To learn how I leveraged social media and my interpersonal skills to bring Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr fans to the New York and Austin auto shows, click on the “Mazda Auto Show Coverage” link to the right and browse through the thumbnail grid.

When Mazda’s social media agency urgently needed an auto show correspondent, one Tweet was all it took to enlist my help. Mazda’s social media agency depended on me to help discern project objectives, figure out the best way to engage auto show attendees and create meaningful content on the New York International Auto Show floor — with only hours’ notice. The first project was so successful that Mazda invited me to plan and execute auto show coverage in Austin, as well.

Mazda president and CEO Takashi Yamanouchi asked to take a photo with me at the New York International Auto Show. Naturally, I obliged. After Tweeting the photo, I received a note from Mazda’s social media agency asking if I would produce dedicated Mazda content on the show floor the next day. I had only a handful of hours to plan and execute a social media strategy that would deliver value to Mazda’s Facebook and YouTube fans, but the end result was successful enough that Mazda’s agency asked me to cover another auto show on their behalf.

Keishi Egawa, vice president and chief operating officer of Mazda North American Operations, dropped in to the Austin New Car Show to visit with area dealers, who boast local market share approaching ten percent. Egawa-san and I are old friends; we bonded over a discussion of ‘kuruma banare’, a societal trend toward automotive apathy in the Japanese car market. Mazda and I are both sworn to fight that trend. In Austin, Egawa-san assured me he wasn’t sent to ‘check up’ on my work at the show.

It’s important to venture outside of your manufacturer space to discover the real essence of any auto show — and to bring value to your readers. Love for Mazda could be found outside the booth at Driveway Austin’s stand, where a Formula Mazda racecar sat on display. The video interview provided value and validation to Driveway Austin, and ensured that Mazda’s auto show content did not feel excessively advertorial.

Mazda’s bag of swag traveled with me everywhere, because one never knows when they’ll run across a faithful owner. These two traveled from California to Texas in a Mazda6, and were stoked to rock the Mazda window flag on their way back home.

Andie and Leif starred in one of several videos I filmed on the floor of the Austin Auto Show. The videos were uploaded instantaneously and shared across Mazda’s social media sites, giving the entire world a grassroots perspective of the Austin Auto Show.

Mazda’s owner base is incredibly impassioned. Many members reside at one of the many online owner community forums that cater specifically to Mazda fans. I met these Austin-area fans on their own turf, at a midnight car meet north of Austin. As I hopped out of my car with a bag of swag in tow, a person approached me. “You’re that guy from the forums — highmileage.”

My Mazda auto show coverage ended in authenticity. I forged truly durable friendships at the Austin-area Mazda meetup, just as I have while embedded in other brands’ owner communities. These relationships are, by far, the best asset I’ve earned in my career. They’re proof that this mission is worth it.