Ask Patty - Automotive Advice for Women

Automotive Experts To Speak at New York Auto Show Breakfast

 The New York Auto Show is just around the corner, with media preview days scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday, April 8th and 9th at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York. We're very excited to announce that an expert panel of automotive movers and shakers will be speaking at the Women's Automotive Association International (WAAI) breakfast on Thursday, April 9th, 2009, on the subject of "Power of Branding & Surviving the Economy."

The panel discussion will focus on the topic "Power of Branding & Surviving the Economy" and will be moderated by Judy Schumacher.  Judith is the Dealer Principal of Schumacher Chevrolet and has kept her business strong and growing for the past 10 years since the death of her father, Harold, and her brother, Kenneth.  She is actively involved in the daily running of her business and can always be found on the showroom floor! Judy was recently honored with the WAAI Spirit of Leadership Award at the NADA conference in January. She has been a part of the General Motors Retail network since its inception, and was recently elected to represent the Northeast on the General Motors Minority Women's Council.

Join Us in Celebrating International Women's Day on March 8!

 Every March, we celebrate Women's History Month, an annual declared month in the United States and worldwide that highlights contributions of women to events in history. Its origins are found in 1978 when the school district of Sonoma, California, participated in Women's History Week, a weeklong celebration designed around International Women's Day, which is now celebrated on March 8. In 1987, Congress expanded the celebration when March was declared Women's History Month. Its official centennial will be celebrated in 2011. The theme for 2009 is "Women and men united to end violence against women and girls."

Speaker Nancy Pelosi has even issued her own public statement on the celebration, in which she states "Every March, we take time to honor the many women whose courage and vision have helped build and sustain our nation. We honor those who fought for progress; we acknowledge those who lead the charge today; and we recommit ourselves to expanding opportunities for all." She also promises "Congress will continue to work to put women and children first. That includes investments in early childhood education, ensuring military families have the benefits they have earned and deserved, and strengthening the equal pay act. And as we do, we will take forward the lesson of Women's History Month: that by knowing their power, women can, and do, change the course of history for all Americans." You can read her entire statement on the PR Newswire.

International Women's Day has been observed since in the early 1900's, a time of great expansion and turbulence in the industrialized world that saw booming population growth and the rise of radical ideologies.

It all began in 1908, a time of great unrest and active campaigning by women demanding shorter hours, better pay and voting rights.  In accordance with a declaration by the Socialist Party of America, the first National Woman's Day (NWD) was observed across the United States on February 28, 1909. Women continued to celebrate NWD on the last Sunday of February until 1913.

At a Socialist International meeting in Copenhagen in 1910, an International Women's Day of no fixed date was proposed to honour the women's rights movement and to assist in achieving universal suffrage for women. Over 100 women from 17 countries unanimously agreed the proposal. Three of these women were later elected the first women to the Finnish parliament.

International Women's Day (IWD) was honored the first time in Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland on March 19, 1911. More than one million women and men attended IWD rallies campaigning for women's rights to work, vote, be trained, to hold public office and end discrimination. Russian women observed their first International Women's Day on the last Sunday in February 1913.

For decades, IWD has grown from strength to strength annually. For many years the United Nations has held an annual IWD conference to coordinate international efforts for women's rights and participation in social, political and economic processes. 1975 was designated as 'International Women's Year' by the United Nations. Women's organizations and governments around the world have also observed IWD annually on March 8 by holding large-scale events that honor women's advancement and while diligently reminding of the continued vigilance and action required to ensure that women's equality is gained and maintained in all aspects of life.

IWD is now an official holiday in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Russisa, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. The tradition sees men honoring their mothers, wives, girlfriends, colleagues, etc with flowers and small gifts. In some countries IWD has the equivalent status of Mother's Day where children give small presents to their mothers and grandmothers.

The new millennium has witnessed a significant change and attitudinal shift in both women's and society's thoughts about women's equality and emancipation.

Annually on March 8th, thousands of events are held throughout the world to inspire women and celebrate their achievements. While there are many large-scale initiatives, a rich and diverse fabric of local activity connects women from all around the world ranging from political rallies, business conferences, government activities and networking events through to local women's craft markets, theatric performances, fashion parades, and more.

Many global corporations have also started to more actively support IWD by running their own internal events and through supporting external ones. For example, on March 8 search engine and media giant Google even changes its logo on its global search pages. Year after year IWD is certainly increasing in status. The site currently boasts 784 official IWD events being held in 51 countries worldwide!

The International Women's Day website at www.internationalwomensday.com provides a free service to women and organizations around the world wanting to share and promote their IWD activity, videos, opinions and ideas. The site invites contributors to submit gender-related items that you consider relevant and useful.

So as the official IWD FAQ page  says, "make a difference, think globally and act locally!! Make every day International Women's Day. Do your bit to ensure that the future for girls is bright, equal, safe and rewarding."

Condensed from the official International Women's Day Website,  hosted by Aurora

Jody DeVere
President and CEO
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Barbie Turns 50 -- Does that Make her Car a Classic?

Growing up with three sisters, the Barbie doll  fascination just really escaped me. I wanted a Ken doll, he just seemed a bit more realistic as a role model for me. My sisters worried about nail polish and when they could wear nylons, I wanted a tree house in the back yard. I am 100% all girl and love the guys but my interests were much more athletic naturally. Check out this limited production Barbie-themed hot pink bug  reviewed by Car and Driver recently, is this what women want?  Do we think Barbie pink when it comes to our car-buying decisions?

Growing up I wanted a bike, roller skates, to go back packing and loved to camp. I loved being outside, while my sisters stayed inside and played records, painted their nails, wore rollers in their hair and played house with Barbie, yuck!  Okay, I admit I was a bit of a tom-boy.....I loved to hang out with my Dad in the garage while he tinkered on our family car or played hide and seek in the backyard.

As it turned out two of my sisters are nurses and one is in real estate, traditional careers for women. I took the natural path to competing in male dominated industries beginning with the world of technology and then eventually got in through the back door to the automotive industry. I love all things car and automotive related....and have been very successful competing in these male-dominant and high-paying fields.

Hero Dog Narrowly Avoids Freeway Mishap

It’s hard not to love dogs. All the kisses and tail wags… How can you not love that? How can you especially not love their selfless and unconditional love for their owners and others around them? And what if that dog becomes a hero? Well, it’s absolutely possible.

A freeway surveillance camera in Chile caught this little dog risking his own life to rescue another dog that had been injured on the roadway. It’s almost too crazy to believe!

Check it out:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

So how do you avoid your own dog being in this predicament? And better yet, being that this is a car blog and not a dog blog, what do you do if you happen upon a situation of an injured animal in the road?

Let’s get the fun doggie stuff out of the way first, because, well, I love dogs even more than I love cars. Hard to believe, I know it.

Dog Safety Tips

1. Always keep your dogs on a leash. It will keep them out of harm’s way as well as keep other people and animals safe in case your dog gets scared and decides to nip or bite. Safety first!
2. Use a safety harness or crate to contain your dog while driving. This will help to keep you from getting distracted by nutty animals bouncing around, will keep the animal safe and will stop the dog from becoming a projectile and causing injury to you in the case of an accident. You can find great harnesses here, and here.
3. Pack a small amount of pet emergency supplies inside your car emergency kit. A small collapsible bowl for water, some dry dog food, extra bandages and antiseptic, as wee as a blanket that can be used for any number of emergency situations. Again, if you need help putting together a car emergency kit, check out info here.

Driving Tips

1. If you come upon an injured animal in the roadway and you are driving at the time, the safest action truthfully is to pass it by and not stop in the roadway. Now, if you are like me, that is tough to do. The first thing you can do is call 911 or the highway patrol to alert them of the hazard to the animal (as well as to other drivers). This is the safest thing you can do.
2. If you are able to pull over safely to assess the situation more closely, the first thing to remember is that an injured animal is more likely to bite to scratch, and you should still take care and try not to handle the animal yourself. Now would be the time to call the highway patrol or the local animal control for assistance.
3. If the animal doesn’t seem injured and just seems lost and you are able to help it, please immediately take it to the nearest animal control, shelter, or vet’s office where it can get medical attention and help in searching for its lost owners or a proper home.

Now how about a cheer for that brave pup who tried to help his buddy!

Drive safe out there!

 

by Breanne Boyle
Contributing Editor
Roaring Corgi

Volvo's New XC60 Tours the United States, "From Sweden with Lov"

AskPatty had the opportunity last week to experience the so-new-you-can't-have-one-yet XC60 crossover in Volvo's "From Sweden with Lov Tour" at one of its stops at our local Volvo dealership in Calabasas, California. What an amazing car! It's not just beautiful, though; it's full of the cutting-edge safety features for which Volvo is known, including a new technology called "City Safety" which is so amazing it will actually STOP THE CAR for you!

Volvo has dedicated its entire automaking existence on building amazing safety into its beautiful vehicles. Did you know that the "Volvo Saved My Life club" has more than 100,000 members?   Here's another interesting tidbit: Did you know that it was Nils Bohlin, a Volvo engineer, who invented a particular type of three-point seat belt which became standard equipment on Volvos in 1958? What's even more cool, is that Volvo shared his patented safety technology with all automakers so that all drivers could benefit from the additional safety that has since become standard equipment in all cars sold these days! Volvo estimated the three-point seatbelt technology had saved more than a million lives in its first 25 years of use!

Volvo's Love Tour is being presented by product specialists Celesta Davis and Jason Megalizzi, who are visiting a total of 50 dealerships along the West Coast. The team is transporting three XC60 crossover vehicles as well as interactive multimedia exhibits, to give consumers first-hand demonstrations of the Volvo that stops itself using City Safety, the world's first standard automatic braking system.

Ladies Who Drive Fast Will Enjoy this "Need for Speed" Experience For Women Only!

Auto racing legend Lyn St. James  has announced her first-ever "Lyn St. James Need for Speed Experience," combining classes in high-performance race car driving with physical, mental, and life skills coaching by leading national experts. Lyn is the first woman to be named Indy 500 Rookie of the Year and she has logged seven Indy 500 starts. This amazing woman has held 31 international and national closed circuit speed records over a 20-year period! Her "Need for Speed Experience" is scheduled to be held in the fall, from September 24 - 27, 2009 in Chandler, Arizona.

Lyn says, "There are many quality opportunities in the market for women's adventure experiences, but there is nothing available that combines a high-performance, world-class race car driving experience aligned with the mental and physical skills that relate to performance in life."

Lyn is involved with many nonprofit organizations specifically empowering women in racing, most notably the  Women in the Winner's Circle Foundation, which encourages professional development for aspiring young women race car drivers; Project Podium,  which provides funding to enable women drivers to realize their potential; and the Women in the Winner's Circle Academy, which is an educational training program for women racing drivers. Since its inception, more than 230 women drivers, including Danica Patrick, Erin Crocker, Melanie Troxel and Sarah Fisher, have participated in this invitation-only Academy.

Would You Help a Child Left Alone in a Car?

It's a hot summer day. You're walking down the street, and you hear a child crying. Searching for the sound, you see a baby in a car. No one's inside with the child. The windows are rolled up and the doors are locked. Only the sun roof is open. What would you do?

ABC News recently explored this situation by putting a lifelike doll in a car and watching to see what passersby would do. Some observers called 911 and waited until the "mother" (an actress) came back (police knew about the setup). A few people yelled at the woman, while most were a little more polite in explaining why she was wrong.

And many people didn't know what to do.

Babies heat up faster than adults by about three times. Temperatures that would cause you to overheat in 30 minutes would only take a baby 10. Even when temperatures outside aren't soaring, a car's interior quickly heats up in the sunlight. During ABC's experiment, outside temps didn't pass 80 degrees, but the car interior got as high as 120. A baby could die of hyperthermia (more commonly known as heat stroke) in a matter of minutes in a situation like that. And if you don't know what to do, a child could die by the time you figure it out.

U.S. Census Bureau Facts about Valentine’s Day

Opinions abound as to who was the original Valentine, with the most popular theory that he was a clergyman who was executed for secretly marrying couples in ancient Rome in spite of Emperor Claudius II, who felt that marriage weakened his soldiers. In any event, in A.D. 496, Pope Gelasius I declared Feb. 14 as Valentine Day. Through the centuries, the Christian holiday became a time to exchange love messages, and St. Valentine became the patron saint of lovers. Esther Howland, a native of Massachusetts, is given credit for selling the first mass-produced valentine cards in the 1840s. The spirit of love continues today as valentines are sent with sentimental verses, from and to young and old romantics.

Candy is Dandy

• 1,170
  Number of locations producing chocolate and cocoa products in 2006. These establishments employed 39,457 people. California led the nation in the number of such establishments with 128, followed by Pennsylvania with 116.
  Source: County Business Patterns

• 473
  Number of locations that produced nonchocolate confectionary products in 2006. These establishments employed 18,733 people.
  Source: County Business Patterns
• $13.9 billion
  Total value of shipments in 2006 for firms producing chocolate and cocoa products. Nonchocolate confectionery product manufacturing, meanwhile, was a $7.2 billion industry.
  Source: Annual Survey of Manufacturers
•  3,563
  Number of confectionery and nut stores in the United States in 2006.
  Source: County Business Patterns
• 24.5 pounds
  Per capita consumption of candy by Americans in 2007.
  Source: Current Industrial Reports

ExxonMobil Promises Commitment To NASCAR Through 2012

With Daytona right around the corner, NASCAR sponsorship news is coming on strong.  As a reflection of the value of the relationship with the nation's number one motorsport, ExxonMobil has announced the renewal of a long-standing official partnership with NASCAR for its Mobil 1 motor oil and Mobil brand of lubricant products.

The 2009 NASCAR season will mark the seventh consecutive season in which Mobil 1 is the "Official Motor Oil of NASCAR" and the Mobil brand of lubricant products are the "Official Lubricants of NASCAR."  The new agreement extends that official partnership through the 2012 season.

 "We are excited to extend this relationship with such well known and respected global brands like Mobil 1 motor oil and Mobil lubricants," said Mike Helton, president, NASCAR. "Race fans know that when using Mobil 1 and Mobil lubricants, they're getting similar performance benefits as those experienced by the world's top racing teams."

Who Decided all Super Bowl Ads Must Be Aimed at Men?

As I stated in last week's Super Bowl ad article,  I might not be a huge football fan, but I do love to watch the Super Bowl. Yes, it's a huge testosterone festival. Yes, OBVIOUSLY, men enjoy it, and historically it's been a mainly male event.

But you know what? Women watch it too! An article at AdWeek states "According to Nielsen, the female audience of the Super Bowl has increased steadily over the last 10 years. Last year in fact, almost 38 percent of viewers were women over the age of 18, compared to about 43 percent men." That's a pretty even split, as far as I can tell. Only a five percent difference between the two halves of their audience with money to spend.

But Kristi Faulkner hit the nail on her head in her article titled it "40 Million Women Scorned," when she stated  "Of the 95 national ads featured, women, girls, female animals or lipstick-wearing potato heads appeared in just 43. And that's not to say those 43 ads were created for women or designed to persuade them to spend any of the $7 trillion they do each year. In fact, women, for all intents and purposes, were ignored."

And that's just simply stupid. Not only that, but this year, I was just downright offended by some of the truly vulgar, and overtly sexual ads that were aired during the superbowl. In this specific marketplace, knowing that more than a third of their target audience will be female, advertisers must make greater strides to NOT ALIENATE this extremely powerful demographic.