Ever since the EVolution show has been announced, I’ve been contacted by people asking me if I’m going, or expressing surprise when I say no.
So this is a short, concise post to explain why.
I’m not going to go into the long (and complicated) reasons behind my decision, but I am going to say that I do have some personal problems with some of the people attending.
Most noticeable among them is Jack Rickard of EVTV. After many years of trying to work alongside Jack (he covers conversions rather than OEM cars) he’s been publicly very defamatory towards anything I’ve done, but has asked me on more than one occasion for advice on our production equipment and workflows.
I won’t go into the emails here — but let’s say that I responded to one as politely as I could… I gave information freely, despite Jack’s rude and arrogant attitude towards the shows I produce.
At around the same time, I heard that Jack had — and is — continually rude about other people in the EV world, people who I respect and who have been fighting the corner of electric vehicles for a very long time.
But then this happened, I’ve linked to the specific piece of the show.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvTW4rIhtJo]
It’s in relation to the failed attempt that Transport Evolved made to be the official press team for the WAVE, an event in Swizerland earlier this year.
We did everything right. We planned. We allowed lots of time to travel. We arranged for all the relevant charging cards and passes. But on arriving in Europe, its unreliable charging network meant that we decided to turn around and head home.
We wrote a frank, and comprehensive post detailing what happened. And it’s from this that Jack claims he based his comments (above). Yet Jack’s retelling of the event has no basis in reality or fact.
What’s worse, is that Jack has continued to be rather rude about my journalistic abilities and my job. I’ve been called a ‘suck-up’ to Nissan. I’ve been called ‘ignorant’. I’ve been called worse.
And, according to many who keep me in the loop, these kind of slurs have continued on subsequent episodes, and Jack has continued to mock or dismiss manufactured-made electric cars.
The event next year I’m sure is designed with the best of intentions: to help celebrate and entertain about plug-in vehicles and alternative fuels. But with such a connection to EVTV, I’ve no desire to publicly go and be treated with such distain in person.
I’m sure Jack has done amazing things for the conversion industry. But I personally find him rude, condescending, and frankly, sexist.
Combined with others attending, I get the impression that this show is more for conversion fans and specialists than it is for everyday drivers. With the male-dominated arena that it is, I don’t feel welcome.
So, I hope those who go have fun, and an enjoyable time. But I also hope you’ll understand why I won’t be going, because I frankly don’t want to go somewhere where I’ll be bad mouthed, talked down to, and treated like a ‘little lady’ who doesn’t know her shit.