Supposed to hit 40°C in Kamloops tomorrow - yowza!
In the April issue of the Martlet, I interviewed Stephen Carroll of The Weakerthans, a Winnipeg rock group who opened a few shows for The Tragically Hip this summer. As my first "rock interview," I thought it went quite well. I researched the band, read some of their older interviews and avoided any "What's it like being in a rock band?"-ish questions.
Plans to interview Halifax's Joel Plaskett Emergency in May fell through, unfortunately. Didn't stop me from enjoying their May 6 show in Victoria though.
The following article appeared in the July issue of the Martlet.
Host An Auto Show For $5
by Matt Grady
Three students turned a $5 start-up capital into the first Victoria International Auto Show.
Over 100 new cars filled the UVic Fine Arts parking lot, gleaming in the 30-degree sun, inviting a steady stream of locals on June 25.
The auto show, the first in Victoria in over a decade, ran from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Porsches and Pontiacs, Hondas and Hyundais, Minis and Mitsubishis reflected off the sunglasses of onlookers. The Rotary Club of Victoria raffled off a Smart Car and Jack FM provided tunes.
"Planning an event like that properly takes three to four months," said Dave Adamowicz who, with fellow business students Paul Taylor and Brette Carrigan, organized the show in only six weeks for their summer entrepreneurship course. Taylor's father suggested an auto show for the course project, which was assigned the first day.
"It only took a five-minute discussion to realize that's what we wanted to do," said Adamowicz.
The first two weeks of the project involved selling the auto show idea to Victoria dealerships and the mapping of expenses. Taylor and Adamowicz met with sales managers and presented a dealership participation proposal, which outlined who they were, their motivation for organizing an auto show and how they would market the event.
The proposal, a "work in progress," was constantly updated and refined as more dealerships got on board�16 in all, including one in Nanaimo.
It took "three to four more days than we thought it would for them to decide," said Adamowicz. "We had to really persist."
In addition to a class presentation, detailing the experience of selling the project to the dealerships, Taylor, Adamowicz and Carrigan turned in a 10-page report to professor Ana Maria Peredo, which was very well received.
The remainder of the project involved bookings, confirmations and set-up for the auto show. A website was set up, plus 5,000 brochures and 60 posters were distributed.
Sponsors for the event included the Times Colonist, Driving.ca and A-Channel News.
The Fine Arts parking lot was secured for the weekend, with dealers parking their cars and prepping for the event on Saturday
evening. The group was not permitted to outsource security, so Taylor and Adamowicz dedicated their night to watching over the cars, with campus security making hourly rounds.
A fantastic turnout, remarked David Glabais, sales manager of Honda City, who "jumped on full force" for the project.
"We got a lot of the people in town that don't get to see our vehicles," said Mike Delmaire of Saunders Subaru of Colwood.
Positive feedback from attendees reaffirmed the hard work and dedication put into such an ambitious project.
"People were super friendly," said Adamowicz.
Looking ahead, Taylor and Adamowicz have applied for a business licence under the name Dynamic Planning and are organizing another auto show for next year.
"We made so many connections with sales managers," noted Adamowicz. "Prior to this, I never had to sell anything."
