Journalist request / Pre-early dinner Feb 9th (pre-Model X event)

[bonnie1194]

I was recently contacted by a journalist who would like to talk with some Roadster owners either at the Model X event or earlier in the day. If you're interested, send me a message and I'll send you his contact information ... or just show up at 3pm at The Cheesecake Factory early dinner on the 9th (here)

I suggested he come early to talk with people from 3pm to 4pm, before people are showing for dinner. He's not anticipating joining us for the meal, so if you are allergic to journalists, no worries . (It would be great if someone with their Roadster could give him a ride - might answer a lot of questions quickly.)

Here is the original email:

My name is Noah Kravitz. I'm a technology journalist/blogger/video blogger up in Oakland, CA. I currently work for a site called TechnoBuffalo.com, which covers consumer technology in general - we're known for our video coverage (YouTube, Revision3, broadcast tv), but also have grown our Web presence tremendously over the past 12 months. We've been stepping up our auto tech coverage over the past six months, and while I'm not our lead Auto reporter, I do have the fun privilege of covering most everything under the sun that involves digital technology in one way or another.

While not (yet ... I'm saving my pennies for a Model S!) a Tesla owner, I've been following the company fairly closely and have had the chance to report on the Model S a few times now through my work covering NVIDIA, and my general reporting at CES.

I will be coming down to LA for the Model X event next week, and in researching the latest rumors/predictions, I came across the thread you started to put together a pre-event dinner for forum members.

I wanted to ask about the possibility of attending the dinner and either chatting with or more formally interviewing some of the folks in attendance. I'd love to get a sense of what some of the Tesla culture is like - who the early adopters are, what you all love/don't love about your Roadsters, and so on and so forth. Since the company itself - as well as the EV technology - is so new and cutting edge, I think it'd be cool to get to know some of the people involved on the consumer end, as well as reporting on the Model X itself.

[tnawara]

Noah's "hoping to crash the pre-event dinner..." Rumor Roundup: Tesla Model X and New Tech at the Superbowl | TechnoBuffalo

[bonnie1194]

Accurate - seems like a fair guy, couldn't find any anti-ev bias associated with his name. But he recognizes we might not want a journalist at dinner ... hence the invite to people to come early, chat with him if you'd like (nice chance to get your Roadster and Tesla experience out there).

[efusco]

This is interesting about this journalist...
Noah Kravitz sued by former bosses for taking Twitter followers with him | Mail Online

[bonnie1194]

I saw that - really a good question - if you run social media as part of your job, but use your own name (vs a corporate name), who owns your twitter followers?

I don't know him, but I do know he could have easily crashed the dinner (it is posted publicly) - and chose instead to reach out to see what would be appropriate. I'll be there at 3pm. I hope some of you are, too.

[efusco]

I saw that - really a good question - if you run social media as part of your job, but use your own name (vs a corporate name), who owns your twitter followers?

I don't know him, but I do know he could have easily crashed the dinner (it is posted publicly) - and chose instead to reach out to see what would be appropriate. I'll be there at 3pm. I hope some of you are, too.

Yea, not making any judgment on him, it's a Brave New World and it is an interesting question. I do think it was upright of him solicit the group properly.

[zack]

Seems upstanding.

[zack]

This is interesting about this journalist...
Noah Kravitz sued by former bosses for taking Twitter followers with him | Mail Online

I think that's something that would have to be covered by company policy before leaving the company. I have no idea what the circumstances were (did not read article).

[bonnie1194]

I think that's something that would have to be covered by company policy before leaving the company. I have no idea what the circumstances were (did not read article).

We have a company twitter account - and our social media guy handles that and also has a personal account. That is HIS account -our policy is that whether linkedin, facebook,twitter, etc ... it's not our business and we don't tell employees what they can or cannot say. If he were ever to leave, I can't imagine anyone would try to grab his accounts.

[nk126]

Hey Everybody,

I'm Noah - said journalist, party crasher, and "the guy from that Twitter case." Thanks for considering my request to swing by your dinner. In all honesty, I'm just hoping to get a taste of the culture around the cars, and the people who drive them, to make this an even more interesting and fun story for me.

Like Bonnie said, the last thing I want to do is crash a gathering of old friends who don't want a stranger there. I'll be in town early, and at the event itself of course, so I'll plan to meet Bonnie at 3pm. As other folks show up, if you'd rather I make myself scarce so you can enjoy dinner, no problem at all. And if you want to keep me around, I certainly won't report on anything or anyone without your consent. I'm covering the launch and am a tech geek and hybrid driver myself, so this trip down to LA is a labor of love for me.

And I'm of course happy to trade my tales of social media infamy for rides in your Roadsters

Looking forward to hopefully meeting some of you tomorrow!

Cheers,
Noah