Reporter's Notebook: Inside McCormick Place in February
Sadly, my memory gets foggy when it comes to the first auto show I worked as a member of the media.
It was a matter of being there. It has always been that way.
Auto shows have a special place in my professional and personal life. In all, I have attended at least ten different auto shows across five states and the District of Columbia. Five of which I worked as a member of the credentialed media.
Sadly, my memory gets foggy when it comes to the first auto show I worked as a member of the media. However, let me skip to perhaps one of my most memorable auto shows I worked during their media preview.
Of course, it would have to be a Chicago Auto Show. But, which year?
The 2004 show could be a good candidate. It was my first media preview I ever worked at. I remember talking to Jim Farley, who was the head of Scion. The new “youth oriented” brand made their debut inside McCormick Place that year with the xA and xB on display. That became a hub of what transpired in future years. Despite missing the demographic mark – older buyers snapping up more “toasters” than younger ones, Farley would become the darling of the automotive industry. He’s still CEO at Ford the last time I checked.
Ford also made a splash at their media preview for the 2005 Mercury Montego. Chairman Bill Ford was there to make a commitment to jobs at their Torrence Avenue plant on the city’s southeast side to build the Montego alongside the Ford Five Hundred and Freestyle. Interestingly enough, those names would go by the wayside in a couple of year, as Ford brought back the Taurus and Sable names to induce sales of their front-drive large cars.
Then, we saw Bob Lutz standing in front of the 2005 Buick LaCrosse like he owned the building. Perhaps for the reason that Buick was replacing both the Century and Regal with one mid-sized sedan. Honestly, the car did OK. They kept their demographic (for the time) happy with it. How was I even excited for this car in the first place? A rookie move, if you ask me.
My next media preview I worked in Chicago was 2011. It was all about Chrysler LLC at the time Fiat S.p.A. came knocking on Auburn Hills’ door. There, I met a good friend who was part of their communications team. I also met Ralph Gilles and had a brief conversation with him. It was about meeting new colleagues and contacts to jump start the road towards relevance. Who knew that would be the case in 2011.

At the time of he 2011 Chicago Auto Show, Victory & Reseda was not the name of this website. No #VOTYs were awarded at that show. The Dodge Charger just unveiled their SRT8 for the second-generation LX platform. It would also be Saab’s last auto show. The 9-4x was on display as their last new vehicle. Then, poof, they were gone.
The next year, I awarded the #VOTY to Buick for the Regal at McCormick Place. It turned out to be more of a General Motors show for me, as GMC took a few leftover Saturn parts to update their 2013 Acadia SUV. Was that the big news for 2012? Maybe it was the Hyundai Elantra GT and Coupe?
Honestly, I was there to see what was introduced a month earlier in Detroit. For example, the Dodge Dart. Yeah…the one built off a Fiat platform that flopped a year after it was introduced. I liked it. Gave it a #VOTY – which was awarded the next year.

If you ask me, I was on another planet as I worked at the 2013 Chicago Auto Show. Fiat Chrysler gave me more attention than I expected, as the #VOTY12 hand off was on their weekly video update. That was mega, as some of the kids would say.
The month before, I worked the auto show in Detroit thanks to an invite from GM. As I walked onto both show floors at McCormick Place, I figured I knew every vehicle that was there. All I cared about was handing a framed certificate to an FCA executive.
All of these were lessons learned for the next 11 years. Lessons about being professional while working the floor of an auto show. Lessons on how to pace myself to find the right stories for that day and the future. Lessons on who to deal with while being a media professional.

Somehow, I made it through. However, there was one thing that makes the Chicago Auto Show worth working at every year – the people you know that you can call a “friend.”
As one person said that if it is not about the cars, trucks, SUVs, and such, it’s about the people. It is about networking and catching up with your friends. It will be as such come later this week.
Save for a couple of years since 2011, the annual trips to McCormick Place were made for the challenge to live up to your professional reputation – whatever that may be.
This coming week, we’ll be back. Watch this space to see what we will come up with inside McCormick Place.
All photos by Randy Stern