Gov.-elect Rick Snyder will give his inaugural speech on the Capitol steps Jan. 1, rather than move indoors after the swearing-in as Gov. Jennifer Granholm did, The Associated Press has learned.

Linda Gobler, who is overseeing much of the planning for Snyder's inauguration, told the AP on Monday that the governor-elect wants to follow tradition by giving his inaugural speech from the Capitol steps.

Granholm and other officials were sworn in on the steps in her 2003 and 2007 inaugurations, but the ceremonies were then moved inside to the warmth of the Lansing Center. Republican Gov. John Engler had to brave subfreezing temperatures and icy breezes during his three inaugural addresses on the Capitol steps in 1991, 1995 and 1999, and Granholm thought it would be easier for those attending to hold everything but the swearing-in inside.

Many northern states, including New York and Vermont, hold their inaugural events inside. But Snyder decided he doesn't want just to be sworn in on the Capitol steps, he wants to hold the entire ceremony there.

"That's really the tradition," said Gobler, president and CEO of the Michigan Grocers Association. She's heading up the inauguration planning committee along with Patricia Mooradian, president of The Henry Ford museum complex in Dearborn.

Gobler said Snyder also is likely to skip holding the traditional inaugural balls, although she says there will be a celebration of some kind.

"He appreciates all the tradition that goes along with the swearing-in. He certainly wants to honor that. But I can tell you I don't think he has any interest in multiple events. That's just not his style," she said. "Frankly, he just thinks that there's much more important things to be focused on right now. . The idea that we would stop and have a bunch of celebrations for weeks on end is just not who he is."

Rick Snyder speaks two days before he was elected as Michigan's next governor.

Mark Copier | The Grand Rapids Press

Granholm attended a series of inaugural events in the weeks following her 2003 inauguration, holding family events and three inaugural balls in Detroit, Grand Rapids and Marquette so more residents could attend. In 2007, she held balls in Detroit and Marquette but canceled one in Grand Rapids in deference to the death of former President Gerald Ford, whose services and burial were in Grand Rapids in the days after the inauguration.

Snyder, an Ann Arbor venture capitalist and self-described "nerd," doesn't see a need for all the pageantry, Gobler said, although some events are being planned for after the inauguration ceremony.

"There will be something. I wouldn't call it a ball," she said.

Snyder said earlier this month that the inauguration will be the kick-off to a yearlong commemoration aimed at changing people's perceptions of Michigan and issuing in a new era of innovation. The theme of the inaugural activities is "The Power of MI."

"I want a different kind of inauguration, where everyone from across Michigan can participate and play a part in reinventing our state. That's what the 'Power of MI' is all about," Snyder said.