Speaking of which, the location for the evening’s activities was in Midtown Manhattan, at the landmark James A. Farley Post Office.
The first port of call on the agenda was to ensure that we all had the required docs signed, lanyards hung around our necks and choice pink ribbons on our wrists. With the usual jovial chats dealt with, we were good to go and headed back stage to scope the lay of the land.
One thing we as journalists sometimes fail to realise is the vast amount of work, technical gear, people and general know-how that goes into events like this. Seeing as the Land Rover team were not only presenting the car to the throng of media and A-C-list celebrities that would be rocking up that evening, but also thousands of people across the globe through live web streaming, the vibe behind the scenes was one of controlled mayhem.
Not only did the Land Rover team have all the technical and digital problems to deal with, they had to close down Midtown Manhattan during rush hour. Well, Midtown might be a bit of a generalisation, but three streets had been earmarked for James Bond himself, Daniel Craig, and the all-new Range Rover Sport to travel down as part of the event.
Hunting further backstage led us to stumble across a moody Range Rover Sport still covered up pre-embargo-lift. Note the bruiser of a security guard that was watching us like a hawk in the background.
And another one! This particular car was hidden inside a glass box flanking the right hand side of the stage.
