Each year, Detroit rolls out its welcome wagon to help woo the
6,800 journalists from 63 countries who descend upon the Motor City for
the North American International Auto Show.
The show itself adds
more than $500 million annually to the southeast Michigan economy, with
nearly $100 million directly to Detroit, and brings back reporters from
around the globe year after year to experience the city. Their first
priority is to see the cars, but a warm welcome helps.
With this year’s milder than usual January weather, journalists could
air their lungs in between unveilings and view a transformed General
Motors Renaissance Center, a spectacular Campus Martius ice skating
rink, a working People Mover and brand new sidewalks surrounding Cobo.
“You
can feel the energy of revitalization — it is vibrant,” says Michael
Rose, a former Detroiter who produces PBS shows on cars from a studio
in Los Angeles. “They took the forlorn, abandoned storefronts and made
residential lofts. That made a lot of sense.”
Kathy Jackson,
another Detroit ex-patriot living in Los Angeles, says she ice skated
in the rink on Campus Martius, her brief fling with fitness before
cranking out stories on major model introductions for Automotive News.
“The new YMCA building looks amazing. I can’t wait to see the inside.”
“The
Detroit show is a tradition,” says Steve Purdy, a freelance
photographer from Lansing who was visiting the show for the 43rd time.
“At first it took four hours to drive to Detroit before the freeways
were built. Then it became easy but the roads were strewn with litter.
I’m impressed with how much the city has cleaned up litter and spruced
up dead buildings. I can feel a come back.”
First impressions
Detroit has a showcase for itself when journalists flock to cover the
best-attended press days of any auto show in America, but the sheer
crush of 60 introductions and double-decker exhibits doesn’t leave a
lot of time for discovery, so first impressions are important.
Michelin
North America creates a 22,000-square-foot media center and equips it
with tables, telephones, computers and global flags for working
journalists. People bemoan the lack of easily accessible transportation
to suburban shopping malls but appreciate shuttle services to area
hotels.
Varied automakers took small groups of journalists to
dinner at Opus One, the Rattlesnake Club and the Detroit Athletic Club,
showcasing a portion of town as their shuttle buses whizzed around.
Favorable car reviews in international journals can lead consumers to
purchases and let factories in Detroit, Wayne and Flat Rock churn at
full capacity.
One of the biggest draws for schmoozing journalists is the
DaimlerChrysler Firehouse. The Firehouse pub arises only a few days a
year with a dedicated purpose of entertaining journalists. The rest of
the time it serves as administration headquarters for the Detroit Fire
Department, and the first floor is an empty shell for parking cars
while administrative work continues on the second floor.
A month
before the show, Clear!Blue, a Birmingham-based special events agency,
power washes the floor, scrubs the tiled walls and repaints the
ceiling. In come the plush chairs, brass railings for the bar and
mahogany framed pictures of classic firehouses. As many as 3,000 guests
imbibe during the three-day stint.
Executives and sports
celebrities pour generous drinks, while food and beer flow free to
credentialed media. One observer called the scene: “cheerful and
beer-ful.”
“This is a very fun place. I’m fascinated with how it
can be converted from a garage to a bar,” says Vincent Wong, a writer
for Auto Car in Shanghai making his first trip to Detroit.
“Detroit
is a nice place, people here treat you well,” says Julien Marcos, a
reporter for Le Nouvel Observateur in Paris who has been coming to
Detroit for 10 years. He sat sipping a beer with French colleagues at
the Firehouse. “A decade ago there was almost nothing downtown. Now
many renovated buildings, but my favorite is still the Fox Theatre.”
The
Firehouse will reopen with fresh libations for the next wave of
international media descending upon the city for Super Bowl XL, the
first weekend in February. The Detroit Auto Dealers Association,
sponsors of the North American International Auto Show, contend the
auto show is bigger than the football game, with $580 million invested
in cars at Cobo vs. $367 million spent during last year’s Super Bowl
festivities. Plus the auto media will be back again next year.
Meanwhile,
the collected journalists from Paris, Belgrade, Tokyo, Boston and
beyond raised their beer glasses to Detroit, and found it full of
progress.
The North American International Auto Show runs through Jan. 22 at Cobo. Click here for more information.
Dodge Concept Car
Ford Shelby Cobra
Chevrolet Camaro
The Daimler Chrysler Firehouse Party
Car Photographs Copyright Dave Krieger
Ford Shelby Cobra Copyright Jackson Krieger
Firehouse Photo Copyright Daimler Chrysler
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