Update: You can view additional posts about my #WantAnR8 experience on this page.
This is the first in a series of blog posts that documents my #WantAnR8 weekend. In this post, I will cover the moment in which I learned that I was chosen as one of two winners and the run-up to my #WantAnR8 weekend.
Update: Below are links to the other three posts in this series:
- #WantAnR8 Experience Part Two: The Big Day
- #WantAnR8 Experience Part Three: Nightfall and Meeting Mt. St. Helens
- #WantAnR8 Experience Part Four: The Farewell and Final Thoughts
08:36 – 30 August 2012: From @Audi: “Hi there! So it’s WantAnR8 time, and because it is…”
If my memory serves me correctly, my first reaction was to do a double-take when I saw the notification came up on TweetDeck. Quickly thereafter, a flash of disbelief and shock ran through my mind; then realized, it was not a joke. I had just been selected as one of two winners for round 3 of the #WantAnR8 contest! Holy father of quattro!
It wasn’t until 5 September 2012 did Audi officially announce the round 3 winners of #WantAnR8, as you can see below and covered in a previous blog post:
After a signing a couple of forms and several DMs later, the #WantAnR8 weekend date was set for 6-7 October 2012. In the meantime, my day job became ever more hectic as the company was going through an office move. Throughout the chaos and dealing with a slew of vendors and contractors, I was seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Of course, it was more than just a light, it was the LED daytime running lights of an R8 with its V10 engine taunting me.
Once the office move was completed and I was able to relax a little bit… well, as relaxed as an Audi fanatic can be after being selected as a #WantAnR8 winner. About two weeks before the big weekend, I was in contact with one of the guys coordinating the film crew (!!!) that would be filming the whole #WantAnR8 delivery, interview and first part of the experience. Having learned that I would not get the keys to the R8 until 10:00 that Saturday morning, I wouldn’t be able to make it out to PDX C&C. So, I decided to ask if I could have it delivered while I was at PDX C&C.
Once I got confirmation, I thought it would be a good idea to make it kind of a surprise to most of the guys and gals that come out to the group.
During that time, some of the news that I had won the R8 for a weekend leaked out, but tried to keep mum about it to others. Not exactly an easy task, mostly when I was giddy as all get out. On the morning of 3 October, I teased the bit to the group’s page with, “All I have to say right now is, be at PDX C&C this Saturday at 10:00 AM.”
Stay tuned for the next part in this series… the big day.
:)