Vape Expo and Disposables.

[Chris K]

Chris k had a well-groomed beard at the show I liked the light touches of a huge axe, face paint, and tattoos he sported, he was like a British Mel Gibson though shouting freedom was a little unnerving....

How dare you! I’m taller than Mel Gibson!

 

[Smokeandsteam]

I live in Birmingham and didn’t bother going to Expo precisely because of the list of exhibitors and the disposable takeover. I genuinely feel for those who trekked to Brum for it.

It seems to me that we’ve reached a point where the ‘industry’ and the hobbyist vaper have parted ways. For the industry, I don’t see who they think their stalls are aimed at (bar shop owners and stockists, which presumably is the point of the Friday). For the hobbyists there is very little of interest from the industry worth making a trip for.

It seems to me that there are two choices:

1. Expo becomes a purely business to business event and we all make our own plans as is being discussed here.
2. The Expo provided cheap/free space for modders/indie juice makers/coil builder etc. The bigger companies might not like it but the alternative is that next year they exhibit to an empty NEC.

Whatever happens we need to remember our own history and where vaping comes from. Small mod makers, diy Eliquid, niche, small scale. The Expo isn’t and arguably never has been that. But the gulf at the moment partly explains why the scene is so flat and why events like Expo look doomed without some innovation and new thinking

 

[nwhornet]

How dare you! I’m taller than Mel Gibson!

He looks better in a kilt [emoji23]

 

[ZT]

Chris k had a well-groomed beard at the show I liked the light touches of a huge axe, face paint, and tattoos he sported, he was like a British Mel Gibson though shouting freedom was a little unnerving....

Wait till he starts to blame the Jews for everything …

 

[vapesmarter]

I live in Birmingham and didn’t bother going to Expo precisely because of the list of exhibitors and the disposable takeover. I genuinely feel for those who trekked to Brum for it.

It seems to me that we’ve reached a point where the ‘industry’ and the hobbyist vaper have parted ways. For the industry, I don’t see who they think their stalls are aimed at (bar shop owners and stockists, which presumably is the point of the Friday). For the hobbyists there is very little of interest from the industry worth making a trip for.

It seems to me that there are two choices:

1. Expo becomes a purely business to business event and we all make our own plans as is being discussed here.
2. The Expo provided cheap/free space for modders/indie juice makers/coil builder etc. The bigger companies might not like it but the alternative is that next year they exhibit to an empty NEC.

Whatever happens we need to remember our own history and where vaping comes from. Small mod makers, diy Eliquid, niche, small scale. The Expo isn’t and arguably never has been that. But the gulf at the moment partly explains why the scene is so flat and why events like Expo look doomed without some innovation and new thinking

I’ve sent an email in to expo to ask if they will work with small independents and provide space if we look at the German hall of vapes their floor plan has a proper modders section and the makers are listed in 2018/19 it was stall after stall in a long line

but I think it’s unlikely anything will happen

we are supposed to be the world leader with the most relaxed rules and hopefully the first to go smoke free with the help of vaping

but I agree it’s become “hobbyist” that expression is just terrible the industry has decided to abandon any sort of realist outcome to in effect turn the smoker to a disposable 20 30 or 50mg stick that looks like a cigarette smokes like a cigarette and at high nicotine strengths with no scope or instruction on how to move off them in effect they are creating a new addiction

what a proper mess

 

[Rob]

As a self confessed Hobbyist Vaper, I had always understood that anything with Expo in its title was rather more a Trade Show than something for the general populace?
However, I'm probably being pedantic ..... Again!

 

[tootingyoda]

Expo is a great cure for shinyitis

 

[Mawsley]

I live in Birmingham and didn’t bother going to Expo precisely because of the list of exhibitors and the disposable takeover. I genuinely feel for those who trekked to Brum for it.

It seems to me that we’ve reached a point where the ‘industry’ and the hobbyist vaper have parted ways. For the industry, I don’t see who they think their stalls are aimed at (bar shop owners and stockists, which presumably is the point of the Friday). For the hobbyists there is very little of interest from the industry worth making a trip for.

It seems to me that there are two choices:

1. Expo becomes a purely business to business event and we all make our own plans as is being discussed here.
2. The Expo provided cheap/free space for modders/indie juice makers/coil builder etc. The bigger companies might not like it but the alternative is that next year they exhibit to an empty NEC.

Whatever happens we need to remember our own history and where vaping comes from. Small mod makers, diy Eliquid, niche, small scale. The Expo isn’t and arguably never has been that. But the gulf at the moment partly explains why the scene is so flat and why events like Expo look doomed without some innovation and new thinking

Same thing has happened in advocacy too as vapers have been excluded from the debate at the expense of industry reps in some guise or other.

Conferences used to be filled with independent researchers too, presenting findings from interesting studies. I rarely bother attending now as they have become talking shops with the same funded faces regurgitating the same industry-friendly opinions, paying lip service to things we actually want/need.

I hated the advent of the large venue Vape events, my first visit to vape expo just confirmed it would be my last and I was only there for about three hours. Thing is, I doubt there is any modder community left to speak of to fill a modder section anymore.

 

[Eliquid Remix]

As a fledgling business owner I wanted to go to spread the word about my business but I could not afford to pay the £2.5k for the smallest stand so I stood out side the main door on Saturday handing out flyers before getting moved along by the staff. I then moved to the car park to hand out flyers, later on in the day I managed to get two tickets from people leaving and eventually found an exhibitors car pass on the floor, so that was a score. On Sunday I scored another two second hand tickets, it did not take long as it seemed that many people did not hang around for too long.

This was my first Expo and I generally concur with what has been posted already, the turn out was paltry, too many disposables and once you have seen and tasted one sickly disposable you have seen and tasted them all. The main issue is that there is huge amounts of profit involved in disposables, even more than the juices, which are massively profitable judging by the Lambos and Mercs in the car park. Even the juice companies are going to start or have already started to have disposables filled with their juices so not to loose out. The Expo organisers are as guilty or even more guilty than the CEOs trying to bolster their bottom line, they are ruining the business that is feeding them. It seems to me that these companies don't want to help people stop smoking but just want to have the people hooked on 20mg disposables with no way to ever stop and annoyingly it is these 20mg disposables that the kids get their hands on.

I watched many people rock up to the venue and most of them were carrying mods and DTLing on the way there. I asked many vendors and punters what they thought of the show and it was mostly disappointment with the crowd from the vendors and the vendors from the crowd.

I guess the highlight of the show was when the Vaperz Clouds rep let his thoughts be known when picking up their prize with an amplified "fuck disposables".

I will still probably do the six hour round trip again though as I need to get the word out...

 

[Chris K]

As a fledgling business owner I wanted to go to spread the word about my business but I could not afford to pay the £2.5k for the smallest stand so I stood out side the main door on Saturday handing out flyers before getting moved along by the staff. I then moved to the car park to hand out flyers, later on in the day I managed to get two tickets from people leaving and eventually found an exhibitors car pass on the floor, so that was a score. On Sunday I scored another two second hand tickets, it did not take long as it seemed that many people did not hang around for too long.

This was my first Expo and I generally concur with what has been posted already, the turn out was paltry, too many disposables and once you have seen and tasted one sickly disposable you have seen and tasted them all. The main issue is that there is huge amounts of profit involved in disposables, even more than the juices, which are massively profitable judging by the Lambos and Mercs in the car park. Even the juice companies are going to start or have already started to have disposables filled with their juices so not to loose out. The Expo organisers are as guilty or even more guilty than the CEOs trying to bolster their bottom line, they are ruining the business that is feeding them. It seems to me that these companies don't want to help people stop smoking but just want to have the people hooked on 20mg disposables with no way to ever stop and annoyingly it is these 20mg disposables that the kids get their hands on.

I watched many people rock up to the venue and most of them were carrying mods and DTLing on the way there. I asked many vendors and punters what they thought of the show and it was mostly disappointment with the crowd from the vendors and the vendors from the crowd.

I guess the highlight of the show was when the Vaperz Clouds rep let his thoughts be known when picking up their prize with an amplified "fuck disposables".

I will still probably do the six hour round trip again though as I need to get the word out...

You probably won’t remember but I was the guy in the black jacket with the beard walking in about 10.30 with the lady in leather jacket (@LDotKDot), said we had seen you on POTV.