Help with preparing an ecodriving booth

[Piwoslaw]

With International Car Free Day coming up (September 22nd), a large int'l company is organizing a related happening for its employees. A friend and I will set up and run a booth on public transportation and ecodriving. We are looking for ideas on what to do and how. Posters, leaflets, quizzes, the works.
So far she's found these two sites:
Save more than fuel
http://www.ecodrive.org
I'll expand that with stuff from 100+ Hypermiling Tips, plus
I'll probably show what I've done to the car and to the nut that drives it, with lots of data on how much the mods are worth.

Yes, I'll be advertising EcoModder.com ad nauseum.

Any ideas of what else we could do? Any ideas for a small game, puzzle, or quiz?

[PaleMelanesian]

At a "green living expo" last year, I helped with a hypermiling booth. It was outside, and we had cars there with us. We painted on the windscreen "1 tank, xxx miles, xxx mpg". That drew as much attention as all the other things we had, combined.

[Weather Spotter]

Oddly high tank MPG's will draw a lots of attention.

Keep it visually simple with details in your brochures.

[RobertSmalls]

Svietlana will draw lots of attention, if she can be parked by your booth.

[Piwoslaw]

I believe it's going to be indoors (weather...). And since the office building is on the other end of Warsaw I'll probably get there by train or (if weather allows) bike Just to make a statement, haha. But I'll make sure to have lots of pictures and milage numbers ("1665 km on one tank"). Maybe this weekend I'll shoot a few pics at different angles?

Even though I could go on and on about hypermiling and ecomodding, I would like to stress that ecodriving still uses more fuel than biking or taking public transport, but maybe I'll have my friend be in charge of that part. I'm just afraid that my futuristic-looking ride will attract more attention than a boring old bus ride.

I'll also have to prepare myself for arguments with people who believe certain techniques are unorthodox. I'll try not to mention EO(ff)C and other very advanced techniques and mods too much, so as not to scare anyone away. I want it look like anyone can aeromod and ecodrive their vehicle, not just the freaks.

Oh, and maybe a few pictures of other ecomodded cars? Basjoos' Aerocivic is the standard "freak car" shown in media, but I'll add a few nice looking Kamms and skirts made by other members.

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by Piwoslaw

I'll try not to mention EO(ff)C and other very advanced techniques and mods too much, so as not to scare anyone away.

Engine-on coasting is very much do-able for the average Joe, especially as we mostly drive manuals.

[basjoos]

You could add a a few pictures showing aeromods on Bonneville salt flats landspeed cars and explain how the same aeromods that improve high speed performance also improve mileage when driven at normal highway speeds. At Green Car Expo last year I found that these photos helped to attract the attention of performance car buffs otherwise turned off by "green cars" and raised the "coolness" factor of aeromods.

[Weather Spotter]

Originally Posted by Piwoslaw

I believe it's going to be indoors (weather...). And since the office building is on the other end of Warsaw I'll probably get there by train or (if weather allows) bike Just to make a statement, haha. But I'll make sure to have lots of pictures and milage numbers ("1665 km on one tank"). Maybe this weekend I'll shoot a few pics at different angles?

Even though I could go on and on about hypermiling and ecomodding, I would like to stress that ecodriving still uses more fuel than biking or taking public transport, but maybe I'll have my friend be in charge of that part. I'm just afraid that my futuristic-looking ride will attract more attention than a boring old bus ride.

I'll also have to prepare myself for arguments with people who believe certain techniques are unorthodox. I'll try not to mention EO(ff)C and other very advanced techniques and mods too much, so as not to scare anyone away. I want it look like anyone can aeromod and ecodrive their vehicle, not just the freaks.

Oh, and maybe a few pictures of other ecomodded cars? Basjoos' Aerocivic is the standard "freak car" shown in media, but I'll add a few nice looking Kamms and skirts made by other members.

Feel free to use pics of my car, I have some before/after of most if not all of my mods.

My car picts in one album to look through:
Car picts pictures by miweatherspotter - Photobucket

I like the idea of using some of the top speed cars to show case the aero differences.

[Phantom]

You could see if the bus will let you hitch the car to the bus and take pictures of it to get it there and then have a sign on the car out side mentioning to check out your booth.

I'm sure you would not be allowed to have the bus pull the car but IF you could...

[Piwoslaw]

Thanks for all the help, we were able to implement some of the ideas. So here's how it went:
We had all sorts of leaflets and other gadgets, some were generally about environmental protection (leftovers from previous happenings), a few posters, a computer program which allows you find out how much you could save if you changed your driving style, leaflets with ecodriving tips, a few pictures of ecomodded cars, and two quizzes. One of the posters was from the Environmental Ministry for the European Carfree Day, and showed three different tread patterns: winter, summer, and short distance.



At the bottom of the poster: "Save yourself and the environment. Burn calories, not petrol." The Wife and I really like this poster, she put one up at work.

I had pictures of cars, among others were Svietlana, Weather's AeroMatrix, AndrewJ's AeroCivic, MetroMPG's Kardboard Kammback (painted black, so it looked half-decent), Lovemysan's bellypan and airdam, and a salt flats racer with a rear deck extension and smooth hubcaps. The pictures got some attention, mostly for a group of young women, but a few guys also took a glance or two. Everyone found it hard to believe that cars like that can be found on the streets, especially here in Poland. And of course, the usual "So if all this reduces fc by so much, then why don't the car companies do it?" questions, with the usual "Gas too cheap/Don't want to risk something too far out/Leave lots of room for future improvements" answers.

We also made two quizzes, one was about the public transport system (How many subway stations in Warsaw?, How many bus lines?, How much more space does it take to carry X people in cars than in a bus?, etc.), the other about ecodriving. If I find a minute, I'll translate and post it for others to use. (If I don't post it within a month, then someone please bug me about it.)

Unfortunately, noone got into a longer discussion, and I only had 1 or 2 chances to hand out EM's web address. Two funny things:

• When a group would come up to our booth we would invite them to take one of the quizzes, but often someone would say "Oh no, a quiz! I'd have to think! No, maybe something else?"
• Once I was explaining that the engine shouldn't idle after starting, but instead you should immediately start driving. One lady interrupted me and said "That can't be true, because my son always idles for a few minutes before driving!"

No comments.

Thanks again, everyone