Eric puts on a microphone for the interview
Yesterday, I drove out to Madison to help out my friend Eric.
Eric runs the GREEN DRIVE EXPO, a fantastic annual event focused on clean transportation. (It was originally called Hybridfest, but has expanded to include electric vehicles and so much more, even a fuel-economy competition!)
The expo is coming up THIS WEEKEND in Madison, so it’s “Go-Time” for all the promoting directly before the event. Eric was going to have a brief segment on the local television news, and they asked him for any visuals for the event. He thought an electric motorcycle would be perfect.
And who has one? Me.
Now, keep in mind that this was going to be the Sunday Morning Wake Up news. And I am not a morning person. And the TV station was about an hour and twenty minute drive away from my house.
So, that meant waking up extra early, grabbing some coffee, and hitting the road to go help promote clean transportation options! (And yes, I do always have mixed feelings about DRIVING some great distance to teach people about fuel economy and clean transportation options! Although I once did the math and found that my pickup truck with the EV cycle in the best and TOWING my electric car still beats a stock Hummer by 10 MPG!)
Once finally at the TV studio, I met up with Eric, and I was able to ride the motorcycle into the B Studio. Did I mention this was LIVE television? I was so worried about being late. You can NOT be late for live television… So, while we were setting up in the B Studio, right next door, we could hear the newscasters through the wall in the A Studio. Imagine if I rode a gasoline motorcycle into the studio. Not only would there be toxic fumes inside the building, but the noise would have been going right through the wall, interrupting the live broadcast!
It only took a few minutes for us to setup, and the reporter was quickly with us. Eric has done plenty of interviews before, so he’s a natural on camera, even live. For my excitement, it was just that this was the first time my electric motorcycle has been on television before. It’s been filmed several times at Eco-Events and car shows, but I’ve never seen any finished news stories from those.
Eric & Reporter just before going live
The other thing I found interesting is that the TV station doesn’t use camera operators. The cameras are on tripods, and are remotely-controlled. Kinda weird to have a camera just look over at you with nobody controlling it….
When leaving the studio, one of the aids mentioned how odd it was that the cycle was so quiet. That’s the thing about electric vehicles – you really need to see them move. A parked gasoline motorcycle is every bit as quiet as a parked electric one. I highly encourage everyone to go for a RIDE in an electric vehicle whenever they get the chance. You can’t help buy smile as you do.
Here’s a link to the the video segment on the TV station’s web page:
http://www.wkow.com/story/15094756/green-drive-expo-this-weekend
And remember to come on out to the GREEN DRIVE EXPO this weekend. It’s indoors and AIR-CONDITIONED!
