When I tell people I do free-lance reporting for the automotive industry, one of the most common questions(besides “can I go with you when you test-drive a car?”) is about auto shows.

My experience, obviously, is a little different. Before I started free-lancing, I attended shows like a consumer. I would pay my admission, walk around, oohing and ahhing the new Buick Lucerne or BMW 7-Series, sit in a Jaguar S-Type and play with its controls, and take pictures. Sometimes. Salesfolks, in pressed suits and dresses and way too shiny teeth, would ask if I had any questions and, if I thought they were real cute (and there are a lot of cute people out there), I would ask a
few (e.g., can you tell me about the radio system of Model X?) all the while a false smile on my face since I already knew the answer.

But attending as a reporter is an entirely different experience.

I’ve reported on two shows so far, the San Diego Auto Show and the Los Angeles Auto Show and both were quite different experiences. The first one was, as my editor put it, a ‘warm-up’ since I was still green in the business. I arrived during the show’s regular hours and registered in as a reporter (aka you don’t pay. Duh). I walked around all day, took pics and chatting with cute sales folks. There was a media booth where I could download my pics from my camera to my laptop while snacking on free donuts and water. I posted my experiences that evening and some pics on-line.

Kewl, I thought, thinking about the upcoming L.A. show. This wasn’t too bad. Boy, did I get a shock.

First, I attended the L.A. event during media days, where only press were allowed into the show. I joined my colleague and a hundred or so reporters for breakfast where we planned out which events to attend, take pics, get media material, and upload that day. Then we rushed out and my next two days schedule were as followed:

Attend an event (e.g., debut of the new BMW or Ford vehicle).

Listen to the presentation. Dull and all the materials on the media material.

Take pictures.

Get your official media material.

Run to the media room to load your material on your laptop where you upload it to your waiting colleagues on-line.

Rush to the next event.

Repeat.

I was surprised and not in a happy way. The first day alone I didn’t have lunch except a cup of coffee. When I was attending the Bugatti Veyron unveiling, all I could think about was getting my hands on the media material and when I could come back to take some better pics of the super car. And don’t get me started about lack of wireless connectivity. You work a show, not attend, when you’re a reporter. Yeah, that Pontiac Solstice GXP is nice but where’s the media material?

I later attended the L.A. show–twice–later that week as a regular Joe and figured out that one of the few perks during media days was that I actually got to check out the interior of some of the now-closed vehicles (e.g., Ferrari’s, etc.)

So in the lyrics of the immortal Ru Paul: ‘you’ve gotta work‘ when you’re an automotive reporter.