China Car Blogger Summit Denounces Progress
The titans of the foreign auto blogger scene in China just happened to bump into each other today – at a nerdy tradeshow for auto parts, no less. No booth babes, just a lot of sexy displays of tie rod ends, control arms, ball bearings and pop rivets. The Chinese government sponsors this event every year in order to promote export of Chinese parts. For qualified buyers (anyone with a business card), the government even picks up the hotel tab for three days. Imagine: Everywhere else you have to pay three times the going rate when a big trade show is in town – in China, you stay for free! Now isn’t communism just wonderful?
Anyway, Ashley Sutcliffe, head honcho of China Car Times, Tycho de Feyter, the man behind TheTycho.com and yours truly all happened to be in Hall 8 at the same time and, after the “we were there” picture was taken, the three decided to conduct an impromptu China Car Blogger Summit at the Dairy Queen. Yes, they have Dairy Queens in China, about 40 in and around Beijing alone.
Major resolutions passed at the summit: To keep everything as it is.
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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I guessed the Tycho was the center one, then moused over and confirmed.
"Major resolutions passed at the summit: To keep everything as it is."
That should keep everyone in good standing with the powers that be in Beijing.
No, Bertel, there MUST be changes. It's up to you three titans to convince the Chinese that Dairy Queens are not enough. There must also be bowling alleys, White Castles, drive-up joints with girls on roller skates, and drive-in theaters. Then, once you've converted China to 1950s America, we will have won!
Speaking of booth babes, what happened to the Booth Babe? Did I miss an announcement about her?