Not that I work for them, nor am I officially endorsing them, but there is an event happening tomorrow night in manhattan that involves a sale, entertainment & free stuff being given away at Vespa Soho.
Check out this US News & World Report article, which mentioned me by name:
Motor-scooter company Vespa recently brought in two fans as unpaid bloggers on its website. “Vespa has incredible fans, and we thought the best approach was to let the customers tell their stories online,” says “micropersuasion” strategist Steve Rubel, whose firm, CooperKatz, was hired by Vespa to do online marketing. Real people giving testimony is a cornerstone of evangelism. Instead of salaries, the bloggers get an opportunity to test out new models, plus pick up the occasional seat cover or rain jacket. More important to them, they get a big forum to write about their passion. “My agenda is to get more people scootering and get more people to buy Vespa,” says Neil Barton, 32, whose full-time gig is running a computer network for a publisher.
Strictly speaking, I believe that I said “get more people to buy scooters.” I am all for Vespa, don’t get me wrong, I just think I said scooter instead of Vespa, as that is my over all mission. I want everyone to own a scooter. Of course, Vespa is my personal preference.
Perhaps we will begin to see more sentiment like this from scooter riders pressuring cities to make changes in the way they deal with us. We need designated parking. This will be slow in coming, but over the next 5 years scooters will only become more popular, not less. Cities will begin to hit critical mass, and city officials will begin to react. Unfortunately it will get worse before it gets better. lUnti then just remember, be smart about where you park, getting too many tickets cancels out having a cheap ride. I average about 2 tickets a year in NYC.
Saturday, November 26, 2005; Page A24
I live and work in the District, and I recently purchased a scooter to do my part to conserve gasoline, reduce traffic congestion and free up parking spaces.
I first parked at metered spaces, but after incurring $500 in damages when a car trying to park in the same space hit my scooter, I have been parking on the sidewalk, against the meter and next to bicycles that are also locked to the meter. That is, until the District hit me with a $100 parking ticket and requested towing.
The District could do a better job of encouraging alternate modes of transportation.
CHRISTOPHER P. COWIE
Washington
If you are stopping by my site on this slow holiday weekend it is probably because of this NY Times article about my Vespaway.com blogging. Normally I get my best traffic during the week when lots of slackers browse the web instead of doing work.
Happy thanksgiving to everyone. As you can tell I have been taking a bit of a break in writing for the holiday. However feel free to check out the new bulletin board/forum I installed on the New York Scooter Club website. I have been doing a fair bit of posting on the board and membership ramped up pretty quickly right after launch. Also, keep the upcoming Club holiday party in mind and send your RSVP if you want to hang with the NYC scooterati.
Being a nerd, I obviously just HAD to bring this story to you. Sometimes in a generation, a very Special piece of memorabilia comes along. A one of a kind that has an incredible closeness to the idol whom the memorabiliab represents. Perhaps, for instance, you could have an item from the set of the orginal series Star Trek. Imagine how your friends would be amazed knowing that Kirk actually tossed that styrofoam rock back in the 60′s that you now own! Well this is BETTER than a silly set piece, this is, in a way, a piece of Kirk himself, read on:
THE ACTOR who played Captain Kirk on the popular telly show Star Trek, William Shatner, has just passed a kidney stone and plans to flog it on eBay.
The actor says that the stone will become the “ultimate piece of Star Trek memorabilia” and he will flog it for charity.
Aprilia’s Scarabeo 500
Aprilia has launched a new Scarabeo 500 for 06 at the Milan Show – and here’s the first oficial picture.
Aprilia already offers its Atlantic Sprint as a 500cc scooter. The Scarabeo name has previously been used on 50, 100, 125, 250 and 500cc models.
Motorcycles and scooters park free in Toronto. Who knew? Hardly anybody, it turns out.
Some parking enforcement officers kept right on ticketing the vehicles for not paying at meters after city council approved the exemption two weeks ago.
Council was swayed by arguments that motorized two-wheelers are easier on the environment and help reduce gridlock. Councillor Case Ootes introduced the motion, which passed without opposition.
“It just blew us all away,” said Jeremy Logan, who imports Vespa scooters “I mean, I think it’s just an unbelievable thing, obvuously, for anyone scootering or motorcycling in this city.”
Gord Perks of the Toronto Environmental Alliance said encouraging scooters and motorcycles could help to reverse the trend to more and more SUVs on the streets.
“Our streets in some neighbourhoods are clogged up,” he said, “and being able to park a scooter or motorcycle in the curb lane would help free that.”
The city is also looking at letting scooters park on sidewalks and creating special areas for them to park, changes that could leave Toronto looking more like a European city.
Thanks to Stian for this article.
Check out the link, it includes sources for each quote:
1) “I AM the federal government.” –Tom DeLay, to the owner of Ruth’s Chris Steak House, after being told to put out his cigar because of federal government regulations banning smoking in the building, May 14, 2003
2) “So many minority youths had volunteered…that there was literally no room for patriotic folks like myself.” –Tom DeLay, explaining at the 1988 GOP convention why he and vice presidential nominee Dan Quayle did not fight in the Vietnam War
3) “Now tell me the truth boys, is this kind of fun?” –Tom Delay, to three young hurricane evacuees from New Orleans at the Astrodome in Houston, Sept. 9, 2005
4) “We’re no longer a superpower. We’re a super-duper power.” –Tom DeLay, explaining why America must topple Saddam Hussein in 2002 interview with Fox News
5) “Nothing is more important in the face of a war than cutting taxes.” –Tom DeLay, March 12, 2003
6) “Guns have little or nothing to do with juvenile violence. The causes of youth violence are working parents who put their kids into daycare, the teaching of evolution in the schools, and working mothers who take birth control pills.” –Tom DeLay, on causes of the Columbine High School massacre, 1999
7) “A woman can take care of the family. It takes a man to provide structure. To provide stability. Not that a woman can’t provide stability, I’m not saying that… It does take a father, though.” -Tom DeLay, in a radio interview, Feb. 10, 2004
“I don’t believe there is a separation of church and state. I think the Constitution is very clear. The only separation is that there will not be a government church.” –Tom DeLay
9) “Emotional appeals about working families trying to get by on $4.25 an hour [the minimum wage in 1996] are hard to resist. Fortunately, such families do not exist.” –Tom DeLay, during a debate in Congress on increasing the minimum wage, April 23, 1996
10) “I am not a federal employee. I am a constitutional officer. My job is the Constitution of the United States, I am not a government employee. I am in the Constitution.” –Tom DeLay, in a CNN interview, Dec. 19, 1995
