EVERETT, Wash.--"This will make some rock concerts pale by comparison," Boeing spokesman Tim Bader told me with a smile as we rode a company-hired bus to the long-awaited 787 Dreamliner launch event.
I knew this was a big event since, after all, the 787 is Boeing's biggest plane launch in years. But how big? I had no idea.
Well, let's just say that the event looks primed to do justice to the building it's being held in--the company's factory here, which is the world's largest building by volume.
Indeed, thousands and thousands of seats were set up for the event in order to welcome hundreds of media, thousands of 787 team members and other VIPs.
There's still a little while to go before the event begins--a countdown timer on the huge screen in front of us says 30 minutes to go. But the anticipation is rising, and there's a plane geek buzz going on that I've never felt.
Perhaps it's got something to do with the 787 that's under construction that everyone wandered by on their way in. A Boeing media escort told me that it will be 787 number two.
And if that's not product placement, I don't know what is.