Phil Busardo's Rant.

[wizzzard]

To be fair if I were going to something called Vape Jam this is exactly what I would expect in just the same way as if I went to a Max Power show I'd expect to encounter the more extreme hobbiest there not people in knitted cardies in search of orthopaedic beaded seat cushions.

Demonising an entire group of people for the few is something that's always happened and always will, even if it's just one or two people out of thousands. That's society for you, judge first ask questions later. As more and more people know others who vape views will change. The majority of people I meet who vape do so at low watts and on cheap and cheerful kit and it does seem to be more the norm. When most know someone who vapes they will realise the hardcore mentalist vapers are the tiny minority and balance will be redressed. Although in saying all that Public opinion has had little if anything to do with the new restrictions and probably never will so does it really matter that much.

While vaping is a wonderful way of stopping smoking it's also a great hobby in general and I probably have more in common with those that treat it as a hobby than people quitting in terms of enjoying it for the fiddling and not as a smoking cessation technique. I didn't take it up to stop smoking, although it worked instantly, and I'm very pro smoking in general so that may bias my view somewhat.

As much as I love Busardo review wise I find his 'life or death' stuff somewhat preachy and melodramatic and it smacks of teddies out of the cot for not being allowed a go.

 

[MrTeaTime]

To be fair if I were going to something called Vape Jam this is exactly what I would expect in just the same way as if I went to a Max Power show I'd expect to encounter the more extreme hobbiest there not people in knitted cardies in search of orthopaedic beaded seat cushions.

Demonising an entire group of people for the few is something that's always happened and always will, even if it's just one or two people out of thousands. That's society for you, judge first ask questions later. As more and more people know others who vape views will change. The majority of people I meet who vape do so at low watts and on cheap and cheerful kit and it does seem to be more the norm. When most know someone who vapes they will realise the hardcore mentalist vapers are the tiny minority and balance will be redressed. Although in saying all that Public opinion has had little if anything to do with the new restrictions and probably never will so does it really matter that much.

While vaping is a wonderful way of stopping smoking it's also a great hobby in general and I probably have more in common with those that treat it as a hobby than people quitting in terms of enjoying it for the fiddling and not as a smoking cessation technique. I didn't take it up to stop smoking, although it worked instantly, and I'm very pro smoking in general so that may bias my view somewhat.

As much as I love Busardo review wise I find his 'life or death' stuff somewhat preachy and melodramatic and it smacks of teddies out of the cot for not being allowed a go.

He was there....along with dimitri

 

[wizzzard]

He was there....along with dimitri

I meant a go on the stage with his spot being cut rather than to go matey.

 

[johnnylager]

... as if I went to a Max Power show I'd expect to encounter the more extreme hobbiest there not people in knitted cardies in search of orthopaedic beaded seat cushions.

Thanks for the heads up

 

[R rhabarbarum]

Does he rail like that when he does get a floor spot at these sort of shows then? I don't get the impression it's the only event of its ilk pimping product using "childish fucking labels" and scantily clad women.

How much different was it from last year's version of the same event?

 

[daz_app]

I stood and listened to Phil and Demitri at last year's Expo and to be fair they were all about advocacy and fighting the upcoming legislation. I have to say I totally agreed with everything he said last year and feel an empathy for his rant. I think if he was at Vapefest he would have a totally different audience.

Plus, how rude for bumping him off the stage? But I guess he got his fee either way...

 

[vapellie]

Devil's advocate here, but did you all stop reading after the first part?
He also said that the vapers who throw the cloud chasing sub-homies "under the bus" also don't get it either.
We are all one big community, vaping does need to appeal to "da yoof" (thanks @Crewella), otherwise you end up with a bunch of us old codgers grumbling about the government and what it was like in my day, etc.
As a side note, I loved the energy and enthusiasm of some of the younger "bro"s I was speaking to, and believe they would be far more able to convince their peers to make the change from smoking to vaping than most of us would be able to:
"Yo bruv, why u stil suckin on dat old analogue man, dat is proper old skool innit, better chuck some sick cloudz innit?! And yo mom won't even smell it on you, you just gon smell like vanilla!"
Interesting what @MrTeaTime said about zero nic cloud chasing non-smokers too. But then I guess why not? We can't espouse the virtues of vape and how harmless it is on the one hand and then get upset when people enjoy it purely as a hobby. Let them buy all the latest gear, it keeps the vendors in business, and I can think of many worse hobbies than chucking clouds - just as long as they don't do it in my local vape-friendly pub!
Like I said, devil's advocate here. I confess I rolled my eyes a-plenty at Vape Jam. The "booth babes" who clearly had never vaped in their lives; every time the DJ dropped another Phat Beat when I was trying to talk to a vendor; The chanting; The freebies being only given to those wearing "snap backs".
But I did leave feeling saddened at how much of a backseat advocacy had been given, and that was BEFORE Phil had posted anything. As it currently stands, an event like that can not take place next year, if there was the opportunity to have a well respected vape celeb spread some awareness I would have thought the organisers would have jumped on it. Wasted opportunity and bad event planning. Shame.

 

[rilot]

Outstanding rant and 100% spot on. Phil has gone up in my estimation and he was already up pretty high.

We need him to join our little community here.

 

[Moley]

I've only been to one event, and at the moment it will be the first and last.
Vaping isn't about staying off the fags anymore, it's a fashionable thing to do, unfortunately.
Busardo says we should all accept these things as it's helpful to keep people of fags and attract others and prevent them smoking, this may be true but it's alienating a huge percentage too.
A new vaper looking for a starter kit and some advice would be sh!t out of luck with either! Plus there's so little hardware on offer they'd come away with the impression you have to blow huge clouds and look a knob to vape.

In my mid 40's it seems I'm either an old fart or I have nothing in common with the average avid vaper.

Of course in balance there are tons of Vapers who don't partake in forums so wouldn't even know about such events, and the high street is there for these people.

There, devils advocate, never thought I'd be that, but apart from meeting fellow apes I won't attend a second.

 

[snaeem155]

Vape jam was catering for huge clouds and impressing people.

Hardly anything for me being a 50:50 vaper with 18mg.