BlogHer and Saturn Atlanta Meet-Up

I jumped at the chance to attend a BlogHer & GM/Saturn meet-up at Atlantic Station in midtown Atlanta on Tuesday. As mother of a large family, my vehicle choices are limited to full-size vans. The opportunity to test drive cars – including a snazzy little sports car and a fuel-efficient hybrid – and meet some local bloggers in the process sounded like an awful lot of fun.

Part 1: The Cars!

The folks from Saturn were incredibly gracious. They had four vehicles: the Sky, Aura, Outlook, and a new hybrid Vue. When another blogger, Linda, and I arrived a few minutes before the 4 p.m. start time, they handed us the keys to the Sky and let us hit the road.

After dropping the top, Linda drove the Sky around our charted 11-minute course.

I wanted to take that baby home with me. Not a lot of trunk space, but a serious amount of get-up-and-go!

Here’s a shot of the interior:

Sky interior

Then we drove the Outlook. I was impressed that it could comfortably hold eight people and included a nice amount of storage space, yet drove like a car.

Next up: the Aura mid-size sedan. It was a roomy and comfortable ride; I loved the center dashboard display, which included GPS (see shot below for the Vue), and the toasty heated seats.

I had lots of questions about the new Hybrid Vue. Apparently the one I drove is a brand spankin’ new model that won’t be released until next year and had only been test-driven by a few media car-types (as opposed to mom bloggers).

Here’s the center dashboard panel that I mentioned earlier. It reminded me of tabs in Firefox, except these were Hybrid, Sound, Radio, Nav, Display, and Time.

My notion of hybrids was apparently quite antiquated, so this test drive was a real eye-opener. Cool things I learned about the new hybrid Vue include:

You do NOT plug it in to charge.
It switches seamlessly between battery and/or gas power.
The battery charges when you brake (I found this strangely fascinating).
The 6-cylinder engine was powerful, not slow, as I’d imagined in a hybrid.
It would be difficult not to stare at the Hybrid panel all the time, checking to see what power source was in use at any given moment.

All in all, the Vue was intriguing, comfortable, and fuel efficient, with an estimated 32 MPG highway. If we were in the market for a new car, it is one that my family would consider.

Part 2: Socializing!

After giving us the opportunity to drive and ask questions to our hearts’ content, our Saturn hosts treated us to hors d’oeuvres, drinks, and dessert in the lobby of TWELVE Atlantic Station, a posh midtown hotel. I didn’t expect to know anyone, but Twitter pal Amanda of Oh Amanda was there, as well as Renee of Cutie Booty Cakes. I had just read about the Disney mom bloggers trip that Renee had taken, as well as an article she had published in an online magazine.

We had an interesting bunch of ladies and enjoyed discussing our favorite topic: blogging! It was a joy to make new friends and share blogging tips and tricks. Araba, one of our Saturn hosts, was kind enough to email us each other’s contact information later that evening.

In Conclusion

This experience was just a whole lot of fun. My 15-passenger van does not respond the way that hot, little, red Saturn Sky does if you punch the gas. Not that I would do that while driving through midtown Atlanta at 5 p.m. No, not me.

It is a testimony to female bloggers and their influence in market research, as well as the marketing savvy of General Motors and Saturn in connecting with BlogHer. I was tickled to be one of the first to test drive a new vehicle and provide consumer feedback. Our GM/Saturn hosts couldn’t have been any nicer and seemed genuinely interested in answering our questions and what we had to say, and I would be interested in participating in any future meet-ups of this kind.