The staff here at AAC have been wanting to host an open house for a while now. The main obstacle to overcome was the date to have the event. After much deliberation we decided to host the event in conjunction with Mardi Gras since AAC is located just blocks from the Metairie Parade Route. This way guests arriving from out of town will not only get to enjoy our event but can also experience Mardi Gras! We have tons of ideas for this event, we want it to be a meet to be remembered :)

Location: AAC Headquarters- 4401 Division St. Metairie, LA 70002
Date: Saturday, February 26, 2011
Meet Starts: 11:00am
Parade Starts: 5:00pm
Hotel Info: Marriot Lakeway (http://www.marriott.com/hotels/hotel-photos/msymm-new-orleans-marriott-metairie-at-lakeway/)
http://cache.marriott.com/propertyimages/m/msymm/phototour/msymm_phototour05.jpg?Log=1

This is a Family Friendly Event!
We intentionally planned this to correlate with "Family Gras" which is a free live music festival less than a mile from AAC.
http://www.experiencejefferson.com//includes/media/images/family_gras.jpg
You can read more about Family Gras on their page HERE (http://www.experiencejefferson.com/visitors/festivals/family-gras/).


We will have a Private Shuttle Service for our guests to take you to and from the Main Parade Route, Family Gras, AAC, and the Marriott. This way our guests do not need to "Party and Drive". If for any reason you need to leave your vehicle at AAC overnight we can secure it in our gated/ surveillanced lot. We want everyone to enjoy this event but we do not condone or will allow drinking and driving.

There is ample parking on our property but we are working on overflow parking if the event grows larger than we are expecting.

We are giving everyone advanced notice for this event so we hope to see you all here! This should be an easy car gathering to talk your significant other into attending because there are literally hundreds of things to do in the Greater New Orleans area that weekend. It would be great time to take a vacation in New Orleans.

Here is a map of the area layout-
A= Family Gras Festival
B= Mardi Gras Parade Route
C= AAC (Meet Location)
D= Marriott Hotel
http://i468.photobucket.com/albums/rr46/aacebaystore/meetmap.jpg

There will be a New Orleans style BBQ and (if we can get them) Crawfish Boil
at AAC all day on Saturday and possibly Sunday if there is interest to meet on Sunday and see the daytime parades as well. We have good food, shuttle transportation, and everything taken care of for you guys, we just want you to show up!

Please let us know if you plan to attend, we will continue to update this thread with a complete itinerary for the weekend.

You can now RSVP here:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=130259633678785 (http://www.facebook.com/#%21/event.php?eid=130259633678785)

Wanted to bump this and remind everyone that this event is coming up in February and to RSVP here http://www.facebook.com/#%21/event.php?eid=130259633678785 while you are there "LIKE" AAC to be sure you receive updates and information regarding this event.

We are in the process of designating categories for the car show portion of the meet!

So far we have decided on:
"Best use of LEDs"
"Brightest Interior"
"Brightest Engine Bay"
"Brightest Exterior"
"Brightest GM"
"Brightest MOPAR"


Brightest awards will be given out by calculating the amount of light output each vehicle has using AAC products in the interior, exterior, under hood, trunk, etc. Each LED will have a mcd value which will be added up for a luminosity grand total. Details and Awards are to be decided and we will accept suggestions in the interim.

Confirmed: we will be doing a large crawfish boil in addition to the BBQ!

FUEL Magazine will also be on hand photographing the vehicles at the event for a magazine feature!

Feel free to ask questions you may have :)

PS: We will also be updating this page on our website with information as it becomes available: http://www.automotivelightstore.com/openhouse.aspx

Update: We are working with sponsors like Meguiars to make gift bags for all of the vehicles that register for the car show portion.

We did this for another event that we hosted recently and it worked out really well.

The gift bags were comprised of car cleaning items, magazines, keychains, coupons, energy drinks and other swag! We are going to work with other sponsors to try to get you guys some cool freebies :)

http://i468.photobucket.com/albums/rr46/aacebaystore/Mac%20and%20Older/005.jpg

Trophies are here and ready to be awarded to vehicles attending the Open House :D

http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/168968_500832452897_116172642897_6476495_5315601_n .jpg

Here are some more photos:
http://i1132.photobucket.com/albums/m562/AAC2011/2011aacopenhousecarshowneworleansaacstyleoraclecus tomlighting.jpg

http://i1132.photobucket.com/albums/m562/AAC2011/2011aacopenhousecamarohalohalosheadlightsredyellow greenblueledledscustomlightingoracle.jpg

http://i1132.photobucket.com/albums/m562/AAC2011/aac2011openhousemeetcarshowcustomcamarochargerchal lengerledledslightinghalohalosaacstyleoracle.jpg

http://i1132.photobucket.com/albums/m562/AAC2011/AAC2011openhouseoracleheadlightinstallationshopadv ancedautomotiveconcepts.jpg