Last year, Chevy held a South by Southwest (SXSW) road trip challenge, and Detroit had a killer team. Killer really doesn’t even do that team enough justice. Not only did they win the road trip challenge and score us a huge bash that Chevy sponsored, but their experience proved that when combined, social media and community are powerful.
This year, I am humbled to be part of one of two teams that will be representing the D on the road trip challenge. My teammates are Jacki Halas, Brian Ambrozy and Kyle Stuef. Our friends and competitors on the other team are Joe Minock, Bobby Mercader, Shauna Nicholson and Norm Witte.
The competitor inside of me is pumped for some healthy competition against our neighbors and nine other teams across the country. I’m also excited about attending SXSW for the first time and soaking up some serious knowledge from the pros that I can apply to my job and clients. But, I’m mostly looking forward to the camaraderie and creativity that will come along with this experience.
I don’t know everyone on the Detroit teams very well, so this is an opportunity to do what we preach about at Tweetea – strengthen relationships with the people you’ve connected with online by spending time together in person. I love social networks as much as any other self-proclaimed tech nerd, but nothing will ever trump a good old face-to-face conversation. And it’s going to be real hard to not become close when you’re spending days in a car with three other people!
We don’t have all the details yet, but Christopher Barger and the Chevy team are changing up the rules this year. Like last year, we’ll compete against the other teams in challenges that will test our creativity, social media skills, spontaneity, stamina and determination. The difference this year is that there will be more focus on creativity and making winning more about quality versus quantity (probably because we drove everyone nuts with all of our tweets and Facebook posts to support the Detroit team last year!). Also, the community has no say in the judging this year. No word on the judges yet, but Chris’ teases sound very intriguing!
So while the community can’t technically vote for us this year, we know you’ll be rooting on both teams all the way! We’ve already received many kind words of encouragement and support, and I know I speak for everyone when I say that means a lot.
When Chris first presented this opportunity to me, I slightly freaked out and wasn’t sure if I could do it. Not only do I have a zillion things going in addition to work, but there’s also this small thing called a wedding that I’m planning in August. I wasn’t sure if going on this road trip and attending SXSW was the most responsible thing to do.
But then I thought about it some more. Life is short. I learned this the hard way two years ago. This will be an adventure, and I’ll create some really fun memories, make new friends and learn more to help me become better at a job that I love. Sure, my email inboxes will be overflowing and I’ll have a ton of work to catch up on when I get back. But this isn’t your every day experience. I would kick myself pretty darn hard if I passed it up. So, I’m taking a deep breath and hoping I don’t keel over from exhaustion before my wedding!
To get rewards, we must take risks, right? 😉