Thursday, June 25, 2009

MFD makes it to my first Media day, with Lincoln

So, MFD has made it to "media" status. I went down to Manhattan to see Lincoln's latest offerings. The MKZ ( major refresh ) and MKT ( new ) And this is the line of Lincolns waiting to whisk us away to the Queens Botanical Gardens. Manny, our driver, was a veteran of traffic roads and very likable. There were about 24 members of the media, digital and print, some of whom I've heard of. Actually, I was shocked to be sitting two chairs from Jerry Flint of Forbes Magazine. A man who I've read with admiration and used as material here on MFD many times. There were no other names that jumped out at me, but I did meet a very nice young man from Rides and 0-60 magazines, who was my co-driver.
Once out to Queens, we were given access to engineers and marketing people who've working so hard to re-invent Lincoln. Detailed presentations and then access individually. I was impressed by Dan, the Engineer behind EcoBoost. I'm sorry to say I do not remember his last name, but we had an interesting discussion about the future of EcoBoost, no I didn't get any scoops, but I did bounce some ideas off him to see what reaction I'd get. The entire Lincoln team were outstanding. Once we were fed and satisfied we had picked their brains to our satisfaction, we were teamed up and set loose with a car and directions. Think scavenger hunt or rally, 2 drivers, one car, a varied route and and let's not forget the toll money. I started off in the MKZ taking first turn behind the wheel, then my co-driver took over after our first stop. It was nice talking to him and getting a journalist' view of different subjects. We both agreed that since I'm not traditional media and not dependent on advertising dollars from the manufacturers I am free to rant and rave as I will.
It was a long day and very educational. Not just about the cars, but about "automotive journalist" also. Now I'm not going to reveal the name of the journalist or who they write for, but I was gobsmacked by the following exchange.

I was sitting at a table with some prominent journalists and there were two pistons on the table as props. Along comes a journalist who sits down and picks one up, then asks "what's this?" I thought they were just pulling my leg, since I'm not a professional so I replied jokingly that I thought it was an ashtray. This person looked at me blankly and I realized it wasn't a joke. I proceeded to explain that what this "automotive journalist" was holding was a piston. This is not a joke. A person who writes professionally about the auto industry and vehicles didn't know she was holding a piston. I wonder if she realized there was a row of turbo chargers on a rack labeled EcoBoost? Maybe she thought it was modern art or complimentary hair driers.

If you email me, I'll tell you what site this person writes for.

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