The Chicago event on Friday - in my view - a total complete disaster. At the end of the day it was a sales event for Nissan and Chevy. They took over all the parking. I could not park my car. In disgust after being yelled at by a Chevy representative, I left. Wasted 2 hours in traffic that morning.
I signed up, registered for the event. I arrived around 10AM, an hour after the event started. It was held in a really bad location - Daley Plaza. Great for people walking by, but horrible what they did to traffic. It jammed the intersection almost solid. Took me 10 minutes to creep a quarter block.
My first pass - all I saw were Leafs and Volts lined up by Nissan and Chevy signs. All behind cones. I couldn't find a spot to pull in, so I did another pass.
The second pass I pulled into a spot. Somebody dressed in Chevy clothes walked up to my car and yelled at me to not park there. This was reserved for Chevy test drives. I would be towed. When I tried to leave my car and talk to the organizers - the person yelled at me, said OK, I'm taking a picture of your license plate and I'm having you towed right now. I got in my car and left. Yes I gave the person a good solid piece of my mind.
From what I could see, there were huge Nissan and Chevy displays. A couple of tables for the organizers. Every car parked had dealer plates.
A cautionary tale to anybody organizing these - be careful to not turn these into a sales event. Unless that's what you want, but be up front about it. Don't ask for owners to show up with their cars, if you are counting on the dealers to fill the day.
The response I got from the Sierra Club group that organized this and the Naperville event - wasn't exactly a great apology either. It had a bit of, this was my fault tone to it. I should have volunteered to work the event, then I would have gotten my "free" parking spot. Yeah, right.
I'm not going to the Naperville event on Sunday. The same Chevy group will be there. And, well I'll do something else.
