As 2013 comes to a close, I suppose it is nice to be able to look back at all of the great and exciting moments that this Audi enthusiast and evangelist has experienced over the past year… and boy, were there many of those moments!
The first memorable moment of 2013 was when Audi USA published my #WantAnR8 experience video on to YouTube. It took a little while for it to become available, but the wait was sure worth it.
From a photographer stand point, this past year was filled with several, fantastic photo shoot opportunities, including taking photos of several Audi exclusive orders.
- Dashing Red Sportback: 2013 Audi S7
- Photo Shoot With Two Exclusive Audis
- In Photos: Audi Exclusive Nogaro Blue RS 5 at Audi Wilsonville
I also had the opportunity to do photo shoots of two Audi RS 7 Sportbacks:
As part of my trip to New York City (for a non-Audi related event) and Washington, DC., I got to finally meet the Queen of #WantAnR8 and some of the guys running the Audi social media team. While in the area, I spent the day at Cars, Cars and Cars chatting and taking photos of some great cars. I also got to visit Rockville Audi and checked out their store.
Over the past year, I attended three major events organized by the Northwest chapter of Audi Club of North America and I got a chance to take photos of two of those events: Audi Expo 2013 and Quattrofest 2013. My blog post and some of the photos about Audi Expo 2013 got published in the Fall 2013 edition of the ACNW newsletter. Also, I was one of two photographers that took photos during the two days of Quattrofest 2013 for the club.
From a social media side, I’ve worked with the hard-working social media team at Audi USA to partake in #SharkWeek and #GermanCarChat. My first Audi-related #SharkWeek post that went viral was an Instagram post back in 2012 of a shot that I took of my S5’s “shark fin” antenna. With that, I decided to take a series of photos of various Audi “shark fins”, provided a select set of photos to Audi’s social media team and created a #SharkWeek themed posts on Facebook, Twitter (also by Audi Deutschland), Instagram and Google+. Oh, even Business Week noticed Audi’s #SharkWeek tweet! Of course, I don’t think it was a shameless tweet…
The other opportunity that I had to work with the Audi USA social media team was covering the IAA/Frankfurt Motor Show 2013. I worked with the team to do a brief Q&A with Audi and also wrote up two articles covering both production and concept vehicles that Audi had at the show. I also worked with the guys that ran #GermanCarChat to allow me to host the first half of the chat on September 12th. As the host of the chat, I provided information about the Audi nanuk quattro and Audi Sport quattro concept vehicles, the updated A8 and S8 with Matrix LED headlights, and the new A3 and S3 cabriolets. For the chat, the Audi social media team provided me with several graphics to touch on key Q&A points.
August 2013 also marked the three years of #LoveMyS5 and I got, literally, a sweet surprise from the Audi social media team in the form of a delicious cake:
Throughout the year, I’ve had a number of opportunities to have weekend loaners from Audi Wilsonville and write up about a couple of them:
- Sexy Scarlet Sports Sedan: 2013 Misano Red Audi S4
- A Weekend With an Audi A8 L
- Weekend Notes: Audi Q5 2.0TFSI
- Quick Review and Notes: Audi A6 3.0 TDI
Throughout the year, I’ve met a lot of great people, made a few new friends, frazzled and re-ignited a few relationships, and had a blast. I’m really looking forward to what will come in the new year.
Happy New Year! | Glückliches Neujahr! | Bonne année! | ¡Feliz Año Nuevo!