By Vanessa Lam
When you think of a typical “car meet,” what do you imagine? Do you see a bunch of car-obsessed, losers loitering in an empty parking lot trying to impress each other with their ride? All the while, a cop is waiting patiently outside on the street anticipating some hooligan racing action.
Many have ill-conceived notions of car meets and believe they are just for hard parkers who have no lives except to crowd around their cars in a parking lot late at night. This may be true for certain meets, but it is definitely not true for all.
Car enthusiasts try to learn more about cars through different avenues—may it be through forums, books, magazines, or any of the combinations. Surprisingly, many of these same car enthusiasts don’t believe car meets are another viable source of information and therefore don’t see a need to frequent them. These meets are, however, represented by those with a mixed range of interests/expertise.
Just as car meets are not a global summit for car nerds, online forum posters are not always the most reliable source of information. How many times have you seen false information spread like wild-fire on a forum? Although there is a large amount of usable facts to be found, there is an equal amount that is also highly questionable. This is where going to car meets can have an advantage over forums and other internet sources since you can make judgments about the reliability of the sources.
Furthermore, attending forum-based car meets can also enhance the forum experience where usernames are matched with faces and cars. Plus, it’s a great way to expand your social circle to a bunch of people who share the same hobby and passion as you. Who knows, you may meet your true BFF’s at one of these meets.
Hope to see you out there!