I am glad that a report of the EVent was posted and I agree with what you stated, that the monetary saving is of interest to many of the public.
But I disagree that people talking to the public should 'always' talk up the savings. Of what and how you talk to the public will gauge your success in conveying EV enlightenment and seed EV interest. My personal incentive to get out and maintain a walker exercise routine to help ensure my stamina so if I feel good on Sept 19th, I can attend the eaasv.org EVent at a local College. But when I get the opportunity to chat with the public, I will not 'always' talk money. I have learned since the early 1990's at each of many, many EVents I have attended, that each person is different (their thinking and priorities are different, etc.). In a sense, when we talk to the people, we are liken to a person seeking a sale (but we are seeking to give accurate EV information to offset the bought-and-paid-for misinformation spewed in the media, not monetary gain like a traditional salesperson. A good salesperson reads the body language of the person, and starts out with a neutral (ice-breaker) statement, and lets them show their interest. Sometimes they only parrot (repeat) what they were 'told' by the media, as if it were their own opinion(s). I let them rant to a point and then interject a different direction for the chat to go in, so as to touch on other EV related topics. With my goal to learn what they know or do not know, and while not force-feeding them the accurate EV facts, lets them discover that what they were 'told' was not true, and they should gather more information (riding in EVs) and make up their own mind(s). It is a balancing act, as you do not get much time before you lose their attention (today's attention span is shorter than the cheapest TV ad = real short). So, I have learned to hone my speaking skills to get in, and let them let go of the conversation within that time frame (if they want more, they with continue the chat. If not, you have left them a kind and friendly out, to 'change the channel' = you do not leave them with any hard-feelings, etc.). Here is one of many recent EVangel experiences I will share: As some know I drove an EV conversion for over 15 years brucedp.150m.com/blazer and lost it in a 'in the wrong place at the wrong time' accident ::sob:: Since then, I have driven very little, but when I do it is in a more efficient small ice (built for munch-kins, not someone of my normal size). So, once a week, I put 1 gallon of dino-juice (petrol) in the ice. Recently, at the pump behind me, was a youngish-man with his silver Mustang. I broke-the-ice with a 'What year is it?' question. His answer (2009) and body language told me the ice had the looks he wanted (date-mobile), at a price he could afford (not a highly paid person in the affluent/expensive Silicon-Valley, CA area). One of my next statements was a trigger/intro into what I wanted to talk about (EVs). I said, "Nice looking car, now if only it did not kill you on the cost to fill it" (he nodded and agreed). I then told him, " ... there are companies that convert performance cars like his to performance Electrics that can compete with a Tesla ... ". Mentioning Tesla peaked his interest, as the media has definitely let everyone know of their EV. I mentioned Blood Shed Motors zombie222.com , and then moved the chat back to Tesla to keep his interest for the short time before my chat-time ran out (now was the time to leave him with one last seed to 'cook/stew' in the back of his mind). I then mentioned, that Tesla's performance Electric (EV) now has an 'Insane mode' ... That really, really opened his eyes. I did not spend the time talking about the 'Ludicrous' mode that superseded the Insane mode, as not only was I winding down my chat to end it nicely with a smile, but much more of the media has mentioned the 'Insane mode' than the 'Ludicrous mode' (I will get more EV-info bang for time I am allowed before his loses interest). The chat ended nicely, and I felt the EV-seed of interest was planted (see, even at a gas station you can EVangelize). He knew Tesla EVs are not cheap, so money was not his interest, performance cars were. In that case with that person, money was not his focus. So, for me to not tailor my chat to 'their' needs/interest would greatly reduce my success. So, I recommend that EVangels do not 'always' talk money/costs, and spend more time/thought in your approach of each person so they walk away happy with the chat and you got more EV-info for them to think about. Obviously if operating costs are their interest (which is a lot of the time), then by all means focus on that, etc. (EVangel = do what it takes to spark EV interest). Next, I will post a newswire that was made on the EVent. For EVLN posts use: http://evdl.org/evln/ {brucedp.150m.com} -- View this message in context: http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/Re-EVent-EV-ride-n-drives-EcoDistrict-EV-Day-tp4677139p4677143.html Sent from the Electric Vehicle Discussion List mailing list archive at Nabble.com. _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
