that that, that it’s an exhausting show. Though why is it an exhausting show? Well, the reason why is really if you think about it for for starters. This is. You know, this is a show that cuts across multiple industries. So it’s consumer electronics, it’s automotive mobility, it’s healthcare, it’s it’s on and on multiple industries that takes place in multiple locations. Big multiple locations. A Las Vegas Convention Center itself has multiple halls. I don’t even make it to all of them. Focus my attention on West Hall and Central Plaza, which is a parking lot where? Companies build their own gigantic outdoor displays. In addition, that there’s the Venetian, which is a. You know, casino, hotel and Conference Center about a mile and a half away. And and it’s huge and it’s got 5 or 6 floors. And then there’s Mandalay Bay at the far other end of the strip, which is where traditionally most of the press conferences are held, and therefore where most of the media stays. And then this year, in addition to all of that, one of the hottest tickets and events was Delta CEO Ed Bastian did a keynote speech in the middle of the day at the sphere. Followed by a 30 minute Lindy Kravitz concert.
Dan
Which is connected to the Venice 7.
Rachel
Interesting.
Dan
Still another hike, right?
Brent
Yes, that’s. Yes, another hike to get there and. Oh man, I should have shared this photo with you guys. I took a photo of, like, a display. Thing that I’m blanking on the word, but there was a bullet point list of like 6 or. Like how to see Ed Bastian keynote. And there was like 6 or 7 bullet points of where you needed to go to get the ticket to register to. Know you needed more than just. Regular industry attendee credentials to to be able to enter the sphere. And see that. And I took one look at. I’m like, Nah, yeah, I’m going to go to the Intel Automotive presentation instead. You go.
Dan
Yeah, take the easy route sometimes. So you went out a little bit early and I think that was a good thing for you. Like, are there any other tips, you know, just from from your experience the last couple years being out there of how to how to tackle it?
Brent
Right. Yeah, I did go. I got there Sunday. And and I actually feel like, you know, that’s a good thing to do. Get to settle in. And kind of, you know, recover from just just travel. But the airfare on a Sunday and the hotel cost on a Sunday is far less than it is. If you fly Monday and. Then I stay at Caesars Palace. As the week went. It was 100 and 100 plus for the first night Sunday night, 4:50 on Wednesday night. Because of demands higher, so it doesn’t hurt to go early. And then my other sort of big pro tip is like, I mean you always at any industry conference you want to have a plan, you want to know what you want to see, what you want to go to? But at CES, sometimes your plan fails and you you just you need to be ready and willing to. After all that prep work you did. Drop your plan and see the opportunity in front of you and and take advantage of that. I tried to go to the Panasonic keynote speech and I knew I was running late and I got. I could see them off in the distance, putting the rope down and blocking off the escalator, and I couldn’t attend. That was at the Venetian. And I’m like. All right, so did I do I now just shuttle over immediately to the Convention Center? I’m at the. I should wander around and and I wandered into a couple amazing automotive booths. Some connections. And and that turned out to be that led to some other. That was kind of the most valuable part of my trip. So have a plan.
Brent
Be ready to scrap your plan.
Dan
Yeah. Yeah. So.
Rachel
I feel like to a CES. And you’ve kind of touched on this and how everything was in a different spot.
Rachel
Uncommon for a lot of other conferences. You’ve already named multiple places you’ve been while you were at CES. Catch these things.
Rachel
How does that?
Rachel
Work for? Do you see them capitalizing on that? Do you think it’s a good thing, a bad thing? Do you think it works for a show to be spread all across Vegas?
Brent 1. There is frustration with it. I mean, it’s a lot of. It’s a lot of money to invest, whether you’re a company, you know, throwing a party or an event and exhibiting or just or just the cost of attending. It’s costly. It’s worth it. But you got to but it it’s also like you really got to work at. You know, you got to put a lot of it’s long days, long hours, a lot of walking, and in the end you you figure out it was all worth it. But but you’re, but you’re exhausted. And you’ve spent a lot of. I mean, you get reimbursed your company’s paying the expenses, but. I just, you know, I just when you’re paying, when you when you’re paying 30 bucks for, you know, a coffee, 2 bottles of water and a bagel and cream cheese before you get in your cab. I just feel bad.
Rachel
You’re exhausted and both by the end of, yeah.
Rachel
Right.
Dan
Speaking of exhausted, so you you kind of came back Thursday night off of CES and Dove head first into Detroit Auto Show kicking off Friday morning of that same week. And and I think you know, not being at CESI can see the the juxtaposition of the two there, you know, everything’s condensed within Huntington place. For the for the auto show, which is, you know, a beautiful thing. But but maybe talk a little bit about. What was different or? Maybe some of the, maybe some of like the highlights of the differences between the two. Like what did you see coming back to the auto show for that Friday morning that maybe you missed out on it? Ces or vice versa?
Brent
Yeah. I just. I. I got back, you know, after 11:00 Thursday night. Got a couple hours of sleep and. Woke up and I really wanted to attend the Friday morning North American car and truck of the year. Award event. Not just because I’m interested in that, but also because it was coupled with an automotive Press Association breakfast. And you know, you’re exactly right, Dan. We you were there too. You know, I, you know, I parked at Huntington Place. I walked in. And in the course of. You know, half hour 45 minutes prior to that press conference, you know, talked to what, 2-3 dozen reporters and other industry contacts that we know it was just and it was. It was almost relaxing and casual and easy and fun. Just an opposite world from. The you know the effort and and travel that you put in at CES to get places in CP.
Dan
Yeah. And I mean, I think that’s that’s still such an important part of maybe the most important part of these types of trade shows, conferences, industry events, whatever you want to call them is that you know you can have the hugeness of CES and that’s a good thing. You can have something that. ‘S smaller, more focused on you know your industry, in this case, mobility, automotive in, in the Detroit Auto Show and that’s a good thing. You know, it’s about how you approach each one of them and. Again, having a plan, but it’s easier to make that plan for for something like this.
Brent
For something right? Exactly. And I think and to put a fine point on it, what the Nactoy press conference and and breakfast that went with it shows and illustrates is. There, you know, we’ve got the automotive and mobility press here that is willing to go and attend. Still still the you know, the Detroit Auto show. If you’ve got news to tell, they will come. So that’s there is still an opportunity to to draw a good number of meetings. If you’ve got significant news to make that you can make at the.
Dan
Show, yeah. And I think one thing that you know even supports that further is today as we record industry Day is just wrapped up, the public show is still going on. But as part of industry days, there was the. The Mobility Global Forum, which you know set of two days of panels and fireside chats, and we were both down there again for a couple of days. The last few. And again you saw. Pretty. Some automotive. You saw companies representatives down there and you saw. People interested in what was going on both at the show and at some of the side events like the forum where people are speaking.
Brent
Yeah. And just to name a few, you know. We we saw reporters at the. Mobility Global Forum from the Wall Street Journal from Reuters Detroit News. Detroit Free Press. Couple high profile automotive industry podcasters and you know, there’s probably some others that that I didn’t see. So you know, there again they were, they were there. And they were looking to, you know, looking to learn something, looking to get some news. And so that that. You know that that demand is still there, yeah.
Dan
You know, I know I. We talked a little bit about kind of software defined vehicles and a autonomous vehicles being being key points of Detroit auto show again. What are some of your thoughts on, you know, 2025 show versus 2015 show? It’s a different it’s a different beast, but. I guess what are your thoughts on on this new look for the show and and maybe how things have changed?
Rachel
Yeah, I also wanna know thoughts on show floor comparisons. I haven’t heard anyone talking about the show. You know the mobility global forum we’ve talked about, but what did that look like out there? Give me the details, I’m curious.
Dan
Yeah, I I can take the show floor side of. I I spent some time out there on on Wednesday of this week. The the first day of the forum and industry days. And and if we’re looking at it through the lens of, you know, 2015 versus 2025, it is, it’s a, it’s so much different. It’s it is smaller, yes. But you know it’s more focused on maybe what the original intent of an auto show was back. You know when they first started out, it’s a place where consumers, potential car buyers can go out, can get into every vehicle that you know. From from so many different. Automakers, they can look at the. They can get a feel for the specs of the. They can, you know, walk around it, touch, kick the tires, whatever you want to do. And you can see all of them at one spot. You don’t see this year versus 10 years ago is the towering booths, you know. We used to go and see, you know, a 40 foot tall display for every automaker that had built in, you know, motion where the cars would come out of the ground or things like that.
Rachel
It. They were extensive.
Dan
You know, it was huge and it was a massive investment and it was a massive display and it was exciting. Was fun and it was great for for launching. Vehicles and things like that. But what you see now is a little bit, maybe more practicality on a show floor. And some things that are more for everyone. So you’ve got you’ve got Jeep and Ford and an EV experience where you can actually get in cars and and go along a test track with a driver to kind of see what these cars are capable of more from, like an off road stance. You’ve got cars from classic movies. I mean, they have the Jurassic Park Jeep, the National Lampoon, Woody Wagon, the the Ferris Bueller Ferrari. And you know, the I love that kind of stuff. That’s that’s cool to me.
Rachel
It reminds. Of like what we’ve been saying the past couple years, I think about when they. The big duck. Yeah. Who is this auto show for?
Dan
Yeah, yeah.
Rachel
And it’s okay. If it’s not the industry and it’s not media, it’s okay. If it’s a consumer show.
Dan
Right. Yeah, I.
Rachel
There should be a shift.
Dan
I thought the season. Yeah, I’d love to see some of that come back. And I think probably, Brent, you share that sentiment, but yeah.
Brent
So I’d echo what you know what what you guys. What you said, Dan. I you know, I was there Wednesday and Thursday and the sort of the crowd, the number of people for the public show felt strong, felt robust. Know there’s a lot of people wandering around looking at things and wanting to look at things. So that’s a good that’s a good sign. And then I’ll swing back to the media part again you. So again, kind of proof points that that there is value for OEMs to do stuff and. There is. There is media interest if that happens, and the two proof points are. Thursday night. Ford held an event where they revealed to Special Edition Mustangs. The you know, the Mustangs are hot. Name brand. Whatever you do with it. But you know, just special. So it’s not the biggest reveal, but reporters I talked to appreciated that that event happened. Found it to be valuable to go and also Bill Ford spoke and and wherever Bill Ford speaks that that generates media interest media, you want to be there for that, so there’s. That and then on on Friday, Stolantus held had a number of their top brand executives available during the day to media. For one-on-one interviews, which is something that they traditionally do and and media were there for. So you know, some some median reporters came and they were they were there for that and appreciated that that was still happening.
Dan
Yeah. And and I think one more thing that I’ll. More on the industry. So we talked about consumer, talked about media. Industry days traditionally always have been a day where engineers and other folks in the industry can go check out their cars. See the stuff that they put together. Check out competitors. See what they’ve put together. It was funny this year because industry days were in the morning. Public days were in the afternoon, but there was still some crossover between the two. So I was. Around the show floor at about, I think it was 1:00 or so, right? When public days started and industry days, you know, still going on and you see like a bunch of families walking through, getting in cars, doing the test tracks, whatever it might be. And then. See some. Who? You have to imagine as an engineer rolling on the ground underneath. Underneath an SUV, checking out the specs from the floor, and it’s just funny to see both of those worlds collide in in a day like that.
Rachel
That’s funny.
Dan
So I you know, I think there’s still a lot of interest from from the industry side too, whether it’s you know us in in communications or it’s, you know engineers checking out the hardware.
Rachel
I think the shift to the schedule that allows.
Rachel
Or software.
Rachel
Industry in the morning. And public in the afternoon just goes to show you that who the show is targeted for has shifted. They would have never been able to do that back in the day, right? Had a full Media Day 2. Industry days before they ever opened it to the public.
Rachel
So.
Rachel
Putting those on the. Day is like, Yep, you guys are good here. Like you. You can come in the morning, but we’re letting people in the afternoon do as you super chose, right?
Brent
I I would add to that I was skeptical going into the show about how that would work. Having those two things kind of back-to-back and bleed into each other and overlap. I I I thought it might be. Awkward. In the end, I think it was amusing, but not awkward.
Rachel
Mm.
Brent
It was OK. It worked.
Dan
Yeah. Yep, Yep. I would agree. And and I don’t know, maybe just just another thought on timing, but it it just, I just I think I said to you when we were walking in the other day, it just feels right to be walking through the worst weather of the. On the way to the water.
Rachel
Thank you for calling.
Dan
Just there’s something nostalgic about it. Something that’s just. You know, it just seems right. You know, it’s when it should be.
Brent
In January, agree 100%.
Rachel
A January auto show is superior in the.
Dan
Yep, Yep, Yep.
Rachel
Of Detroit.
Brent
Two inches of snow, cold wind and ice. That’s that’s the. That’s the perfect auto show.
Dan
Where we want to be.
Rachel
Feels great.
Dan
Yeah.
Rachel
Brent, what was your kind of favorite topic that you?
Dan
Uh.
Rachel
Heard spoken about at the Mobility Global Forum.
Brent
Well, I guess I’ll maybe give a shout out to our one of our clients for via which we had an executive speak about hydrogen and and I actually stepped away for the start of that. And I and I came back and I almost couldn’t find a seat that the IT had filled up. There were about 1520 people standing at it behind the seats and and his name’s Tariq Abdelbaset. And. And and he he got like, they opened it up to Q&A, which they plan to do. And and there was like a line up of people asking questions. They had to shut it down because, you know, for timing purposes, there was another speaker lined up. Coming up at 2:00 and then he got off stage and there were about 20 people that that, that kind of mobbed him. And I was like, alright, can I have a rock star in the making here?
Rachel
It’s.
Brent
I was surprised, pleasantly. Really surprised to see that and that level of interest. You know, so that was that was that was that was pretty neat to see.
Rachel
Especially in a topic like hydrogen. But isn’t as being streamlined or things on those songs.
Dan
Yeah. And talk about like your, you know, future versus today kind of. It is still cool to hear about some of those things that aren’t, you know, as pervasive today, right? Down the road. But yeah it. It was a good. They had, you know, there was workforce discussions or hydrogen discussions. Were software. There was a little bit of everything which I thought really kind of brought a good crowd together and made for an interesting couple days there. Umm. Yeah, you know, I. I think where we can maybe land here is that there are a lot of different ways to have a good and successful event within mobility. A lot going on in the industry and there’s a lot of different ways. To lot of different ways to cover and address that you know it’s so big that you kind of have to have a variety of event types. And I think both of these are a good kind of view of all of that within two weeks.
Brent
Yeah, I’ll add one more thing, which is? You know, coming up later this year is a conference call Move America that has been held in Austin, TX for several years. You know, in the prior years, this will be the first time that move America will be in Detroit. And it’s kind of a. It’s it’s an automotive and mobility conference, but also with a big heavy emphasis on transit and and and transportation. Agencies and EV infrastructure, surcharging stations, etc. So it’s kind of a broader look at the industry and and their staff was here, they had, they had staff here to see the Detroit Auto show and and to meet with a whole lot of people as they. As they prepare their programming for September and the feedback that I got talking to them was they were just this is a positive, great positive thing. Were. They have been sort of really pleased and. With the reception that they’ve been getting from, you know, broadly, Michigan’s automotive and mobility, ecosystem companies interested in attending and exhibiting. Various associations that are helping them and giving them pointers on what’s going on in Detroit. So that’ll be another interesting one to watch and see and and see how things go and what. What? What? How? What they put together in September?
Dan
Yeah, I mean it’s motor. We’ve got room for. We’ve got room for a couple of things like this throughout. Year, right.
Rachel
I love it. The more the merrier.
Dan
All right. Well, well, thanks so much Brent, for for popping on and and talking through both of these. You know, I think we’ve got a lot to look forward to both both this year and events down the road.
Rachel
Absolutely. Another year in the books, I feel like every every January it feels crazy. Back, you’re talking about this again, but it’s good.
Dan
It’s a tradition.
Rachel
Yep.
Rachel
Thanks, Brent.
Brent
Thank. Thanks for having me on the show again.
Dan
Sure thing. See you soon.
Rachel
Well.
Rachel
Thank you. Thank. Thank you again to Brent and Dan to. I know you guys have had a incredibly busy week Brent last week too is CES, but the insights always appreciated. I had somebody. This is the first year since. I worked at. That I haven’t gone down to the auto show. Not at all. Didn’t step foot.
Dan
All. Well, this weekend before it closes up, you got to get down there and check out the floor.
Rachel
I know and I’m like. I go see it.
Rachel
I feel like I should.
Rachel
It just felt different this year. I’m not in the market for a. And again. Consumer film, it feels. So I didn’t make the trip, but I’m glad I was able to talk to two very knowledgeable people about it and hear about it, and I appreciate all the insights always.
Dan
Yeah.
Rachel
We will get back into things, are regularly scheduled programming this year, so we will. You then?
Dan
See you.
