Washingtonês blizzard misses Auto Show Media Days, but delays opening to the public
The Washington Auto Showês Industry/Media Days — a.k.a. Public Policy Days — went off without a hitch, except for that pesky inch of snow that tied up traffic all evening on the first day, Jan. 20. The W.E. Washington Convention Center, with the 2016 Auto Show laid out, looked beautiful for Public Policy Day #2, Jan. 21, and for the Sneak Peek that evening. Then — on what would have been the Auto Showês opening day to consumers on Friday, Jan. 22 — the city, its convention center and pretty much everything in the entire region closed down as the blizzard of 2016 dumped 2 _ – 3 feet of wet snow far and wide. But the publicês enthusiasm for the Auto Show was merely delayed — albeit until Jan. 26 — not dampened. Indeed, opening day on Tuesday yielded strong attendance, with government offices, all area schools, and most businesses still out for the snow cleanup and Washingtonians everywhere gripped with cabin fever and the desire to do something fun, like going to the Auto Show.
After the first Public Policy Day symposiums on Capitol Hill, Public Policy Day #2, onsite at the Auto Show, started on a high note. The real essence of Washington is safety and the environment, and thatês what this Auto Show is about, said Les Jackson, president of the Washington Automotive Press Association (WAPA), in his welcoming remarks to the Media Breakfast. Scotty Reiss, president of the International Motor Press Association (IMPA), co-hosting the breakfast with Jackson, encouraged the media to tweet from the show with the hashtag #WAS16.
Auto Show Chairman Geoff Pohanka, before introducing the morningês keynote speaker, Honda Executive Vice President John Mendel, remembered his first acquaintance with the Honda brand.
In the early 1970s, I was driving with my father Jack Pohanka [then a GM dealer]. He was looking at a car in the next lane, one of the first Honda Civics. He said, They call that a car?ê Little did he know he would open Pohanka Honda three years later.
What follows in this first Auto Show Special Edition of the WANADA Bulletin are reports on both Public Policy Days, Jan. 20-21, 2016. A second Special Edition will follow next week reporting on the Auto Showês consumer days, Jan. 26-31, 2016.
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