Antics abound at the SAE Greenbrier retreat

The Greenbrier retreat hosted by the Society of Automotive Engineers is known as something of a boondoggle in the industry, but with all the doom and gloom, we're hard-pressed to deny the automotive bigwigs a little fun. The tone of the confrence is light, with industry execs spending more time creating comedy routines than doing any actual work. Last year's event saw Bo Andersson search high and low for a Dracula costume after an opening skit referred to him as a blood-sucking vampire.

This year's Saturday Night Live-style newscast, which is a yearly tradition, showed Delphi boss Steve Miller at his funniest, even relating that the night before was so cold, Ford purchasing chief Tony Brown was seen with his hands "in his own pockets."

The fun didn't end at Greenbrier, however -- the annual Steakout, a not-so-PETA-friendly fundraiser hosted by the Detroit Press Club Foundation, will take place this Wednesday, complete with a re-do of the aforementioned newscast as well as some new stuff, including a secret video tape allegedly of the first meeting between Bill Ford and "The One," Alan Mulally (set to the soundtrack, "Endless Love"). Also slated for the dinner is the "real story" behind GM's unanimous vote to reject Renault/Nissan's merger bid -- all we'll say is that Jerry York should have held it.

Proceeds from the dinner go toward scholarships for journalism students and buying holiday toys for children.

[Source: Detroit News]