Never before in the history of the world (or at least as far back as I can remember) has an automotive website allowed its readers to attend the glitzy press conference and inhale the fake smoke of a real car show press day. That changes today. Members of The Autopian will now be able to attend the 2023 Los Angeles International Auto Show press day on Thursday, November 16th as part of our Automotive-Reporter-For-A-Day program. I know it sounds too good to be true, but it’s real and it’s spectacular.
How this will work is that, under the guidance of David, Mercedes, Jason, myself and a special to-be-announced Autopian contributor, you’ll get a press pass and be able to attend the press conferences and roam the hallowed halls of the LA Convention Center to see the unveils in person. Even better, we plan to keep a live blog of the site where you can share your thoughts on the cars as they’re revealed (either under your name or a pseudonym).
At the end of the day we’ll have our annual Autopian Media Happy Hour (the shrimp-barrow my also appear) and you’ll get to hang out for that as well. Mostly, it’ll just be a fun time.
A few caveats, though:
- You need to be an Autopian member.
- If you’re monthly, you’ll have to have been a member at any level before October 30th.
- If you’re annual, you’ll have to be an annual member by November 3rd (i.e. you can sign up today or tomorrow)
- You’ll need to be there in the morning, meaning you can’t just roll in for happy hour
- Signing up does not guarantee admission, we’ll email you to let you know you’re in
Otherwise, if you can make it, please fill out this form:
I regret that my schedule and work will prevent my participation. If it works out well and you do it again next year, I’ll make sure to block time to attend for 2024…
Can you offer this for the NAIAS in Detroit next year?
The Detroit Auto Show was a bit of a dud this year. Nothing really new was shown off. Small vendors had interesting tech but we found it hard to get anything note-worthy for ABC 12, outside of the stellar lives interviews done by David and Mercedes. From what I can tell, the industry is moving away from Detroit for blockbuster announcements…which makes it hard to determine if outlets should put their limited resources into covering the NAIAS.
However, the public days are a ton of fun if you haven’t been in a while and we could totally do an Autopian fan takeover day/car meetup!
Hey Matt!
We might have met at Press Days for the NY Auto Show a few years back when I was carrying coffee and Monster Energy Drinks for a certain Feder of certain “Connection” and “Authority” websites. I was deemed winner of their writing contest (I wrote about my experience at the 1992 Tokyo Motor Show), so I was flown out and put up at the W by a certain Korean automaker (remember the blue Asterisks?) I think I still have a screen grab of a short vid I did with them at that show standing around an Azera or Veloster.
OR we might have met when I accompanied him and his team to Press Days at the LA Auto Show the following year. (That was the year of the loaner Murano Cross Cabriolet – which I strangely liked – and too many Caipirinhas – which I loved)
I happened to be the one who taught the Feder how to wear sportsjackets and Wayfarers…
I suppose I may have just disqualified myself now.
Hey Matt if in notifications, great feature, delete all is supposed to remove all notifications it doesn’t work.
Me too! A minor peeve, but still.
It only works for me after refreshing the tab.
I won’t be able to make it that day, but if any Autopian staff are going to be at the show during any of the public days, I would love to stop by and say hi.
We probably will be!
I could maybe make this work, but also probably should not spend the money on airfare and hotel.
I’ve made worse financial decisions, but I just don’t think I can justify it this year. I hope you can and will do it again next year, because I should be in a better position to make it work.
I hope it’s fantastic for whoever gets to go!
Maybe out-of-town Autopians could split an AirBnB or camp out in the Galpin garage? Speaking of which, are s’mores legal in CA?
Only if they’re 420 S’mores.
DO IT
I appreciate the encouragement, but you don’t want me trying to do an automotive journalism. I’m probably one of the least knowledgeable members we have.
That’s not a disqualification, it’s just a different perspective. You may see and think of things others take for granted. In general, automotive stories are for everyone, from gearheads to people who think going zoom zoom is neat.
Who’s the special contributer? One of David cats? Fancy Kirsten? Jay Leno? Otto? The options are endless!!
Otto would be amazing. Just live blogging his reaction to his dad’s shenanigans. Shaking his head at whatever Torch and DT schemed because he’s the only adult in the room.
They were trying to hire people a month or so ago, my guess is it’s whoever they hired that they haven’t introduced just yet
I bet it’s Bison 78, or maybe that squirell guy.
This is awesome, and I’m going to be super jealous of whoever is selected.
Matt did say “guests”, so may the odds be ever in your favor.
I’d love to, but it’s way too short notice for me and there’s conflicts on my schedule that I won’t compromise, like sports banquets for my kid. Don’t feel bad for me though, I already had an amazing Autopian experience this year, getting to hang out with Mercedes for 2 days and getting to drive a press Bronco and Ski Klasse at 4fest.
Oh boy, going would be ridiculous…but it’s also quite doable. Tickets from Detroit to LA are also only $165 so it wouldn’t be too much out of pocket…
I’m working that day and can’t get out of it. Bummer!
I am like *this* close to jumping on this, I’ve always wanted to see what press day is like. My usual run is first and last days, to see everything when it’s in good shape and the people aren’t beat down (and get all the swag) before coming back to see what I missed and do the ride-ons.
DO IT!
Sorry, I’m not giving out my phone number. Credit card info is one thing, but never my phone number 🙂
It’s optional
Mine’s 1-800-DICKBUTT, or so I claim.
You can also email me at fakeemail@poopoopeepee.com, just in case I don’t answer.
This almost makes me want to come to LA. Almost.