Interns@AutoCom

2007-05-22T11:21:00.000-04:00

This is the last post on this blog. We have already launched a new one, so just click on

http://www.autocominterns.blogspot.com/

2007-03-26T18:55:00.001-04:00

Hey guys....!

I can’t believe it has already been two months since I left... Time went by so fast! Hope you are all good!

I have also settled in pretty good here in Munich. My internship here also turned out to be what I was looking for and is also really fun. I’m a “shared” intern between the guy who is responsible for management and sales training in our markets as well as the lady who does customer relationship management. And of course – and who could be better than I for this task – I’m responsible for the department’s car pool J So I get to drive really nice cars all the time, my absolute favorite right now is the new 3Series convertible with the new 3.5l engine and 306 HP – and of course the M6 J As you can see, the crazy German has found the crazy cars

Besides the cars… Munich is also a really really great big village, as a lot of people say. And with my city guide “Munich for people from Munich” I’m finding the insider places…thanks Nicole!

The mountains are also directly next door, so I already went 2 times skiing for the weekend. Unfortunately, winter has been too hot, so there was never really a lot of snow and therefore not a lot left L

I really miss Motown, the office, the cool concerts (especially the Maggie man’s one) and clubs, Royal Oak, the cool (and not evil) roommate, the Zsuzsu car…….

I really honestly have to say – AutoCom and everything revolving around it has been a great experience and has helped me personally and also for my professional career – I think I would have gone down at BMW without all my experience from AutoCom! Thanks a lot again for the opportunity – you’ve all been great.

Next time I’ll have some pictures to post to show you the way I’m living here

Sometime I hope I’ll be back and continue enjoying the American way of life!

Talk to you soon, Susanne

Greetings from Linda

2007-03-21T09:15:00.000-04:00

Hi everybody,

how are you doing? how does it go for you? I send you many greetings from the north of Germany, more precisely: from the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. I started with a traineeship at the Jacobs University (a private university, former called: International University) in March and try to settle down in this foreign city. The University is about 30 minutes away from the city itself, but fortunately I found an nice room in an apartment- sharing community which is in the heart of the city. Therefore I theoretical have the chance to enjoy the nightlife every day but to tell you the truth: when I come home during the week I am definitely too tired to go out to party (different from the weekend, of course). At the moment we have ugly, windy and cold weather but I was told that it´s normality if you are living in a city almost next to the coast...

Maggie: Beside your nature I mainly miss the legendary happy Friday... I try to establish them into our pr department (but it´s not comparable to Einstein-Bagels)

Dee: Who provides me with the advise of the day???

Don: Hope you´ve found delicious dark chocolate in the meantime?

Jan: Are you still looking for freedom?

Marty: Did you put through that the Oreo-cake is officially adopted as the ceremony-candy?

Larry: I bet you could win a contest in pronouncing "Eberspaecher" professionally??

Lauren: I am planning to open a Panera Bread store in Bremen. Are you my first customer? Onion soup is for free...

Jen: How is life without the permanent attendance of workmen?

Joe: Yesterday I bought a popcorn-machine, yippie!

Jack: Is there time for a Bremen-visit during your next trip to Germany ;)?

Nicky & Mareike: Hope you both had a good start and got used to the "crazy Americans" J

Letty & Paul: It´s too bad that we couldn´t meet each other in person but I am sure you have a lot of fun with my ex-colleagues...

My First Impressions

2007-03-20T13:39:00.000-04:00

Nearly three weeks ago I arrived in Detroit. It's unbelievable how fast time goes by. I‘d like to tell you some of my first impressions I had during my first weeks outside the office and I‘d like to show you the places I have been.

Como’s Restaurant & Pizzeria
On my first week, Letty, Andrea, Lauren, Maggie, Paul and I went to Como’s Pizza for a welcome gathering. We ordered a big size pizza with pepperoni and meat, which tasted very good and I enjoyed this evening.

Gracie’s Underground

On Friday was a birthday party in Gracie’s Underground. After a long search for my house, Andrea and Lauren found me eventually and picked me up. Thanks for stamina! Letty and some of her friends were already there and we had a lot of fun together. I like the music (house) and the people there and I will certainly come back soon.

P.F. CHANG’S
Stephanie, my roommate, is not only very nice; she is also a very good cooker. But last week we were lazy and went to Somerset Mall in Troy. We ate “Mongolian Beef”, “Dan Dan Noodles” and as dessert the “Great Wall of Chocolate”, hmmm…delicious. After the meal we visited the shops and walked across the Skywalk over Big Beaver Road.

BBAC - Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center
The BBAC is a non-profit regional art center. Last Friday was an Arts Competition and Andrea, Letty and I went there to see all the beautiful work form the artists. We met Jack and his wife and they showed us the exhibition.

The new girl at AutoCom

2007-03-07T15:30:00.000-05:00

My Name is Nicky. I am a 22 year old girl from Stuttgart, a city in the south of Germany.
Prior to joining AutoCom, I trained in business and worked in human resources at Siemens AG in Stuttgart. Currently I am a student in media economics at the Media University (HdM) in Stuttgart-Vaihingen and this internship is part of my studies.

Nearly one week ago I arrived in Detroit. So I just want to tell you some of my experiences I had during my first days. After a long journey to the US, Paul picked me up from the airport and drove me to my new home in Oak Park. My roommate Stephanie was waiting for us when we arrived. We all went to a Spanish restaurant in Royal Oak together for dinner. The next day Paul drove me to a lot of offices where I applied for my social security number, car insurance, bank account etc. Thanks a lot Paul!
Now I’m at the office and I’m very excited for what will happen in the next few months, but I’m sure that I will have a great time here and I am going to learn a lot about PR and the American way of life.

Nicky.

Future Intern Mareike

2007-03-07T15:21:00.000-05:00

My name is Mareike, I am 22 years old. I grew up in Leer, a city in the northern part of Germany, very close to the North Sea. Since 2004 I have been studying Media Science, Business Studies and German Literature in Bonn. After more than two years of living in Bonn, it has become a second home for me, but sometimes I still miss the sea, the daily tea-time and just the northern way of life. But Bonn and Cologne (only 20 min away) are really great cities. The best thing for students of course is the tradition of carnival.
A few days ago I left Bonn and my apartment-sharing community. Now I will stay at my parents house for the last few days and I already miss my two roommates and my friends.

My intership will begin in April and I am really excited. When I was 12 years old I visited the USA for the first time. My parents, my big brother and me traveld six weeks from west to east. Later I visited the USA twice on my own. Because my mom worked as a voluntary for an international student exchange program, we always had a lot of American students staying at our home. Now they have already started their own families but of course they had a little room for a German guest. So I stayed in St.Louis for four weeks in 2003 and five weeks in Atlanta in 2005. But I’ve never been to Detroit before.

Mareike.

Who Wants a Picture, Not a Belly Itcher?

2007-02-21T14:21:00.000-05:00

Well, I think that it is customary to upload a picture of yourself after you're hired, so here's mine. This was taken in Paris at the Jardin du Palais Royal. This was my favorite reading spot this past spring when I was studying in Paris. So, since my picture isn't on AutoCom's website, I guess it'll have to do here.

paul.

Procrastinating the Hello

2007-02-16T11:51:00.000-05:00

As much as I enjoy to hear the click of my keyboard, (in some cases I lightly tap the keys, just to make is sound like I'm typing really fast) I rarely use it to say "Hello" to people that I've never met. You should feel quite honored then, shouldn't you?
I will be meeting some of you in the coming months, those coming from Austria and Germany, (I must admit that I enjoy Austria more so than Germany, I mean I love the mountains, what can I say?) and I look forward to congratulating you on the amazing exchange rate that you will be able to take advantage 0f. You should start feeling right at home here in the United States, since the Treasury Department just released the new $1 coin. We don't have $2 dollar coins, nor many 50 cent pieces, but it's one step at a time here in the US.
Upon your arrival from Austria, we will be playing Mozart very loudly, because he is Austria's son, and the first night that you are here we are going to have a movie night, guess which one? Yes, "The Sound of Music." Oh, how we love Salzburg.
Upon your arrival from Germany we will drink beer, how does that sound? I can't really think of anything else to say, maybe we'll go test drive some Mercedes (before the beer.)
This is my warm welcome to those of you who will soon be joining us here at AutoCom, (and no, we don't get any discounts on cars. But, I bet you I could get you a discount on international automotive regulations and specifications.) We will be seeing you soon and we look forward to hearing from you.

Paul.

p.s. In no way am I guaranteeing a discount on international automotive regulations and specifications.

I think i'm a foreign intern

2007-01-26T16:40:00.000-05:00

Greeting to past, present and future AutoCom Interns and friends
[and thank you, Bianca for pushing me to introduce myself]!

As most of you may know, I am the newest addition to the AutoCom team. I have completed my third week of work and am pleased to say that I am enjoying AutoCom’s staff, culture and the automotive industry!

As a Detroit resident, I am new to this part of town and am happy to drive 30 minutes everyday to eat at Panera for lunch, mostly because Lauren is obsessed. PR and food are not my only interests, I also enjoy playing poker, watching Piston’s games (Tigers in the summer) and attending art openings. Although I spend most of my time doing just that, lately I have made sure that I take some extra time to care for my health (sleep and eat well) because there seems to be cold/flu epidemic around the office! As I refuse to be the next one sick, I have become obsessed with vitamins, as most can attest.

Lauren, Susanne and I took this at the Auto Show :)

And I say "hello again..."

2007-01-26T02:25:00.000-05:00

Hello everybody!

So I hope you are all back to normal life again, after I just jumped in the office and confused everybody right before Christmas. :-)

I enjoyed my stay over Christmas and New Years Eve that much, it was really hard for me to go back. And coming back I was in the usual stress for university. “Same procedure as every semester”. :o) I had my presentation in an English seminar about “Advertising across cultural borders” which was a lot of fun and worked out well. And now I’m preparing for my exams. Study, study, study.

It was really cool to see all the Christmas lights and to be able to have a real American Christmas at my boyfriends house, with a huge family. And thanks to Larry for inviting us to the Boxing Day. It was fun joining an AutoCom Event as a guest and not as the staff. :)

And I bet everybody can imagine how much I miss it being there. As Dee always says “You were born in the wrong country”. Maybe she is right. :o)

So this time I don’t want to confuse everybody again and so I tell you now that I will be back in almost two weeks. So I hope I will be able to see all of you again.

Take care and see you soon

Bianca

PS: I just recognized that the current interns haven’t introduced themselves on our bolg. I would like to see a nice picture and a short introduction of you! It is not just for foreign interns…it is for EVERYBODY! :)

Charity Night Preview

2007-01-17T12:24:00.000-05:00

The North American International Auto Show has opened its doors to welcome the world to its 2007 exhibition.

The first week are preview days for media, suppliers and the famous night for charity. The Charity Preview is a Black Tie Event raising funds for eleven Detroit-area children's charities and of course to dress up and show off all those precious gowns and tuxes – special attention at this point goes to the blue vest and bowtie of one of AutoCom’s staff members…

AutoCom hosts a private reception and dinner each year that night for clients and their guests at the Coach Insignia, on the 72nd floor of the Renaissance Center.

Prior to the show at COBO, the evening started with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres – and a not so clear view over Detroit and Windsor which fortunately cleared up later :)
The reception and show was followed by a nice dinner with music, great wine and good company. It was a very enjoyable evening and will be continued next year when its time for the 2008 North American International Auto Show – and guys, don’t forget the color ;)

fashion icon of the evening

Susanne

2007-01-17T11:19:00.000-05:00

Once upon a time there was a little girl called Silke, she grew up in a small village and wanted to see the whole world. She was born in September 1984... Ok that fairy tale would last too long. I just wanted to say hi and introduce myself. I am Silke Schwarte, 22 years old and right now Im planning an internship in the USA. Since I was in Augusta and Boston four years ago, I am dying to come back to the USA. This time I want to make working experiences in an American company.

Since 2004 Im a student at the University of Lüneburg to become a teacher at vocational schools. On this photo you see one of the best places in Lüneburg. It is the city hall square. There is the Weihnachtsmarkt, city fest and other official events.

I read a lot about Autocom on this blog and it is very interesting to read reports about former interns or what you are doing during your internship. This blog sparks my interest in an internship at Autocom. I like what former interns wrote about their internship, how they miss the people and the work.
On the photos you see one of my roommates, her name is Elke. She is always making fun of me! Why? But I guess I will miss her jokes... She is one of the girls who can talk the whole time while we are watching movies.
Some facts about myself:
I would die for chocolate
I sometimes do not know where my bicycle is
I like to laugh
Im a twin (that isnt always easy if you celebrate your birthday with your sister, especially when she says your birthday starts 23 minutes later because you are 23 minutes younger...)

.... And she lived happily ever after.

Silke

Latest News

2007-01-09T04:43:00.000-05:00

HALLÖSCHE Z´SAMME (this is hessian, the german part where I´m from and means hi to everybody)

First of all a BIG sorry ´cause it took me so long to post sth. on the blog and say a german hello to you...
But the days after my arrival were very busy and I head a hard time with my big enemy called "Jet-Lag"...
Let´s see...what happend: After Susanne helped me to carry me and my luggage (thanks again, sweety) to the airport and I met an unheeding Air-France-employee who didn´t care about the weight of my suitcases (yippie!!) I had a hard time with changing planes in Paris: Our flight was behind schedule and the lovely security guys first refused to let me board because the second plane was already ready to take off... I can tell you: BIIIGG discussion! :)
After my arrival I first decided to take my cute little car and drive to a bakery to buy some real german wholewheat rolls...I couldn´t sleep anyway because of the time change.
Ähm, how do I drive a car with gear shift? And why is there no parking spot in front of the bakery? You can imagine how things kept going: just take a look on Bianca´s "I am back home and experience some weird german things"-report... I felt nearly the same and I also found myself in this kind of funny, strange and scary situations...

After celebrating my mum´s (22.12.) and my birthday (23.12.) with a lot of german Becks-beer (no light beer!!) and a Merry Christmas (the presents from the U.S. proved to be blowoffs) I had to prepare for my visit in Kuwait where my boyfriend Carlos is doing an internship.
That means: no disco-outfit, no make-up, no jewelry. Instead of that: head scarf, clothes without attraction any attention.... ;(

After a flight with lots of Arabians who said their prayers every 30 minutes and a 6-hours-stopover in Istanbul, Turkey, I finally arrived at the airport of Kuwait, a place that is totally unrelated to the industrialized countries I have seen so far…

Men and women are separated most of the time during their social life (I pretended to be officially married…a precondition to sit next to your partner) like while shopping, dining, watching movies etc. and for me as a foreigner every women looked similar because of their black veil which only shows their eyes and nothing else.
The Kuwaitis celebrate New Year in late January; therefore there was no big party or any firework on New Year´s Eve…
Alcohol is completely forbidden in the country, so we decided to substitute the booze-up with lots of tasty local food…

Now I am back in Munster where I am trying to motivate myself to study for my final exams (sweat!!). I definitely would prefer to go shopping at Birch Run :)

Next weekend Markus will visit me and my friend who invited us to a big party themed “I wanna be a superstar”… Guess what? I have a special feeling that there will be a chance to meet “The Hoff” in person…(I accept autograph orders till next Friday)… Pictures are a promise!

Ok guys, hope you are doing fine and had great holidays!
I´m looking forward to hear from you soon! Take it easy ;)

Linda

Dear AutoCom-People!

2006-12-19T09:35:00.000-05:00

Christmas is just around the corner so I want to wish you a very merry Xmas through this blog! Many exciting things happened to me since I left AutoCom: I finished college, moved from Hannover to Frankfurt and started a new job.
In November 2006 I began to work as an assistant account executive at Edelman PR in Frankfurt. As you can imagine I was very(!) happy when I got the news that I could become part of the Edelman team. The job is really nice, the team is excellent. In the last couple of weeks I realized how much I learned at AutoCom so I want to thank you for your help and all the support you provided me with during my AutoCom time!

Here in Frankfurt everybody is in a hurry to finish the final cristmas shopping and so the city and the shops are full with people. Those lucky people who are already done with shopping you can find at the christmas market, drinking hot wine. I´love that - standing in the cold, holding a cup of hot wine and just enjoy the German christmas time. However - I wouldn't mind seeing all the christmas decoration in Michigan again. And of course I wouldn't mind meeting all of you again! Hopefully this will happen in 2007.
Until then I wish you wonderful christmas holidays with your families and a happy new year 2007.
All the best from Frankfurt,
Ilka

Hasselhoff on tour

2006-12-18T08:00:00.000-05:00

Since Hans Hassel the Hoff was on Tour in the United States he's back in the country his father was responsible for tearing down the wall.

Hey AutoComers, I promised you to write a little post how I'm doing...here we go!!!

After my arrival where my friends organized a little party in a bar which ended in club at 6 am next morning I had to care about my niece.

Since I'm back she thinks I leave again every time I leave the house and I have to explain that I'm back in a couple hours.

In my first week we went to watch a movie, visited a playdome, played a lot games...

What else am I doing?

Right now I'm still searching for a company where I can write my dissertation for and it's not that easy...

When I ain't searching for a company I care about our monsters: Ben, a four months old St. Bernard and German Shepard mix and Tommy a Golden Retriever.

Next Wednesday I will visit the first AutoCom Intern Alumni meeting which is hosted by Linda in Münster. This meeting will include deep discussions about German and American "clubbing":-)
But beyond that we will talk about our memories of a great American time we had in the U.S...

It's time to finish that little report...

I need to go to Mc Donalds and tell them what refills are. Afterwards I'll try to drive my car through our cemetries and will drink alcohol in public:-)

What are you guys doing? What about the AutoCom reconstruction?

Hope to hear from you and wish you all a great x-mas time with great food!!!

Markus

Imaginary packing list

2006-12-14T15:36:00.000-05:00

As my farewell is coming closer a lot of you guys keep asking me about my main U.S. -impressions and the differences I’ll be confronted with when I am back in Germany…
Well, in my opinion, though Europeans and Americans are not totally like fire and water they can’t pass off as twins… Therefore, let’s see… How do I have to prepare for my homeward journey to be welcomed back into the fold and the German community?

Insider-rules:

1) Use (also) the person’s last name if you are not close to him/her!
2) Get out of you car! (If you like to draw cash from your account, get food, have to buy medicine etc.)!
3) When you are driving, don’t take it easy anymore: Time is money and you have to pretend to be in a hurry! Accelerate, rail against the traffic and the other drivers, honk your horn!
4) Don’t get a heart attack the first time you see gas prices…!
5) Enjoy drinking alcohol (f. e. Gluehwein on a Christmas market) in the public!
6) Don’t waste your time to look for Christmas decoration on the house walls!
7) Pay cash!
8) Find the (supermarket) caddy by yourself!
9) Don’t ask how somebody is doing you don’t know!
10) Get used to manual driving!
11) Party public till the next morning (not only till 2 a.m.)!
12) Be happy about the variety of healthy and fresh fruit!
13) Don’t complain about the small portion if you are eating out!
14) Pay your drinking water!
15) Don’t expect refills!
16) Be ashamed if you don’t know who Heino is, but don’t ask people about the last Anderson/Kid Rock news!
17) Be a Fan of “the Hoff” and be proud of it!
18) Go to soccer-games not in baseball-stadiums!
19) Finish your (grocery) shopping before 8 p.m. and don’t be surprised if you find yourself standing in front of closed stores on a Sunday!
20) Celebrate Christmas on the 24th!
21) Be content with only 20 TV channels!
22) Wake up with the help of (strong) coffee!
23) Recall the numbers 13-24 if someone asks the time!
24) Use Ä, Ö, and Ü!
25) Be prepared of jokes about G.W. Bush!

Linda

Bianca says hi again

2006-12-06T05:40:00.000-05:00

Hi "AutoComers"!

It's me again! :o) I still miss you and wanted to give you a short report about my life back in Germany.

So far everything is alright, I'm really busy with writing my paper and study and work and so on. I'm working now for the Festo AG & Co. KG (www.festo.com if you are interested). I assist my boss working on an international website relaunch, which is pretty interesting and I can learn a lot from him. The salary is also not too bad to be honest! :o)

Although the weather is far too warm in Germany all the Christmasmarkets started. So I already had some "Glühwein" :o). Too bad you don't have that, it's my favorite drink in winter. It is hot wine with some spices and fruits in it. Here you can see a picture of the Stuttgart one.

I hope you're all having a good time without me and will have a nice Christmas day.

Bianca

former AutoCom intern Marc

2006-11-20T13:39:00.000-05:00

Hi...

We just received some news from Marc Borufka, a former AutoCom intern now working in Kassel, Germany.
I'm sure he'd love to hear from those of you who worked with him and would welcome any photo or editorial assignments that you could pass is way when and if the opportunity arises.

Following is an excerpt from his recent e-mail:

"Things in Kassel become more and more interesting.
First: I finished my apprenticeship with the local newspaper. AndI now work as a freelance journalist and photographer for several media and companies."
And second (what´s most important): I willbecome father in February. Can´t tell you whether girl or boy yet. Every time my wife and I went to the doctor the babywas situated in a bad position to identify the gender. "That´s for the moment.
In case you need a journalist, photographer or spin doctor in Germany don´t hesitate to call me.
BTW: my e-mail address has changed. Pls. use only the following: borufka@web.de"

LAW

AutoCom employee of the month for October

2006-11-20T09:25:00.000-05:00

...yes the Germans let me in...but before I'd like to tell you about my flight back home and my welcoming, I need to announce the AutoComer of the month for October, as my last AutoCom duty.

It is a great honour for me to represent the Interns@AutoCom board one more time to award the Employee of the month for October since I spent a great time with her in AutoCom's North-East wing.

AutoCom's so-called "Creative-Engine" welcomed me with a long "Helloooooooooooooooo" every morning and watched every meal I ate: "You are eating again?!"

She was the boss in our two-persons office and ruled with a dry sense of humor!

Jan also made some of my dreams come true since she has had personal connections to the U.S. greatest Entertainer David Hasselhoff.

She fixed me a personal autograph from David which is hanging next to my bed now.

Yes Jan, you're AutoComs employee of the month for October!!!!

The Interns@AutoCom board awards this special prize to you for outstanding perfomance in creating high level designs for the company, for supervising the male interns with a high level of patience and for your tremendous support of the Michigan Oakland University Chapter of the International David Hasselhoff Fan Club.

I'd also like to thank you for the great time we had in our office and wish you a successful time at AutoCom and a HAPPY life filled with fun and humor.

Furthermore I'd like to invite you to the next David Hasselhoff concert in Germany!!!

Take care,

Markus (Representing the jury)

Dictionary

2006-11-03T16:06:00.000-05:00

All beginnings are difficult and therefore it is not quite simple for some of us European interns to get used to the "full-fledged" American cuisine. But the U.S.-food is quite too delicious to blackball it and ahead of schedule you find yourself in one of the famous hamburger stations. We also adapted ourselves quickly to the American way of driving and the advantage of a Michigan U-turn became clearer every day.
After spending an afternoon at the Comerica Park, watching the Tiger’s playing baseball and keeping our finger’s crossed for them during the World Series, we joined the everyday life of Americans also in sport respects.
The invention of drive-trough was never a problem for us foreigners and eating outside? No sweat: We just copied the way of how to behave in a restaurant (waiting to be seated, refills, never forget to tip!) from our fellow citizens…

The only thing what gets us still really confused are these strange letter combinations in the day-to-day correspondence….

To save all future interns and other foreign blog-readers from this kind of helplessness while reading a (e)mail, we present you the code for the American argot (see below):

LOL = laugh out loud

TTYL= talk to you later

BTW = by the way

CGG = crazy German girls (thanks, Maggie :)

CYA = cover your ass

BFF = best friends forever

ASAP = as soon as possible

LTR = long term relationship

OMG = oh my gosh

FYI = for your information

BRB = be right back

J/K = just kidding

NM = never mind

AAMOF = as a matter of fact

AFAIK = as far as I know

AYT = are you there?

BBIAB = be back in a bit

CU = see you

DIY = do it yourself

EOD = end of discussion

F2F = face-to-face

G2G = good to go

GJ = good job, great job

GL = good luck

H&K, HAK = hugs and kisses

HTH = hope that helps

IDK = I don’t know

IOW = in other words

OTOH = on the other hand

OOTO = out of the office

NRN = no response necessary

LJBF = let’s just be friends

TBH = to be honest

TGIF = thank god it’s Friday

TNX = thanks

WUF = where are you from?

YW = you’re welcome

Linda

Investigative Journalism

2006-10-24T09:02:00.000-04:00

As you all know Linda and I are investigating American life in every detail.
Linda found these American laws, which every citizen has to follow, of course, and I took my camera and explored Michigan and its customs.

I got out of the Oakland University and there it was again. "Drive-Thru", everything here seems to be "Drive-Thru" even the pharmacies.

What about going to the doctor? Does he also test you in your car?
"Please drive to the first counter and I'll check your blood pressure, the doctor will operate you at counter two!"

While these thoughts were "driving through" my mind, I stopped by a festival where the next funny sign appeared.

I took my time and tried to understand the sense of this rule.

The general American rule is as I know: No Alcohol in the public to protect children against bad influences.

That's at least what people explained me and the reason why I wasn't allowed to carry a box of beer over a street to another apartment at the University. By the way it was midnight-- don't the kids have to be in bed by then?!

Anyway this event was during the day and many kids saw their parents drinking, only on festival ground, of course.

What may the kids learn of that?!

1. Drink as much as you can unill you leave this ground:-)
2. I wanna go here again since my parents are much funnier here:-)
3. It's more difficult for people to walk here:-)

Next to this sign I found the reason for this festival. You guys celebrated our German "Oktoberfest".
Bavaria in Detroit, awesome. Americans wearing "Lederhosen" and drinking "Weissbier", really funny!!!

A little later my friend and me stopped at a pub and were looking for something to drink. This bar only allowed 14 glasses of tap water for free, really stingy.

Have you ever seen a person who drinks more than 14 glasses of tap water, which should be around two gallons or more?!

Or do people go there with their pets?!
"One beer for me and 25 glasses of tap water for my horse"?!

Anyway, we ordered from the menu, needed something to eat...

...we were looking for soup...

Please write a comment if you found soup anywhere on this menu...

On our way back home, we found this sign on the back of a truck.

"Support our troops...whenever we go...
No Aid or Comfort...to the enemy-no way"

The truckers support the Army.

How do they do it? Are these trucks mobile prisons? May be there are hundreds of enemy soldiers in these trailers?!
These truckers problably drive a long way to pick the prisoners up-- right?!

Anyway, every country has its own funny signs, customs and laws. All you need to figure them out is investigative foreign joutnalists or as our AutoComers may say:

"Crazy German interns"

By Markus

Legislature experiments

2006-10-13T12:00:00.000-04:00

Since I am a quasi American citizen for four months now, I am more and more getting used to the American Way of life every day:
I don’t get out off my car if it’s not an emergency, I am able to spell the word “hamburger” backwards blindfolded and I even know how the salesperson in the grocery store is doing everyday.

But there are some customs and rules which still sound a little bit weird to me. The following laws are in no way Halloween jokes. Instead it seems, that some of your fellow citizens behave in a really odd way….

Persons may not be drunk on trains.

It is illegal to kill a dog using a decompression chamber.

Cars may not be sold on Sunday

A woman isn't allowed to cut her own hair without her husband's permission.

There is a 3 cent bounty for each starling and 10 cent bounty for each crow killed in any village, township, or city in the state.

It is legal for a robber to file a law suit, if he or she got hurt in your house.

You may not swear in front of women and children.

Any person over the age of 12 may have a license for a handgun as long as he/she has not been convicted of a felony.

There is a law that makes it legal for a farmer to sleep with his pigs, cows, horses, goats, and chickens.

Couples are banned from making love in an automobile unless the act takes place while the vehicle is parked on the couple's own property.

Willfully destroying your old radio is prohibited.

It is illegal for a man to scowl at his wife on Sunday.

It is illegal to let your pig run free in Detroit unless it has a ring in its nose.

It is illegal to paint sparrows to sell them as parakeets.

It is against the law to serenade your girlfriend.

All bathing suits must have been inspected by the head of police.

Smoking while in bed is illegal.

Anyone can keep their cow on Main Street downtown at a cost of 3 cents per day.

Linda

Did you know...?

2006-10-10T14:05:00.000-04:00

that business moms are species which really exist...?!

It didn't take me much time to find out that also in the AutoCom group lives such a nice business mom species.

Dee welcomed me with a prepared workstation, asked me for different information and pointed several things out where I have to be careful:

What do I have keep in mind while buying a car?!

Which downtown areas should I avoid?!

How to eat healthy?!

How do I manage my tax refund? (We're students, that's important:-)

Where can I buy the cheapest antibiotic?

What else does our business mom do every day?

She:

- creates more space on our p-drive to help us put more and more documents on it (and we're damn good at it:-)!

- spoils us with her voice during phone tests at the early mornings: "Gooooood mooorrrrning this is just a test"...

- makes sure that the craftsmen follow the instructions (They shouldn't try not to follow:-)

- is the Virusbuster on our computer stations

- cheers us up with her laugh

- kicks our ....sses if we mess up with our timeslips

- opens her chocolate shop every day

- welcomes us interns with a good morning which checks if her business children are ok or something happened the day before

- lets us try from her delicious food

- crawls on her fours to manage the cable spaghetti in our office

Are you looking for a (business) mom or looking for good chocolate?

Just apply at AutoCom Associates!!!:-)

Linda and Markus

AutoCom Employee of the month for September

2006-10-03T11:17:00.000-04:00

It's time again to present you our Employee of the month September.

This month the Jury has to highlight the work of our AutoCom Ladies!

Our female ressources don't just analyze client problems and solve them with a high level of creativity; they don't just put our AutoCom team in a good mood every day and support our management with outstanding ideas and suggestions; no, in edition to all that they are also AutoCom's beauty and glamor.

AutoCom's ladies are the blossom of our company!!!

Although everybody of you ladies is a big asset to the company and you contribute AutoCom with outstanding perfomance one of you did a tremendous job and is going to be the next AutoCom Top Model.

All this happened a few weeks ago...

Bill Jackson, a professionell photographer who supports AutoCom at special events, invited me and the AutoComer of the month September to a little photo shooting.

She was in top form that day and gave Bill every pose he needed.

Linda really hit the stride and everybody was in awe of her charismatic charme.

An unknown observer said about the diva-like Linda:" Ashley Simspon eat your heart out!!!"

Again thank you very much, AutoCom Ladies, for being such nice colleagues and congratulations, Linda Boos, for your tremendous perfomance.

You also awarded another Green Card for Lauren's High-Heel race!

Representing the Jury

Markus

About Tigers and Lions...

2006-10-02T15:21:00.000-04:00

The fact that such a Mega-Event like the soccer world championship was nearly ignored by 100 american broadcast stations in their program choice, not only displeases us germans, there is to think about it: Because Americans are - with regard to the television program - crazy about one: sport! What's so fascinating about football, baseball and basketball? What is it what makes the Lions (Football), Tigers (baseball) and Pistons (basketball) so worth seeing that they win the running in the transmitting time against all the soccer teams?
For such a society analysis it needs live examination material … therefore we started sceptically to look to the men with the wood racquet and their fans (or better in the joyfully excited faces). And after we had provided ourselves substantially in the numerous eating and drinking stalls with all necessary, got a place on the tribunes and listened the national anthem, we quickly figured out: The puzzle solution is quite simple!
The Americans are pleasant people who like to take it easy and settle back. Therefore, baseball suits very well to connect their lifetime habits with entertainment sporting. While in our soccer stages perseverance (first of all, vocal), stamina (also with regard to the beverages) and dynamism are asked, the game filled with breaks meets the american's needs very much: Cosily it can be secured in the breaks with a new portion of food and drinks. Then with it one places again in the wide and numerously existing plastic seats to see what's going on on the playing field and to discuss a few moves with the seat neighbor.
While in Germany fans move a lot while trying to achieve a La-Ola-wave and dancing to some club songs, in the game of the US nation there's only a 5-minutes stretching in the half of the playing time. Because, however, the placed Coke could tip over and the proudly carried caps of the supporters could slip, the movement unity is mostly hesitant and meager.
It says something about the vocal support of the fans if we can tell you that Markus (also for the first time in these rows and no tiger's supporter) was the one who cheered the loudest for the Tigers.
Nevertheless, it was a real american experience and a little part of the US-culture is now sure to us … :) !

Linda

Back to the home of beer...

2006-09-22T08:58:00.000-04:00

One week ago I left Motown and not just with one crying eye, no, with two.
I know, some will think “lucky girl, she’s back to Germany, having Spätzle and a good German beer”. Well, to be honest, I already miss Detroit. And I want to share with you my experiences in the last couple of days back to Germany.

Bianca is confused…
- Going in a restaurant with my Mom for lunch I was waiting for the hostess to be seated…I’m happy my Mom was with me, maybe I would still be standing there.
- Why is the cashier looking at me in a weird way when I was asking her how she’s doing today? Just wanted to be nice.
- Hm…do the gas stations also show the prizes per gallon? And where can I insert my credit card?
- Why is the waitress so happy? I just gave her 16% tip…
- And why are all my friends laughing when I’m asking for a doggy bag after dinner?
- Sunday morning…no milk in the fridge…hm, why is there no light turned on in the supermarkets?
- “Are the prizes shown on the products including or excluding tax?
- “Oh my god…will my car fit through that tiny street?”
- Wow! Less sports…no counting of calories…and no gained weight! Wow!! :o)

Bianca enjoys some German stuff…
- My first day I had a real “Bretzel” with butter and a coffee (not just brown water…Don, you should try that)
- Saturday night I went out with a friend and had some real German beer…my head the day after was so bad, why did nobody remind me that I’m having German beer?
- I visited my grandma and aunt to say hi and practiced talking German again. My stupid sentences are getting less…I’m a good student
- Monday night I had a real Swabian “Vesper” (dinner) with rolls, cheese, sausages and a “Apfelsaftschorle” (apple juice with sparkling water)

Bianca is getting melancholy…
- “In Detroit I would sit outside in the sun with Maggie, Shannon and Jen and have lunch, now! My girls always had some funny stories to tell.”
- “There was always action in our house in Detroit…roommates where are you!!!???”
- “I miss the lakes, the beach, my friends, my car, Royal Oak, …”
- “I didn’t have the chance to see the beautiful fall in Michigan, so I’m sorry but I have to go back! There is also a lot of other stuff I haven’t done yet!”
- “You know, there was that restaurant in Troy…if they have delivery service to Germany?”
- “I had so much fun there and it’s a really different way of life than in Germany…I want to go back…I will go back…I have to go back…I will be back!”

As you see I really miss Detroit, I miss the AutoCom staff, Michigan, my roommates, talking English and so on. Yes, it really became my second home. And as nice as Germany is, I feel that there is the time for me to do something else. I’ve been here for 24 years now…it’s time for a change. I’m already thinking about places where I could write my diploma thesis…so cross your fingers for me and if you have some proposals just tell me :o)….

Beside all this I’m getting really busy. I have to write my seminar paper, a report about my internship and I have to say hi to all my friends and of course write my Detroit friends what’s going on in Germany.

I’LL BE BACK…Bianca~~~

Greetings from Stuttgart…

Welcome to Detroit

2006-09-21T09:48:00.000-04:00

Welcome to Detroit

Hey, this is Susanne, I started my internship mid August and would like to share my first experiences here in the States.
The first weeks have passed by very fast – I have been occupied with a lot of things, especially my car.
I moved into a really nice apartment in Royal Oak with the nicest roommates ever. Bianca helped me with the apartment – she drove by to look at the room and the potential roommates – thank you so much for doing that! You are the best!
The first couple of days I was driven around to apply for a social security number, etc.- basically everything every intern arriving in the States has to do - thanks Markus for doing that!
The more fun part was my first weekend. Rachele, one of my roommates, took me to the Detroit Zoo :) It was so much fun, even though my “sleep disorder” was pretty bad to start with.

For the first 5 days I kept waking up at 4 or 5 o’clock in the morning and wasn’t able to fall asleep again. Well, I guess every intern here has had to cope with this smaller issue ;)
Other activities included: find a car, much harder than I had imagined – I drove my roommate crazy with it.
I have also spent a weekend in Grand Rapids – my roommate went there to college and decided I should get to know the crazy crowd there.

I can only repeat once more: everybody has been really helpful and supporting, I am very happy to be here and to have the opportunity to experience all of this. I am sure I will be going back with loads of new skills and friends.

Susanne

Office construction

2006-09-20T11:34:00.000-04:00

AutoComs' Suite 103 is under construction and a lot has changed since you former interns worked here.

The management wanted to establish a new Intern-area, so the construction company built this area right behind our offices...

They also remodeled our kitchen, which has a new wall and door now, to make sure that nobody realizes how much food Linda stores inside and outside the fridge. (She eats more than any American every day but is still skinny and in great shape, how does she do it?)

One room got divided into two smaller offices. In this office, you see here, will be the work places of:

- Maggie - Dee - Jan - Susanne - Linda - Joe

The other half will be for our copier... :-)

This wall, you see at the bottom, forms a new room of the storage space (next to Joes' desk) where we store newspapers, magazines and client folders and where they'll probably also store me.

I fear I'll feel very lonely in this dark work place without any windows:-(

But we still have our new Intern-area with the nice swimming-pool!

I'll let you know as soon as I know what will be really going on with our new rooms!

Markus

AutoCom Employee of the month for August

2006-09-08T12:41:00.000-04:00

The month of August was very busy for us AutoComers and everbody worked very hard!

But one colleague earns special thanks for acting very bravely and professional in a crisis situation!

Lauren Kiehler awarded the Employee of the month for August!

She fractured her ankle that day but still walks from office to office without feeling sorry for herself.

Some people claim she had a little accident on a friends' bachelorette party while she was walking on high heels although she had some little coordination problems.

But that isn't true, of course!

We'll tell you what really happened...

It was a typical Thursday morning: The sun was shining; the squirrels were collecting nuts in our little company garden and every AutoComer worked very hard and was in a good mood when we got a call.

One AutoCom client needed a media kit as soon as possible in a very critical situation.

AutoCom tried to call an express service but all phone lines were dead.

Since all of us were brought to work by family memebers and our CEO was on his way to another client there was no car available.

We all got really nervous and had no idea what to do when Lauren decided to do a hand delivery and started running all the way to our client.

She had run more than 30 miles when a car hit her by driving right over her foot.

But nothing could stop her this morning and she stood up, calmed the driver down and went on her route without feeling the terrible pain.

She arrived at the client right on time which helped him and us in a very critical situation. Everybody was more than happy...

But also nobody noticed that she arrived injured, with so much pain since she acted very professional.

Lauren needed another 15 hours to walk back with a very swollen ankle in the meantime.

For her courage and outstanding commitment Lauren gained a lot of honor and has been awarded with the

AutoCom Employee of the month for August!

Thank you Lauren!!!!!!!!!

You've also awarded a green card for the next years "High-Heel Race" since we heard walking in high heels is one of your biggest hobbies.

We all hope your ankle will get better soon!!!

Representing the Jury

Markus

Bye Bye Baby

2006-09-07T10:40:00.000-04:00

After a strange noise, a lot of smell and the high spirits of a workman...:

What was:

Nice working, loyal behaving, never grumbling or acting moping when cursing at them, always being alive and kicking, best friends during good and bad working days...

What is:

Fried, stired, toasted, roasted, smoking, smelling whatever poor creatures...

What will be:

Absolute beginners who have to be teached the way how to work at AutoCom...

Good bye old computers-cronies or whatever is left of you, we will miss you! (and our data on your hard disk...)

Linda

Soon it’s time to say good-bye

2006-08-23T11:37:00.000-04:00

In one week my internship @ AutoCom will be done. I thought I will make a short summary about my 6 months in the States.

Yes, you could say I’m addicted to traveling around. :o) I love going on trips and see the country. So I took my friends on trips to Chicago, Toronto, the Upper Peninsula (Pictured Rocks), the Sleeping Bear Dunes and Traverse City, New York (well that was on my own) and the Silver Lake Dunes. I had a great time on all that trips with our so called DTG (Detroit Travel Group). :o)
But I still don’t have enough. I will fly to Atlanta right after my last working day and visit a friend there and drive with him to Miami. After that I will visit Savannah, Charleston and Myrtle Beach before I’m heading back to Germany.

Ok, so what did I like here? As I told everybody I’m not really looking forward to going back to Germany. So I won’t tell you what I like, just what I love! :o)
- I love Michigan in general. It’s a pretty State with all that beaches and the amazing nature, especially in the UP. I LOVE THE UP!! Maybe I will retire there!! :o)
- I found some really good friends here. Not only Germans, also Americans. (Cheers to Maggie, Jen and Shannon)
- I love the Michigan weather. It’s better than in Germany. Ok, it’s summertime :o)
- I love Royal Oak and going out there.
- Joining AutoCom events…I always had fun preparing and coordinating them. Well and to be honest, I will also miss the delicious food. :o)

I know that I will miss a lot of things when I’m back to Germany. For example Mama Dee making me an English Muffin to fight against my hangover. :o) I will miss sitting outside for lunch with Maggie, Shannon and Jen and having fun (I’m glad that laughing is healthy). I just got to know such a lot of you guys...Jen never goes somewhere without her sunglasses and Shannon loves to be taken for a "walk" by her dog! :o) Especially I will miss Maggie trying to find a way making me stay in the US. I don’t know which idea was the best one? Marry your brother, becoming an AuPair for your dog or becoming your daughter. :o) And I will miss the doggy bags for my lunch the next day, as well as the chocolate martinis!

But there is one thing I won't miss: MOSQUITOES!!! :o)

So I had a sick (like Shannon taught me some Hockey-player slang) time and will always have great memories thinking of Detroit!

But there are also some things I’m really looking forward to having them again in Germany... A real German “Bretzel” with butter, homemade “Spaetzle” from my grandma, my Golf 5 which is waiting for me to give him a ride on the Autobahn :o) and I’m looking forward to having a “Apfelsaftschorle”, that’s apple juice with sparkling water (or how some Americans call it “Apple juice with the funny bubbles” or “the apple flavored sprite”) :o)

Last but not least I want to say thank you to some people who made my time that awesome. There is Maggie who became my first American friend and always had a red bull in her purse when I was tired. ;o) Daniela who was working for ZF and became my best friend here. Alex who was my roommate and will be my best male friend ever. Jen and Shannon who always have to tell some funny stories about hockey or baseball teams. :o) And Larry for hiring me, so that I could have that great time.

THANKS TO ALL OF YOU AND BYE BYE!!

Bianca

Traverse City

2006-08-14T14:50:00.000-04:00

Last week we interns received the answer of one of the frequently asked questions:

Is it possible to combine work and vacation?

The majority of you guys will now shake your heads and you will answer promptly and convinced: NO!
Far from it! I’m confident because I have seen it for myself…
The answer is easy… the key word is: Traverse City

We (nearly the whole company) went there last week when the event took place and yes, sure, we had to work but the amazing panoramic view from the 15th floor of the Grand Traverse Resort, the delicious dinner we had in the evenings at Stella’s and Great Lakes Culinary Institute and the pleasant atmosphere during the whole days compensated us for the labor-intensive preparations as well as for the long drive and for rising with the sun to open the suite in the morning.

In addition to that, these guys of us, who have a sweet tooth, got the chance to try some of the delectability’s of Jean-Pierre: belgian candies, tuna tartar and Crème Brule gave pleasure to a lot of clients and attendees (even though they were no gourmets...).
Particularly the women forgot momentarily about the calories and enjoyed the sweet sins.

It seemed the "Weather-God" embosomed us: the whole event went along with a lot of sunshine and pleasant temperatures.

Thus altogether it was a good time consisted of a nice work-and-amusement-mix!!

Pictures will follow…!

Linda

Taste the summer -wine tasting-

2006-08-10T13:09:00.000-04:00

The last two months may be named as event months by us "AutoComers".

We had the Tech Crawl event at the the 19th of July, the "Taste of the Summer" wine tasting a few days later and the Traverse City Conference at the moment.

The wine tasting was organized by some of our Account Executives and took place in a nice Hotel next to us.

It was more a come together in a nice and relaxing atmosphere than usual work. This evening was also another chance to bring our clients and media together.

All an all I say:

w ell-organized

i interesting

n ight-time

e vent

By Markus

TechCrawl 2006

2006-08-07T15:08:00.000-04:00

On wednesday, 19th of July, we interns had the chance to expand our PR-knowledge by a special hands-on training...
Because of the good media feedback in 2005 AutoCom again organized an event called TechCrawl this year. Several journalists were invited to gather informations about novelities (products, processes and services) of a number of our clients, e. g. Autoweb, dSpace, Behr and Hella.
In the morning we met at the Townsend Hotel (by the way: a very nice place where lot of the v.i.p.'s stop over) where we welcomed the clients and journalists. After an official greeting from Larry and a presentation of Gage Products and the City of Ferndale (it was about the 70th birthday of Gage) we set out for the first stop: GKN Driveline.
It was Markus and my job to put signs at each stop in front of the companies stations, remove them afterwards as well as taking care of our guests. Bianca had the assignment to be the contact person in the limousines (which picked up the journalists and chauffeured them to the media briefings) and be sure that the limos are on schedule...
After a tasty luncheon at Behr America, an employee of them invited us to follow him in a special "noise room", where he showed us how the company is working on the sound system of their products. It was an interesting and curious feeling because the anechoic region absorbed all the noise you are accustomed to in everday life.
Afterwards a special Behr groundbreaking ceremony with the mayor of Troy took place. Stops at Hella, Behr and dSpace followed till we finally arrived at the Townsend Hotel for the program final: all of us "AutoCom'ers" attended the reception and we got together to enjoy the rest of the day/evening with conversations, drinks, appetizers and high spirits ;)
Although some of the journalists left during the day (some of them had to keep deadlines or appointments) in my oppinion the event was a complete success and interesting for all of us...
Maybe we capped it all and overtrumped the great aftereffects from last year - let's have a look at the newspapers...;)!

Linda

Detroit,USA vs. Bocholt, Germany

2006-07-25T08:40:00.000-04:00

There are already two and a half months over since I arrived here.

Thinking about my first months' impressions I'm asking " How do I realize day by day that I'm in Detroit, USA now and not in Bocholt, Germany?"

I found ten answers:

1.) You guys have "Drive-Trough ATM's" and you go by cars on cemeteries.

2.) Your cars are much bigger than German's. Especially your SUV's are as big as our buses:-)

3.) Your fast food meals here are cheaper than your "Fresh-food" in supermarkets!

4.) Every time you try to say the word "Eberspaecher"

5.) The most bars and clubs close at 2 a.m. and nobody is bothered. What do you do after you had to leave?

6.) The women's soccer teams are better than your men's teams. (I saw a lot boys almost breaking their legs while they tried to kick a ball.)

7.) In some parts of Detroit you get probably shot when you ask for a way at nights. In Bocholt, Germany, (my home town) people only know how to handle water guns!

8.) Most of older, enhanced cars have black drivers who probably invented the word "cool". My German friends drive races at Mc Donald's parking lots!

9.) Next time you're in a German city try to find "Downtown"

10.) You have these wonderfull re-fills in restaurants and bars!

I found also a lot similarities I may tell you next time...

By Markus

Hometown of the skyscrapers

2006-07-20T11:28:00.000-04:00

Last weekend Markus and I (Linda) set off to explore the big wide US-world and we picked out Chicago as the first travel-experience (no chance: a sweet made of Markus, Peter, invited us to visit his home and his family). We arrived there at midnight (don't forget the time difference of one hour) and enjoyed first impressions by doing a car-sightseeing-tour through the whole city. After that, we came home and - thanks to Peter's mum - were received with a tasty Mexican meal.
The next day (Saturday) we got up very early to made use of the morning and had a lot of fun by trying Peter's jet ski on the Lake Michigan (When you drive with about 100 km/h, the water feels like stone).
After this great experience we went downtown by train (unfortunately I didn't take a picture, they look very funny in my eyes) and walked trough the town... Our first stop was the millennium park with its famous silver bean (can you imagine that the city paid 40 Mio. $ for it??). After this we relaxed at the Navy Pier, had some beer and (very expensive) ice-cream, listened to a U2-cover-concert and marveled at the firework. Finally we enjoyed the amazing view of Chicago's skyline from the 100th floor of the John Hancock Center (with 475 meter the highest building in Chicago).
Sunday themed relaxing and eating sushi after we drove back home to Detroit. We had a great and unforgettable weekend!! But as you know... pictures tell more than words:

Chicago - Impressions

2006-07-20T11:12:00.000-04:00

Another New York traveller

2006-07-10T10:08:00.000-04:00

Altough Lei has written some words about New York, I would like to tell about my impression of the "city that never sleeps". Maybe some are happy about that => the few people who can't speak Chineese ;o)

I really had a great time there. Yes, it is a huge city, but it's pretty easy to orientate yourself there. I just want to give you some tips what you can do there. My first tip is, not to make just the offered sightseeing tours. Take your time and walk around on your own. You will get so much impressions just from walking through the streets (all the different people, buildings, shops...).

Visit Central Park is a MUST. There are a lot of nice places and you can relax from the city.

I've been up on the top of Empire State Building and of Rockefeller Center. I would recommend to go on "The Top of the Rock". It's not that crowded as Empire State Building. And I think you have a better view. Especially a great view of Empire State Building.

The best tip I can give you is to make a boat trip. I did one with Circle Line. They leave at Pier 79 on the West Side of Manhatten. Take the 90 min. full harbor cruise. The $22 is worth doing that. You will have a great view of the Skyline, all the bridges and the Statue of Liberty.

I love New York City and would appreciate having the chance to go there again (although it's really expensive) or work and live there for a while. So plan to visit New York City during your time here.

By Bianca

Pictures from the UP

2006-07-10T09:46:00.000-04:00

As promissed here are some pictures from my trip to the UPs. As I have thousands of pictures from 8 people it took me lots of time to pick out some nice ones. But I finally did it. So let's start... :o)

First some impressions from the Pictured Rocks...

A sunset in North Michigan...

Our canoe trip on the two-hearted-river

A visit at the Taquamenon Falls

By Bianca

Football's coming home

2006-07-03T09:43:00.000-04:00

The world championship is in full activity...throughout Germany rule exceptional circumstances and all over the world soccer-fans hope and tremble with their teams...
All over the world??
It seems that the U.S. nation is the only who doesn't fall for the soccer-fever...

Wait!

If you take a closer look you'll find a little companionship who shouts encouragement whenever Germany is playing! The atmosphere in Joe Cool's Bar, Troy, where the soccer-community gets together is amazing... and some of the fans are close to a heart attack during the matches (take a look at the pictures ;)
Someone may consider that these people need help (what do you think about this opinion, Dee??? :)

Anyway, all of us German fans enjoy watching the games and we're deeply grateful that you, Larry, give us the chance to partake in the big event "Soccer World Championship Germany 2006" by allowing us to work flexible hours during the game-days !!
Thank you for being appreciative of our soccer-interest...!

Linda and Markus

Saleswoman of June

2006-06-29T15:45:00.000-04:00

.
I was awarded by Marty the Award of Saleswoman of June, because of my outstanding performance in the sale of my 20-year-old Volvo.... I sold it within two hours after I put the ad up... I was really lucky...

The websites I used were:
http://detroit.craigslist.org/car/ --- Free
www.autotrader.com ---which you have to pay at least $35 bucks...

I've also heard of the following one after I sold my car...
http://www.carlist.com/usedcars/

These are not only good for selling a car but also for getting a car...

Following are my words after awards.... :)

Tomorrow would be my last day with AutoCom, I am really thankful for all your help during my internship. Larry, thank you for bringing me to the U.S.!!! Jack, thank you for the weekly PR Lunch Training!!! Don, Marty, Jan and Joe, I learned a lot from you!, thank you!!! Dee and Holly, thank you for being our "business mom" !!! Maggie, Bianca, Markus and Linda I like you guys a lot and had a wonderful time with you!!! Jenn, Lauren and Shannon, it is nice to meet you and I wish I got to know you better!!! Thank you also those who have left AutoCom, you are all part of my precious memory in the U.S.!!!

Good luck to you all~

Lei

2006-06-21T11:09:00.000-04:00

DETROIT-IMPRESSIONS

After one week staying in the "8-mile-city" I decided to write about my first experiences concerning the life in the hometown of Eminem (now I know the chapel where he got married several times :).
First of all I arrived safely at the Airport (where Markus picked me up which was very kind of him - thanks, Markus!) but my baggage didn’t received as well as me: it didn’t come along with the second plane, which I boarded in Philadelphia. Thus for the first day the motto themed: improvise!
Fortunately everything else worked very well: I was introduced to my colleagues who are likeable guys and I moved in my room at Oakland University.
The following days I dealed with the typical intern stuff: I applied for the social security number, opened an account at Comerica and asked Wayne (the guy who sales cars to AutoCom-interns) if he can offer me one of his autos.
The car-matter is really different to Germany: without having one you’re completely dependent to others who are lucky owners of that four wheeled thing (Markus: thank you so much for giving me all the rides! I promise, I’ll return the favor...). I haven’t seen a train or a bus or other public transportations since I arrived!
At the last weekend we went to one of the Malls and I was very impressed by all the stores and sale offers (maybe this is due to the fact that I’m a woman?? ;)
Yesterday Jack took us to an event of SPJ (Society of Professional Journalism) where prizes were awarded to journalists and (investigative) stories they’ve written. Today it’s raining all along but the previous days we had a nice and warm climate therefore I’m confident of doing BBQ in the near future!

Linda

Candle in the Wind

2006-06-16T16:33:00.000-04:00

To those who know her, Valerie Thurston (Muncy) passed away last Friday (June 9, 2006). She was found suffering from a rare lung disease, which makes her out of breath even walking from her desk to the back of the office. At a doctor's appointment in January, she was put into hospital right away.

Sitting next to me, she taught me a lot, and was like my second supervisor; At the beginning of my internship, both Julia and I had no car, she drove us back and forth from the university to work for a couple of weeks; She came to my home with her husband, Jake, for a game night, and every body had fun. She was such a nice person to work and hang out with!

I couldn't believe this until I attended her service today. I went to her wedding party at Jack's house when I first came here, and now when I am about to leave, I went to her funeral. It is just a shock to every one.

Sometimes life is like candle in the wind, for us who are living, we should live our lives!

Goodbye Valerie, we wish you all the best in the heaven.

By Lei

New York City Impression~ In Chinese

2006-06-02T16:37:00.000-04:00

I still remember when Ilka and I set up this blog, Larry told us that we could write in any language. Thus, I decided to contribute the following post about my impression for New York from my own blog.

Maybe one day Bianca, Markus or some of our former interns will learn Chinese or in case that Susanne and Linda do know some Chinese..... :p

一直认为纽约是世界上最棒的地方，上个长周末时候终于去了。。理论上讲，对某东西有期望的时候，往往会失望，且期望越高，失望越高。嘿嘿。。。这次，我虽然看见了纽约的不少阴暗面，但是向往之情没减~~~~在那只待了几天，远远没有了解纽约，但是有个粗略的感觉了，随便写下。可能和真实的纽约完全相反。

物质世界
和在华盛顿什么都是免费的比，纽约绝对是个物质世界，什么都要钱。所有博物馆都价格不菲，但是有学生票，拿着我的实习证，算是勉强过关；青年旅馆寄存行李的柜子要钱；甚至旅馆上网都要钱。。。从没见过这样的。不过，有点让我很惊讶，和上海人一样，本地人看你像丢了得样子，就会主动来问你要不要帮忙。刚到的第一天在地铁里，一个人居然用中文问我们是不是迷路了。他听力很好，我们一直用中文说的。

脏
所有大城市估计都这样。即使在最繁华的第5街，时代广场那片也很脏。个别地铁站里，往轨道上看，绝对可以用恶心来形容。现在想来，柏林真的算是干净的了，虽然住宅区经常满地狗粪，可能是因为人口还不那么多吧。

乱
交通网极度发达，但是交通状况简直一塌糊涂。行人没人在红灯停，有没有车都走。所以他们的司机也养成了个习惯，在开过路口前，即使绿灯，即使前面没人，在也要轻轻的按几下喇叭。据我观察，在那开车，对司机的耐心有较高要求:限速低、到处都是红绿灯、还老堵；还要胆大心细: 那的车子得空就钻来钻去--得灵活、还要防备着乱穿马路的人。

警车、救火车什么的很无奈。亲眼目睹，救火车被重重包围在车阵里。怎么响铃，走不动就是走不动。

贵
纽约一向以贵著称。房租什么的，只是听闻，具体的咱就不知道了。其它的，比如说衣服。。。。第五街有一大段上全是名牌店啊，而且还不是一般小名牌。店面都不是很起眼，可能都算老店了吧。如果没听说过那些牌子的，可能还没兴趣进呢。在little Italy 和 Greenwich Villiage 那边，好多小店，随便进了几家，衣服都狂灵，但一看价格，全3位数。。。。

但又不全贵
但我发现，那到处都是练摊的，买便宜的东西，几块钱一个，或者一块钱几个。还在地铁站里看见了卖盗版dvd的墨西哥人。感觉和国内太像了。那吃的东西也不贵，中餐馆遍地都是，价钱比密西根还便宜点。看来有竞争就是好。西餐瞄了两眼，看上去很不错的餐馆，价钱也就10块左右。底特律这边肯定不止这个价。

水平是可以培养的
纽约绝对是个高楼林立的城市~~~我喜欢。马路两边，一幢挨一幢，密不透风阿。所以如果看到了一个不错的，想拍照，基本很考验水平。因为，后边也是楼，你不能退的很远。退的不远，楼太高，又照不全。想往前走照，不是被前面更好的楼吸引了，忘了后边的了，就是那个你想照的，被前边的给挡上了。。。如果能常年拿着相机出入纽约，我照相水平一定能提高。

中国城很中国
纽约的中国城比华盛顿的大不知道多少。而且那的人就是以中国人的方式生活的，头一次在国外看见了有人把衣服挂在衣架上，然后放在阳台上晒。在那找了家好店，吃了顿饭，非常正宗!!

不夜城
纽约的motto是“always open” ，还老听说 New York never sleeps. 有道理~~ 晚上照夜景，说要效果好，就不能用闪光灯,手还不能乱动。所以我一般如果不放什么东西上照，就全是虚的。但在时代广场那边就没事，随便晃~~ xixi,夸张了点，不过真特亮。

纽约在我心目中德形象还是依然高大，有机会最好能去那住阵子。。。。感觉北京和上海目前已经很有那意思了，尤其是上海，而且目前远比纽约干净。

Visiting the Yupees

2006-05-30T10:28:00.000-04:00

Yesterday (May 29) was Memorial Day, an official holiday in the US. So we had a great long weekend! :o)

I went up to the Upper Peninsula with 7 friends. Upper Peninsula is in North Michigan at Lake Superior. Jack told me, that the people living up there are called the Yupees (UPs). It's about an 8 hours drive, but it's worth driving that long way. We had a cottage in the Pictured Rocks National Lake Shore. It was like beeing in the Middle of Nowhere. The cottage was between the woods right next to a small lake. We made a boat trip to see the Pictured Rocks. It's amazing. You have to do that!! All that different colors in the rocks and between them really nice beaches. Waterfalls. Caves....
The next day we went to the Two Hearted River next to Newberry and started an 5 hour canou trip down to Lake Superior. That was lots of fun and a "back to the nature" feeling as I never had it before. After that long, great and also exhausting trip I went "swimming" in Lake Superior. It was freezing, really freezing. You can just jump in and have to jump out again. It's too cold to stay in there. But it's an amazing feeling when you come out of the water.
We also went to the Tahquamanon Falls, the White Fish Point and had "Pasties" (miners had that for lunch with them, it's great).
I can just repeat it. It's an amazing nature up there and you will never want to go back...but you have to. ;o( I'm still overwhelmed of all what I saw there.
I will add some pictures as soon as possible.

If you would like to know more about the UP just visit www.exploringthenorth.com.

Sunny and relaxed greetings from
Bianca

Collecting possibilities to sell an interns car

2006-05-25T11:06:00.000-04:00

Hi there!

Although I still have 3 months left before I will go back to Germany I was just thinking about possibilites for selling my car.

This is especially addressed to all former interns:
Would be great if you could give me some ideas how you tried to sell your cars. Like special newspapers, websites and so on. After I have collected some ideas I can post again with a summary of all that.

This would be a great help for all future interns (including me)! :o)

Thanks!!

Bianca

New York City Tour Guide

2006-05-18T11:00:00.000-04:00

I am planning a trip to NYC during the Memorial Day. As usual, I consulted our dearest supervisor, Jack, who will never disappoint you and the following are the online resources from him. I'd like to share the infomation with you guys and save him some energy for Bianca's NYC trip in July and maybe Markus, Linda and Susanne's potential trip!! :)

www.nycvisit.com--- I like it most.. They have an events calendar, where you can check out what's going on during your stay... then you can also type in keywords. For example, when you key in "Free", a list of free tour and concerts will come up... A good way for students to save~~~~

www.nyc.com I get broadway info from here~~~

www.metmuseum.org MET Museum info.. one of the three most famous museums in NY

www.theinsider.com/nyc/index.html I get a list of top attractions from there... Http://travel2.nytimes.com/top/features/travel/destinations/unitedstates/newyork/newyorkcity/sight_listings.html a place to get an overview and the history of some sights...

www.jimsdeli.com Great sites look alike~~~

www.officialsite.com/index.asp?RegionId=45&CategoryId=38 I feel overwhelmed with great stuff to do when I come to this one

www.letsgo.com/destinations/north_america/nyc/ Not only good for NY~

www.bigapplegreeter.org/ An interesting local blog~~

After all these, I get so excited that I wanna go right now~~~~~~~~~

By Lei

Markus first impressions

2006-05-17T12:02:00.000-04:00

Hello Detroit!

Leaving Germany in early summer, arriving in Detroit in rainy fall was my first impression when I found one’s feet in Detroit last Wednesday.
Bianca picked me up at the Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (greetings to Linda :-)

The first days Bianca helped me handle all the stuff every new intern has to do:

- Check in at the Oakland campus
- Apply for the social security number
- Get a bank account
- Get a car
- Having the first American burger with
- Bianca, Lei and Maggie
- …
Due to the current interns support everything is easier than I expected!

Really interesting was looking for a car:

Bianca and I went to Pontiac and stopped at different used car dealers:
People there where a bit strange; five or more sitting in a really small office, giving you car keys for test drives and saying nothin’ expect “this car drives perfect”.
(One had hardly working brakes; one had a bad wheel and another didn’t start)

My rescue was Biancas’ idea going to Wayne, who sometimes repairs cars for AutoCom.
He showed us an old Volvo, a red family car with a huge trunk.
I will buy it tomorrow, after he has repaired different things and did attendance.

Now it’s my second official workday and everything is going on well, the staff is really nice and I got the first instructions from Bianca, Lei and Dee.

On Friday Bianca, Lei and I will go to the Detroit Press Club Foundation awards event at six in the morning, which was arranged by Jack.
Once a week we have a “PR-Lunch” with Jack to discuss about public relations and Jack tells us about PR-Events we could attend as well.
Another event, which Jack offered us last Friday, will be a Public Relations night in June in the Palace (Pistons Basketball Stadium) where the Detroit Shock (Detroit female basketball team) will be playing.

But now let’s finish this post and hope the first exciting projects will come soon!

Markus

Marc got married

2006-05-15T12:49:00.000-04:00

We recently heard from Marc Borufka, an outstanding former AutoCom intern who currently is completing an apprenticeship at a newspaper in Germany.

Marc recently got married to his beautiful wife Eva.

Anyone interested in getting directly in touch with Marc by e-mail is welcome to do so by writing to him at borufka@web.de. We are hoping to get a note directly from Marc for posting here at our internship blogsite in the near future.

Congratulations Marc and Eva from all of us at AutoCom!

Larry

SAE World Congress 2006

2006-05-04T09:53:00.000-04:00

From April 3 till April 6 there was the SAE World Congress in Detroit. A lot of AutoCom Clients attended this congress and so there were also a lot of exciting things for me and Lei to do. SAE is the shortcut for "Society of Automotive Engineers".

During SAE AutoCom supported some press conferences of clients and also organized a dinner for media and for clients.

Tuesday April 4th: SAE Media Dinner
On the second day of SAE AutoCom organized a big dinner for media and clients at the Coach Insignia, a great restaurant at the top of the GM Towers. And as Ilka said in her post about the International Autoshow, how great the view up there is, I won’t repeat all of that ... I don't want you getting bored. ;) I just second Ilkas recommendation to visit this restaurant. It’s really amazing and the food is also amazing, you’ll wish to have dinner there every day… =) And although it was not that good weather we had a great sunset.
After a short reception we had dinner. As it was my first time attending such an event, nearly everything was exciting. All the preparation you have to think about and so on. I can say that I’ve learned a lot during that time. And another good thing on that was that you had the chance to talk to different clients and media people…so you have a face of the persons you always are talking on the phone or by email. I think it’s nice to know them in person.
Although it was a long, hard and stressful day, I appreciate that I had the chance to attend the dinner.

Press confrences:
Lei will wirte about the Behr press conference in another post ... I think she has to tell some interessting things. I attended the MANN+HUMMEL and the Hella press conference, but I think one report is enough ... thank you Lei! ;)

By Bianca

Lots of fun things to do this summer!

2006-05-02T13:22:00.000-04:00

Kathi, Larry's wife contributed this post for our interns!

1. There is a great In the Park concert series in Shain Park (downtown Birmingham), just a few minutes from AutoCom and free.

Here is the list of concerts this summer:
June 9: Battle of the Bands (locals bands duel)

June 14: The Birmingham Concert Band and Straw Hat Band

June 21: Tally Hall (energetic band based in Ann Arbor and is known for humorous, diverse music). Preceded by Groove, a high energy percussion band using instruments made from everything.

June 28: Polish festival: food and ethnic dance

July 5: Arizona Sun Country western band

July 12: Greek festival: An evening of traditional Greek food, dance and song.

July 20: Jazzfest Kickoff with Alexander Zonjic and Friends

July 26: Motor City Brass band. An evening of Broadway show tunes. Preceded by the BBSO Honors String Orchestra.

July 29 (Sat): Special performance by the Air National Guard Band of the Great Lakes 555th Air Force Band. Preceded by the Gentlemen Songsters Chorus.

Aug. 2: Air Margaritaville. An adventure in paradise with this Jimmy Buffet-style band. Preceded by Lorelei.

August 16: Woodward Avenue Dream Cruise. An all-out vintage car parade and happening on Woodward and throughout Birmingham and Royal Oak.

Aug. 23: African festival. traditional African food and entertainment featuring Mady Kouyate and his Kora music from West Aftrica. Costumed dance by Papa Hanne's West African Dance Ensemble. Preceded by the Art of Motion Dance Company.

Aug 30: Birmingham's own Michael King, with special guest Sonia Lee will perform an evening of eclectic songs from King's new CD.

2. Here are a few other events:
Fine Art Festival
Date: Saturday, May 13, 2006 Time: 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM Location: Shain ParkBirmingham, Michigan
For additional information, contact the Birmingham Bloomfield Chamber of Commerce - 248.644.1700 or the Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center 248.644.0866.

Village Fair
Date: Saturday, June 03, 2006 Time: 11:00 AM - 11:00 PM Location: Shain ParkBirmingham, Michigan For additional information contact the Birmingham Bloomfield Chamber - 248.644.1700.

Summer in the City - most Friday nights during the summer
Date: Friday, July 07, 2006 Time: 6:30 PM Location: Front Steps of City Hall151 MartinBirmingham, Michigan 48009 Contact the Principal Shopping District for additional information - 248.433.3550.

Band Jam
Date: Friday, July 28, 2006 Time: 7:30 PM - 9:30 PM Location: Shain ParkBirmingham, Michigan For additional information contact the Principal Shopping District - 248.433.3550.

3.Some useful links:
Here's a link to an excellent concert series in Ann Arbor at the University of Michigan. They have a couple of remaining performances in May and then they start up again in September.
www.ums.org

Here's a link to the International Freedom Festival annual huge fireworks show over the Detroit River.
www.theparade.org/freedomfest

There are lots of concerts, plays, etc at DTE Music Theater, Meadowbrook, etc, popular and classical. Check out the schedules at:
www.palacenet.com

A link to some local activities for the month of May, that may be of interest.
http://detroit.about.com/od/activitiesattractions/p/may2006.htm

Visiting Washington

2006-04-21T12:05:00.000-04:00

As Xu Lei wrote so well in this blog, Washington is a great city to visit, and well worth a trip for AutoCom interns.

I lived in Washington three times and enjoyed the area very much: once with the US Army, once working in the Capitol as press secretary for a U.S. Senator and once working in the General Motors Washington office.

Eileen and I enjoyed a fine visit to Washington early this month when the famous cherry blossoms were at their magnificent best. Here we are at the Jefferson Memorial; also a photo of the Washington Cathedral (often missed by tourists) with more spring blossoms.

Lei listed a lot of Washington’s attractions; I’ll be glad to tell more to interns who want to go there.

Jack Harned

Another new Face

2006-04-21T09:21:00.000-04:00

Hey everybody,

My name is Susanne, 21, and I am going to be another intern at AutoCom starting in mid-August. I am really happy and excited to have the chance to join you guys for my internship. I am also sure that I will be able to learn a lot and get to know the field of communications very well.

Furthermore, I am thrilled to have the chance to experience the American way of life a second time and to reaffirm my positive impression as I have already spent a High-School year in the US.

Currently I am a student in my second year of an International Business degree in Cambridge, England. I spent my first year of studies in Berlin, the capitol of Germany –a really nice city.

Right now it is my last week of spring break from University, it is not that relaxing, though - I have a lot of assignments to write.

I just got together all necessary documents in order to start the process of the visa application. It is unbelievable but it is really hard to find a photographer in Cambridge who is able to take a picture according to the photo guidelines for an American visa.

Bianca and Lei have already been very helpful – I guess the main questioning is still coming up when it is time to get further guide and documents for the DS2019 form, housing etc. Thank you for your help in advance!

I am really looking forward to meet you all and cannot wait for the time to pass by until my departure! :)

I am sure I will have a great time with lots of knowledge and experience in Public Relations.

Susanne

Easter in Toronto

2006-04-20T15:08:00.000-04:00

Toronto is a really "mulit-culti" city. You can find there nearly every nationality. Walking through the streets is lots of fun. I think with one breath you smell 5 different flavours...! I really recommend to walk along Queensstreet. There are a lot of nice shops and restaurants. Walk along that street and then just go North...after a few minutes you will reach China Town as well as Kensington Market. There are a lot of small shops and stands which sell nearly everything. And you also have Greek Town (eastern Toronto) and a "little Italy". If there is nice weather you should go to the lakeshore...and you will feel like beeing far far away from a big city (although it's just behind you).

Visting the CN-Tower is not the cheapest thing to do, but it's amazing. One ticket is about 24 Canadian$. But the floor of the observation desk (it's in a hight of 336m) is partly made out of glas...that's impressive! When you stand on that floor you just see all the "mini" cars driving below you. It's unbelievable. (But too much adrenalin for me ;) I just staied there for 2 seconds)

But I was wondering that you couldn't see any Easter stuff on the streets or in the shops. I didn't see at least one egg or Easter bunny. But it was a great Easter weekend anyway.

Hope you all had a good time on Easter...

Bianca

I ♡ DC

2006-04-20T09:58:00.000-04:00

It was a great 6 days’ trip. 2 days on the way... about 9 hours drive~~~ No Speeding! We got a ticket on the way down there.

Attractions: Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, White House, World War II Memorial, Vietnam War Memorial, Capitol, Arlington Cemetery (Change of Guard Ceremony, Kennedy Fire…), Pentagon (just a shot when we drove by), George Town (C&O Canal—we did an one-hour boat tour on it powered by mules J, Old Stone House, M Street, Shops)
Museums: National Gallery of Arts (Special Exhibition: Cezanne in Provence; Dada), Air and Space Museum, American Indian Museum, American History Museum, Freer Museum (Special Exhibition: Chinese and Japanese Arts)
Food: China Town! I ate Asian Food most of all these days: Chinese food in China Town, Middle East food near where I live, Vietnamese’s food in George Town, Korean Food in Arlington (There is a street at the Virginia side of the Potomac River aligned with Korean restaurants)
Nights:
--Kennedy Center (Free performances), I spent two nights there: radio theater- Pinocchio and George Mason University Symphony Orchestra.
--An NBA Game between Washington Wizards and Cleveland, Wizards won the game. I like it soooooooo much. Plan to catch for another one in Detroit.
--“Dawn of Death”, a horror movie in the hostel with a group of young people, which is better for such kind of a movie.
--“The Rock”, another one in the hostel with almost the same group.
Season Specialties:
--Flowers: Cherry Blossoms are just gone, but there are tulips and peach trees instead.
--Easter Egg Hunt: Organized by the hostel I lived in. I found 8 eggs: 3 with bunny chocolate, 3 with candies and 2 with 1 dollar! Not bad for my first egg hunt. ;P

Washington D.C. in Lei’s Eyes

FREE Entrance!

All the museums, monuments, cemeteries are free of charge. Besides, Kennedy Center offers free a concert every day!
Early birds get the worms!
You could pick up free tickets to go up the Washington monuments and to watch real money printing, but people began to queue up at about 5:30 AM, even you arrive at 6:30, there could be no ticket available.
Public Transportation!
Unlike Detroit, they have a relatively good public transportation. At least for tourists, you could reach the sightseeing easily.
Security Check and Policemen everywhere.
After 911, everywhere is on guard.
Hilltop Hostel
It is a cool place to stay. 2 minutes’ walk from metro. It was a big house actually with kitchen, wash machines, driers, living room with TV set and computers. Another great thing about hostel is you could met lots of young people there. I spent some part of my trip with them. A Korean guy cooked Bibimbap (mixed rice) for me. It was really good~~

I ♡ DC

By Lei

Back to Germany

2006-04-04T10:33:00.001-04:00

Hey folks!!
It’s a week now that I’m back in Germany and slowly I get used to it. The first days were like being stopped from 70mph to 0mph in 3 seconds, but on the third day I was okay again and not too homesick for Detroit anymore.
Now I’m back in my college town Hannover, meet all my old friends and get ready for my final thesis. And of course – think back to my time in Detroit and all the great people I met. I arrived in the U.S. with low expectations and left with so many good memories, dear friends, lots of PR-experiences, three awfully heavy suitcases and hundreds of pictures. =)
I hope it won’t be too long until I see you again. Take care, enjoy spring!

Ilka

Detroit Downtown and Henry Ford Museum

2006-03-31T11:49:00.000-05:00

Last weekend I had my first "trip" to Detroit Downtown. We didn't take the interstate to get there but the Woodward Avenue, which goes through the suburbs of Detroit. That was amazing. My friends told me that we drove through the area where Eminem was growing up. And to be honest, I wouldn't like to get out of my car there. But it was good to see that so you know that there's not only the beautiful side of Detroit. And if you have crossed that area there's DOWNTWON! ;) And that looks great. And there are some really nice bars, as well as the Hard Rock Cafe. We took the people mover (www.thepeoplemover.com), which is driving in a circle through downtown. After that we were in the GM towers and walked along at the Detroit River and had a great few to the skyline of Windsor. And in the evening we had dinner in Greek Town. So I like Detroit Downtown, although or maybe just because, it's not like the other downtowns I've visited before. It has it's on flair. And I don't think that Detroit is a dangerous place. So you don't have to be worry about that.

And I also visited the Henry Ford Museum. And I recommend it to every future intern. There are all the cars of former presidents and a lot of other old cars and the history of the automtive branch. But there are also old planes (like the Fokker), machines, furniture and so on.

By Bianca

Future intern Linda

2006-03-30T08:48:00.000-05:00

Hi guys,
My name is Linda (24 years old) and I´ll (yippie!) be joining you as an intern from mid june till december.
I´m very excited because I´ve never been in the United States up to now. All the more I´m anxious to AutoCom and the american way of life (myfriends cautioned me about the tasty fast-food-offer yet ;)!
It´s nice to learn about all the great field reports from ex-interns which I found on this blog. They confirm my positive impression which I already have from AutoCom and I get an idea of the varied experiences which I can gain within the internship. So I can´t wait to know the AutoCom team!!
But first of all there are some annoying things which have to becompleted. I´ve to finish my master thesis (about 'seniors andadvertising'), must find an interim tenant for my flat-share-room inmuenster. Furthermore I´ve to look for a U.S.-housing and I´m due to say hello to the consulat . (Thanks a lot for your help concerning all the organizational things around my internship!!)
But yesterday springtime "arrived" in muenster and everybody is in good spirits (me included) and I may complete my thesis with ice cream on our balkony; Hope the weather in Detroit is comparable to ours and you also enjoy thefirst actinism of the summer! I look forward beeing with you at AutoCom!
See you soon
By Linda

Greetings from United Arab Emirates!

2006-03-28T09:48:00.000-05:00

It’s been years since I worked at AutoCom!! I remember it clearly… I had just graduated from U of M and decided to look into the field of Public Relations. I was fortunate enough to land an entry level position with AutoCom. It was a wonderful introduction to the world of PR within the auto industry. I had the opportunity to work with true experts in the field and I will never forget the experience.

My life has definitely changed since. I got married over three years ago, and moved to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. I’m currently teaching English at a women’s college. I’ve had two kids along the way. I’ve changed careers but will always remember and appreciate my days at AutoCom. I wish all the current interns the best of luck and encourage all of you to use the resources available to you while you have them.

Dolores

How to post and/or write a comment

2006-03-21T11:01:00.000-05:00

If it’s your first time you visit our blog (or maybe you visited it for several times) and don’t know how to write a post or comment here is a short instruction.

If you would like to write a new post you have to contact Lei lxu@usautocom.com or me bbischoff@usautocom.com, because we are the only one who can edit/create posts.

To write a comment to an existing post just click on “comments “ at the bottom of each posting, then you have to choose an identity where you just take “Other”. Write your name and your comment…done.

I hope there will be lots of comments soon

Thanks,

Bianca

Visa process and other preparations for a successful internship

2006-03-21T10:49:00.000-05:00

Dear future interns,

As it’s not too long ago that I had to do all the paper stuff for my visa, I think I can give you some advice from my experience.

The visa application
First, make sure that you have a valid passport for your whole internship. I don’t know it exactly, but I think you need that new biometric one, now.

The best and easiest way to apply for the visa is to use the service of the German American Chamber of Commerce California (GACCCA), they can also tell you which passport you need. The AutoCom interns always use the branch in Leipzig. The website is: http://www.j1-visum.de/. If you are not a student anymore I don’t know which visa you need, but I think the GACCCA will help you in this case and tell you what to do. If you subscribe there, you will get all the forms you have to fill out. And they also tell you what else you have to do and give you some tips for the consulate. I think it is no waste of money doing this. Because there were such a lot of things I never thought I need them. And you have a pretty good insurance, which you need for the visa application as well. I think it would be the wrong way to save money at this point, if you really want to get your visa. Because they know how to get it and support you whenever needed. They also make sure that you have all forms which you need for the consulate and also that they are filled out in the right way. So using the Chamber of Commerce is the best thing to do. When I applied for my visa I also had to study for my exams and I was really glad that they have supported me. And if you won’t get your visa you will get the money back, so don’t worry about that.

I don’t know how to do the visa application when you are a resident of another country. But I think there are also Chamber of Commerce in your country which work together with the American (as long as you are European I think it is always the same).

My last advice for the application is that you should start with it as soon as possible so that there is no hurry. And take a book with you when you have to go to the consulate, because it takes about 3 hours there.

What else do you have to do…
Housing
You need to look for a room here in Detroit. There are two possibilities for you:
1. Oakland University (www.oakland.edu): Oakland University offers different
housing options (double room, single room, apartments…) just have a look on the website. It is a bit hard to find, just click on “future students” then “All about OU”, “Campus Housing&Dining” and “Hostel Program”.
2. Look for roommates (www.roommates.com): Make sure that the rooms are furnished.When I looked for roommates the problem was that I didn’t know which area of Motown is good and which not. Especially the way you have to drive to work every morning. So here are some areas which are really good. Rochester (48306), Troy (48085), Auburn Hills (48326), Royal Oak (48067) and I heard about Ferndale and Novi, but I’ve never been there. If you need a good map, visit http://www.mapquest.com/. But please don’t go to Pontiac! I’ve been there to get my social security number, and it didn’t seem to me to be a really safe place.

Car
To look for a car you can visit http://detroit.craigslist.org/car/. Although you will find cars for 500$ or less, if possible bring a little bit more so that you can spend about 1000$. As far as you want to drive your car longer than 3 months. J

Well I think that’s enough for the first time. If you have any questions or comments don’t hesitate to write a comment or contact us (Xu Lei lxu@usautocom.com or Bianca Bischoff bbischoff@usautocom.com).

Regards,

Bianca

March 17, St. Patrick's Day

2006-03-21T09:33:00.000-05:00

Last Friday on the 17th of march 2006 the Irish people had their huge celebrating day. It was St. Patrick's Day. I went to a bar with some of my friends just to see how it is celebrated, because we don't have that in Germany (or maybe in Berlin) but I have never seen that. It was great. Nearly everybody was wearing a green shirt, hat, pants or something else. And they offered green beer in the bars. So if you are in the US during that event you don't have to miss that. It's really fun. And if you have the possibility go to a city like New York, they have a big parade on that day, then go there. For example in Chicago they color their river in green (as you can see on the picture).

Have fun watching that celebration!

Bianca

Hi autocom-blog readers,

2006-03-16T10:03:00.000-05:00

another german intern is going to support the AutoCom team.

So far you only read about female german students working for autocom, am I the first male student?
Anyway I´m really excited to get to know the AutoCom team!!!

I'm 26 years old and live in Bocholt, which is about 70km away from Cologne. I did my last class exercises last monday and have no other university tests to take - lucky me!

Now I´m truly looking forward to travel to Detroit in order to start my internship. After my time with autocom I will start my diploma thesis to finish my studies successfully.
My preparations are running and I´m learning much about the U.S immigration system at the moment. Sometimes it is a little bit complicated to get all the papers and forms together. It’s quite a challenge for a European since we are used to travel without passport in Europe. But my internship is also about experiencing a new country and it’s culture, thus it’s thrilling to cope with these issues.

Fortunately the AutoCom team supports me outstandingly. Especially Bianca shows a lot of nerves to navigate me through all the barriers. Thus I’m sure, there will be no problem which we cannot solve - USA: I’m coming!

So far I´ve learned much about vacationing in the U.S but from May I´ll get in contact with the „real american way of life“. Should I be scared :-)?????

The time with AutoCom will be a great and valuable time. I am very looking forward to learn so many things and cannot wait to finally start my internship!

Sixty-one days left, sixty, fifty-nine...

by, Markus

My first days in Detroit

2006-03-06T09:35:00.000-05:00

Hi!

Nearly two weeks ago I arrived in Detroit. It's amazing how fast time goes by.
So I just want to tell you some of my experiences I had during my first days.

First there was buying a car and get my social security number. Ilka was driving me to all that offices. Thanks a lot for doing that, it was really kind of you! My car is nice and drives well, and I hope it will do so for the next six months.

What else did I do? I went shopping (it's great), were going out with friends and I went to a park at the lake. Although it was really freezing it was amazing (as you can see on the picture). I hope it will get warmer soon, so that it is more comfortable to do something outside.

So far I think it will be a great time here.

Bianca

Kristin

2006-02-13T09:08:00.000-05:00

Hi guys!
My name is Kristin and I had the pleasure to spend my six month internship at AutoCom togehter with Heike. For me personally AutoCom and the U.S. in general were a great experience in every way. I travelled a lot (California, New York, Chicago, Toronto and the Great Lakes of course) and it was particularly exciting to be in the U.S. whilst the elections. However I still hadn't gotten enough of cultural differences and challenges so I decided to go to Shanghai for another internship afterwards. Meanwhile I am back in Germany and I gotta say the 'cultural shock' backwards (meaning when I had returned home) was far worse than expected. You should really never underestimate that everyting and everyone moved on while you were gone and it's kinda hard settling back in. Now I am about to finish university, I am studying International Business in Landshut btw, and I am really looking forward to being done and finally start working. For anyone who is going to the U.S. and in particular to AutoCom I can only recommend to do and see as much as possible-it's a great country-you'll see. Even Detroit! Before I left to the U.S. at that time a lot of people were sceptical since they had heard that Detroit was dirty and the typical 'industrial city'. I couldn't see that-for me it had a lot of charme since I lived there-it simply is on you to see that! I will probably be coming back to Detroit this year since my brother's gonna work in Troy for two years. So, I guess I'll see some of you guys there!!

by Kristin

Heike says Hi!

2006-01-30T11:04:00.000-05:00

Hi!
I'm Heike from Germany. I have been an intern with AutoCom and I really love Detroit. Detroit is not a beautiful city but it has nice corners like the DIA. I have never seen such an amazing museum. On a Sunday Morning you should talk a walk (sorry a ride) at Belle Isle. If you miss German bread or European bread you should go to this unbelievable "Avalon Bakery" (Willis Street, Downtown Detroit). Please try this amazing bread but take care of yourself because it is not a really safe area....it is Detroit.

by Heike

Bianca

2006-01-30T10:58:00.000-05:00

Hello everybody!
My name is Bianca Bischoff, I am 22 years old and will be intern at AutoCom from the first of march till the end of august.
At the moment I study economics at the Universtiy of Applied Science Nürtingen-Geislingen (that’s near Stuttgart) in the 5th Semester.
I’ve been to the US for three times now, but I have never been to Detroit or the Great Lakes before. And it was always just for holiday and I’m really happy to have the chance now to get to know the “real american way of life”.
Well, there are nearly 4 weeks left, till I will fly to Detroit. My preperations for my 6 months internship are nearly finished, there are only a few little things left. And slowly I’m getting really nervous! I’m looking forward to work and live in the US for the next couple of months. The only thing I’m a bit afraid of, is buying a car. But I think I will manage this. And I think there will be a few things I will miss. For example my mom, my best friend and of course driving fast on the highway =) ! And the real Swabian noodles (called “Spätzle”)! Oh I’m so nervous, I nearly can’t wait for the moment flying to Detroit!

See you soon!

by Bianca

North American International Autoshow

2006-01-20T11:38:00.000-05:00

Every year in January Detroit hosts the North American International Autoshow at the COBO center. For two weeks it’s all about new cars, spectacular presentations and nice parties. I had the chance to visit the Autoshow earlier this week and couldn’t get enough of the cars. Especially the new Audi Q7, the Mercedes SLR and the BMW Z4 are on top on my wish list now. It’s obvious I like German cars, hm?! Fortunately there was no price tag on any of the cars, so I can at least pretend to earn enough money in the next couple of years to buy me one. =)
At the Autoshow you really could see what is good PR and marketing - it all follows a special strategy.

AutoCom’s tribute to the Autoshow is its annual Charity Night Preview Dinner for AutoCom clients and their guests. This year we invited our clients to the Coach Insignia, a restaurant on top of the GM Towers with a fantastic panoramic view of the Detroit (MI) and Windsor (ON) skyline. Our evening started with a reception and a first get-together in the private dining room and later everybody went to COBO for the Charity Night Preview Show. As the name suggests this night’s biggest purpose is to raise as much money as possible for local children charities (and show your gowns… of course!). An expected amount of $ 6.9 million could be raised this year by the 17,000 gala guests.
After our guests came back from the show they enjoyed excellent food and wine, good Jazz music and nice talks. Not to forget the view! Did I mentioned the view already? It’s amazing! So if you ever have the chance to visit the Coach Insignia on the 72nd floor of the GM Towers – do it! It is worth it in every possible way.

by Ilka

BBSO intern project

2006-01-12T14:24:00.000-05:00

A pro bono client of AutoCom is BBSO (Birmingham-Bloomfield Symphony Orchestra). They need some publicity for an annual young artist competition in January. Our company's PR approach is to always write a press release and send it to key members of the media.

1. To write the press release: (www.bbso.org/images/BBSO_youth_competition_2005_Dec._1.doc)
a.Meet with Carla, the manager. Get basic info from her and ask questions to create the release.

b.Meet with last year's winner. As part of the prize, BBSO invites three of last year's winners respectively to each of their concerts. I went to the one in December and interviewed the piano winner and took pictures of her.

c.Write the release. I started from scratch. There was nothing to follow from previous ones. Lillie, our editor, and Jack, my PR trainer and BBSO project instructor, helped me to revised it over and over for more than 8 times. I learned a lot from them and I really appreciate it!
Send it out by e-mail together with pix of the three winners.

Tips: to make your press releases standing out from the tons of e-mails sitting in editors' mailbox. (Sources: face-to-face talk with Jack, the PR training material, my lessons and successful experiences from this project)
a. Attractive lead. The first paragraph should be interesting to make people go on reading.
b.Begin with short paragraphs and key words. Since editors usually scan and skim the first part of each paragraph.
c.Quotes from key people: to make it vivid.
d.Pictures enclosed: editors simply like it
e.Meaningful e-mail subject line: with client's full name and what it is about

2 To pitch with phone calls after e-mail distributions:
I called some of the editors who would probably be interested in our release the next day after I sent out the release.

Tips for telephone pitches: (Sources: I learned from face-to-face talk with Jack, from the PR training courses, my lessons and successful experiences from this project)

a.Decide what you are going to say. I prepared a little script to be fluent.

b.Call within 24 hours of your e-mail distribution. However, Friday afternoons and Monday mornings are bad time to call because they are likely to be busy with deadlines.

c.Just leave a voice mail, when they do not answer the phone.
Prepare what are to say before you call, especially when you are facing the answering machine, you've got one or two minutes, so you have to keep it concise but to the point.

d.Be familiar with what you are pitching. They may catch you with questions on the spot. If you don't know, just say I will find it out and get back to you ASAP, and really do that.

e.Express that the release is important for the pub's readers but not for the clients.

f.Offer to answer questions and leave a contact number, although it is already on the press release.

g.If they say it is not their area to cover, ask them to refer you to their colleagues who might be interested.

h.Ask if you can follow up again for next week / month, if they say that they have a full schedule or page.

3 Results:

Two presses picked this release. One uses that even for 1/4 pages and with two pictures. A big success for me~~~~ ^_^

By Lei

Let's blog~~

2005-12-20T16:15:00.000-05:00

Ilka and I went to a blog seminar last Thursday. Three company bloggers talked some basics about blogging… Some points are enlightening:

1. A blog is a book for the future. It is a good idea and I’ve never thought about it this way. I have a personal blog at www.spaces.msn.com/members/sofialeixu/. Unfortunately it is in Chinese, but you are more than welcome to visit it and comment in any languages. It was launched in June 2005 and is updated at least once a month. It is a good and simple way to keep in touch with my friends and share my feelings with them . Maybe after several years I will get it published somehow. :)

2. Blogging has 4 Ps:
Passion: To write posts with passion
Point (focus): To have a point in each post or your blog has a topic, such as music, sports
Personality: The layout of a blog and its posts reflect your personality
Perseverance: blogging is something you should do on a regular basis, the more posts you have and the more updated your blog is, the more clicks you get and the higher you are up on a blog search engine.

3.Some concerns about COMPANY blogging:
a.Will competitors gain information from company blog: No! With all the search engines such as Google, people can gain all the info easily anyway.

b.What if the company blog gets some offensive comments: Now that it is open to the public, it is unavoidable to have some malicious attack, which everyone understands very well.

c.In what style should a blog be: A company blog is different from its website in that it should be a conversation among people instead of people to a company. It should be written in a conversational manner. It is not a press release~~

By Lei

Gotham City…

2005-12-19T16:25:00.000-05:00

…did you ever wonder how Gotham City looks like at daytime? Visit Detroit on a Saturday afternoon and you’ll find out. Every other city would be packed with people, rushing through the streets, doing their last Christmas shopping. In Detroit only a few people were ice-skating at Campus Martius, a little square on Woodward and Monroe. We (Timo, Leif and I ) decided to walk down Woodward Ave. to the river, visited the GM Towers and had a dinner at a little restaurant in Greek Town. Altogether we met about 15 people on the streets, one Santa Claus and the valet-parking guy. We left Downtown Detroit at about 6:00 p.m. – the Christmas decorations lit up a deserted city and in the sky you could see the circling spotlights from the casino in Windsor/Canada.

Don’t get me wrong, I really like the city with its beautiful buildings, its theatres and its nice little bars and restaurants. But if you don’t live in the city you really need to know somebody who can tell you about Detroit, the history and the hidden treasures. Otherwise you will either never go downtown or only see... Gotham City!

By Ilka

Hello II

2005-12-13T12:10:00.000-05:00

Hi,

I’m Ilka, one of the two interns who are currently working at AutoCom.
Just a couple of month ago I was sitting in my apartment in Hannover (Germany), desperately waiting to hear back from AutoCom. Just a couple of month left and I will again sit in my apartment in Hannover, remembering the time I had in Detroit from August 2005 till March 2006. Back in Germany I will continue studying Public Relations at the University of Applied Science and Arts in Hannover and will hopefully finish my thesis by the end of summer 2006.

What else to tell you about me? I'm 23 years old, grew up in a small town in Eastern Germany, lived in London for two months and currently live in Royal Oak, Michigan. I did internships at the Intercontinental Hotel Hamburg and at an event agency in Hamburg, worked in the communications department at Siemens and have three years experience as a bartender. That doesn't help you a lot when you work in Public Relations but it's useful at every party.Today I prefer to stand in front of the bar not behind it. But I still know how to mix good cocktails. =)

Hello I

2005-12-13T10:46:00.000-05:00

Hi guys,

Welcome to our blog! This is Lei, one of the current interns with AutoCom till June 2006. You might be interested in who I am i.e. what kind of people is working here… ;)

I am a Chinese growing up in Beijing, studied Business Administration in Shanghai for 4 years and did my master in Economics and Management at Humboldt University in Berlin for 2 years…I just handed in my master thesis about “RFID in the Automotive Industry” at the end of September... Now here I am in Detroit for a 10-month internship.

I did an internship with ZF Shanghai Steering and was the chief editor of a university newspaper in Shanghai. Those experiences might be a plus for my application of an internship here…

A new blog

2005-11-29T14:29:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the AutoCom blog!

You probably wonder why we created this blog?! We had several reasons:
We wanted to give former interns at our PR-agency a chance to keep in touch with us . This blog also offers potential interns an excellent opportunitiy to learn about AutoCom Associates. Current interns can share their experiences: what do they learn at the agency and how do they experience their life in Detroit. We see this blog as a new way of communication, as an information source for everybody and as an experience in the blog-world.

To be an intern at AutoCom is challenging, exciting and instructive. We assist in all fields of the agency's businesses such as writing press releases, distributing media releases, organizing events, preparing communication programs for our clients and much more. And yes, we also copy, scan and file, and we also make coffee for our colleagues. =)
Our clients include companies from the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany and do business mainly in the automotive field.