[News] RPM – Defying the Odds

I was just sent this lovely email by RPM and I felt it was worthy of being shown to you! RPM has taken off quite a bit since they became partners with me earlier this year. I look forward to seeing the places RPM can and mostly likely will go! I also look forward to see you guys at the events!

June 29, 2010, Huntington Beach California – On July 11th, 1998, Rich Goodwin’s twist on the average car show changed the face of youth automotive culture. His car show creation, Hot Import Nights, ignited a multi-billion dollar aftermarket industry and that industry went on to spawn movies, toys, video games and even a shift in how OEM’s developed their vehicles. Now almost 12 years later and nearly to the day that Hot Import Nights was first produced, Goodwin is set to release his first new show since he sold Hot Import Nights in 2004. The show is called RPM and it will debut at Chicago’s Soldier Field on Saturday, July 10th and much like the beginning of Hot Import Nights, RPM is defying all the odds.

RPM was initially announced as a two ev! ent series, an outdoor nighttime show in Chicago, Illinois on July 10th and a daytime festival in Irvine, California on August 7th, but the overwhelming response to the show, despite the economy and despite the hurdles that have plagued tuner shows in recent years, the show has received tremendous support from the tuning community at large and that prompted a quick addition of two more indoor nighttime shows in Dallas, Texas on September 4th and San Mateo, California on October 9th.

“The response to RPM did not surprise us,” says Goodwin. “We felt as though over the past few years, shows were increasingly becoming more corporate, more about the concert portion of the show, and more about the models rather than RPM’s model of carefully blending those lifestyle elements into a show whose main focus is the cars, the enthusiasts and the industry that supports them.”

The show has quietly become the most anticipated show of the year and is gaining more and more steam. The show is on track to sell out on car show registration in Chicago and anticipated to be at full capacity. Similar success is taking place in all other cities as the tuning community rallies around this show.

“I believe that another reason for our success is that we are not trying to be all things to all people blending in all different types of vehicles and crowds or trying to blend a show and racing combination. We are one thing. We are a tuner car show and we are the only one out there these days” says, Forrest Melton, National Sales Director for RPM.

The excitement over RPM has lured in some pretty big names such as MTV’s Jersey Shore cast member and DJ, Pauly D who will be playing along with Hard House DJ’s Alex Peace ! and Mario Florek in Chicago on the event’s main stage.

In Irvine the show captured the imagination of Funkmaster Flex who will present his Funkmaster Flex car show inside of RPM and be filming his new MTV2 show, Full Throttle. Also in Irvine will be the most recognized stunt bike rider in the world, Jason Britton who will rev up his bike and perform 3 stunt shows all inside this one time Orange County California theme park that has been abandoned and now restored. Irvine will even feature a full blown Carnival.

RPM is currently booking headline entertainment for Dallas and San Mateo which will be announced in the coming weeks.

The show features Misa Campo as Miss RPM with industry models Jenny Chu, Corissa Furr, Alicia Whitten and Jeri Lee. The show also features Step to the Mic (amateur hip hop talent contest), Dance Revolution (dance crews & various forms of dance competition), Flatland Freestyle (amateur stunt bike competition), and Cycle Path Magazine’s Ultimate 2 Wheel Nation (sport bike display).

“These are exciting times,” says Goodwin “we built the show we thought everyone wanted despite all outside factors. We built a show for the car owners, the fans and the industry that support them and so far it has paid off. It has the feeling of 1998 all over again”.