The Greatest Spectacle in Marketing

I spent this past weekend in Indianapolis as a guest of HP. During my 48 hours there I got an inside look at how HP products are used to help DreamWorks produce its upcoming film "Turbo" about a snail who dreams of racing in the Indy 500. I was also able to interview Kate Swanborg, DreamWorks Head of Enterprise Marketing, see some previously unreleased scenes from the movie and hear directly from her why HP is such a great partner.

That was after spending the day with HP's Indy car team in their garage watching them use HP products to prepare their car for 500. Oh, and somewhere in between I was given a complete overview of HPs new wireless printing systems and drove their HP Workstation-powered racing simulator at the HP Pavilion in the Indy 500 FanZone.

In addition to that, had I been so inclined during my day at the track I could have sampled 5-hour Energy Drinks; gone on a Chevrolet test drive; tested printer, camera, tablet and apps from Crayola, Samsung, Verizon and others; amassed a small collection of commemorative posters; and seen Brett Michaels' in concert to promote his new tv show about over-the-top RVs.

If you want to see marketing's ultimate showcase of hand-to-hand combat, get to Indy next year for the 500.

But make sure you carve out a few hours on Sunday afternoon, I hear there's a race that's usually worth watching.