I don't do vaping to keep me off the fags, I vape, because I like it. I even smoke occasionally. Unfortunately after the 2nd or 3rd cigarette they taste disgusting, so it's not as enjoyable as it used to be. But while I like vaping as a hobby, I don't take it overly serious either and am just as happy to walk around with some Ego Pen device as I am with a sub-ohm-tank set up. But I guess I am old enough to not worry what people thing about me...Let's stop talking about it like some religion and get back to just enjoying it.
Vape Jam, I watched Grim Greens Video of it last night, and there are a couple of things that should really improve for the next one (if we are still allowed to have them):
- Vendors. There was too many juice vendors, not enough Hardware - there should be a better mix
- US Vendors. It was 90% US vendors, if not more. Cool to try new stuff out which we don't normally see in the UK, painful and expensive if you'd like to buy that juice again. I think they should do 40% US vendors, 30% UK vendors and 30% European vendors next year. There are amazing Greek Mods being made, there are juice manufacturers in all European countries, and this is London FFS. It is the biggest town in Europe and we should be representing these, not some US guys. Also there are so many shops in London and the UK. They are small, so they wouldn't be able to afford a stall by themselves. So go and share one or an area. Have the refreshment areas run by one of the many Vape Bars and/or cafes.
- Celebrity visits and the centre stage - get rid of the car and the rest that makes this event look like some cheap wrestling event. Put the DJ in the middle on an approachable platform, have music, why not, but have hourly events on the centre stage. No free juice at the stalls, get the visitors to join competitions, have dance offs, cloud contests, best/worst dressed, whatever, get the visitors to do something for their free stuff and also break up the boring wandering around monotony. Get the celebrities on stage every couple of hours - they can do talks, competitions, interviews, live judging, do a song, whatever, but acknowledge that these guys just flew half way across the globe to be here and be available and approachable.
- get the main manufacturers in. And get them interested in actually presenting their products, not just looking bored and eating chinese food. Have them on centre stage, talk about their future plans, how they are supporting the vaping community, what are they doing to comply with TPD, all of this to show they actually care and are worth spending money with.
- Stars like Letha Bizzle - brilliant idea! Yeah, not my kind of music, but they can't hit everyone's taste and he is big and popular in London, but have a band/singer on the Saturday as well, maybe ask one of the big manufacturers to bring some Chinese Band with them?
- Have breakout sessions - talk about interesting things, show people how to make coils, how to mix juice (Inawera and Capella were both there, they could have done juice making workshops), how to get organized so we don't lose the right to vape, how to blow smoke rings, so many things which could have been done.
It wasn't actually a bad event, especially considering the entry price, but it could have been sooo much better.
