LA Auto Show Past, Present & Future

For more than 100-years car lovers across Southern California have pilgrimaged to the Los Angeles Auto Show for their annual feast of the automotive senses. But there is much more to the LA Auto Show than what we car-lovers come to drool over each year.  What used to be known as the LA Auto Show Press Days has spun into an event that attracts both automotive and technology industry leaders and innovators alike. Lefty Tsironis, of the LA Auto Show, joins us for this iDriveSoCal Podcast to share details of the LA Auto Show history, its future and the mobility evolution being hotly discussed and shaped by AutoMobility LA.  Click play, below, to listen and check out the super-cool historical pics Courtesy of Los Angeles Auto Show Archives. ***Transcript*** Recording date – September 11, 2018, in Los Angeles, CA The LA Auto Show Lefty Tsironis: We're at an epicenter of convergence here in Los Angeles.  From an automotive and transportation standpoint, you have an incredible infrastructure, which brings along with it challenges and opportunities. Beyond that, the talent is here, and the innovation is happening here.  We have the right ingredients for the right minestrone for mobility. It really has propelled the show to become an epicenter for not just unveiling really wonderful sheet metal, but also unveiling technology and other solutions. Tom Smith: Welcome to iDriveSoCal, The Podcast, all about mobility from the automotive capital of the United States, Southern California. Tom Smith, here, and I'm excited today, because I am at the LA Auto Show headquarters, the office, downtown Los Angeles, and joining me is Lefty Tsironis. Lefty Tsironis: You got it. Tom Smith: I got it right? Lefty Tsironis: You got it right. Tom Smith: Awesome. Lefty Tsironis is definitely, it is, that's a common a name as Tom Smith. Totally right on the same plane. Lefty, thank you for joining me. Lefty Tsironis: Thanks for being here. Tom Smith: I forgot to ask, what is your official title here at the auto show? "The show was founded in 1907. Actually, it was held at a skating rink, here in Los Angeles." Lefty Tsironis: Director of experiential marketing and communications for the show. Tom Smith: Perfect. Thank you again for joining me. Lefty Tsironis: Thank you. Tom Smith: The LA Auto Show has been like just one of the coolest things for me to do on nearly an annual basis, ever since I moved to Los Angeles, I love the LA Auto Show, before that in Chicago it was the annual trip to the Chicago Auto Show- Lefty Tsironis: Right. Tom Smith: But LA's like it can't even compare. Right? I mean- Lefty Tsironis: I mean, we don't have the snow. Tom Smith: Yeah. Lefty Tsironis: We simulators, but... History of the LA Auto Show Tom Smith: Right. There are so many things that I could talk and it sounds like our little pre... before we turn the recorder on here, it sounds like you and I could talk about this for hours, but we'll have to condense it a little bit, here. Lefty Tsironis: Absolutely. Tom Smith: For the iDriveSoCal Podcast. First off, let's talk history of the LA Auto Show, kind of just big picture summarization, and then we'll dive into various nooks and cranny's from there. Lefty Tsironis: Yeah. Absolutely. The show was founded in 1907. Actually, it was held at a skating rink, here in Los Angeles. Tom Smith: A skating rink? Lefty Tsironis: Absolutely. Yeah. Since then, it's changed a million venues, not a million, but several- Tom Smith: Many.