Earlier this summer, I was invited to attend the Further With Ford conference in San Francisco/Silicon Valley, which is basically an opportunity for Ford to impress a bunch of writers, bloggers/vloggers, tweeters/hashtaggers, Periscopers/narcissists, Instagrammers/selfie-takers, MySpacers, etc. over a whirlwind three-days. And let me say that Ford goes hard, and impressed we were.
Exhibit A: Branded pancakes brandcakes on the top floor of the Grand Hyatt every morning:
As we all know, #CaloriesDontCountOnVacay.
It was an especially magical trip because I got to bring my San Francisco Bae (see what I did there LOLOLOL).
Ford is truly on the forefront of the automobile industry. I’ve driven a number of their vehicles and they have all the high-tech bells and whistles (park assist, lane keeping system, smart technology, hands free everything, EcoBoost, super comfy seats, etc. etc. etc.), but they’re doing so many exciting, innovative, and environmentally conscious things like autonomous (read: self-driving) cars, parking spotter technology (the most important thing you will ever need at the mall during holiday season), car sharing (read: AirBnB for your whip), this neat-o eBike thing, and more. Stay tuned for all of this badassery and say you heard it here first on this non-car blog.
And because Ford is baller AF, they had speakers including Sophia Amoruso (founder of Nasty Gal and THE Girl Boss herself), Susan Paley (former CEO of Beats by Dre), and Alexis Ohanian (co-founder of Reddit AKA the front page of the Internet) to discuss the evolution and trends of consumption and entertainment with generations X, Y, and Z. (Real talk: I get near-death bored with most speakers, but I was hanging on every word those three said.)
But the highlight was the Behind the Wheel experience on the last day. We were bused to the Ford Motor Pier (no it’s not called that, but whatever, they owned it that day), where we were greeted with ALL THE CARS–hybrids, SUVs, trucks, Mustang convertibles–and each was equipped with a GPS set to a landmark in San Fran. Of course everyone rushed to snag the ‘Stangs and cruise the city with the top down, but Chris and I slow-played it (also we had to attack the donut display first) and may or may not have gotten our topless ride in the end…
Here are some of my favorite Instagram photos from the experience.
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GOD I LOVE YOU SAN FRANCISCO.
After we drove the Ford Edge to the Coit Tower (above) and an Escape to the Golden Gate Bridge, we saw an empty Mustang convertible and hopped right in it, ignored the GPS, and went straight over the bridge with the top down. Ford, if you’re reading this right now, we’re sorry (not sorry).
It was an incredible experience and I was truly impressed and intrigued with how the 112-year-old auto company is still raising the bar in the industry. True story: I’ve been needing a new car for a while and I’m seriously considering the Edge (this commercial with my most recent guilty pleasure song didn’t hurt in my decision making).
LYLAS,
Ashley