- Posted on Wednesday, April 19th, 2006 at 11:00 am
For Your Information
By Michael Wiley
Director, New Media
Welcome to our new blog! For those of you familiar with the FastLane Blog, the FYI Blog is a slight departure. While we are certainly happy with the conversation that the FastLane has created, for the most part, it has been the exclusive domain of some of our most senior executives, particularly Bob Lutz (most of us even call it Bob’s Blog). Over the last few months we decided that we could add another blog to our portfolio; and that it could be even more grassroots, providing an opportunity for all GM employees to contribute in one way or another.
Our hope is that this will be an effective way to spread the conversation about GM; that we can continue to get better at listening and maintaining the dialogue, and ultimately, create products and services that not only meet your needs but are truly the best.
The FYI Blog will highlight the positive developments that occur at GM on a daily basis, though we won’t shy away from controversy. Things that most of us would otherwise never hear about. Whereas the FastLane Blog usually gets new entries once or twice a week, the FYI blog aspires to be much more active. Expect to see at least a daily post, written by people throughout the organization. Here are the categories of information that the blog will feature:
- Cool Stuff - Stories about innovations; product, technology, facilities and manufacturing
- Our People - Profiles of GM employees and their unique jobs, careers, etc.
- News - Good News stories, including items that you may otherwise never hear about
- Opinions - GM op/ed pieces intended to shed light on issues in the news
- Guest Voices - Blog entries written by third parties who are not GM employees
We hope you enjoy participating in this new blog and we look forward to hearing from you.
36 Comments
mackingu
It’s great that GM has finally decided to flesh out their blogs to provide a wider-range of information on the company as a whole, while not soley focusing on selling cars “through” the fastlane blog.
Cheers.
Tonja
Congrats! I look forward to reading all about it.
CF
If you’re looking for model GM employees to profile in the “Our People” section, I recommend Patricia (Trish) Hidock. She was a wonderful GM supervisor when I worked for her back in 1997-98. She has a great work ethic and has filled a wide variety of positions for GM over the years. On a personal level, Trish has some interesting hobbies, too. Ask her about her horseback riding, for example.
Gil
Will this replace http://www.gmability.com? Specifically the Advanced Technology section? Seems like this stuff changes so quickly that a blog is the perfect place to have conversations about E85, hybrids and hydrogen…
Edward Hayes
I think this is great. This kind of dialogue was happening already at other so called GM sites with all their mismanagement and criticism that often is not the kind that is constructive. Then when you don’t agree with them, well…
I am glad GM has decided to take charge of its internet future. Here is what I would like to see…
1. More GM employee involvement.
2. More news articles relating to GM than just the 7 or 8 a week posted on GM’s web site.
3. A WHOLE LOT MORE stuff from GM’s brand managers, beyond Hummer, Saturn and Cadillac. (Which I love)
I don’t want Buick or any other GM brand to become a “second tier” brand as some say Infiniti is becoming. That is a swipe at Detroit.
4. A whole lot more feedback on our comments in these blogs. I don’t want you to reveal you secrets but is Buick going to resurface and take over the family sedan market?
I would hope with all sincerity that my comments make a positive difference, I don’t do it because I like to type.
5. Ask us some questions and give us some problems to solve, some of these folks, if challenged can surprise you.
Shaun
Great! I can’t wait !!
The TrueTalk Blog
GM: The Bloggers Are Coming, The Bloggers Are Coming!
A couple of months ago, Bob Lutz asked for suggestions about how GM could start combatting the perception that their vehicles weren’t competitive on quality, design, and performance. Many readers responded, as did I. My suggestions: Where are the other
getalifeagain
You’ll see me here as you did on FastLane.
BTW: First suggestion on this blog from me, like suggestions I made on FastLane. Make radically different designed cars that are extremely appealing. To me most of the cars out there are all the same looking.
NevilleHobson.com
New GM blog launches
General Motors launched a new blog yesterday, the FYI Blog.
In an introductory post, GM’s director of new media, Michael Wiley, outlined how GM intends this new blog to complement the current FastLane Blog (written by senior executives led by …
Jalopnik
FYI: GM’s Expansive Blog Empire
GM’s added a new site to their growing blog-empire of sites. This new site, FYI, joins the Fastlane blog and the now-defunct Smallblock blog. Rather than do it ourselves, we’ll let Mike Wiley, GM’s Director of New Media, describe…
Dave Lawson
No press is bad press, so I applaud it. GM has a few great vehicles, a range of decent vehicles, and a few that need work, so why not talk about it?
It cannot possibly do any harm, and may inspire both the public to take a look at the GM lineup, and the GM workforce to think differently about what they’re doing.
I’ve just added this blog to my daily favourites list, so let’s go!
Dave
Michael Karesh
I agree, a very positive development. But who’s going to be posting, and how much oversight will they receive from PR? I imagine we’ll soon know.
Princess Zelda
Great. If your looking for idea’s on content. I’d really enjoy hearing from the GM car designers and engineering employees.
A article from the new Camaro design team or at least a few question answered from a car enthusists not your PR team.
I’d also enjoying hearing some history stories. An example would be when releasing a new GTO, Camaro, or Firebird do a podcast with some of the older designers on the original cars and what they think of the new car. Just hearing on how the Tuned Port Injection was engineered would be interesting to me.
The corprate news info I can get anywhere and I’m not interested in hearing from the GM executives at all.
Oh and Thank You for the HHR and the audio input jack on GM car stereo’s.
ChrisM
Excellent idea! Excuse the cliched term, but I think GM can get significant mileage in this venture. With consumer earning power declining the last 3 years combined with ever-rising prices, customers will become more and more demanding of the companies (and their products) that want their money. This effort could go a long way towards “making a big company act a lot smaller.” Personally, I’d like GM to expand upon this idea into a full-ownership experience. Blossom this into a forum, an “owner’s gallery”, and integrate it into GM’s ownerlink information. Allow people to share their experiences–both good and bad. Occasionally, make a GM-related person available for a Q&A or chat-session. Pick anyone from executives, to bean-counters, to designers, to salespeople, to auto-mechanics.
Ethel O
Gentlemen,
You are making things a little more complicated for the bloggers than need be.
Everyone knows you are making every effort to send your positive messages about GM to the public and many of us bloggers are wishing you the best to succeed.
It’s about simplicity, not complication.
Again, I reiterate, TurnAround.
Ethel O
BusinessBlogWire
Business Blog Links Of The Day - 4-19-06
I’ve got a couple weeks left in this semester of grad school, and it’s hurting my ability to really flesh out these links into full-fledged posts. But I really want you to take a look at them.Martin Veitch of IT…
Paul Eccles
I would like to see blog of how the decisions were made in how the major features of a new model are decided. For example, on the new Saturn Aura, how did the engine choices get made, why a 6 speed auto in the XR trim but not XE, why stability control standard in XR trim but not even an option in XE, why no Xeon/HID available, etc.
Motorpasión
FYI, el nuevo blog de General Motors
“For Your Information”, así ha llamado General Motors a su nuevo blog, FYI Blog. No se si tendréis sindicado en vuestros feeds el anterior blog del gigante americano, FastLane Blog, pero no es un blog donde se lean muchas novedades del gr…
Delbert
There’s a rumor going around that one of the three current NASCAR manufacturers is leaving to go race at LeMans.
Hope it’s GM.
Leave the WWE racing for a real sport.
Rodoflo Aguilar
Why did you let good designers like the Solstice and Lucerne go to other companies, like Mazda and Hyundai ? I dont think there are that many to spare.
Keep going strong GM!
Michael Wiley
CF,
Thanks for suggesting that we profile Trish Hidock. I will forward her name.
mw
Michael Wiley
Gil,
No this blog will not replace GMability.com, although you can expect to see more conversation from us on advanced technology topics.
mw
Michael Wiley
Zelda,
Expect to hear from the various design and engineering teams.
mw
getalifeagain
In order for General Motors to make inways back into it’s share of the car market, it must build cars with radically different styles that are completely appealing. It is obvious that a car that will last and not have the least of repairs matters too. But for now it must be a revolutionary in design (NOT EVOLUTIONARY) that will drive buyers back into the showrooms.
For too long (26+ years) many of the cars manufactured all have a similar look. If you put many of these cars together, you’d see my meaning. They have rounded edges, if not round all together, and have the “aero” look. It’s time for a design change! Get some sharp angles in there, and work the body so there is more flush sides. I am not a designer, but it’s easy for me to see the designs I like.
While GM is working on these new and fantastic designs, they can concurrently engineer better, work at the durability issue in all phases of manufacturing, AND use the best parts. AND OF COURSE COMMUNICATE AMONG ALL THE DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS!
Management must decree this, and if they do their job well, I see a larger percent of the market for GM.
Gil
Gil here…
mw, thanks for responding to the comments. It shows that you really are listening, and responding.
Now, I’m reading lots of comments here about GM design… any chance you can scare up a few designers to chew the fat with us?
Mike Spataro
Congrats Mike on the new blog. I look forward to the additional insights from you and other members of the GM team.
Jim Grisanzio
Congrats on the new blog, guys. If you are open you will learn a great deal about your community. Best of luck.
stratojet
You don<t really need to build astonishing designs; high volume vehicles are quite bland . Camry, Accord, Corolla. The one thing you must do is this: raise all your specs + 15% in your purchasing dept. High quality components don’t fail . The components actually in use just meet minimum specs. Failures happen between 50000, to 100000 Miles. This is the difference.
greg
change that frnt end treatmnt on the nomad,and do somethin to the camaro,,side view good.challenger still ahead in points.start putting more horsepwr in first out of the box entries..trust yrselves,wrked at cadillac,didnt it?look into alternate purpulsion thats available now.be the first,even if we’re not really short of oil,just not removing or refining it)keep refining-redirecting this company.till ya get it back to glory days/without repeating the same ole mistakes of copy kat models.
Michael Wiley
I’m working on getting some designers involved in the blog…as you know this is new to many people and we’re still building awareness. Please be patient.
mw
Rick Lupori
Mr. Wiley: Could you please answer a few questions?
Why does GM not offer Fog Lights on the Impala or Monte Carlo with a 3.5L engine?
This is also true of a LaCrosse and Lucerne with the 3.8L, as well as the G6 with a 2.4L engine.
Fog Lights are available on the Aveo, Cobalt, HHR, and Malibu with any engine as well as the Ford Fusion and Toyota Camry.
What does the engine have to do with the lights on a car?
Fog Lights are most effective at speeds under 60 MPH, so why do I need more power to have them on my car?
With gas at $3 a gallon, making customers buy a $2000 more expensive car with an engine that gets 4 less MPG just to get a $115 set of Fog Lights is ridiculous.
Details like this separate a car sale from one where a potential customer goes down the street and buys a competitors car.
Please make them a stand alone option like the Cobalt and HHR. I would even be happy if they were part of a reasonable package like the Malibu Luxury and Convenience package on the LT model.
I was very interested in an Impala, Monte Carlo or Lacrosse until I found that I could not buy one with the equipment I require. I need a car (the size of an Impala) that gets 30 MPG or better that has Fog Lights – build it and I will buy one.
And yes, I know they are on the Grand Prix, but I need more rear seat room, the G6 does not have a cloth 6-way power seat and the Malibu styling is not what I want.
Thank you for your time and I look forward to your reply.
Inside the Cubicle
Southwest and GM Employees join the blogosphere
Two of the big boys are finally hopping in, and it seems like one gets it and one…not so much. General Motors, who in the past year (see: FastLane and Tahoe ads) has established that they are not afraid of the wild world of new media, has launched a …
Jim Dermitt
I’d publish a blog for each product. It fairly easy to churn out blogs one after another.
Camera Doc
For years I have been trying to get my grown children to take advantage of my GM employee discount to buy new vehicles. Sadly, there was no GM vehicle of any kind that they would consider — even though I worked for the company!
However, I’m delighted to say this has changed. They are now looking at the Saturn Sky and the Pontiac G6 convertible! I have also been able to use the “GM in the Driveway” program to help a couple of my neighbors purchase GM cars, and my father-in-law just bought a new Buick Lucerne — and my uncle a Silverado!
It’s nice to feel proud of my company again!
Michael
Styling is important but not as important as good parts/components. The design of my Buick is what made me buy the truck, but the inferior parts, which I have replaced several times, will keep me from buying a Buick again.
Zipingo Team Blog
Behind the Curtain
Since I started blogging for Zipingo back in July, I’ve been checking out other company blogs. It’s been a learning experience for sure. I’ve seen a myriad of styles and content.
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