Jan 19 2016

2016 #FORDNAIAS Exclusive Media Trip – Day 3 (Itinerary) – MoVernie

For the second consecutive year, I was invited by Ford Canada to attend the 2016 Ford North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) Digital Summit. It’s an Exclusive VIP Event organized by Ford Motors, flying in the selected Digital Influencers from around the world to meet together and cover one of the largest North American Auto Shows in the world that is happening from January 11-24, 2016. I was one of the lucky exclusive Canadian Digital Influencers representing Canada.

It’s a 3-day Media Trip Event. First of all, let me start off with a summary of my Ford NAIAS Day-1 Itinerary so that you have a bigger picture of how my media event went.

Day 3 – Ford NAIAS Media Trip

1) Woke up early at around 7:00 am to walk into the atrium to grab breakfast and meet with other Influencers.

2) There was a breakfast buffet stations with goodies such as scrambled eggs, bacon, fruits, yogurt, etc. There was also a omelette station where a chef can cook it on the spot. I luv my eggs dearly so I ordered two sunny-side up eggs.

3) Went back to my hotel room, changed my clothes and grabbed my equipment and hopped onto the coach bus. We were heading back to the Cobo Center for the 2nd consecutive day to cover the North American International Auto Show. Also, Lincoln was having its presentation in the morning, unveiling its latest product.

4) Lincoln announced that the flagship name plate “Continental” that played an important role back in the days is BACK! The luxurious and gorgeous 2017 Lincoln Continental was unveiled at NAIAS.

5) Walked around the auto show further to capture more video footage and photos to share to my followers.

6) Went to Ford Blue Oval HQ to grab lunch and beverages.

7) Also went and grab coffee and snacks from other car brands throughout the auto show. At this event, I learned one thing. We will never encounter any shortage of food or beverages, coz almost every car brands have its own coffee and food stations. They surely treat the media very nicely.

8) Went back to the Ford Blue Oval HQ to check out the Ford products.

9) Mark Fields, the CEO of Ford greeted the Digital Influencers, thanked everyone for coming to Detroit and attended the auto show. He also answered many of our questions during the chat. What I like about the chat was that it was very informal and casual. Everyone gathered around in circles and asked Mark questions. It was very calm, relax and enjoyable.

10) Took a photo with Mark Fields, Toronto represents!

(Photo: Davindra Ramnarine)

11) Hopped on the coach bus and returned back to the Westin Hotel.

12) Went to my room to pack up my belongings.

13) Went downstairs to the restaurant to grab dinner before I headed back to Toronto a few hours later.

14) It was so convenient walking from the Westin Hotel to the airport. Went to Duty Free to grab something and also bought some Power Ball Tickets.

15) Landed back to Toronto Pearson Airport. Home Sweet Home!

16) Took the UP Express Train from Terminal 1 Pearson Airport and went to Union Station.

I would like to use this opportunity to thank you Ford Motors and Ford Canada for inviting me the second consecutive time to attend this wonderful FordNAIAS Media Trip. Every time, the itinerary is different and I enjoyed every part of the experience!

In particular, I would like to thank Craig Silva and Anson Dixon, the Ford Canada Social Media Team for the wonderful hospitality and assistance during this Ford NAIAS Media Trip.

As always, I am very grateful and thankful of every opportunity that comes to me.

End of Day 3 of my MoVernie Ford NAIAS Media Trip.

Make sure you follow me on Instagram (@RealMoVernie) and Twitter (@MoVernie) as I will be posting awesome photos and videos at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS).

And MoVernie is outta here!

Follow @FordCanada and @Ford on Twitter!

Also Follow #FordNAIAS for updates!

For NAIAS business hours or admission prices, click the site here.

Jan 18 2016

2016 #FORDNAIAS Exclusive Media Trip – Day 2 (Itinerary) – MoVernie

It’s a 3-day Media Trip Event. First of all, let me start off with a summary of my Ford NAIAS Day-1 Itinerary so that you have a bigger picture of how my media event went.

Day 2 – Ford NAIAS Media Trip

1) Woke up early at around 7:00 am to walk into the atrium to grab breakfast and meet with other Influencers.

3) Went back to my hotel room, changed my clothes and grabbed my equipment and hopped onto the coach bus. We were heading to the Cobo Center, where the North American International Auto Show took place.

4) Grabbed our NAIAS wrist band and walked into the auto show. First stop we made was to check out the Ford Blue Oval Headquarter. Man! This place is gigantic, it had 2 floors. FYI – Ford had the biggest floor space at the NAIAS. In the middle of the Ford Blue Oval HQ, there was a big central screens, it displayed the tweets posted by Influencers who used the hashtag #FordNAIAS. That’s just show you how forward thinking and how much Ford believes in Social Media and being thoughtful to know how to communicate with the new generations.

5) At the Ford Blue Oval HQ, there were tons of interactive display and activities for the media and public to do. On both ends of the floor space, you could see a beautiful white Ford Explorer being lifted up high in the air after it picked up some show-goers to let them check out the innovation and technologies Ford had developed over the years.

6) On the other end of the floor space, the award-winning 2015 North American International Truck of the Year, F-150 Truck was lifted up as well with passengers, showcasing the attendees its state-of-the-art automatic system that would help ease you to backup your trailer or unload your boat when you are backing up. In the past, it’s a pain to backing up your truck when you have limited visibility in backing up your truck with tons of equipment behind you. Ford Motors listened to what its customers needs and its engineers developed a system that will make its customers’ lives better and easier.

7) On the second floor, there sits the gorgeous show-stopper 2016 Ford GT Super Car. Last year, this vehicle shocked the automotive world with its debut in the signature blue colour. This year, it’s shown with the white body paint. Trust me, every angle, every colour, this ride looks great!

8) After chilling for a bit at the Ford Blue Oval HQ, we were headed to the Joe Louis Arena to check out the Ford Presentation.

9) Joe Louis Arena is home to the NHL Detroit Red Wings, its an iconic building full of history. All of the brands at the auto show, Ford is the ONLY brand that conducted its presentation at the Joe Louis Arena. Meanwhile, other brands conducted its presentation at their respective show space. Ford really is a BIG player at the Detroit Auto Show & it really takes its product presentation seriously.

10) CEO Mark Fields and Executive Chairman Bill Ford took the stage, they thanked and greeted the media for attending the Ford presentations.

11) The best part of the Ford presentation? Famous Host of the American Idol, Ryan Seacrest was the host for this Ford presentation. Totally didn’t know he would be here, especially he was at the Golden Globes the night before. It’s so cool to see him at the auto show. Apparently, Ryan is a big supporter of Ford products for many many years and Ford has been a proud sponsor of the American Idol show for a long time, so it was a great connection there.

12) Ford showcased its 2017 Ford Raptor.

13) Ford also showcased its 2017 Ford Fusion Hybrid.

14) Ford also showcased its development on its “Autonomous” self-driving vehicles. They are the first car company to conduct testing of its autonomous vehicles under snow and ice conditions.

15) To make its consumer’s lives better by understanding what its customers needs. Ford introduced a concept called “Ford Pass”. What is “FordPass”? FordPass is part of Ford Smart Mobility – which is a strategy that combines connectivity, mobility, autonomous vehicles, customer experience, data and analytics to better serve its customers.

16) After the Ford Presentation, we walked by to the Ford Blue Oval HQ, Ryan Seacrest was busy doing a Q&A session with university students about life and career choices.

17) Grabbed some lunch and beverages at the Ford Blue Oval HQ.

18) Decided to walk around the rest of the auto show to see what other car brands have to offer and also attended some of their presentations, unveiling some of its products to the world for the first time.

19) Mark Fields, CEO of Ford held a session with the students, answering their questions. Mark also shared his insights, his own experiences and his own career paths and shared with the students. The session was inspiring and really provided some motivational messages to encourage the students to find their own paths and goals and continue to work hard to fulfill their respective dreams.

20) Returned back to the Ford Blue Oval HQ. Davindra Ramnarine (@1goatroti), another FordNAIAS Digital Influencer and I interviewed President and CEO of Ford Canada, Dianne Craig at the Executive Ford Lounge.

(Photo: Craig Silva)

20) After the interview, Ford unveiled its first Ford Fusion Nascar.

21) We attended the Ford NAIAS Party in the evening, located right at the Ford Blue Oval HQ. Drinks and food were served. Live music pumping!

21) At the Ford NAIAS Party, Ford & Lego announced their partnerships in producing two lego play sets. One featuring the iconic Ford Mustang. The other play set consists of the historic Ford Model T and the 2017 Ford Raptor.

20) Hopped back on the coach bus and headed back to the Westin Hotel.

21) Mingled with other Ford NAIAS Influencers at the lounge area.

22) Went back to my hotel room and did some social media work.

23) Went for a nice sleep, all tugged in the comfy bed sheets and bed.

End of Day 2 of my MoVernie Ford NAIAS Media Trip.

Make sure you follow me on Instagram (@RealMoVernie) and Twitter (@MoVernie) as I will be posting awesome photos and videos at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS).

And MoVernie is outta here!

Follow @FordCanada and @Ford on Twitter!

Also Follow #FordNAIAS for updates!

For NAIAS business hours or admission prices, click the site here.

Jan 13 2016

NAIAS 2016 – What to Expect at the Ford Showroom

One of the biggest auto shows in the world is the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS), which is located in Detroit, Michigan. It’s happening from January 11 to January 24, allowing car enthusiasts or car shoppers a chance to check out the various products that are available in the market. Furthermore, it’s also an opportunity for car brands to showcase their future concept cars as well as future auto trends and its latest technologies.

This year, it is a great honour that I was invited by Ford Canada to fly down from Toronto to Detroit, among a group of other Social Media Influencers to check out what Ford and Lincoln has to offer this year in 2016 as well as future outlook of the direction Ford and Lincoln are heading for.

During this media trip, I was also able to check out vehicles from other manufacturers showcasing at the NAIAS. NAIAS plays a huge role in setting the tone in the auto industry, being one of the first show in the new calendar year. Detroit is being labelled “Motor City” for a reason and manufacturers often unveil its latest products for the very first time at this event to the world.

At a later MoVernie BLOG, I will share more information to you on what to expect at this auto show. Moreover, I will discuss in more details the direction that Ford and Lincoln is taking in building products that consumers want as well as making their lives better by creating technologies and services that will bring more convenience and elevate the lifestyle experiences for many.

But first, let’s start off showing you all the awesome photos that I took at the Ford Showroom. As we all know, picture is worth more than a thousand words. Let the pictures speak for itself with the Ford products behind the Blue Oval Headquarter at the NAIAS 2016!

Make sure you follow me on Instagram (@RealMoVernie) and Twitter (@MoVernie) as I will be posting awesome photos and videos at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS).

And MoVernie is outta here!

Follow @FordCanada and @Ford on Twitter!

Also Follow #FordNAIAS for updates!

Ford GT

Ford Shelby Cobra

Ford Focus RS

The launch of the Ford Fusion Nascar

Ford Fusion Hybrid

Ford Raptor

Ford Oval Blue HQ

Ford Explorer

Ford Performance

Ford #GoFurther

Jan 10 2015

My Love for Cars Dated Way Back When I was a Kid – Flashback

My bro (MoKenny) & I when we were young.

When I was a kid, I already love cars! At an age of 4, I had over hundreds of hot wheels car toys. My mom still told me this day that I could play for hours with just a few car toys. She called my childhood “low maintenance” lol. Every week, my parents would bring me to a toy store and I got to pick out a new car toy to play (only if I behave of course). At the age of 5, I could recognize every car brand and models to the exact trim level. I could even tell you the size of the engine, the horsepower and amount of torque and approximate price of the cars. I even recalled my dad will call home and told me his friends are planning to buy a car, is that brand or model was good. That’s how much I love cars!

I recalled one time, my uncle had a friendly bet with me that we had to guess the right car brand and model of a car parked 15 floors beneath our condo unit. His guess was Toyota Celica and my guess was Datsun Fairlady (back then they called Datsun and not Nissan). We both walked downstairs and I WON. He lost the bet so he had to buy me a set of car toys for a month.

As my family immigrated from Hong Kong to Toronto, my love of the cars continued, only major difference back then, were way more American cars and I need to familiarize with all the brands back then. Each day, after school, I would draw out many car designs and possible technologies that I envisioned our future society would be. Technologies ideas such as backup camera, speed sensors, automatic wipers detector, all of these technologies ideas were part of my 8-year old portfolio. I told my parents my ideas but unfortunately, without social media or anything, my parents didn’t know who to reach out to nor would they think a car company would believe in an 8-year old kid’s ideas.

As time flew by, I went to high school and into University. I could have been a mechanical engineer or a car designer or anything related to cars, timing wasn’t right and I studied and worked in the marketing industry. And back to current time, I have became a Social Media Influencer, have my own live in studio TV show, write blogs and cover cool events. And what happen? In a circle of life and with all things connected, I would never thought I would be covering Toronto Auto Show, Detroit Auto Show, SEMA in Vegas, test driving cars for my blog and auto reviews for my show, twitting pictures of the latest car models at product launch events.

The timing is everything and when there are opportunities coming your way, nothing can stop that. Social Media opens up opportunities and my dream came true to be able to spend time with new cars, test driving them and seeing them up-close. Although, I ain’t a car designer or anything like that, my connection with cars linked me back from childhood to now. I am grateful!

And my connection with cars continues as I will be attending to the Exclusive VIP 2015 Ford NAIAS Digital Summit. I will have more chance to see more new Ford products and its latest technologies behind-the-scenes.

Follow me on Twitter @MoVernie or on Instagram @RealMoVernie for the latest Ford Product News. I will be reporting “LIVE” at the Blue Oval in Detroit. By the way, whoever named the special area “Blue Oval” is a very bright person.

In addition of following me on Twitter and Instagram, you can also follow this hashtag #FordNAIAS, peeps who are attending this special event will all be using this special designated hashtags, so feel free to follow them as well.

I would like to thank Ford Canada for providing me with this exclusive opportunity!

Vernon (aka MoVernie)
Twitter – @MoVernie
Instagram – @RealMoVernie

Jan 8 2015

2015 Ford Mustang – 50th Anniversary

Hello everyone!

Just curious! I really love the 50th Anniversary 2015 Ford Mustang. If for some reason, a secret santa has decided to drop the new car right in front of your drive way, what colour would you like your Mustang to be in?

For me, I would love the new Mustang in bright yellow colour! However, the baby blue aqua will be a close second.

Happy Thursday!