| EVENT REPORT 04.10.09 1:10 PM |
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| Shifting Gears |
| Two automakers approached Auto Show events from different angles: Kia tied its party thematically to a press conference the next day, while Ford hosted a design-focused dinner for lifestyle—not auto industry—journalists. |
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Kia and Ford, two very different brands with different goals at this year’s New York International Auto Show, were among the few to hold events after Wednesday’s press day. As it had in the past, Kia decided to tie its party to a product reveal for industry publications, while Ford went a more intimate route, with a private dinner for influencers.
Hoping to duplicate what was deemed a successful event last year, Kia returned to Exit Art with help from Go! Productions. Once again, the current exhibit at the gallery became the event's jumping off point. |
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PHOTO GALLERY |
 | Silent Barrage, Exit Art's current exhibition on the brain, worked its way into Kia's party at the gallery as well as its press presentation at the Javits Center.
Photo: Dan Hallman for BizBash |
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 | Much like last year, Kia offered a tiny glimpse of its new model on the eve of its big reveal at the Auto Show.
Photo: Dan Hallman for BizBash |
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 | A branded space at Exit Art for sponsor Infinity was lit with its own hue by Caramel Sound, Music & Lights.
Photo: Dan Hallman for BizBash |
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 | Kia's signature drink, the Kia Mojito, was served with a sprig of mint.
Photo: Dan Hallman for BizBash |
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 | GO Catering provided passed plates for Kia's party, as well as a full-service sushi bar.
Photo: Dan Hallman for BizBash |
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 | Forty Kias lined the streets from the Javits Center to Exit Art, ushering guests to the party, and promising a free lift to their next destination.
Photo: Dan Hallman for BizBash |
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 | Kia planners used the exhibit at Exit Art as inspiration for Thursday's press presentation at the Javits Center, installing two chairs that "read" designers brain waves.
Photo: Roger Dong for BizBash |
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 | The simple decor at Ford's design dinner included four tables for 10 and uplit brick walls with Taurus gobos.
Photo: BizBash |
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 | Producers of Ford's design dinner chose Drive In Studios for the ease with which they could park a car in the middle of the dining area.
Photo: BizBash |
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 | RCano Events catered Ford's design dinner, starting with passed plates of mini tacos.
Photo: BizBash |
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“When we found out that the exhibit there was about biology and the brain, we decided to incorporate it,” said Kia director of public relations Alex Fedorak, who organized the event. The piece, titled “Silent Barrage,” consisted of a series of vertical tubes with moving robotic parts meant to resemble synapses in the brain. The planners were charmed, so just as they did last year, they worked it into the theme of the party. “This year it became all about going into the mind of the designers,” Fedorak said.
The theme didn’t stop at the party though. Kia took the idea of brain activity into its press conference back at the Javits Center on Thursday. During the presentation, designers sat in pod-shaped chairs—humorously described as brain monitors—while images of what inspires their car designs flashed across the screen.
Downtown, at Drive In Studios in Chelsea, Ford's event of a completely different nature started just as Kia’s party was winding down. As part of Ford's design dinner series, the domestic automaker treated 40 lifestyle publication editors, bloggers, and influencers to an intimate meal and presentation of the 2010 Taurus.
“Most of the people we see at the auto show work for industry publications,” said Marisa Bradley of Ford design communications, who organized the party. “That’s great, but do your friends read that? They don’t. An event like this is a way we can have a conversation with the lifestyle writers that reach a much different audience.”
Produced by Detroit-based Studio Creative, the event included a cocktail hour before Ford vice president of design J Mayes briefly spoke about the new Taurus, which was parked on a giant white screen in the corner of the room, and the guests were seated for a dinner catered by RCano Events.
—Michael O'Connell
RELATED TOPICS
Kia, Ford, New York International Auto Show
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