Growing up near Detroit, I loved going to the North American International Auto Show. This year, for the first time, I got to check out the show during preview week. As crazy as I thought the auto show was during public days, trying to run from press conference to press conference during press preview was a whole new experience.
We walked from the GM Ren Cen to the newly-renovated Cobo Center early Monday morning, ready to catch each of the big reveals and cover big news from the show on social media. Between the two days of press preview, we attended more than 10 reveals and took countless pictures of the new cars, as well as Governor Rick Snyder and Vice President Joe Biden’s visits to the show floor.
Ford took over Joe Louis Arena as thousands of journalists from around the world watched the unveiling of the all-new F-150.
Through our coverage of the auto show, our client, a global Tier 1 supplier, was able to share the latest news with its customers, employees and fans throughout the world in real time.
This year’s NAIAS showed the resurgence of the automotive industry and of Detroit as a whole. Being a part of the event and seeing the excitement around each reveal, from Ford’s massive takeover of Joe Louis Arena to Chevy’s unveiling of the brand new Corvette Z06, was an amazing experience that I will not soon forget. However, by the time we had fought through crowds of thousands of press members to get the best photos and walked for what seemed like miles around the vast show floor, I could not have been happier to see the cushioned seats and free coffee on the Mercedes-Benz People Mover car.
Dan Horn is an Account Manager at Franco.
