Nashville/Middle TN LEAF Gathering -- August 28th, 2011

1:00pm Sunday August 28th, 2011
Currently the plan is to meet at the Nissan Smyrna Plant's Solar Charging parking lot near the Welcome Center.Map centered at location.

Facebook event:
https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=160152717392560

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Attending:
TNLeaf
JPWhite
TennLeafer
brad
ralphmc
jimtubbs
kg4bec
Schneider Electric

Let's use this thread to iron out any specifics (exact time, location, lunch arrangements, media presence etc.)

Per the following post;

ralphmc said:

Great!
Then may I suggest meeting on Sunday August 28th?

Who is the farthest away? (Regards to travel time needed)

I would love to get Cracker Barrel in Smyrna involved too - to provide some free sandwiches well catering maybe - and to wet their appetite on EV charging stations too.
Maybe we can get them to furnish lunch and get some great PR out of the whole thing?

Let me know of your thoughts on that too,

Ralph

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Looks like the journey is 82 Miles return. So I shouldn't need too much of a boost at the charging station if I keep my speeds reasonable. Not easy for me to keep my speeds reasonable

I'm certainly in for meeting in the afternoon on the 28th. I live in Murfreesboro, so it'll be an easy trip for me. I can't wait to see the solar facility!

For media, I suggest that we give Larry Flowers a call. He covers Rutherford County for WSMV, and is always looking for a story.

-David

I am up for a meeting as well. Should be able to make it there and back from East Nashville.

Brad

Yes this is good, thanks for creating a separate threat for this...

I have also created an event on my facebook page http://www.facebook.com/#!/events/
in hopes that maybe some "non" members to the MNL will see the event.

Maybe I should put a ;post into my blog as well.

Ok I put the invitation on my blog at: https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=160152717392560

Ralph

ralphmc said:

Yes this is good, thanks for creating a separate threat for this...

I have also created an event on my facebook page http://www.facebook.com/#!/events/
in hopes that maybe some "non" members to the MNL will see the event.

Maybe I should put a ;post into my blog as well.

Ok I put the invitation on my blog at: http://wp.me/py1JI-3S

Ralph

Click to expand...

Sounds good!

I sent an email to another LEAF driver in middle TN about the event (he doesn't read the forums) so hopefully he will like to come too.

Also, Schneider Electric is leasing a LEAF and they have it wrapped with a pretty cool looking graphic. I spoke to someone from their marketing and told them about the event. Sounds like they will come too. If anyone doesn't know they make a Level 2 EVSE (indoor and outdoor) and have plans on their website for Level 3 chargers.

Here's a picture of their LEAF.

As I tell more people about the meetup, first question I get asked it "what time?" I'm free pretty much the entire day, so I've just been telling them in the afternoon.

I may just show up around noon, and wait for others to make their way over. There's plenty of shade under some of the trees, so I'll probably bring along some reading material.

Do we want to go ahead and plan what time? Has anyone heard back from their contacts? (News, Cracker Barrell, etc). I'll be keeping the Schneider Electric people in the loop, so whenever we set a time, I'll let them know. Hopefully everyone's ISP has been redirected to the new server, mine just updated today.

I'd like to suggest a 1:00pm begin time. That gives folks time to eat lunch after church.

-David

TNleaf said:

As I tell more people about the meetup, first question I get asked it "what time?" I'm free pretty much the entire day, so I've just been telling them in the afternoon.

I may just show up around noon, and wait for others to make their way over. There's plenty of shade under some of the trees, so I'll probably bring along some reading material.

Do we want to go ahead and plan what time? Has anyone heard back from their contacts? (News, Cracker Barrell, etc). I'll be keeping the Schneider Electric people in the loop, so whenever we set a time, I'll let them know. Hopefully everyone's ISP has been redirected to the new server, mine just updated today.

Click to expand...

My news contact doesn't work weekends. So that went nowhere. I'll message Holly Thompson on Facebook and see where that goes.

ralphmc said:

Yes this is good, thanks for creating a separate threat for this...

I have also created an event on my facebook page http://www.facebook.com/#!/events/
in hopes that maybe some "non" members to the MNL will see the event.

Maybe I should put a ;post into my blog as well.

Ok I put the invitation on my blog at: http://wp.me/py1JI-3S

Ralph

Click to expand...

Ralph, I searched for and found the event on facebook; you'll want to link to it from the following URL:

https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=160152717392560

TennLeafer said:

I'd like to suggest a 1:00pm begin time. That gives folks time to eat lunch after church.

-David

Click to expand...

That sounds good to me. Does 1pm sound good to everyone else?

Yes this time sounds great!

I did send an email to a couple of "higher ups" at Nissan, but none of them replied with any interest.

Hello J. S.,

We met some time back last year at the Nissan HQ in Franklin before I got
my own Nissan LEAF.

Well now that I am proud owner of the Nissan Leaf I have taken on the task
to co-ordinate meet-ups of the Metro Nashville Leaf owners.

We are planning to have our first official Meet-up at the Nissan Smyrna
Plant at the Solar assisted BLINK Charging station site near the welcome
center.

The members of the Nashville area http://www.mynissanleaf.com blog are asking if
Nissan wants to have some part in our first meet-up there, or perhaps ask
if this is in interest of Nissan at all.

I probably should also ask if you could get me in touch with a contact
there, so we can make sure that everything goes well, and does not disturb
normal operations at the site.

Also we are utilizing a Press Contact one of our members has to allow for
some PR of the event.

We have also considered to invite near by Cracker Barrel to participate
maybe with some sort of a Catering of the not just hungry EV’s but also the
drivers and possible “spectators” of the event.

Please get back with me as soon as you can, so we can make this a great
event, and help the growth of leafs in Tennessee.

Let me know what your Ideas are on this,

Regards,

Ralph Coleman
The Hyper Miler

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Some how I get the idea that Nissan just does not have any interest in making sure that there home terretory has the best possible support and reputation when it comes to marketing and results.

If I would run the PR - or the Marketing for Nissan I would make sure that home turf is top priority!

So I am actually really dissapointed at there attituted - I guess they are just simply to big of a company and DON'T need us "customers".

Ralph

I spoke to Schneider Electric's marketing group again, and it is confirmed that their wrapped LEAF will be in attendance.

Updated the original post to reflect the 1pm meeting time.

Looks like the event on facebook has several people; this is great! For anyone wanting to set a reminder or invite any family/friends the event ralphmc created is here:

https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=160152717392560

I will try to be at the meeting. Jim Tubbs

ralphmc said:

So I am actually really dissapointed at there attituted - I guess they are just simply to big of a company and DON'T need us "customers".

Ralph

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At the test drive event in March, Nissan corporate staff were conspicuous by their absence. The event crew from California were quite nice to deal with. It seems the corp crowd at Nashville couldn't care less about their latest vehicle being well received in the local area.

Your impression matches mine.

Corporate pukes are corporate pukes.

TNleaf said:

Updated the original post to reflect the 1pm meeting time.

Click to expand...

G'day,

If I fly into the airport at Smyrna, is there any chance someone could come pick me up for the event and take me back to the airport afterwards? This won't be a commercial flight, just my small plane that I'll be flying up from Birmingham. I'll certainly attempt it if the weather co-operates, and will likely plan to arrive earlier so I can get some lunch before the meeting.

Cheers, Bert

Hello Bert,

Yes, I will be glad to accommodate you on this, please PM me with your contact info and where & when to meet for the pickup at the Smyrna Airport.

Ralph

P.s. red carpet required?

I just passed the Nashville Airport Rental Parking lot and there must be 40-50 new Leaf's you can see from Dickerson Pike. Jim Tubbs

No way...

That is either Hertz or Enterprise Rent-a-car...

I will go by there this evening on my way home and check with the two Managers on duty at the port.

Looks like they are getting ready to fleet them out to there branches.

WOW that would be awesome...

Ralph

Well, the managers did not know anything about the LEAF sitting out there. One of the guys mentioned that this could rented by nissan since the lot they are sitting in is a restricted lot.

So I took a Sunday drive out to Smyrna Nissan Plant to check on our feeding site for our green rides, and guess whatI found their?

9 BLINK chargers that where POWERED OFF !!!!!!

Ok I grant Nissan the wright to do with there equipment what th er y please, but that is more than slap in the LEAF owners face, and now clearly underlines that managers in the south Nissan region are about brain dead there cows they are raising in there back yards.

Ralph

ralphmc said:

Well, the managers did not know anything about the LEAF sitting out there. One of the guys mentioned that this could rented by nissan since the lot they are sitting in is a restricted lot.

So I took a Sunday drive out to Smyrna Nissan Plant to check on our feeding site for our green rides, and guess whatI found their?

9 BLINK chargers that where POWERED OFF !!!!!!

Ok I grant Nissan the wright to do with there equipment what th er y please, but that is more than slap in the LEAF owners face, and now clearly underlines that managers in the south Nissan region are about brain dead there cows they are raising in there back yards.

Ralph

Click to expand...

Ralph,

I must have barely missed you! Around 1pm we set off to the Nissan Plant in Smyrna to check on the location. (my other reason was to test out the second Blink RFID card that I just got in the mail). When I pulled up, I noticed the units were off. I tried scanning the RFID and touching the screen, to no avail. I did call the Blink customer support number and spoke to Jordan. He told me that he could not remotely turn the EVSEs on, but that he would look into why they were off. I gave him my email address and he said that he would open a ticket and send me an email.

So this could put a dent in our plans for next Sunday? Was anyone depending on a charge at our meetup site? (I know JPWhite mentioned that it was a 82 mile round trip for him) If this puts anyone "out" of the meetup, I live about 12 miles away from the location (2 miles from I24 in LaVergne) and would volunteer my outlets for anyone needing a charge for an hour or so before or after the meetup. If we wanted to carpool, I could support 2 LEAFs in my driveway, 1 on my Blink EVSE and another on a 120v outlet (suitable for the non-modified EVSE that comes with the LEAF).
Alternatives would be:
-Choose an alternative meetup location
-Get in contact with Nissan (I've sent an email to my dealer to ask for a contact at the plant) and have the Blinks turned on for us
-Change the meetup date until we can get it all resolved

I would like to have as many LEAFs as possible physically present at the meetup location, but as I mentioned above, I could support 2 LEAFs charging and carpool the owners over. There is also another public location that IS online (I just plugged in and charged to verify) at the Smyrna Rexall building. It is only 3 miles from the meetup location if someone wanted to charge for free on a public solar assisted level 2 EVSE.
Located here.