So today is major recap time…I left off talking about the Vanderbilt in Long Island which was fun. The Vanderbilt is picturesque and sits on a cliff overlooking the water and it’s a choice venue for Long Islanders to wed. It also seems like Long Island citizens buy BMW’s the same way the general masses buy Honda’s and Toyota’s…they are just that common in L.I. We had some interesting attendees, with some… provocative sentiments (http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/e63-bmw-m6-forum-bmw-m6-convertible-m6board-com/166183-anyone-go-m-power-tour-long-island.html), and one geriatric driver took me on the ride of my life!!!
Day 18
So….it’s been some time since I last posted…and a lot has transpired. After Cleveland we went to Philly for a hot second. We got to climb the steps Sylvester Stallone did in the “Rocky” movies and watched the city of brotherly love get there hustle on in the park….literally.
We went to Fairmount Park aka Love Park and about 30 ppl took part in the “Hustle” line dance, the DJ amp’d the crowd surrounded by cupcake?!? trucks.After Philly we headed out to Westchester county …Mt. Kisco to be exact.
Mt. Kisco and Bedford Hills are beautiful. The area was a great environment (sans the first 2 days of rain and cold weather) to have the event. The weekend’s proceedings were held at the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts in Katonah, NY.
The first thing on the agenda for Westchester county, was to secure one of the brand new M3s. These cars came straight from the port to our hotel, there we were asked to put 300 - 400 miles on the car….in less than 24 hours!!! My car’s odometer read 00001, before I left Mt. Kisco. My car for the day was a 2011 Alpine White M3 convertible, I took off and drove to Short Hills Mall in Jersey, my mom’s job, my BFF’s apartment, my parents’ home (to do laundry), Philly and then finally back to Westchester county. The trek wore me out, but the next day we had to be up bright and early to set up for the weekend event at the Caramoor. During the course of our stay we got to talk to some locals who told us about the area, and how Ralph Lauren and Martha Stewart are neighbors to the event facility. We passed by John Jay’s estate and learned about author Washington Irving’s connection to the area. Overall the event had a good turnout. We had to improvise a few things regarding our set-up, (i.e. laying a tarp and setting up on wet grass :-/) but we made it work to the satisfaction of most attendees (some ppl were upset… the cops were everywhere and handed out at least 4 speeding tickets on the test drive routes!).
On Sunday we broke down the event space and packed up for our trip to Long Island for this weekend’s event. Monday we stopped over in Norwalk at the Octagon office and did our dreaded SAP/expense reports ….
DEFINITELY NOT the most enjoyable part of the job….we got to the office around 3:45pm and got out…..about 8:15pm!!! But at least we got it done….we headed to PF Chang’s and tried for the umpteenth time to see The Social Network….FAIL! By the time we got to the 9:45pm showing… at around 9:55pm, the theater had already locked their doors. The sad puppy dog faces didn’t work either. The next day Rosalie and I set out into Manhattan and Brooklyn. The anxiety I had while driving in the city was ridiculous. It seems the more courteous you are when u drive in NYC (i.e signaling, or turning and driving when your light is green) the more the local drivers want to cut you off or squeeze in front, it was bonkers. However the day was quite eventful, and I’m not gonna lie, it made me kinda miss the hustle of the northeast. I was able to catch up with a number of old friends throughout the city. Happy hour with Patty at the Renaissance was great, I saw my Mananda on Wall Street and finally connected with my ex-common-law wife…(j/k) aka my former roommate of over 5yrs in Brooklyn. It was the first time I’d seen her since she moved out of Atl to NYC for grad school. Everyone seemed well and I had a great time and was happy to see them all. Wednesday, I picked up Rosalie and we headed back to “Strong Island” lol…at least according to Wu-Tang…we went back to our hotel in Plainview. Once we got back we FINALLY got to see The Social Network, which in my opinion was exquisitely written and skillfully acted. I liked the film a lot and the actor that played Mark Zuckerberg…he has a very bright future, I look forward to seeing him in more films. After the film, we had dinner at a local Thai restaurant called the Lemonleaf which was pretty good. The following day we scooped a new vehicle from the port in New Jersey, we picked up a brand new Monte Carlo Blue X5M.
This car was a little different than the other X5M, the driver’s seat contours and molds to you body while you drive, it was really cool. Next we went to Jersey Gardens…such a huge and exhausting mall. I got the opportunity to stop over and see my family again while we were in NJ, so I went to Somerset County had an early dinner with the fam and turned right around to drive back to Long Island. Today (Friday) we set up and prepped for the event with our new Account Exec, Rob Twiddy. We ran errands to make sure everything was alright for the Vanderbilt Mansion/Museum event tomorrow….more to come on that later, but for now I’m going to sleep because I have to be up at 6am!
Day 9
I’m pleasantly surprised by Cleveland, we continued to explore the city on Tuesday caught some breakfast from Starbucks and set out in the city. In addition to sporting arenas, the Cleveland downtown has colleges,public transportation and some awesome museums. Our museum of choice was the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame & Museum. After a bit of wildgoose chase, we found it next to the Great Lakes Science Center and the Browns Stadium. The building sit right outside of Lake Erie gifting us with an AMAZING view.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum
The $22 admission is well worth it, the museum has 6 levels of historic memorabilia. Unfortunately cameras are not allowed to snap pics of the exhibits. But some of my personal highlights include:
- The Jimi Hendrix Experience section, which has pics he drew when he was a young boy, his father’s personal testimony of Jimi growing up. Had a lot of his ruffle shirts and guitars…I can say he is the original “Purple One” and not Prince
- Although the Hip Hop section was comparitaively small, they had the Salt N’Pepa leather jackets, Queen Latifiah dashiki (lol) and Jay-Z ‘s af1s from the Hard Knock Life Tour, Biggie’s leather Jersey and some Public Enemy medallions. But what was particularly interesting was the actual letter the FBI sent to Ice T about his lyrics.
- I was amazed at how petite Mick Jagger is …LMAO his costumes were like a size 0.
- I liked the section with the award speeches of all the inductees… they had some classics
- one thing that made me crack up was “THE HAT”…you know the one … the hat Aretha Franklin wore to the presidential inauguration for Barack Obama (deep eye roll)…I was glad it was in a museum and not in her possession anymore
- definitely cool to see the lyric pad Bob Marley wrote “Turn your Lights Down Low”
There were a lot but those are my personal favs…
After that we bid Cleveland farewell and hit the road for Philly…the journey was arduous…a legit 7 hours but felt longer.
Once we got into Philly we went to this restaurant Pod on Samson Street, right in the heart of UPenn’s campus.
Pod hit the spot!! Lots of ppl, cool decor, great Japanese food, just what we need after such a long journey.
Today we explore a lil bit more of Philly and head to Westchester County NY later on today
Day 7
So the first full week of the tour has officially wrapped! Chicago was a success with over 300+ ppl visiting over the weekend. Just to give you a brief synopsis of how the tour set up and breakdown works: Fridays are the days we set-up/plan a driving test track or course. Since we were at a racetrack that part of setup was already determined. After that aspect is figured out, we have to position our display cars, in this case they were the X6M, M3 Sedan, BMW Formula 1 V12 Race car, and a BMW Nascar vehicle. We put up BMW signage and ensure that all the BMW’s are as close to immaculate as possible at ALL TIMES. We are responsible for over a dozen cars. Setup and assembly took approximately 5 hours, afterward we got to test M3s on the track! We simulated how the driving experience portion of the tour would typically go on Saturday and Sunday. We each put on our helmets, got behind the wheel and followed the lead car which was navigated by one of the BMW Performance Driving School Instructors. We drove around in automatic and “manual m power” (no clutch just paddles on the steering wheel) at around 60-80 mph. After that we headed to dinner in Joilet….and decided on having Giordano Chicago Pizza. Chicago styled pizza is an experience that is not for the faint of heart or the lactose intolerant! Friday night we rested up because we had an early Saturday.
Day 4
The last couple of days have been pretty long and exhausting but at the same time lots of fun. I’ve been so tired I didn’t really get a chance to update till today. Tuesday we spent most of the day training and getting ready for our first remotes on Saturday and Sunday at the Autobahn Country Club just outside Chicago. We put together laminated event credentials and got to talk to some Octagon employees about their past experiences going on the road with different accounts which was very insightful. Before the day was over we received our official 2010 M Power Team gear which is quite cool. Later that night we (tour coordinators) went in to SoNo (South Norwalk) and had dinner at local restaurant The Ginger Man.
Day 1
So… I figured I would chronicle this ridiculously amazing experience. I along with 7 others was selected to be Event Coordinator for BMW’s 2010 M Power Tour. The campaign spans from October 4th to November 15th, we hit markets in Chicago, Westchester, NY, Long Island, D.C., San Francisco and lastly L.A. Today marks “Day 1” for me. I left Atlanta (which is bittersweet, because when I return my BFF Adam will have moved to MD :-\ ) and caught a flight LGA, from there I hightailed it to Hertz where I picked up my Mazda 6 rental. That was the first time I rented a carand I was slightly p.o.’d over the under 25 charge o_0….Next, I drove to Norwich, CT headquarters of Octagon. Here is where I will be doing my training for the next couple of days before we set off to our first tour stop at Autobahn Country Club in Joliet, IL.
Highlights Include:
Meeting my fellow coordinators who seem like a spirited bunch:
- Rosalie,Brendan, Jordan, Nick, Alicia, George, Rishonda
An overview of Octagon and BMW
Then Dinner @ The Brewhouse
For now thats all… I’m super tired so we will see what tomorrow brings
