Between the GM test drives for the attendees at BlogHer06 and the sounds of the
Canary Foundation Grand Prix of San Jose taking place near our hotel I
felt right in my automotive element at BlogHer06. Ask Patty was even
mentioned in a front page article in the San Jose Mercury News ( Elisha
I owe you big time) with references to the racing atmosphere ! Check out the article by clicking here
General Motors and Cynthia Price who is head of the women's initiative at GM, get my major personal Kudo's for their sponsorship of BlogHer06. GM really knows how to treat a lady! I just opened the bag of goodies they handed me after my test drive of the BEAUTIFUL Saturn Sky
and all I can say is GM is a class act with women ! Thanks GM and Saturn for all the nifty gifties! I MUST have that BEAUTIFUL Sky as my next car purchase....mmmmmmmmmmmmmm just might need to wait for the Redline edition in the fall. MSRP $25, 194!
The BlogHer06 Unpanel did a business case study on Ask Patty Saturday was hosted by my good friends and 'marketing to women' guru's, Susan Getgood ( Marketing Roadmaps Blog) , Yvonne Divita ( LipSticking Blog), Toby Bloomberg ( Diva Marketing Blog). Thank you for including me and Ask Patty, I enjoyed the entire session! BlogHer06 Unpanel
From one experienced major event planner to another I thought the relaxed atmosphere was refreshing and was more like a retreat than a convention. I felt no pressure to stick to a tight schedule and having worked 14 days straight with little sleep, getting ready for yet another Ask Patty development launch, I felt no guilt taking and afternoon nap on Saturday so I would be fresh for the evenings festivities! A big warm thank you and Kudo's to the three lovely leaders of BlogHer06 for providing such a rich experience for me:
BlogHer is run jointly by three co-founders: Left to right, Jory Des Jardins, Elisa Camahort, and Lisa Stone. The final event was a panel discussion and Q and A session with Arianna Huffington, Caroline Little, Meg Hourihan and Mena Trott President and Co-Founder of Six Apart who all spoke eloquently on the "state of the union" of women bloggers.
( A special thank you Mena Trott and TypePad for featuring Ask Patty on July 15th -16, 2006. I wanted to thank you personally Mena, but you were swarmed after you spoke and I could not get to you).
BlogHero6 personal notes:
I am self proclaimed real woman rather than a feminist woman, so the ragged edged feminist comments were rather thick at times for my taste at BlogHer06. Perhaps the location being so close to UC Berkley, the capital of feminism in California, had considerable influence on the mix. As a young single mother in 1979, with three children ages 2, 4 and 6 to support 100%, I chose the higher paying jobs in male dominated industries to survive financially. I have never felt I needed to take a feministic stance or join the NOW to be respected as a women, I was too busy trying to survive to and had no time to join in politicalluy rallies or debates on gender issues. My results both personally and professionally brought respect automatically career wise and as a single mother as my children are now 30, 32 and 34 and are all wonderful loving contributing human beings. This 'earned respect' enabled many opportunities for me to contribute to male dominated businesses as a President, Vice President and at Director levels without beating any feministic drum. I guess I focused so hard on the results I forgot to watch what the men were doing or not doing to prevent me (a woman) from succeeding, afterall I HAD to succeed as my entire driving force and focus was providing for my children. I do however have a terrifying Mother Bear complex so if you Touch My Kids or threaten their survival I will rear up on YOU, bare my teeth, claws and chase you up the nearest tree, male or female! I owe my personal success based on FOCUS and DRIVE, not feminism. Perhaps this is the reason many men allowed me to enter the inner-sanctum above the glass ceiling of the business world , as we had a simple common bond, goal and priority: providing for our families.
I thank all those feministic activists for going to all the rallies, debates and lobbing for me as I love and admire women from all walks of life as I have walked many paths in my own life and certainly understand what all the feministic fuss is about. I am a Mom, Sister, Auntie, Grandmother, career woman, professional, caregiver, lover, tree reef and river hugger. been single, married, divorced, widowed, have belong to many women's professional organizations and do considerable charity work to support women and do understand women's challenges. I guess as I have aged ( sigh) my view is more balanced because it is derived from hard earned personal experience rather than pure political passion. I cannot alienate men or for that matter anyone that challenges women's rights or initiatives as I need these challenges to "sharpen my sword" and make me more worthy to go after and claim my personal vision and continue to lead by example or as NIKE put its. Just Do it!
My favorite quote of BlogHer06:
"Fearlessness is not absence of fear. Fearlessness is not letting fear stop us." - Arianna Huffington
All we are saying is just keep bloggin' on...all we are saying is just keep bloggin' on...........
Today I arrived at the BlogHer convention in San Jose California, the belly button of the Silicon Valley. I am so excited about the opportunity to finally meet so many talented women bloggers, many of whom have supported Ask Patty with their books, articles, blogs and reviews. Ask Patty is a case study for the un-panel for the Saturday afternoon sessions at 3pm and I look forward to this opportunity for the valuable feedback from my women blogging peers!
You must know the reason I chose TypePad over other blogging software hosts ad it is absolutley due to the fact that they have a women CEO! This just made perfect sense for the best hosting choice for Ask Patty. We have not been disapointed as TypePad has provided a wonderful and rich set of tools to deliver the content on the Ask Patty Blog. TypePad's CEO Mena Trott will be here tomorrow and I must thank her personally for Featuring the Ask Patty Blog on Typepad for my birthday last week!
The Hyatt on First Street in San Jose was "the" premier hotel for the "in" technology crowd in the early years of the technology boom. I was totally emersed in nostalgic feelings the moment I arrived today and thought how appropriate that BlogHer is hosted here at the Hyatt where the birth of so many successful technology based business ideas were born...and I mean literally at this hotel. Thirty years ago I stayed here for a business meeting as the third employee hired of what is now known as Packard Bell Computers. A company that went for zero to 2 Billion in annual revenues in a short five years. Packard Bell was sold off to NEC Computers around 1994. Packard Bell and some of the building block technologies produced during that era are just one of hundreds perhaps thousands of thriving technology based ideas that were born out of meetings and conventions held at the San Josse Hyatt Hotel. How appropriate BlogHer is being held at this location and how exciting is it to imagine the many innovative ideas Blogher will give birth to this week? The San Jose Mecury has a front page story about us women bloggers in today's paper and a mention about Ask Patty so all I can say about BlogHer so far is is WOW! General Motors is a sponsor of BlogHer and delivered an awesome experience for women today to test drive some of their new vehicles including the BEAUTIFUL new Saturn SKY roadster. Two weeks ago I met Jill Ladjsiak at the Motor Press Guild meeting in Los Angeles where she gave me a personal walk around tour of the Saturn SKY roadster which left me with a craving for a test drive...forget the test drive I want to BUY this car right then and there. Talk about an emotional buying decision...I just love the look and feel of this new car....so when Michael Wiley GM's Director of Global Communications, Technology and New Media offered me a test drive of the Saturn Sky Roadster today at BlogHer, it took about a nano second to say YES, NOW??? Please! Off I flew ...blonde hair flying, top down, feeling like a million bucks.Thanks GM and Saturn for sponsoring BlogHer and providing me with an opportunity to fall in love again with this hot new sexy sporty reasonably priced car ( MSRP $24,195).
Another note of thanks this week to John Bell, Vice President and Creative Director of Ogilvy Public Relations and author of the Digital Mapping Influence blog and for his mention of Ask Patty on my birthday. John Bell is also attending BlogHer which provided us a rare opportuity to meet and talk about marketing to women consumers and the vision Ask Patty has for the automotive retailing industry. Thank you John for your insightful remarks!
I parked myself at Sapori in Marina Del Rey California on Tuesday to meet with some of the most talented women in the Automotive Industry from all over Southern California. Sapori has an incredible view of the Marina and serves fine Italian Cuisine dockside. It was my form of a mini-vacation as I have been burning the candle at both ends preparing for the "offical"nationawide enterprise launch of Ask Patty to automotive retailers.
Glenda Gill an automotive industry diversity expert, Sharon who worked on Danica Patrick's public relations last year, Brie a fancinating automotive writer and a key female automotive editor all joined me to discuss Ask Patty and where we are headed. Thank you ladies for your valuable input and guidance!
Andrea Learned is a women's market expert, author, blogger and speaker, who is the President of Learned On Women and the co-author of "Don't Think Pink." www.learnedonwomen.com
Car dealerships aren’t the only retailers that just can’t seem to get used to the idea that women are buying their products independent of men – but that business is one that may have the worst reputation for making that mistake. This could be greatly harming an industry where more than 50% of purchases are made directly by women, and up to 80% of all purchases are in some way influenced by them.
Of course, women may be walking into dealerships with men (be they husbands, partners, fathers or friends), so that makes it tricky for a salesperson to decipher (just ask AskPatty’s Jody Devere about her recent purchase), but here’s the thing: why not consider women independent car buyers as the rule of thumb, rather than an oddity? The figures seem to be saying that if a salesperson sees a male/female couple walking in, it is more risky to direct all the eye contact and body language toward the man.
NHRA is leading the way in motor sports with talented female drivers Two drivers pull up to the starting line in 7,000-horsepower cars,
wait for the green light to flash, and then rocket down a quarter-mile
strip at more than 325 mph to see who finishes first.
That image just screams testosterone, doesn't it?
So you might be surprised to learn how many women are making their
mark on the National Hot Rod Association drag racing series. Then
again, if you've been a fan of NHRA racing for any amount of time,
maybe you wouldn't.
Danica Patrick's fourth-place finish in last year's Indianapolis 500
thrust a spotlight on female race drivers, but the truth is women have
been competing -- albeit in small numbers -- on the NHRA circuit for
the past four decades.
As the NHRA makes its annual stop at Sonoma's Infineon Raceway this
weekend for the FRAM-Autolite Nationals, five women scattered
throughout the NHRA's four professional divisions find themselves in
the top 10 in points.
August 3rd, 2006 Lyn St James will host her annual event in Indianapolis to honor many of these these young women drivers at the 'Women in the Winner's Circle" luncheon held at Indianapolis International Speedway. Anne Stevens Ford Motor Companies, COO will be speaking. Anne is a huge racing fan.
I am always amazed and distressed to hear folks tell me they miss their regular mechanic, but since they bought a “new car” they have to go to the dealer for all the service or repairs to keep it under warranty anywhere from 36,000 miles to 60,000 miles depending on the make and model of their new car. Well, I am here to tell you… “YOU DON’T HAVE TO TAKE YOUR VEHICLE TO THE DEALER TO MAINTAIN YOUR WARRANTY!”
If someone has told you that your new car’s warranty will be rendered invalid if anyone other than the dealer’s service department does the work, or if any product other then their brand-name parts are used, they don’t know the law! In 1975 the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act created by the Federal Trade Commission was passed to “improve the adequacy of information available to consumers to prevent deception, and improve competition…” The only way the manufacturer can require you to use their brand of filter, or any other part is for the manufacturer to provide the item free of charge under the terms of the warranty, and I have yet to see any of the new car manufactures doing this. So, you can have any repair shop do your oil changes, tune-ups, fluid flushes, etc., and repairs using name brand, quality; spark plugs, filter, oil, belts, hoses, brakes, wiper blades, etc. and keep your new car’s warranty valid.
Ilona is a soon-to-be lawyer and 2006 graduate of U.C. Berkeley's Boalt Hall school of law. Before law school, she worked in California politics. She graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz, in 2000, with a bachelor's degree in women's studies and linguistics. She writes about feminism, shopping, studying for the bar, and her many neuroses.
Ask Patty interviewed Ilona to get a youthful viewpoint on women and the car buying experience and was very impressed with her intelligent, un-biased, witty and cut to the chase laser precison answers.
Ask Patty: Tell me why your chose women's studies as a major? Ilona: I just kind of ended up with a women's studies major because that department offered the most interesting classes. It was a very interdisciplinary program, so I got to take the most fun-sounding classes from all different departments, and they actually counted toward my major! I took classes on queer film; sex, gender, and language; sociology of popular culture; plus lots of nerdy feminist and critical theory classes that I personally find really fun. I guess I was interested in those classes because I've always been a feminist (both my parents are really strong feminists) and analyzing power structures in our society and the effect they have on culture, language, everything, has always fascinated me.
Ask Patty: What was your most recent car buying experience like? What kind of car or truck do you currently drive and why?
I don't know how I ever survived without Navigation. Like the cell phone, it has entered my life and become an addiction that I can't, nor would I want to, get rid of. Since my car's arrival into my life in June of 2004, she has quickly become my smartest, loyalist and least judgemental girlfriend. While she may not have much of a personality and is fairly passive aggressive, she is a comfort and a true companion.
You think I am insanse, don't you? Well, I will try to convince you of why, once you have a navi-friend, you will find yourself helplessly codependent.
This week kicked off with my birthday celebration on Sunday the 16th. My good friends Dina and PK The Dina Gathe Band decided to invite their many friends who have headliner bands and throw a benefit concert for the MS Society, www.wyngs.org and the Joseph T. DeVere Special Needs Trust ( My son Joe suffers from secondary progressive MS). The Thousand Oaks Elk's lodge pitched in with an awesome Santa Maria Style barbeque.
Thank you Dina, PK and friends and family for your genorosity!
Joseph Forney, Joseph Forney , arranged to chauffer me to the event in his '69 Charger for my "Limo" ride to the event! I can't think of another birthday that was so meaningful, fun and so worthwhile!
I flew to NYC on Monday the 17th and in four days by plane, train and automobile visited with decision makers at some of the highest ranked car dealerships and dealer groups in the country to talk about how Ask Patty can help them to 'Attract, Sell, Retain and Increase Loyalty' with women consumers.
It was a whirlwind trip with visits to NYC, Long Island, Richmond, VA, Baltimore, and Annapolis MD and Springfield, NJ in a short four days! The good news for women consumers is that these smart dealerships and dealer groups were very interested in improving the female customer experience in all areas of the dealership. Ask Patty aims to help these dealers by providing them with extensive training, a unique web presence, marketing materials, advertising materials and coaching. One of these dealerships I visited is owned by Juliana Terian the CEO of Rallye Motors. I will be featuring her story on Ask Patty in the near future as her story is quite a testament of what a woman can do careerwise in the world of car dealerships.
Notably, the dealers I met with are very interested in hiring more women in sales, finance, as ASE certified technicians and in service advisor positions. If you are a woman seeking a lucrative career with plenty of perks and benefits, the car dealerships are anxious to hear from you. Many provide excellent training! Contact me directly to learn more about these opportunities at: jdevere@askpatty.com.
A warm and humid thank you ( It was 108 and 90% hunmidity) to all of the dealerships, dealer groups and associations I visited ( You know who you are!) and a special thank you to the NY office of CarsMagazine for their awesome hospitality!
Ask Patty reviews: In Women We Trust: A cultural shift to the softer side of business, by Mary Clare Hunt.
Mary Clare Hunt has complied a plethora of data on consumer women and their tremendous retail purchasing power in the very fast and fact filled read on maturing women babyboomers flexing their 'Trust" muscles as consumers.
Women will relate to the experiences mentioned in her myriad examples of how women are changing their retail buying experience with the simple power of choice. A quiet, steady revolution of personal choice by women on which company, brand and product will gain her loyalty and how, is detailed step by step.
Her perpective on how the automotive industry is missing the mark with women car buyers is discussed.
This is a must read book for retailers looking to increase 'Trust' and brand loyalty with this powerful and influential demographic of women consumers.
Mary Clare Hunt is a marketer by trade, and a consumer by birthright. In her ad agency and business marketing roles, she has motivated customers in retail, services, and business-to-business environments. At the same time she's purchased 10 cars, furnished 7 homes and bought groceries for over 24,000 meals. As a "female consumer," she lives amoung the disgrunted. Today as the Word of Mouth director for Interpret-Her, she works to put trust back into the buyer/seller relationship.
Recently John Bell, who heads up the Creative Studio – the Interactive, Broadcast and Print Design team within Ogilvy PR, (www.ogilvy.com), and authors a blog named Digital Mapping Influence Project, commented on Ask Patty. I thought would enjoy his remarks.......
Okay, not a song title nor cro-magnon wishlist, this is about designing information and services around what is relevant to women. Professional marketers have histroically dissed women in categories where it was common knowledge that men led the decision-making, key influencer, man-holding-the-money-sack so-to-speak. Shopping for and buying cars, for instance. Well today on Typepad, they profiled a blog that is trying to deliver information on car-buying to women. Called Ask Patty, you quickly understand that there is no "Patty" per se. The site is put together by Carsmagazine whose president is, thankfully, a woman:
"Ms. Jody DeVere is President of the “Ask Patty” division of CarsMagazine.com and has more than twenty five years of achievement in sales and marketing leadership including ten years developing web based business solutions across diverse industries. DeVere is currently the President of the Woman’s Automotive Association International, (www.waai.com) the premier women’s organization for women automotive professionals."
Here's how they describe the site:
""Women purchase half of the vehicles sold in the United States each year, spending over $80 billion. Yet, shopping for and buying a car can be a challenge for women who are first time car buyers or for women who had a bad experience in the past with a car salesman or dealership.
The “Ask Patty” blog is a safe place for women to get advice on car purchases, maintenance and other automotive related topics. Women can ask Patty for automotive advice on the Ask Patty blog, Patty will typically reply back to you the same day. Selected questions and answers will be answered by the panel of automotive women experts for the benefit of all women."
There are great questions and profiles of women in the industry. I only wish someone would create the same for men. Yes, I am whining that the alleged sexist slant of the industry is just a horrible all-around customer experience. I am thinking of buying a car and think I might be asking Patty.
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Between the GM test drives for the attendees at BlogHer06 and the sounds of the
Canary Foundation Grand Prix of San Jose taking place near our hotel I
felt right in my automotive element at BlogHer06. Ask Patty was even
mentioned in a front page article in the San Jose Mercury News ( Elisha
I owe you big time) with references to the racing atmosphere !
and all I can say is GM is a class act with women ! Thanks GM and Saturn for all the nifty gifties! I MUST have that BEAUTIFUL Sky as my next car purchase....mmmmmmmmmmmmmm just might need to wait for the Redline edition in the fall. MSRP $25, 194!
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