You’ve probably noticed by now that things haven’t been quite up to speed here at TTAC, as both Bertel and myself are here in Detroit to meet with a few OEMs as well as our corporate overlords (who are actually quite nice people, as corporate overlords go) on the northern side of the border. Oh yes, and we’re making one other acquaintance: each other. Though Bertel and I have worked together for getting on three years now, and he’s been my right-hand man since I took over the reigns here at TTAC, we’ve never actually met in person until now. Needless to say, we’ve had a lot to catch up on, and frankly picking through the post-New York and Shanghai auto show media dead zone is nowhere near as interesting as being regaled with Bertel’s “too good for publication” tales.
The good news: if you’re in the Detroit area tomorrow, you need not wait as long as I did to meet TTAC’s managing editor, as both Bertel and myself will be taking up positions at the Detroit Beer Company (downtown Detroit, directions at the link) tomorrow (Wednesday, April 27th) starting around 7PM, and you are all invited to come down, sip a beer, grab a bite and talk cars. We’ll be hot off TTAC’s first-ever visit to the RenCen, and if the past is an indicator, it could be another three years before TTAC’s Editor-in-Chief and Managing Editor are in the same place at the same time again. So drop your mid-week plans, and come down and say hello to your friendly, not-so-local car bloggers. After all, we’re anxious to meet you, the readers who make TTAC possible… and one of the most vibrant auto-oriented communities on the web.
Must repeat sometime in Eugene!
Ed, you buying a round of beer?
Ed & Bertel,
I’ll be real interested to hear how you two were treated (schmoozed?) by the manufacturers. Not sure if the esteemed Founder would approve of such schmoozing, but the fact that TTAC was able to arrange such meetings either at your or the OEM’s request, shows that if nothing else, the Detroit manufacturers know that we have a readership worth reaching. Hell, we have a readership that includes some folks who’d rather TTAC cultivated its outsider status to the point of not doing these kinds of interviews/press trips or getting press cars to test.
I’ve said it before, TTAC has the best informed commenters in the autoblogosphere and for the most part the level of discussion is very high. At our last Meet-Up during the NAIAS, many of the readers who came to tip a couple with us are industry insiders in one way or another. Ed, you pointed out that new visitor who was drawn here from Reddit to a post on a controversial subject, expecting mindless hotheads and instead he found reasoned debate. I think that reader’s experience is not too different from that of most of us who visit and or write at the site.
Ronnie,
Looking forward to seeing you at the Detroit Beer Company again tomorrow.
By “northern side of the border” did you mean Windsor and surrounding? Or elsewhere?
VerticalScope is HQ’d in Toronto.
Assuming the opportunity arises again, let us know!
I was downtown (University & Wellington; not too far from VerticalScope’s offices) and had a bit (not much) downtime today that I frittered away posting to TTAC from the cafeteria. Hopefully they took you somewhere nicer; there’s a few good places out that way.
I’ll try to make it. At least there will be no snow tomorrow, unlike January when my drive home was over an hour.
on the northern side of the border
Actually, Windsor, Ontario is due south of Detroit. Most of southwestern Ontario is south of southeastern Michigan.
wish i could come :(
Well goshdarn it. My flight leaves DTW at 3 PM. I’d love to exchange secret high fives with Bertel and Ed. I’m at Greektown right now if you guys wanna swing by.
Why no meet up in the centre of the universe?
Not again! I need to be in Rochester Hills tomorrow evening for a family event.
Would love to go, but a non-workday would be best. Heading up 45 minutes to milwaukee, taking the 2 hour ferry & a 3 hour drive avoiding chicago should be pretty easy….
I’m assuming your profile pics are woefully out-of-date and you both look much older and more haggardly at this point. Can you guys have red hats on or flowers pinned to your lapels or something. Or should I look for the two guys staring into laptops at the bar?
Joking aside, I might be able to make it. But one of the perks of working at a Japan based auto-supplier is meetings with people in a 13 hour different time-zone- i.e. meetings that start at 8:00 at night.
Would love to join, but beer, thunderstorms, darkness and motorcycles do not mix well.
Sorry- it looks like I got meeting’d. Maybe next time guys.
Sorry for not making it. I got stuck at work. I really wanted to meet Herr Schmitt. If you guys are still in town tomorrow night I’d be happy to come out.