Kindred Mod with Stratos Tank and All Star Drip Tip Wonderland Corsets Shallot Lily necklace
Flavors Flavors www.180vape.com www.180vape.com
E-liquid &Accessories E-liquid &Accessories
TABLE OF CONTENTS
columns 10 Let’s Ask GrimmGreen 64 A Vaping Vamp’s Point of View
features 12 Nicotine River Flows Product Throughout Vaping Industry 14 The Year in Review: Trends for the Year and for 2015 16 How to Be a Better Builder in Under Five Bucks 20 Mount Baker Vapor Reaches New Heights 23 Former Smoker Turns Tragedy Into Vaping Inspiration 26 The Vapor Society Couple Finds Reward in Quitting the Habit, Helping Others 28 Laredo Vapor Turns Habits Into Hobbies at the Border 30 Genesis Vape Owner Destined to Innovate 32 E-Cigarettes: Myth Vs. Reality, A Comprehensive List For a list of sources, visit vapemz.com 49 Missouri Organization Promotes Advocacy, Education 50 A Newbie’s Instructional Guide for His or Her First Big Vape Meet 66 Vaping on the Island of Guam 70 Q&A with Gregory Conley, President of the American Vaping Association
Origin Glas Mod J Valentine dress Wonderland Corset feathers Shallot Lily cuff
EVENTS 38 Vapor Dynasty First Arizona Showdown in Phoenix 52 VapeXpo Michigan Raises Money For a Great Cause 54 E-Cig Las Vegas: An Event Unlike Any You Have Attended 56 VapeCon Ontario, California Expo, Part II 59 Volunteer State Stays True to Name at VCCTN 62 VaperCon 5 East Provides Liberating Experience 72 VaperCon East 2014 Aims for Interconnectivity, Idea Sharing 73 E-Liquids Claiming Larger Market Share: Cigarette Bonds Head for Default 75 Protection Racket 80 Q&A with Austin Hopper, Cuttwood President 83 The National Vape Tour Coming to a City Near You
DEPARTMENTS 37 The Juice Judge 41 VAPE Fashion Pictorial with Raquel Pomplun 68 VAPE Vixen: Kayla Fannan
NEWS, BUSINESS & CULTURE
letter from the editor It’s tough to believe I’m writing the year-end letter to you, the VAPE reader. What a year 2014 has been for VAPE Magazine. With not only myriad changes to the industry happening stateside, we’ve also been very fortunate to travel abroad to research and report on the industry on a global level. It’s an exciting, yet scary time, as there are an infinite number of unknowns for our industry coming in 2015. Obviously the news is moving at a much more rapid pace than our bimonthly magazine can report. Therefore, be sure to check out our Agent VAPE section on our website and on our Facebook page. The Agent reports the good, the bad and the ugly in the industry. And, while many of our readers write scathing posts directed at the Agent for what he or she investigates on, the truth is that it’s simply a tool to keep you, the reader, informed as quickly and up-to-date as possible. I am personally excited to welcome a new columnist to the VAPE family, GrimmGreen. His “Let’s Ask GrimmGreen” column is aimed to bring an expert’s view to all of your burning reader questions. We’re looking forward to see what you bring to Grimm in the New Year. What’s your resolution for 2015? Will you aim to be more involved in legislation at both national and local levels, as both A.J. Moll and Gregory Conley urge in this issue? Perhaps you’re looking to add more business to your already established brick and mortar. And maybe, just maybe, this is the year you or a loved one finally stops smoking, which in the end is all we’re truly aiming to support. I wish you and yours a very Happy New Year. Cheers and happy reading.
VAPE Magazine is the only international vaping industry focused magazine with more than 35,000 readership in the United States, Europe and Asia, where vaping professionals find the latest news, products and trends. EDITORIAL Editor in Chief Alyssa Stahr content@vapemz.com 800-958-6427 x2 Art Director: Van Avanzado Graphic Designers: Matt Ritzenthaler, Juvelin Aripal Contributors: Steffanie Atkins, Norm Bour, Dave Cross, Katherine Devlin, Kayla Fannan, Jenee Fowler, Kyle Gault, Nick “Grimm” Green, Oliver Olinger, Susan Oser, Maria Verven, Jason Youk ADMINISTRATIVE Chief Executive Officer Matt Schramel Vice President Jon Laverde Chief Operating Officer Alyssa Stahr National Event Coordinator Norm Bour Administrative Assistant Erin Hedrick ADVERTISING Mike Schramel, mike@vapemz.com 800-958-6427 x1 Jon Laverde, jon@vapemz.com 800-958-6427 x4 China-based advertisers contact Wingle Group Electronics LTD +852 51759256 dev@winglegroup.com CONTACT News: news@vapemz.com New Products newproducts@vapemz.com Employment jobs@vapemz.com VAPE Magazine is wholly owned by Starpixel Marketing LLC 2230 Highland Hill Dr. St. Peters, MO 63376 info@vapemz.com 800-958-6427 @ vapenewsmagazine
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/ VapeMZ
@ VapeMZ
By Nick Green
Photos by Metal Jeff Hey there, my name is Nick Green and I’ve been using vaping and e-cigs as a form of tobacco harm reduction for the past six years. In January of 2009 I got my first small e-cig, and while it worked just OK, that small e-cig was enough to ignite a fire of passion inside me.
Thanks to this little e-cig I was able to go 24 straight hours without a cigarette. This felt like a huge victory to me. Shortly after that in February of 2009 I launched my GrimmGreen YouTube channel. I had felt compelled to get the word out on all things vaping—eecigs and tobacco harm reduction. I had to tell people how fantastic these products where. Fast forward six years and the vaping community has grown by leaps and bounds. Through my YouTube channel I have had an opportunity to try nearly every product on the market, both good and bad. I have dedicated my time to spreading good information about vaping, as well as direct one-on-one advice with struggling smokers and vapers that reach out to me. I take vaping very seriously and am determined to convert as many smokers as I can, as well as support and guide as many as vapers I can in the right direction. -Grimm
Tom Woolverine Woolever: I was wondering if you guys could help me out. I just bought an anarchist mechanical mod, and I was wondering if there is a magnet set that would fit that? Right now it just has a spring in it; it is kind of crunchy, and I was wondering if there’s a way to change that. Thanks! Grimm: A lot of the mechanical mods being produced these days do not generally have interchangeable parts. So, unless the creators of the mod come out with an upgraded magnet switch, you might be out of luck. But don’t lose all hope! There are lots and lots of places to get the washer style magnets online, and chances are you can find some that will fit inside the switch of your mod. K&J Magnetics is a great place to purchase washer style magnets or (ring style) magnets. They come in all shapes and sizes and usually have the specific dimensions of the magnets listed. What you will want to look for is two Axially Magnetized magnets. This means that the magnets are magnet on the top and bottom, rather than Diametrically Magnetized on the sides. When two of these Axially magnets are placed in opposition to each other, they will repel one another and act very much like a spring. Happy magnet hunting, and remember to keep the moving parts, as well as the contacts of your mech mod clean at all times. Mech mods need some tender loving care from time to time in order to keep working at peak performance. Keep on Vaping -Grimm
Let’s Ask GrimmGreen is a new column exclusive to VAPE Magazine. Have a technical or general vaping question for Nick? Email content@vapemz.com and your question could be addressed in the next issue! For all things GrimmGreen, visit http://www.grimmgreen.com/.
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selling between 400 to 600 gallons of blends a month. We just started reselling pure nicotine this month.
By Alyssa Stahr Photos courtesy of Grant Boatman Nicotine River is a wholesale distributor of premium NicSelect liquid nicotine, USP kosher propylene glycol and vegetable glycerin. VAPE chatted with Nicotine River’s Grant Boatman about delivering the best product, myths about nicotine and nicotine’s place in the vaping industry. VAPE: Tell us a little about your personal background and how you got into the industry. Boatman: I had a company before this, and I sold it. It was more of a do-it-yourself website. I sold labware, flavor extracts and some things that people would need to make juices at their house. It was more for hobbyists and enthusiasts, not necessarily people who wanted to start their own line. I’ve been doing it for about two years. I saw the industry was growing, but I love the idea of wholesaling out the main ingredients. We wanted to create a brand that separated ourselves from the competition with quality ingredients and great taste. I liked the idea of working with the big juice vendors and clients and providing great customer service. I got into this business to help people and to deliver the best product possible.
VAPE: Where do you get your nicotine from? Boatman: We buy our pure nicotine exclusively from NicSelect, which comes directly from India. We have tried other cheaper nicotine suppliers, but no one has had the consistency or taste as NicSelect. We then take our pure nicotine and have it blended in an ISO clean room by a third party vendor All of our blended nicotine is made in small batches and sent out the next day to ensure the highest level of quality and freshness. VAPE: Nicotine can also be extracted from other things other than tobacco. In that case it wouldn’t necessarily be a tobacco product, which could be good for the vaping industry, correct? Boatman: Yes, nicotine can be extracted from numerous sources, including potatoes. However, the industry clearly demands that nicotine comes from tobacco leaves. There also are synthetic nicotines that are coming out as well. As a supplier we are going to stay with tobacco based nicotine until we see compelling evidence to shift to other sources. VAPE: How much do you supply a month? Boatman: We are growing rapidly, right now we are
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VAPE: What sets you apart from other nicotine suppliers in the industry? Boatman: We are growing rapidly, right now we are selling between 400 to 600 gallons of blends a month. We just started reselling pure nicotine this month. VAPE: Can you talk about your safety and quality standards and how you maintain those? Boatman: This industry doesn’t really have any standards right now. In some respects it is like the wild west out there where people are mixing nicotine in their garage. We know that the FDA will be issuing standards in the next 18 to 24 months. We use an ISO 7 clean room and mix by molecular weight, because that is most likely the standard that will be required. VAPE: Now I’m going to take you through some statements and/or myths I’ve heard about nicotine and tell me how you respond. 1. Nicotine is dangerous and toxic. Boatman: Absolutely to a certain extent. Anything from 100 mg and down is generally safe to use with basic procedures, meaning you don’t need a one-piece suit and mask. However anything more than 100 mg is dangerous and toxic and needs to be dealt with in the correct way. If a drop of pure nicotine gets on your skin it is essentially equal to smoking 41 to 55 cigarettes at once. You will overdose and it is deadly. 2. Nicotine is an addictive drug. Boatman: Yes nicotine is addictive, just like caffeine. The biggest difference between cigarettes and e-juice is that with cigarettes you are smoking tobacco leaves, which are known carcinogens. There are currently no studies that show that liquid nicotine is a carcinogenic. There only are four components to e-juice: propylene glycol, vegetable glycerin, nicotine and flavorings. 3. Nicotine causes cancer and other diseases. Boatman: There is no epidemiological evidence that nicotine alone causes cancer, or any other disease for that matter. The latest emerging data actually suggests the opposite is true. Nicotine now is thought to enhance learning, help treat Parkinson’s Disease, schizophrenia and other neurological diseases. There is still a lot of studying to be done, but nicotine in vaping form appears to have promising health effects in comparison to traditional smoking. People ask if it is healthy? I think it’s the best alternative to cigarettes that it is on the planet. VAPE: Is there anything coming up in 2015 that you’d like our readers to know about? Boatman: Looking forward to 2015, our goal is to be the gold standard in the industry. We already offer the best products at the best prices, it is our customer service that truly sets us apart. We are looking forward to personally meeting thousands of potential new clients as we prepare for our 15 to 20 trade shows in 2015. For more information, visit http://www.nicotineriver.com/.
The Year in Review: By Norm Bour
TRENDS for the YEAR and for 2015
By the time you read this the New Year will be right around the corner. Regardless of how long you’ve been involved in the Vape Space, it is different than it was the beginning of 2014, certainly different than the start of 2013, and you can be damn sure that 12 months from now we’ll be sharing this same observation. Since 2014 was the first full year that I have been involved with the World of Vaping I share my thoughts, which may be the same as yours or not. One of the things that skews my view is that I have a national pipeline and glean information from one coast to the next. As the author of “Vapreneur: Your Guide to Mastering the Vape Space” and host of Vape News Radio I have interviewed brick and mortar store owners (both the ones I have helped develop as well as others) along with many e-liquid companies and their CEOs and everything on the periphery. Hardware wholesalers? Yeah, I speak to them, as well as those that are importing or anyone who is creating an online store or affiliate program. With that as a backdrop, here’s where we’ve been. Where we’re going is a bit more uncertain but some things I can assure you will come to be. Brick and Mortar Stores: They have been on the increase pretty much nonstop since 20082009. There are some that are still in business six, seven years later, but many have closed. Why? Usually they over expanded, got too aggressive, and as the market tightened they could not survive and may have folded entirely or retracted some of their stores. I know several chains that fit that model. The ratio I see of openings vs. closing is about 20 percent fail rate, which means for every five shops opening, one is closing its doors. I know of many stores that were generating six figure monthly revenue, but that is very uncommon today. Stores will open, some initiated by novices and amateurs, but more by professionals with experience. My prediction: More of the same in 2015. Most of you reading this, those in the B2C world, are probably vape shop owners or employees. Most likely you have been in business for three years or fewer, and even in that short time you’ve seen the volatility of this industry. People are fickle; tastes change. Loyalties that you thought you could count on are no longer as the “next best thing” sometimes takes away your customers. Your marketing must NEVER stop and the best tools and resources are Facebook pages and Instagram, the No. 1 social media channel of choice. Twitter, not so much, and everything else is an also-ran.
ating, and many will close as well. Starting a company is fairly easy, and if you want to know how much you should budget it will be covered in my new book, “Masters of Vape,” which will be out by year end. Wholesaling: Everyone WANTS a good supply house, but they are few and far between. Many have personally let me down (along with my shops) by their lack of customer service or communication. You guys who ignore your customers know who you are. I suspect you are experiencing the same thing with your suppliers. Are there good wholesalers out there that supply the hardware (or juice) that you need at competitive prices and with timely service? If you have them, please let me know so I can spread that good news. My 2015 prediction: Less wholesalers doing more. This is not a cheap buy-in business and it takes a lot of revenue to stay operational and profitable. Accessories, Affiliates and Others: The Vape Space is a gold mine of opportunities in many areas. Some of the “others” have been profiled in my book “Vapreneur” and include ZazzleBox, Vape Finds, VapeSox and others. These entrepreneurs found unique niches and grew them to success and hopefully profitability. There are still many, many opportunities that can be explored and mined for riches. And Last: The FDA, Government Intervention, Etc … The deeming regulations are in place, and the likelihood of the FDA coming up with a final set of laws in 2015 is less than 50/50. Based on feedback and interviews with many friends in the tobacco space, they shared that the regs for their industry took incredibly long times to execute, so I suspect more of the same. The unfortunate byproduct is that the states and cities will continue to point to the lack of FDA direction as an excuse to cover their asses and ban vaping in many places. Outdoor vaping? Almost a criminal offense. Oh wait: It IS a criminal offense in many areas. Can you sample e-liquids in your or your favorite store? For now yes, in most cases, but some cities are even banning sampling. Can you vape in your car, office, home? Depends, but it’s insane how Big (and Little) Brother want to impede our rights. On behalf of myself I wish you all the very best in 2015. If you are IN the Vape Space and have stories to share, please do so. I am always looking for “movers and shakers” to profile in my blog posts or on www.VapeNewsRadio. If you have questions, send an e-mail to: Norm@Vapementors.com.
E-Liquid Companies: I attend a lot of conventions and conferences, and the number of new e-liquid companies that are exhibiting is mind blowing. Every single event validates that of all the vendor types this space is the most prolific and expanding. Why? Because everyone thinks (rightfully so) that this is where the money is. Some are operating their own labs, but most are contracting out to labs of every size. This segment is profitable but very risky with controversy and the FDA keeping a watchful eye. What will 2015 hold? I see a continuation of e-liquid companies prolifer-
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MAGAZINE
Norm Bour is VAPE’s National Event Coordinator, along with being a contributing columnist and host of VAPE News Radio. As a business consultant specializing in the vaping industry, he founded www.VapeMentors.com and works with brick and mortar stores, e-liquid manufacturers and distributors. He also recently authored his book called “Vapreneur: YOUR guide to Mastering the Vape Space.”
How to be a
BETTER BUILDER for
Under FIVE Bucks Words and Photos by Jenee Fowler
It seems that every time I meet up with my vape buddies, or log on to my favorite forums, I see new gear. Bigger. Better. More expensive. So how does a vaper on a budget keep up with the big spenders? Few things can affect your dripping life as strongly as a good (and safe!) build. The slightest difference between coils can cause uneven heating, hot spots and overheating leads. Even if your pins are copper, and your batteries are just done resting after a good long trickle charge, crappy builds make crappy vapes. The following tricks are meant as additions to your basic building kit, which should already include (at the minimal) the following items: A torch. An ohm checker. Needle nose pliers. Wire cutters. Scissors. If you’ve read this far you’ve probably already invested several hundred dollars in vaping gear, conservatively. You’re also probably adding a few to the list, taking some away, or having an opinion at the least. If you haven’t, your local vape shop should have most of that at your disposal. Pictured is a jump ring mandril. It’s a jeweler’s tool that makes wrap-
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ping perfect coils seem like second nature. This item set me back $3.98 with tax and shipping. Since my manager showed me the jump ring mandril, it’s not only improved my coils vastly, but it’s become standard equipment in the shop toolkit. The next item could be found laying around, I always have one on my right wrist. It’s a hair tie that can be wrapped around the handles of your pliers to keep tension on on coils while they are being heated with your torch before they are installed. *If you don’t have a hair tie, a rubberband would substitute nicely. Now your coils will not get crushed while you’re starting your torch, or dropped never to be heard from again (until it stabs you in the toe at 4 a.m.). These are just two ideas drawn from hundreds of hours of collective experience of the excellent builders I have been lucky enough to learn from. It’s not a competition, but there are few things I love sitting above my box more than a couple of tight, rapidly heating coils. *I’ve encountered those who don’t think torching coils beforehand is a necessity. While higher gauges of wire show little discernible difference to the naked eye, gauges of 26 and lower are quite obvious at times. In my opinion and personal experience, torching before prevents hot leads.
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Owning a business was in the cards for James Thompson and Jesse Webb. Founded in March 2011, Mt Baker Vapor has come a long way from its humble beginnings—a homemade clean room in an apartment building in Bellingham, Wash. Thompson started his vaping business ownership journey as a card dealer at a local casino. One day he spotted someone vaping during a poker tournament and he was immediately intrigued. He had been a smoker for 11 years and just welcomed this third child into the world. A friend of his was researching e-cigs because she had lung cancer and he wanted to make the switch as well. “I got excited over the technology behind it, which made me want to make the switch myself,” Thompson said. “That was about six years ago.”
Thompson had always had side businesses throughout his life, and having a business model of his own, he decided to team up with a coworker, Jesse Webb, who he ironically met in the smoking pits of the casino. He began handing out starter kits and business cards for other e-cig companies out of his car in 2010. Webb was a silent partner for a few months and then started investing more money into the business. He transitioned from being a “middle man” to one of the bona fide owners of Mt Baker Vapor. The two began mixing juice, which local people gave positive feedback, so they decided to start a website and post on the Electronic Cigarette Forum. Another unique feature early on was the home delivery option. Taking advantage of being a small company, Thompson and Webb were able to hand deliver juices to local customers while keeping their day jobs. The hard work paid off in June 2012, and the pair moved from the apartment clean room to the first warehouse building. They were able to quit their casino jobs and hire their first official employee. Word about Mt Baker Vapor spread, and eventually the company had to move to a larger production building in Bellingham, Wash. More employees were hired, and Mt Baker now has 107 employees and offers who make more than Washington State minimum wage and company paid benefits after 90 days of full-time employment. As of press time, the company has prepared and shipped more than half a million orders and delivered to countries worldwide.
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In May of this year, Mt Baker Vapor opened its first brick and mortar store in Lynden, Wash. with a 2,800 sq. ft. retail section. “It was a pretty involved process actually,” Thompson said. “We brought in a lot of the employees here and started brainstorming. Once we had some ideas we worked off of that and made group decisions as it all came together. It made it so much more enjoyable knowing that we built the layout and did all the renovations as a team.” While the pair doesn’t hand deliver products during the wee hours anymore, Thompson said that he used to deliver products to the houses of some of the people who work at Mt Baker now. “It was cool, although in the beginning I didn’t have much interaction with the customers then (due to delivering in the early morning),” he said. “I think for the most part the wants and needs are fairly similar. People tend to like that we offer a quality American product at an extremely low price. I think the main difference comes in retail vs. online sales. There are some products that you just need to hold in your hand to really appreciate it.” As far as transitioning to face-to-face customer service, Thompson sees two problems that frequently occur in brick and mortars. “The first is that the employee is far too advanced and forgets about how overwhelming this industry is when first making the switch, and the second is that the employee is great at customer service but not knowledgeable about the product,” he said. “We make sure that our employees go through a lot of training and always remember to assist the customer at the proper skill level and with the appropriate language for that individual. We don’t want our reps behaving the same for each customer because each customer has a unique skill and knowledge set. It is so important to make the customer feel good about their vaping experience and not be overwhelmed or underwhelmed for that matter. This is one of the core principles we like to instill in all of our reps.” Mt Baker Vapor also works hard on embracing the local vaping community and building relationships with them. They offer a variety of events, such as game nights where
employees and customers can come in and play games like poker, D&D and other board games. “This is such a great time for all of us and something we foresee continuing for a long time,” Thompson said. “We also hold weekly coil building workshops that allow customers come in any time that day and learn how to build coils and learn some things about battery safety.” Mt Baker’s pricing is $4.99 for a 15 ml bottle of e-liquid, and the liquid is made with USDA food grade ingredients and made the day it’s ordered. Mt Baker’s website states that customers who live in the United States who order more than $15 will receive a free 15 ml bottle of liquid for a sample.. Any order more than $50 will get free shipping anywhere in the United States. Thompson, who thinks the Tatroe Atlas is “rocking,” isn’t a fan of tinkering, so he uses the Aerotank Turbo on it, which “works perfectly out of the box.” He loves the MBV Menthol flavor. He prides himself on Mt Baker being an active member of the Vaping Militia, CASAA and SFATA. He said that the company is hoping for the best and preparing for the worst when it comes to regulations. “We have our involvement with them helping with that side of the regulation. We have been trimming our juice selection a bit to help cut the application costs that might come along with regulation. Aside from that we are just making sure that we can meet and exceed any standards they uphold us to,” he said. Thompson said that it makes him feel great knowing that he and the team at Mt Baker are doing something that is right and helping people. “It means a lot to me personally. I got into this business because of how much my life changed by quitting smoking. It means I get to see people make the switch to a better lifestyle every day,” he said. “It’s really amazing to watch others make the same journey I did when I made the switch. It’s a great reminder of how it felt to me personally when I could finally say ‘I quit smoking.’ I get to share a very meaningful connection with our customers, and it doesn’t get much better than that.” For more information, visit http://www.mtbakervapor.com/.
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By Alyssa Stahr Photos courtesy of David Tesino Sometimes when tragedy strikes, many fall and don’t have the strength to get back up. Not David Tesino. When a harrowing motorcycle accident earlier this year resulted in a lost leg, Tesino’s community rallied around him, resulting in strengthened and new friendships; a smoker’s last cigarette; and a new vaping review business. Tesino started riding motorcycles in December of last year. An experienced rider on other apparatus such as four-wheelers, he admits that even though he didn’t have a lot of motorcycle experience, he still was a good rider. On May 19 around 8 p.m., he saw a car out the corner of his eye coming out of a shopping center. He thought the driver would see him, but she didn’t. She T-boned him as soon as he finished that thought in his mind, and his leg exploded. Tesino was thrown across two lanes of traffic; luckily no traffic hit him from the other side. “I was awake the entire time, so I remember every single detail. I was screaming; it was panic. It felt like forever, and I looked down at my leg I saw the bone sticking out, and all of a sudden I heard this voice. Visually I don’t remember much, it was all feeling and what I heard,” Tesino said. The voice was coming from a stranger telling him to calm down. Being a military brat, Tesino heard the voice, stopped screaming and calmed himself. The stranger was military as well, grabbed Tesino’s belt and made a tourniquet. The stranger’s wife worked in the medical industry, stayed calm and saved Tesino’s life. “I got to the hospital and they said they couldn’t save my leg. I said ‘Do whatever you have to do to save my life,’” he said. Tesino, who was a
smoker since he was 15, woke up from surgery craving his old standby—a cigarette. He asked the nurse to wheel him outside for a cigarette and she laughed at him and refused. Doctors told him if he didn’t quit smoking, his leg would take longer to heal and have a higher risk of infection. Tesino’s brother told him to try vaping, and at first he couldn’t see himself smoking “a cherry pie.” His wife picked up a starter kit from Dockside Vapors in Lake Martin, Ala. and from that point on, quitting was easy for Tesino. “I needed to heal as soon as I could to get back to work. For me it was more of a mental thing—I have to do this and I’m going to do this,” he said. “Family members then helped me with getting my first mechanical mod and Cody (Bonds) has helped me build. I haven’t had a desire since, and it’s so much better not smelling like an ashtray. I don’t have to go outside in the freezing cold. It’s been pretty easy for me, but I know for others it’s still difficult.” The local American Cruisers motorcycle club held a poker run to help take care of medical bills. The vapor shops didn’t make it to the poker run, however they made up for it in a way that has led to something beyond Tesino’s wildest dreams. They started sending packages of products to Tesino via mail. “I went home and I said, ‘I have to do something to thank these guys. One of them had a sticker, and I put it on my prosthetic leg,’” he said. “Vaping is awesome. It helped me quit smoking at a bad time. I sent messages out to every single company I could find on Facebook and I told
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them that they didn’t have to send anything to me but their logo. So, about a week later packages started coming in. I had 38 packages in one week.” Thus began the VapeLeg project and reviews. The leg aspect is to have his prosthetic professionally covered with logos and links to all of the contributing companies. Tesino was let go from his job since he couldn’t return, so in order to provide for his family he made use of the additional products coming in by reviewing them. VapeLeg Reviews is a little different than most review sites, in that Cody Bonds was brought on as a second reviewer with an additional point of view. “Every review will be the two of us. There are no sponsors at all, just true, honest unbiased reviews of products sent to us for review, everything from juices, mods, to accessories and we will be putting out as much info as we can about the company (how the company got its start, what its current product line is, upcoming products, description on products sent, where to buy products) to hopefully connect more consumers to that company,” Tesino said. “What I hope truly sets us apart from other reviews is we are taking an approach to reviews I have yet to see; each review video will have two reviewers, so there is always two honest and sometimes different opinions of the product.” In addition, American Cruisers has made him an honorary member of the club. Tesino is working on a documentary on motorcycle safety and driver awareness. “I want to help others as well and do something for my family. The wheels are always turning in
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my head on what we can do and what we are going to do next,” he said. “I told my wife that everything happens for a reason. Before I probably would’ve worked for someone else every day for the rest of my life. Now I can branch out further, work for myself and help other people. It’s really amazing what the vaping industry has done for me.” Tesino would like to thank everyone who has inspired him with the gift he got at his very first vape meet and have supported him in all he’s set out to accomplish in the vape industry, including Micah Wilson, Royal Point Liquids and general manager at Nebulous Vapors; the Cloud Chaser Society; and Scott Eichelberger, Bama Vapor.
(Left to right) Levi Oliver, Dockside Vapors; Jeremy Schultz, Dockside Vapors; Jimmy Chanthavong, Cloud Chasers Society; David Tesino; and Cody Bonds, the other half of VapeLeg Reviews
For more information or to contribute to VapeLeg Reviews, visit Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Vapelegreviews YouTube www.youtube.com/user/vapelegreviews or email Vapelegreviews@gmail.com.
By Alyssa Stahr Photos courtesy of Dawn Sharpe From cell phones to e-cigarettes, Dawn and Sam Sharpe know about family sacrifice when it comes to business ownership. Cary, N.C.’s Vapor Society opened in January 2014 and is thriving, however the road hasn’t been easy. The Sharpe’s had a business prior to the Vapor Society that had crews working on cell phone towers. This created a distance from the then-engaged couple. Dawn Sharpe had quit smoking cigarettes, and she admittedly was tired of the smell of cigarettes on her fiance, Sam. Sam tried the patch, gum, pills, Chantix, which gave him night sweats and nightmares, and he even was hypnotized twice. Nothing worked to curb his two to three pack-a-day habit. “I was introduced to an e-cig from a coworker (Dawn was a vet tech) who was a two pack-a-day smoker. I could not wait to tell my husband about the ‘electronic hookah.’ That’s what I called it because I was so unfamiliar with it,’” she said. “At this point, after nothing else had worked, he was willing to give it a shot. He really had tried everything to break the habit. Well, it worked!” Two-and-a-half years later, Sam has not had one cigarette. He has gone “up” to the mechanicals and the rebuildables, and Dawn now also vapes. “He brought me a setup because I was really stressed at my job, and I had already stopped smoking, so I started vaping 0 milligrams. My husband and I actually met while we were smoking,” she said.
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The couple believed in vaping so much that they closed down the cell phone business and opened their own 2,200 sq. ft. shop, which was Sam’s idea originally. “We were getting ready to get married last October and he was on the road all the time with the cell phone business,” Dawn said. “I said it would be nice to have something that would bring you home. He said ‘What would you think about opening a vapor store.’” Dawn had grown up running small businesses with her family, so the couple started looking for storefronts while planning their wedding. “Everyone said that we were crazy, and there were some times that I said that too. Our anniversary is coming up, and our shop is thriving and doing well. We’re not out to (just) make money; we could open another store if we wanted to, but we don’t want to,” Dawn said. The Vapor Society’s interior is more of Dawn’s vision, with a 50s black and white theme throughout. James Dean, Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe can be seen throughout, with a metal bar adding to the classy, yet old-school feel. The shop hosts a vape meet every other month and flavor parties with vote sheets. Dawn either makes food or has the meets catered, and for Halloween they had a “Bobbing for Bottles” and a best costume competition with mod giveaways.
Dawn also said she’s “very big” on special ordering for customers. “If someone is looking for something in particular I do a lot of special orders. It’s what’s hot and what’s out there. Our inventory has tripled since January. I carry everything for everyone,” she said. “I definitely want to keep it that way. I want something available for everybody and what’s going to suit their needs.” Customer service is key at The Vapor Society, so the Sharpe’s make sure to ask three important questions: What kind of cigarettes do you smoke, how much do they smoke per day and what is the end goal. “Is the goal to quit smoking? To cut back? If they are on a half a pack a day, we’ll probably start them on a variable voltage to a longer battery. A lot of them move up to mechanical mods,” she said. “We’re not going to sell them something that’s not going to work. I tell them the truth. They say what they think they want but I make suggestions on something that’s really going to work for the person so they don’t have to come back and buy three separate setups.” The Sharpe’s researched shops in-person from “Florida to Ohio” before opening their store. “With many of the shops I walked into, I said ‘My shop is not going to be like this. We are going to greet every single person,’” Dawn said. “A couple of shops were fantastic and you felt like you wanted to sit there for hours and vape. We have people who hang out here for five hours on their day off. Customer service has to be No. 1 in this industry.”
Dawn lost her grandparents by the time she was 18, and she said that it has been so rewarding to see how many people they have helped get on the road to stop smoking. Now the former smoker who loves to vape bakery and earthy flavors also runs, in fact, she ran three 5ks last year, something she said she wouldn’t have been able to do when she smoked a pack a day. “I just hope the industry is around forever, and I believe that it will be, we just have to wait for the stipulations to come down,” she said. The Sharpe’s have a friend who works for the FDA, and her thoughts were that regulations probably won’t be official for another five years. In the meantime, they make sure that juice lines come from appropriate labs and go to legislation meetings in town. “Here in North Carolina they’ve already taxed it, and the bill is passed unfortunately. It’s gonna happen, we all know it is. We just make sure we’re already there in terms of what’s going to be regulation,” she said. Dawn said that it is extremely rewarding for she and Sam to have mothers coming in, hugging them and in tears, saying they’ve finally kept the promise to their children to quit smoking. “Especially seeing the older generation who have the app on the phone that says they are so many days smoke free and I’ve added so many days to my life,” she said. “It is very rewarding just for Sam and I to be able to see the people be proud of themselves—and we’re proud of them as well.” For more information, http://www.thevaporsociety.net/.
VaporSociety (left to right) Dawn, Katie, Larry, Daniel and Billy
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LAREDO VAPOR Turns Habits Into Hobbies at the Border By Alyssa Stahr Photos courtesy of Laredo Vapor Being a border town, Laredo, Texas sees its fair share of government officials, truck drivers, law enforcement and border control who don’t want to be seen in head or smoke shops, even if they have vaping sections. Laredo Vapor currently is the only dedicated vape shop in town, and Ramon and Alexandra Hernandez have come a long way from selling eGo kits out of the trunks of their cars. About a year ago, the owners of Laredo Vapor, an attorney and a government employee (Ramon’s mom), became aware of the need for a true vape shop in town. The attorney had a court hearing in Los Angeles, and friend of theirs had a private plane that transported the two to the hearing.
Not sure what the market in Laredo would be, the Hernandez family didn’t know if the shop would cater more to beginners or long-time vapers. After a couple of months in business, they have learned that they have to cater to everyone. The shop carries everything from starter eGo kits to full on mechanical mods and RDAs, along with “everything in between.” “All of a sudden experienced vapers who rebuild and drip and knew what they were doing came in, and we had to start ordering mechanical mods and advanced things,” Hernandez said. “Now our job is to help spread the vape culture throughout our city and educate people on what vaping is.” Along with learning from customers, Hernandez attributes most of Laredo Vapor’s success to Coval Vapes, housed 150 miles north of Laredo. The store helped the Hernandez’s with training, suppliers and their existing e-liquid line.
“While they were en route, the pilot pulled out his eGo pen and started vaping, and they were like ‘What are you doing?’ Hernandez said. “They always wanted to open up a business, and it struck a chord.” The pair did their research and found that there were no dedicated vape shops in Laredo. “I didn’t know what it was, and I thought she wanted to open up a head shop. I thought she had lost her mind,” Hernandez said. “She explained it to me, and we went to San Antonio. They explained it to us, and I thought it was the greatest thing ever.” They got their supplies from Coval Vapes in San Antonio, and started meeting people in parking lots while coming up with a business plan. “A lot of customers were law enforcement, border patrol. They didn’t like going into head shops dressed in their law enforcement uniforms because it sends a bad message,” Hernandez said. “It took a long time for the building to be done, and we learned what a great culture it is. Everybody is so nice—try my liquid try my mod—and we came back from San Antonio and opened our shop.”
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Laredo Vapor Managers Ramon and Alexandra Hernandez
“They are the shop to make us the shop we are today,” Hernandez said. “They have their own lab, and their line is what I fall back into. They are staying with regulations and they moved their lab outside of their store. They have a laboratory that’s just for wholesale; they look like they’re doing surgery in there. Having an attorney as one of the owners, he wants to make sure we keep everything legit. We stick to somebody that’s trying to maintain regulations.” When approaching customers, Hernandez, who is a former smoker himself, approaches them just like he was approach at Coval. He explains everything, became a member of CASAA and shares as much information as he possibly can. “The information can be overwhelming. The person who is one their 15-minute break from work … we try not to pressure anybody and just give them information,” he said. “We walk them through, explain everything and make sure they are happy with their purchase. We don’t want to get the money and push them out the door.” Laredo Vapor also does builds and wraps for customers, and just held its first in-store cloud competition. They also are reaching out to local businesses for giveaways and after parties at local bars and restaurants that allow vaping. Hernandez also wants to grow the vaping culture by giving presentations at the police department and in front of city officials.
“The local response has been overwhelming to say the least. People come back to us and thank us for getting them or their loved ones to give up on smoking analogs. This feeling of helping people brings a great satisfaction of doing good for our community,” Hernandez said. Hernandez, who sticks to tobacco flavors when vaping, isn’t just happy to help the community. Vaping has helped his family on a personal level as well. “I have a beard, so anytime I smoked I’d have to wash my face and my mouth, and I had that smell. This is such a relief that I don’t have to worry about that,” he said. I grew up with my dad smoking packs a day. My mother would make him go outside, so he was outside all the time. It’s just great to help people who are in that situation get out of that. I wish that would’ve been around a lot longer ago. Our owner’s dad passed away due to a heart problem associated with long-term smoking. He says the same thing: ‘I wish it was around when my dad was smoking.’ Sometimes we have 10 customers in here, and it’s a rush. It feels good to hear ‘thank you’s’ and ‘My health is better.’ It makes it all worthwhile.” For more information, visit http://www.laredovapor.com/.
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Genesis Vape Owner Destined to Innovate
Words by Alyssa Stahr Photos courtesy of Genesis Vape
With a background in engineering and a family of entrepreneurs, Thomas Chow was destined for innovation. He was a software engineer in Dallas, working on flight simulators for the F-18, and his family’s business of more than 20 years stems around leather and nylon products. Chow left his corporate job to work on a separate business outside of the vaping industry. He heard about vaping in early 2013 from friends who were asking him to create custom made accessories for them. “What was really popular was the eGo style tanks. They wanted a nice leather, possibly a lanyard for those eGos,” Chow said.
In 2014 Chow was looking for a new venture to get involved in, and the vaping industry was something that “clicked” with him. He started more of a retail side of a vape shop, but as he was looking into it more he remembered that there is an accessory side. “There weren’t a lot of people who actually do accessories and not a lot of offerings. Given our family’s background, I figured I’d whip up a prototype and see how that went. The reception for the early versions were positive, good enough for me to warrant exploring it even more,” he said. “The slide went through the prototyping phase probably five to six times I’d say, and that took a good while to get it down to what I’d really like.” Chow created more pieces, and before he knew it he had the product line for Genesis Vape started. “We’re just kind of getting started, scratching the surface since we’ve been involved in western fashions for such a long time. The experience that we have is high-end leather, custom leather work, so that’s the type of hand tooling that you see in saddles and boots and fancy engraving and carving,” Chow said. Wanting more of a unique twist, custom products are in Genesis’ future and a high priority for 2015. Currently the Slide line is Genesis’ most unique product, which Chow believes is the only holder in the industry that uses a rotating metal clip. The clip can rotate 90 degrees and clip onto something like a backpack. “It converts an existing bag that you had into something functional that carries your mod. It’s a unique standard that we have with all the slides,” Chow said.
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Another highlight is the padding on the interior of the entire Slide line. It’s a velvet plush padding and is a solution to having a closed top design versus an open top design. Therefore, when you put your mod in the Slide, because it’s cushioned and padded it won’t scratch the mod. “It really holds it. Someone who uses the Slide and who is active, a carpenter or plumber, or works a job that has them moving around during the day, it will stay put and won’t fall out or jump out because you are running,” Chow said. Chow has two favorite current products in the Slide line. From a leather point of view, the timeless classic is the Slide+, made of full grain leather. From a fashion point of view and the aesthetic side, Chow loves the Slide Annex. “The Annex is really, really nice. It’s a more popular option that has that look to it that is practical and it feels nice,” he said. “It feels different than any other nylon mod holder on the market.” Inspiration, Chow said, comes from going out on a daily basis, actually vaping and using the accessories. Device wise, he’s vaping with a box mod currently, trying to see what all of the “hype” is about. He said it’s a neat experience compared to mechanical mods he’s used in the past. He likes to rotate juices and likes crisp, lighter fruity flavors. Most importantly, he spends his time figuring out what can be improved. “For example, I haven’t yet created a vape bag and the reason why I haven’t done that is everyone pretty much has a backpack or bag that they already use, and I want a product that people will use,” Chow said. More features toward the end of 2014 and into 2015 for Genesis include a rebranding process with a logo change, new website and a move toward more of a lifestyle brand. “The accessories side is kind of a beginning of what I have planned: hardware, juice, apparel, the full monty,” Chow said. “I’m starting to do custom work for mod manufacturers, and I think that’s a really interesting opportunity that could be the next big thing for the industry. For boxed mods there’s even less of an option as far as holders in the market. We’re creating a solution.” Creating a unique something of value is key for Chow, no matter what industry he’s in. He believes that accessories have a true value for the vaping industry. “It’s grown at such a rapid pace, and there are so many things available—mods, etc.—but what you can carry it around with, there aren’t that many,” he said. industry. “What I find enjoyable is actually producing something of value rather than making a bunch of designs and hoping that people use it.” For more information, visit http://genesisvape.com/.
E-cigarettes have been a subject of much controversy. First, they were a great way to quit smoking, then they were going to kill you with poisonous, antifreeze chemicals, then they were a harm reduction technology, then they targeted your children via some evil plot to addict your 4-year-old to nicotine, then … well, you get the picture. This topic is fraught with misinformation, disinformation and dirty politics. The antismoking community has taken on a life of its own over the past half-century and now is almost unrecognizable from the well-intentioned, fact-based institution it once was. Nowadays, it seems more concerned with self-preservation in the business sense of the phrase than with actually fighting the health hazards associated with the tobacco industry. So, in an effort to separate fact from fiction, here is a list of those so-called “facts” you’ve seen published all over the Internet and print media:
E-Cigarettes:
Myth
Vs.
Reality,
-E-cigarettes contain the same toxic chemicals found in antifreeze: Actually, the toxic chemical to which they are referring is ethylene glycol. Polyethylene glycol used to be utilized in the manufacturing of some of the nicotine liquid found in e-cigarettes. The word “polyethylene” might sound similar to the word “ethylene,” but polyethylene glycol is actually not dangerous to humans in the least. Propylene glycol, which now is used in place of polyethylene glycol, works better and actually is less dangerous than the already non-dangerous polyethylene glycol. In fact, it’s been lauded by the FDA and other organizations as one of the safest chemicals on the market. -E-cigarettes still deliver nicotine, an addictive and dangerous carcinogen: This couldn’t be further from the truth. Nicotine is not now, nor has it ever been a carcinogen. Its association with tobacco and the many carcinogens contained therein has given rise to the myth that nicotine causes cancer, but nicotine, by itself, actually promotes health. It has been shown to assist in synapse operations in the brain, thereby increasing our memory potential and other thought processes. It also has never been proven that nicotine, by itself, is the highly addictive substance we always have assumed it is. -E-cigarette vapor exposes other people to dangerous chemicals through second-hand inhalation: Again, there are no “dangerous chemicals” in e-cig vapor. Studies of e-cigarette vapor, fumes, etc. have shown that the amounts of chemicals present in exhaled and sidestream vapors themselves are so low, they are hardly even measurable. Additionally, vaporized glycerine/glycol is slightly heavier than tobacco smoke and therefore does not remain airborne nearly as long as does the product of tobacco combustion. The vapor also dissipates much faster than smoke. So, the threat of any e-cigarette vapor affecting anything around anyone who is actively vaping, even in an enclosed, crowded place, is nil.
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-There haven’t been any serious studies about e-cigarettes yet: E-cigarettes have been studied for more than 10 years now and extensively over the last five years or so. These studies have been done by reputable scientific organizations, according to the strict standards of modern scientific experimentation guidelines. There actually have been so many studies done on e-cigarettes that it would be impossible to list them all here. There have been more than a sufficient number of scientific studies perpetrated on e-cigarettes to avoid any accusations like this one. The problem isn’t that there haven’t been enough studies, the problem is that none of these studies have succeeded in showing anything negative about e-cigarettes. Those who throw around this statement are the same who have an interest in derailing the e-cig industry in favor of other, vested interests. Their best attempts involve statistical manipulation like stating that “Dangerous Chemical X is present in e-cigarette, and has been known to kill people.” When in reality, that “dangerous chemical” is present at five percent of a concentration that would begin to present a health risk. -E-cigarettes keep people addicted to cigarettes: Well, the actual addictive qualities of nicotine are unknown … so this statement is founded on an unknown premise. How-
A
Comprehensive
List By Oliver Olinger
ever, the premise is immaterial to this topic, because e-cigarettes actually do the exact opposite of “keeping people addicted to cigarettes.” The long and cylindrical shape of an e-cigarette device and the fact that there is nicotine involved are the only things that this technology has in common with tobacco cigarettes. There literally are hundreds of thousands (if not more) testimonials from people who have successfully used e-cigs as smoking cessation devices. This statement in just as ridiculous as saying that nicotine lozenges keep people addicted to cigarettes. Obviously there will be those who try e-cigs and return to traditional smoking. Just as there are those who chew nicotine gum and return to smoking. We don’t blame the gum, we blame the person’s lack of adequate resolve. -The fact that this industry is not regulated means that we have no idea what is being put into our ecigarettes: Actually, the e-cigarette industry has been doing just fine regulating itself. It has successfully governed itself with its own series of regulations implemented by universally accepted standards organizations. AEMSA (the American E-Liquid Manufacturing Standards Association) and CASAA (the Consumer Advocates for Smoke-free
Alternatives Association) both have done an excellent job of governing the industry without unnecessary government intervention. Also, I have yet to come across an e-juice manufacturer that does not fully disclose all ingredients used in their production process … so obviously, we do know exactly what’s being put into our e-cigarettes. -Regulation of the e-cigarette industry is necessary to prevent children from buying nicotine products: I challenge anyone to find an e-cigarette store (or any business that offers e-cigs for sale in any way) that actually allows children under the age of 18 (or 21 in some states) to purchase e-cigarette liquids or devices. Or, I could just save you the trouble of searching and using up about 10,000 gallons of gasoline by telling you that your search will be fruitless. If teenagers are buying e-cigarettes, they are buying them the same way they’ve bought tobacco products for decades; fake ID, older siblings/parents, friends with store employees, paying someone to buy the cigarettes for them, or (in my case) tricking the proprietor of a cigar shop into thinking you’re a tried and true cigar connoisseur so they never think to ask you for an ID. My point is that no measure, short of imprisoning all teenagers in death … er, I mean work camps …, will prevent them from finding ways of breaking the rules. And, since all e-cig retailers already are preventing kids from buying their products, regulation becomes at worst a redundancy and at best a moot point. -The exotic flavor offerings of e-cigarette liquids are designed to target children and get them to start smoking: There are so many things wrong with this statement that it’s hard to know where to begin. First, the prospect of e-cigarettes being designed to somehow sucker kids into smoking is about as asinine as suggesting that flavored fruit chewing gums are designed to trick kids into drinking alcoholic cocktails. Second, from a business aspect, would it make more sense to target a segment of society that is prohibited from using your product? Or would it be smarter to target individuals who have developed a need for an effective smoking cessation avenue over long years of tobacco smoking? Lastly, a person’s tastes increase in scope as they age. They do not narrow as this statement would suggest. Kids and teenagers generally have a small number of foods and flavors that they adhere to like super glue. It isn’t until we age that we begin to broaden our culinary horizons. With this in mind, it doesn’t make any sense to suggest that the availability of many flavors is designed to target children, when in reality it is designed to appeal to the wide palatal range of adults, whose tastes are as vast as the ocean. As an addendum to this topic, I’d like to suggest (in the spirit of fairness) that if e-cigarette flavors are banned “for the sake of the children” we should obviously also ban all flavored liquors, vodkas, rums, hard lemonades, malt beverages, cocktail recipes, etc. -Dripping style atomizers cause e-cigarette vapor to turn into formaldehyde: There is no evidence of this ever having happened. References to this supposed “research” are circular and only refer to other news articles which refer to other news articles and so on, but never back to an origi-
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nating study or peer-reviewed journal of any sort. Chemically speaking, for glycerine and glycol to somehow magically change into formaldehyde would be just as likely as a block of cheddar cheese suddenly turning into a Ferrari via the wave of a magic wand and the utterance of the correct Voodoo spell. And, even if there are cases where one individual e-cigarette or one individual bottle of e-juice somehow produced traces of formaldehyde there are two things that must be kept in mind: 1. There have been cases when toxic chemicals have been found in supermarket beef or chicken. These are mistakes and might possibly be grounds for a recall, but not a banning of all cows and chickens. 2. These “traces” of formaldehyde (assuming for the sake of argument that they exist) still must be compared with the known toxic levels of formaldehyde exposure for humans. We’re actually exposed to formaldehyde all the time, but in such small quantities that our bodies very naturally metabolise said amounts and remain unharmed. -E-cigarettes are a “gateway” to traditional, tobacco cigarette smoking: Here is another statement that is actually the exact opposite of the truth. E-cigarettes are no more a gateway to tobacco use than Naloxone is to heroine. E-cigarettes are a “gateway” to healthy living without tobacco dependency, not a “gateway” to the exact addiction that people are attempting to escape with the help of e-cigarette technology. The term “gateway” gets thrown around a lot these days without any real attention being paid to what it actually means. The term actually is just a metaphor used for dramatic effect and has no set-in-stone definition for scientific purposes. I could just as easily say that Ford Mustangs are a “gateway” to motor vehicle collisions or that living in the South is a “gateway” to racism. These are meaningless statements using a word that is meant to draw shaky, unfounded conclusions based upon fallacious arguments. -E-cigarettes have been known to explode while being used: My apologies to whomever blew their face off with an e-cigarette, but one solitary incident does not an argument make. E-cigarettes have batteries. Batteries, no matter what type, under the right (and extremely rare) circumstances can explode or melt down. Cell phones have the same kind of lithium batteries as you’ll find in e-cigarettes, and we hold cell phones up to our heads and faces probably much more frequently than we take a drag off of our e-cigarette. The majority of these supposed explosion “cases” into which I’ve looked involved carelessness on the part of the user, not equipment that was so horrifically defective that it suddenly exploded for no reason. Many people charge their e-cigs on the kitchen counter, where water has a habit of accumulating thanks to the close vicinity of the kitchen sink. Others leave their e-cigs in a 180-degree car, sitting in direct sunlight for hours during the summer months. An accident is an accident, and they are occasionally tragic … but they are not necessarily cause for legislation unless the number of occurrences warrants concern. Cars, airplanes, cell phones, toasters, lawn mowers, computers, windows … all of these things are involved in accidents from time to time. Do we ban them all, or do we accept the imperfect nature of life and try to avoid
danger as much as possible without locking ourselves in padded rooms so we can protect ourselves from absolutely every single potential threat in the world? -E-cigarettes are even more expensive than regular, tobacco cigs: Sorry, but if you buy into this particular statement, no amount of logical reasoning is going to affect you at all. Unfortunately, no amount of reasoning and/or logical, scientific proof will deter the anti-vaping elements of society from their crusade against e-cigarettes. The reasons for this are disturbing, and I’ll only briefly touch on them here. Many anti-vaping organizations are heavily vested in pharmaceutical ventures that stand to continue raking in profits from products like Nicorette, Chantix, Wellbutrin, etc, if the more effective e-cigarette industry is buried under bans and unreasonable regulations. Others are hell-bent on bringing absolutely everything under strict government regulatory control because of extremist political ideologies. Still others are so opposed to tobacco products that their hatred blinds them to evident truths simply because of the fact that vaping “kinda looks like” smoking. Government agencies have only become interested in the regulation of e-cigarettes since the industry became a multi-billion dollar pile of potential tax revenue. And lastly, there are those who are simply opposed to e-cigarettes because of the material they’ve read/heard from all of the previously mentioned groups. Not everyone will agree with all of the reasons I’ve just listed, and that’s OK. I only mention them in passing and am not currently interested in offering proof on their behalf (that’s for other articles). The purpose of this article is to debunk myths about e-cigarettes themselves, not to throw blame at the potential sources of those myths. If you have an interest in e-cigarettes, either on your behalf or on behalf of a loved one, please take the time to consider that all of the frightening headlines floating around the Internet and news media concerning e-cigs might be just that … frightening words aimed at striking fear into the hearts of the unsuspecting. I implore everyone to do research and to be skeptical of news stories until you take the time to look into the subject yourself in order to make an informed decision, not one based on panic and dramatic presentation. Renowned philosopher, Rene Descartes, practiced what he referred to as “methodic doubt,” which essentially meant that he would systematically doubt everything until he could prove to himself what was truth and what was falsehood. This goes for everything you might come across, not just e-cigarettes. We unfortunately live in a world where we need to be skeptical of everything around us because there are too many conflicting interests and ulterior motives. However, we fortunately have in this same world a means to access almost all human knowledge throughout history with the touch of a few buttons and a thirst for learning. Take advantage of our gifts and blessings, before those gifts and blessings get regulated and banned as well! For a list of sources, visit vapemz.com.
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By Steffanie Atkins
Violet’s Honest Vapor Ultraviolet 6 mg
VAPE VERDICT Taste- 4, Vapor Production- 4, Throat Hit- 5 REVIEW I really enjoyed this flavor. Not only because Violet’s
Honest Vapor caters to women in the vaping scene with its pretty purple bottles, but the flavor was just really good. It had a fruity blend with a cool finish. It reminded me of sticking a ton of juicy fruity gum in my mouth as a kid, you know that kind that you chew for three minutes and then the flavor goes away, but this time, the flavor never went away. It was very refreshing and I really enjoyed the coolness of the blend. The throat hit was great, not too strong but could definitely feel it and the vapor production was a little higher than average. Overall, a fantastic juice that I really enjoyed dripping.
Vape Storm Sub Ohm Blend ‘a la Mode 2 mg VAPE VERDICT Taste- 3, Vapor Production- 2, Throat Hit- 4 REVIEW Vape Storm’s sub ohm blend I imagine was
created for the drippers of the vape world. After I reviewed this juice, I was wondering what the difference was between this and a regular blend. It’s a higher VG blend, but it didn’t produce the results I would want for a sub ohm blend. The vapor production was average for a regular blend, which gave it a lower score considering the company markets for a higher vapor production. The taste was average; it’s an apple custard blend, which is a good fall flavor, but nothing super special. It had a good throat hit, but almost too harsh at times. I feel like if this company was not boasting a sub ohm/max vg blend, I would have been able to give it higher scores for vape production, but I was a tad disappointed in it’s claims that it couldn’t follow through with.
VonVape Black Label Vanilla 6 mg
VAPE VERDICT Taste- 4, Vapor Production- 3, Throat Hit- 3 REVIEW I have to say, Von Vape’s Vanilla is refreshing.
The Juice Judge Judges are picked from respected members of the vaping community to give unbiased reviews of e-juice. The VAPE Verdict is reached by an initial blind taste test, and the review is written afterward. Want to have your juice judged? Email jj@vapemz.com. Reviews do not reflect the overall opinion of VAPE Magazine
It’s obviously vanilla with a tad bit of spice to it (I’m not sure if that was just because of the nicotine level or not, I didn’t have another level to try in comparison.) So many companies mix a mass amount of flavors, and that’s not always a good thing. I don’t like trying to guess the eight different flavors that go into making one flavor with an ambiguous name. This flavor is simple; it’s just vanilla, and I kind of liked the simplicity of it. Plus the flavor was good. It wasn’t too much, wasn’t too little, it was just a good one flavor flavor. It’s a good holiday blend and the smell of it is great. It made the room smell like Christmas cooking, which is always fun. The throat hit was average and the vapor production was average. If you’re looking for just a plain flavor with not a lot of bells and whistles, then this is it. It’s simple, and sometimes simple is good.
ColinsS Cherry 18 mg
VAPE VERDICT Taste- 2, Vapor Production- 3, Throat Hit- 4 REVIEW I don’t have many words for this cherry flavor. It tastes like cherry cough syr-
up. I almost expected that alcoholy feeling of drinking cough syrup with a cold. The flavor is strictly cherry, and it definitely tastes like cherry, and if I were to rate based on the name matching with the flavor then this would get a 5, but alas, I don’t enjoy vaping cherry cough syrup. This isn’t one of those flavors I feel like could go on its own merit; it does need something else so that it has something to eliminate the cough syrupness of the flavor. The throat hit was above average, great and solid, and the vapor production was about average. But the flavor, just can’t get over it. 37
year to keep daytime temps under 100 degrees. Even so it stayed a solid 90 plus degrees for the three days we were there, but it was manageable.
First Arizona Showdown in Phoenix Words and Photos By Norm Bour On a nationwide level three of the “hottest states” in regards to vape shop activity are Florida, Texas and Arizona. Why it took so long to have an event in the capital of Arizona, Phoenix, is a mystery.
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The event brought in several of the nationally recognizable vendors, the MadVapes, Space Jams and such--even Joyetech for their first show-- but what was most noteworthy was how many new e-liquid companies came out to play and show their stuff. Fun events included an ice skating rink (yes, really) and a contraption called “Air Bots” which involved contorting yourself into a balloon Ironman like plastic uniform and beating the crap out of your opponent.
Vapor Dynasty put that to rest the weekend of October 24-25 at the Phoenix Convention Center. Though this event was not as big as others I have attended, that’s not all bad. The “super events” are fun and energetic and energizing, but sometimes challenging when trying to have conversations with other attendees or with the sponsoring vendors. When you have less than 100 exhibitors it is good on one hand since you really CAN hit them all, but not so good if you want volume and not quality.
Kudos for also including educational programing into their agenda, and having that on day one which was strictly B2B, a common scenario these days. Joe Barnett, with The Vaping Militia spoke, along with myself and Michael Guasch, President of Molecule Labs, sharing some of the guidelines for this ISO compliance thing you hear about all the time. No question, the market is changing and the level of professionalism and expertise is very notable. This was a first time event for these promoters and I was honored to be part of their strategic direction which I hope they take into account with future shows.
Having an event in Phoenix in October is a smart move since it takes that long in the
Questions?: Norm@Vapementors.com. Were you there and have comments? Let me know.
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(Above and Left): Vendors from the show. (Below): Cindy and Richard Bergren, owners of a store in Casa Grande, Ariz.
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Kindred Mod with Stratos Tank all star drip tip Wonderland Corsets Shallot Lily necklace
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Raquel Pomplun started modeling when she was 13, took a break between 17 and 22 for school and also because her career “stopped growing.” When the time came around to transfer to a fouryear university, she didn’t have the funds. One of her coworkers suggested that she try out for Playboy Magazine, however she was married and thought it would be impossible. To her surprise, her husband was 100 percent supportive and excited for the idea. She submitted her pictures to Playboy.com and the next thing she knew, she was shooting her centerfold. She became Miss April 2012, and the following year she was crowned Playmate of the Year 2013.
Since then, Pomplun has worked non-stop in the entertainment industry—from Playboy to other print modeling; radio and television hosting; and acting and dancing as a member of the Playmate Dancers. She has several other projects in the works, and she has her own app, Raquel Pomplun App Powered by Top Fan. In addition, she is working on a mini web series, Infinity, where she has the lead role. Pomplun has never been a smoker, but her husband is a “huge” vaper who is trying to quit smoking, therefore turning her on to the industry. When she vapes, it is nicotinefree and contains sweet flavors. She cites vanilla as her favorite flavor, while her hus-
band always is up to trying new flavors. She loves the idea of vaping because it drives the smoking community to a healthier habit. “I love the idea that I can promote a healthier habit and still look ‘cool.’ Wasn’t that the way smoking was promoted, as cool?” she said. Hoping to make Santa’s “Nice List” this year, Pomplun joked that she is asking for world peace. She enjoys the festivities, decorating and getting together more than gifts. As for her New Year’s Resolution? She wants to land a big role in acting.
Origin Glas Mod Wonderland Corsets
Variant Mod Emil Sulaiman dress Wonderland Corsets neck piece
The Five Golden Rings promotion is our version of the golden ticket. In addition to the one limited edition frosted black bottle that ships with each barrel of Black Flag Fallen, be on the look out for one of the five golden rings suspended inside the dropper cap of five very special bottles. Stay tuned to our website for details and updates.
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Creative Director Jon Laverde @Jon_Laverde @VapeMagazine Model Raquel Pomplun @RPomplun #Pomplunation
Photography Ezra & Jen Zuniga @135fotografiks 135fotografiks.com Photographers’ Assistants Moises Pedraza Jeff Tafulu
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Missouri Organization Promotes Advocacy, Education By Alyssa Stahr When Gov. Jay Nixon vetoed Senate Bill 841 earlier this year, it sent the state of Missouri into a tailspin. The bill, in a nutshell, would prevent e-cigarettes from entering the hands of minors. It would offer incentives for smokers to make the switch to vaping, defining e-cigarettes as a category all on their own—as a non-tobacco product. Therefore, the bill prohibits sales of vapor products to minors and clarifies that vapor products are not subject to the same tax or regulation as analog cigarettes. Luckily, many groups such BRAVE are fighting for your rights as vapers. BRAVE is the Bistate Regional Advocates for Vaping Education, a not-for-profit organization that partners with state legislators in the greater Missouri Metro East area. A.J. Moll, vice president of media relations for BRAVE, wrote a letter to the editor of STLToday. com in September, stating that the governor was “reckless” to veto the bill. Since BRAVE is somewhat of a new organization with origins in St. Louis, St. Charles in particular, (it informally started in April of this year) Moll said that the need started to grow, therefore BRAVE quickly became a statewide group. “We have members throughout the state. We say bistate because we focus a little in Southern Illinois,” Moll said. Since Moll, who has been vaping for four years, works in a school, he gets the summers off. Therefore he had time to commit to BRAVE and everything that the organization stands for. While he is the “face” of the group, he said that there are many behind-thescenes people working hard to promote the cause. “There’s a need for it, and some people get into coil building and cloud competitions and I’m still rocking an eGo, but this is my part of the hobby. There is a lot of misinformation out there. My thing has been research; it’s an infatuation now to read every study there is,” he said. As for the governor’s veto, Moll said that Nixon “clearly has ties to pharma and to special interest and health groups like the cancer society.” “It was about getting tax money. You have to realize
Governor Nixon was the attorney general at the time, but the tobacco settlement came about and he helped negotiate that. In reality it is if people switch to vaping and we can’t tax it then we’re going to lose tax money from tobacco,” Moll said. Other issues in the state of Missouri according to Moll include a “big one” in Columbia, Mo. A councilwoman named Jenny Chadwick (Ward 1) wants to raise the age of tobacco sales to 21, and that includes e-cigarettes. “Tobacco 21 is coming to your city and your state, while making sure that nicotine patches and gum stay on the market, which is completely idiotic. It’s coming. That’s what we’re fighting right now in Columbia,” Moll said. While Moll would like to see light regulation, ingredient labeling and child safety caps come down from the FDA, he said that he thinks the FDA will regulate e-cigs along with analogs eventually. “That’s how the FDA is going to deem them, because nicotine is derived from tobacco. I like that the government has oversight, so yeah, I want to make sure that there’s no PEG in my juice and have good manufacturing practices,” he said. “We don’t want to see them tax the crap out of them and take everything off the market.” In addition to having quarterly meetings, Moll also would like BRAVE to start working with the division of alcohol and tobacco because vape store owners have never had to go through training before. In addition, he said that people need to pay more attention to local city councils, notes and agendas. “We want to provide information on what the law requires and some signage; we want to help people comply with the law and work with lawmakers—and be a little bit friendly,” he said. “A lot of people like to write nasty letters to lawmakers, and that’s not the course of action to take. We want to educate and make friends along the way.” For more information about BRAVE, visit mybraveaction.org.
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A Newbie’s
Instructional Guide for His or Her
Words and Photo by Susan Oser
First Big Vape Meet Going to your first big vape meet can be exciting, but also a bit overwhelming. You’re excited to meet those people you always chat with online, excited to do a bit of shopping, and look forward to the partying. Yet, you get this overwhelming suspicion that you might feel a bit lost in the crowd or that you won’t know what to do when you get there. Speaking from my first experience at a national event, this list should help other newbies to relax and have a good time. Hugs are going to be your greeting, especially if you’ve talked to a few people online for a long time and you get to see them in person. In fact, it almost feels as if you’ve known them forever. This time you’re actually getting face time with them.
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Make sure to add your screen name on your name tag (if you are chatting on vape shows). That’s how they first met you online and that’s how they will first know you. That way you won’t get the proverbial question of “And who are you?” Expect to encounter a lot of vape in the air. In fact, it can get pretty thick the more people there are. It is vitally important to step outside or walk away from the convention area for a while to breathe (and possibly get some stability back). Always have a drink handy and get something to eat. This includes water and then later on the alcohol when it comes to party time. The food to eat would be something greasy so your body can absorb some of the nicotine that you might absorb in your system (as well in the air). This also gives you a chance to sit down and socialize with other attendees.
Meet the vendors. On the first go-around get a feel for who’s there, what they have and their overall energy. If you feel comfortable with them or you enjoy their conversation, chances are you’ll be going back, sampling, and maybe buying something from them. In addition, if they are a first timer like you, you have the perfect ice breaker to talk to them about their business, their products and other topics. Who knows? You could get a sponsor out of it and then some. This is where you want to network hard. If you are host and it’s your first time, expect at least one other person to recognize you. They might come up to you and say something like, “You don’t know me but I’m so and so,” or “Don’t I know you from somewhere,” etc. Don’t freak out about it. It’s actually kind of a cool thing to be recognized. If you are not a host or someone in the industry, but you recognize one, don’t be afraid to go up and introduce yourself. A host or someone who is well-known in the community is just like you: a human being. You could either sit in on a conversation of interest or just go up to them and say hello. If you still feel intimidated, don’t be afraid to ask someone to introduce you. If there is someone covering for a vape show, channel or magazine, make sure to have a conversation with him or her and tell them about your experience. If not, he or she might come up to you and strike up a conversation. It’s great to talk about your experiences and observations with others. This is especially true if you are enjoying the event and you know the event organizers. Let them know they are doing a good job because they have truly worked hard to put the event together. If you stay overnight at the hotel, hang out with the group(s) that you want to get to know better. This is the time where everyone’s game face is taken off. In addition, it’s a great bonding experience and a great time to reflect on the day. Share a drink or a vape or two. It’s one of the best times at an event because you can wind down with good people.
Expect not to get any sleep. This seems to be protocol at vape conventions. That’s because this is a weekend getaway for most vendors and attendees. So not only do you work hard, but you play hard too. If you do get any sleep, expect it be a couple hours just before the free breakfast bar opens at 6 a.m. or so. If you dare, you can always stay up until you have breakfast and then get a couple hours sleep before festivities begin again. When they start throwing out the free stuff, heads up. You might get banged up a bit if you’re not careful. If you don’t want to be a part of the chaos, stand aside and watch others have fun (and take pictures). People love free stuff, and they love it even more when its thrown at them at random. Speaking of pictures, take lots of them! They are great memories to share and talk about with your friends and others you know. Share them in your Facebook groups, vaping sites you use, Tumblr, whatever. If you’re able to make videos, do that too because they will help give those who were not able to attend an idea of what the event was like and perhaps want to get psyched for the next one they are planning to attend or at least want to attend. Con crud will happen. This is another staple of VapeCon. It’s basically a cold (small or big) that can last you for at least a week or so. It’s generally caused by a combination of sharing mods (without vape condoms), sharing drinks and a lack of sleep. Take care of yourself and rest well. Most importantly, remember to be yourself. If there is one commonality we all have, it’s vaping. It doesn’t matter what walk of life you come from. If you vape, support vaping, or want to get someone into vaping, you’re a part of the community. Thus, why try to be someone that you’re not? Just go out there and have fun! I hope this list has helped you out. If you have other ideas that were not listed on here but would like to share them with me, contact me at angelwritercreations@gmail.com. Who knows? The list could be revised for a future issue. Susan E. Oser aka Angelwriterspeaks is a host on Monday nights on Vapenet (http:// http://vapenet.com/) and a VAPE contributor. For her day job she is an online tutor and part-time freelance writer. She is a passionate activist for vaping rights. Find her at http://www.angelwriterspeaks.com, http://twitter.com/angelwriter78 and https://www.facebook.com/Angelwriterspeaks?ref=hl. If you wish to contact her directly you can do so at: angelwritercreations@gmail.com.
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VapeXpo Michigan
Raises Money for a Great Cause Words and Photos by Susan Oser
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VapeXpo 2014 was held in Ann Arbor, Mich. at the Clarion Hotel and Conference Center on Oct. 3 and 4. It was one of neither the smaller big conventions that you’d find normally that didn’t have any cloud competitions nor the fancy effects one might find at a bigger convention. Instead, this one focused on networking, hanging out and most importantly raising money for the Vaping Militia. One of the major highlights included what one of the organizers (known as PuterGeek on vapenet) “Rainforest Expo.” That was because on Friday morning, it was not only raining outside in Ann Arbor, but also inside. On both days, the fire alarms went off 27 minutes into the event on Friday and 20 minutes into the event on Saturday. Truth be told, it was estimated that these were records for any fire alarm to go off at an event in the shortest about of time. Interestingly, and after talking to the organizers during one of the late nights of the event, the hotel staff didn’t get angry but apologized and made sure that the fire alarms were in testing mode (even if they went off every hour or so). In fact, they were pretty cool about it. The rest of the hotel staff from a member of the cleaning crew to the bartenders were very professional and very friendly to all attendees.
The family from MiDrops When it came to the auctions (where most of the money was raised for the Vaping Militia), energy and spirits were pretty high. At the beginning, several members of the Vaping Militia stood up to stress the importance of being a member and involvement in the cause for vapers’ rights. In fact, one member (also the owner of Tarot Labs) who goes by the handle Metroicon, stood up asking for help in supporting Michigan in their fight against the 35 percent sin tax against e-cigarettes (which has since been tabled until next spring). Various items went up for auction, such as full juice lines, Vaping Militia T-shirts and mods. One of the biggest items up for auction raised at least 900 dollars. This was for a ZNA 30 with a VapeXpo 2014 engraving on it. That was just during the first night. On the second night, the same spirit was there, but it also was obvious that the crowd was mostly broke and exhausted from the day’s events. Even so, money was raised for juice, mods, a picture with the members of Vaping Militia and even a twerk by head organizer VapingMarcy. More than $6,000 was raised between the two nights.
The Mr. Eliquid Crew Mr. Zen himself spent a bulk of the money during both nights of the auction. From sitting with him at breakfast and observing the money he spent, it was obvious how much he believed in the Vaping Militia and the event itself. In fact, he wrote nice blog entry on his website where he stated that “VapeXpo was the last of the dying breed of true vape meets.” He also gave a presentation on battery safety that inspired a few first timers to get a new battery charger after it was all over. As far as attendance, between the two days 3,157 people went through the doors. There also were many first-time vendors too, including The Refuge Vapors, MiDrops, Hexacoiler, Tarot Labs and Boosted Vapors (to name a few). From talking with each vendor, they genuinely seemed to enjoy themselves and a few of them were doing some great business, as well as making great connections. There also were some well-known names that were returnees such as Joost Vapors and Mr. Eliquid. As a first timer, this is a great event to go to. It is sensory overload, and at times you might need to go outside for a breath of fresh air or back to your hotel room to decompress. At the same time, it’s a great opportunity to try new products, meet the hosts and chatters of various vape networks, get loads of swag and free stuff, and also (and most importantly) network. If you’re lucky enough to stay a night or two at the venue, it’s the best way to really chill out, reflect on the day’s events and also to get to know a few people just a little bit better. Until next year ...
(left to right) Fred SamIam71, Ian Bird Friedman, Sharon, Art “TruckCentral” Barker, Zen, Jim Raines For more infomation, visit http://www.vapexpo.com/ or https://www.facebook.com/events/1424251671191434/.
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E-Cig Las Vegas: An Event Unlike Any You Have Attended Words and Photo By Norm Bour It’s called “E-Cig Vegas” and it took place on Sept. 24-25 at the Flamingo Hotel in, of course, Las Vegas. Guaranteed it was like nothing you have ever been to, since it is like nothing I have ever been to, and I have attended countless workshops. Napoleon Hill in his landmark book, “Think and Grow Rich,” shared the concepts of “MasterMinds,” where like-minded people meet and discuss openly everything that causes them challenges. That is what E-Cig Las Vegas was, but exponentially greater due to the size of the crowd. This was not a Fest, there was not a tat or piercing or cheek hanging out of too-short shorts to be seen; it was instead comprised of industry insiders. All the major advocacy groups were there, including SFATA, CASAA and AIMSA, plus reps from RJ Vapors showing off their new VUSE line, along with Big Tobacco as well. Though there were fewer than 100 persons in attendance, some came from overseas and the event promoter, International Quality and Productivity Center (IQPC) with offices worldwide, is serious about what they do and have been since 1989. They conduct events like this in various fields including automotive, defense, energy, legal, healthcare and the list goes on and on. The only reason it’s worth mentioning is that this event is focused, serious and results driven, which I highly value. This organization is like a Think Tank, and it came as no surprise that the results over two days proved that out. Some of the things discussed included the FDA, and the conclusion was the same reached by many, and that is, there is no conclusion and there will not be any for a while. Consider ourselves lucky that we have just one major organization to deal with, while Europe has different organizations for every country, which in many cases are smaller than our states. We think we have it bad? Imagine every state had different laws and rules. Well, now that we look at it that way, we are in similar boats, and one without any wind in any direction other than forward based on economics and demand.
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Some of the topics discussed include: • Ingredient listings and health warnings—How would this work in practice? • Compliance costs for manufacturers—What impact will this have on the consumer? • E-cig safety, nicotine addiction and smoking cessation—What we know now and what we need to know. • Behavioral data to draw conclusions on patterns of use. • The gateway issue— research and responsibility. • Where will the rulemaking on flavoring in e-cigarettes land? • If it’s legal, we’ll do it!—the current approach to marketing and the potential ramifications of a lack of regulation. • Mergers and acquisitions and consolidation in e-cigarettes— an inevitable future? • Dealing with the import issue—licensing, taxes, supply chain control and product scrutiny. • Improving the safety features of e-cigarettes— elements, materials and use. After two days of this you can be sure that some strategic conversations, alignments and partnerships resulted, and even though this was on a larger stage, this is a concept for you to consider on your stage as well. Personally I was honored to be one of the speakers, covering the paradigm shift within Smoke Shows and changing demographics, and I hope to attend more of their events. They have an aggressive schedule of nine events worldwide next year, so keep watching these pages for updates. For more information, contact Norm@Vapementors.com.
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Southern California continued its ongoing command of vaping events with VapeCon, 2014, held at the Ontario Convention Center on Halloween day and the weekend of Nov. 1-2. Just two months earlier the convention center held the largest event ever, ECC 2014, with an estimated attendance of 25,000 people. Though not as large as some events and larger than many, it was loud, smoky and typical of what I define as a “Fest,” which is a party looking for a reason and a place to happen. With about 100 vendors and thousands of attendees, VapeCon did something commendable and indicative of what I see happening more often: creating a stronger focus on the B2B market. With many of these events that include the public, trying to get business done is challenging due to noise, crowds and distracting conversations. VapeCon held B2B only sessions the first day afternoon until opening the doors to the public at 5 p.m and going until 10 p.m. The following day on
Saturday the B2B started at 9 a.m. (seemingly too early for some vendors that were MIA) and going until noon when the throng swarmed into the room, and that was the end of any meaningful conversations. The promoters of this event have a good track record so far and have several more VapeCon events planned from Hawaii to Seattle and all the way to the East coast including Orlando and North Carolina. The Vape Space event world is growing and maturing like the rest of the industry. The professionals are appearing—or learning from their mistakes—and in 2015 we will have a full slate of events nationwide. How do you pick the best ones to attend? Let us know your thoughts and we will continue to share ours. Questions?: Norm@Vapementors.com. Were you there and have comments? Let me know.
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By Alyssa Stahr Photos by Kevin Skipper The Vaping Convention Circuit headed south in early October for VCCTN, a free convention with donations taken to raise money for vaping advocacy. There were 90 media and advocacy groups on hand, with approximately 4,500 attendees walking through the doors of the two-day event.
(Left to right) Phil Busardo, the VapinGreek and Joe Barnett from the Vaping Militia have a great time at VCCTN.
What perhaps set VCCTN apart the most was that Innokin took part in the first ever sponsored forum for advocacy, which featured dinner and a talk. About 100 vendors and owners attended the summit. “We got in touch with Innokin, and they were more than happy to sponsor something to go for tobacco harm reduction,” said Kevin Skipper, creator of the Vaping Convention Circuit. “I think the whole theme we’re going to improve upon in Tampa. (The next convention on the circuit.) It will be similar but we will have more time to make Tampa better. We are going to have the second industry advocacy summit at VCCT.”
Members of the advocacy panel ready for the first VCC Summit, sponsored by Innokin.
Other highlights of VCCTN included battery safety and rebuilding classes on Saturday afternoon on the vape main stage. Attendees could ask questions and receive general information. “Those went over well. This is the third VCC event, and I’ve put in a lot of hours. All that planning pays off with VCC events, and they’ve been very smooth. Nothing major or even minor went wrong; everyone seemed happy. Probably half of the vendors signed up for Tampa before the event was over, so that’s a great vote of confidence for the VCC event.”
Part of the vendor tear down.
Mods obviously were a trend at the show, which Skipper said was attended by vapers who are a “trendy subset” of the culture.
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Boxed mods and devices in particular garnered the most interest, along with custom mods. “Of course e-liquid manufacturers were there to show their product to consumers,” Skipper said. “E-liquid … it just seems like its quality is increasing exponentially. The quality is getting better and better at every show.” In trying to think of a unique idea to get people to visit advocacy groups who are all in a row of booths, Skipper turned to a follower’s advice who suggested VCC does a passport system where stamps were collected at each booth attended. Once the passport book was filled, the attendee was entered to win a custom Poldiac mod with 2014 engraved on the side along with other prizes. “Another company donated six flagship mods and Azure Vaping donated dripping liquids. We probably had 50 to 100 entrants from people who went around and talking to advocacy groups. We’re definitely going to be repeating that in Tampa,” Skipper said. Another charity portion of the show raised about $3,600, with a $25 donation at the door and Phil Busardo DJ’ing the event. In addition, Skipper said he couldn’t have done the convention without the help of his many volunteers, which included friends and family. “We divided the money between the groups and did a presentation on the stage, so it worked out pretty well. We’re really appreciative of Phil for doing that—he hadn’t DJ’d in about five to seven years, and he did a great job,” Skipper said. “I feel like shows are focusing more on advocacy this year, which I love. That’s been VCC’s goal from day one. We want to bring conventions to people who can’t travel maybe to Vegas or Los Angeles, and we want to educate them and get them involved in advocacy as well.” Vaping Convention Circuit was started in 2013 by Kevin Skipper with the purpose of educating the general public as to the benefits of e-cigarettes as nicotine delivery devices as compared to traditional tobacco products, as well as exposing the public and other vendors to the variety of quality products available to vapers. For more information, visit http://www.vapingcc.com/event/vcctn2014/.
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Selfie of Kevin Skipper. This picture defines the VCC event and why they do what they do.
The VapinGreek (left) and Eric Peterson, president of TSFA, show off cigarettes thrown away by smokers. Any who threw them out got a free starter kit.
Show attendees walk the hallway before entering the show floor.
Part of the vendor tear down.
Words and photos by Jenee Fowler VaperCon holds a special place in my heart. A big part of my journey started a year ago at this very event. It was my first time at a real convention, and no one that has followed, no matter the size, has come close to making me feel the way this one does. What’s so different about this convention? Let’s start with the venue. The Clarion Hotel in Richmond, Va. is the site of VaperCon each year. It is not the most modern hotel, but what they lack in amenities, they make up for in attitude.
The front desk clerk was friendly while he checked us in, letting us know it was perfectly fine to vape in our rooms. When I had a rewicking emergency later that weekend, the restaurant staff was happy to let me trot off with their scissors for as long as I needed them. The main ballroom is small, but despite good attendance this year, didn’t seem as crowded as years past. Maybe it’s because of how many vapers found there way to smaller, more intimate groups. Or maybe it’s because I opted for those intimate groups more often than not over the weekend.
The hotel bar was filled with little groups of vapers (no surprises there) as well as the diner across the street. Both locations offered vaping friendly areas. The only two places where vaping was not permitted were directly in front of the front desk and in half the diner across the street (which has awesome gluten-free options). Vaping was allowed in the guest rooms, (otherwise we would have all gone outdoors, of course) which made it very easy to look past the flaws in décor (maybe because the rooms were so vapey). Compared to other conventions that have been riddled with smoke alarms, threatening letters, hostile staff and the occasional annoyed fire marshal, VaperCon’s chosen hotel is a hit. The costume contest is always the highlight of the con for me. I rocked my best Tank Girl impersonation, but the competition was stiff. Not as many people participated, but those who did brought their A game. Mario, Luigi and Princess Peach won first place taking home a list of prizes too extensive to mention. It’s no wonder that so many vapers stayed up most of the night afterward for more shenanigans. Even with the “Men of Vaping” strutting their stuff boisterously down the halls at all hours of the morning, no one raised a complaint. A thoroughly good time was had by many, but likely remembered by fewer.
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By the time someone dumped garbage and liquid all over the ballroom we’d been using for the weekend, it was time to go home. I offered to help, but was refused. There were only two men, cleaning a mountain of garbage, but neither of them had anything bad to say about us. When directly asked, the gentleman cleaning expressed confusion. Why would we do this? One theory on the incredibly relaxed attitude is that they rent the hotel only to vapers for the weekend, so the usual cloud fear is nonexistent. No one is there to complain about vape rolling out of an elevator or heartfelt laughter between old friends at 3 a.m. No one is making those silly waving gestures in front of their faces while pretending to die of second-hand vape poisoning either. It’s liberating. As I took the winding and beautiful roads out of Virginia, I couldn’t help but feel nostalgia. Where I live, vaping is already banned anywhere smoking is. This little escape each year becomes more and more special, because it is a dying breed. It’s like a magic portal, open one weekend a year, that gives a glance into vaping’s more lax history. Hopefully we won’t destroy our own sanctuary.
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Photo by Maria Verven
CROWD CHASERS: How to Blow Up in the Vape Space
What’s In a Name? What’s in a vape business name?
carry huge weight with Google when your potential customer is searching for a store close to their home or work.
Everything. Most of us rarely get past the big print. We don’t read; we scan. If a name or a headline catches our attention, we might read a little further. But only if it intrigues.
Most vape space businesses don’t have a tagline, and the headings on their websites lack pizzazz, not to mention the fact that they’re not gaining any favor to Google.
The name of your e-cigarette shop, e-liquid business or any type of business is uber-important. It can intimidate or intrigue. It can confuse—or it can actually convey something.
Keep in mind that playing the Google game means you have to use keywords such as “vape shop,” or “e-liquid” in your headings and in the content on your page. A heading that says “Welcome to ...” wastes valuable space on filler words rather than keywords.
It can convey that you sell e-cigs and supplies at bargain prices, such as DiscountVapers, PennyVaper or Vapor Outlet. Make sure your prices are truly better than the vape shop down the street, or your customer may walk out the door. Words like “Barn,” “Bonanza,” “Everything,” “Galleria,” “One-Stop,” or “Super” imply you have a gigantic selection of products, and customers may also infer that you offer bargain prices. Don’t use these kinds of words if you have a small shop with a limited selection or you’ll disappoint your customer. Your name can convey that you sell classic, high quality products, such as The Vintage Vape, Vintage Vapours or Speakeasy Vaporium. The word “vintage” is ironic, since most of the products are brand new. However, your vape shop décor definitely can look vintage or old-fashioned by using old wooden boards in the display cases, chandeliers, vintage posters and so forth.
Good taglines clearly communicate what makes you unique and different from others in the vape space. MadVapes’ tagline states “The Web’s Largest and Most Popular Vape Shop Since 2009” which helps establish its position of authority and longevity. Businesses that don’t have a tagline are missing a key opportunity. For example, what if Speakeasy Vaporium included a tagline such as “Vaping Made Easy” or “We Speak the Language of Vaping?” Just those few simple words would convey a powerful message to their potential customers.
Names that include “Lounge,” “Den” or even “Emporium” convey that you offer a comfortable ambiance where people can hang out and vape for a while. Make sure you have some comfy couches, a tasting bar and are okay with longterm vaping “guests.”
Remember, the name of your business and your tagline is critical. Make sure your brand name and tagline match the experience you’re creating for your customers.
Use Place Names and Taglines with Keywords
Maria Verven is a marketing expert and owner of Verve P.R. and Vaping Vamps.
Your name also can include the name of your city or town, which is an excellent choice for one great reason: it’s an excellent SEO (Search Engine Optimization) play that will
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Since a name is so short, a tagline often can help clarify what differentiates your brand from the glut of other brands on the market. Think through this tagline as carefully as you thought through the name of your brand.
And it can open the door to a whole new cadre of vapers.
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left and right. Everyone was doing it: from young adults to people who have been smoking cigarettes for 40 plus years, to even people who never picked up a cigarette in his or her life. It became the new “in” thing.
Words and Photos by Kyle Gault I live on the tiny island of Guam. It is a U.S. Territory, like Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and American Samoa. Guam is located in the Western Pacific, a couple thousand miles east of the Philippines. We are known as “Chamorros,” and, no, we do not live in huts and wear grass skirts all the time. These are typical questions people always ask when they first hear about this island. We live ordinary lives, nothing too different to the United States. We drive to work and pay bills and taxes, just like everyone else.
It is difficult to pinpoint when and where the first shop opened up. If you ask someone, you will always get a different answer. This is because people have been selling vaping goods through meets-ups, long before an actual lounge opened up. They would advertise through the social media sites, designate a meeting location, and then the transaction would occur. Sometimes, when the sellers would do this, they also would hang out and have a small vape session with their buyers. Sales like this, even though we have numerous lounges open, still happen. Some of the actual lounge shops started out as small booths or sold through meet-ups like this. Vaping has mixed in with our culture pretty well. People even started making Guam-based products. These products include mechanical mod designs, box mods and juice lines. These products would include designs that incorporate Guam-related symbols. One of these symbols is called a
We do enjoy the luxury of beautiful beaches with warm waters and the most beautiful sunsets you will ever see in your life. Along with our ordinary lives, our island has a pretty large vaping community with a range of shops, social media, booths and even people who do meet-ups. I remember the first time I ever saw a vape. I was with my best friend waiting for something at his work. We both smoked cigarettes at the time, so we decided to go to the section designated for smokers. Another employee of the business decided to join us. Instead of smoking a cigarette, though, he pulled out what to me was the weirdest thing I had ever seen. It looked like some robot thing you see in a movie. It was a mechanical mod and a tank. I was so curious; I just had to try it. I do not recall what the mod or tank was, but I remember the juice was a bright green color. It looked like some kind of chemical. It was so different; the taste was delicious. The taste was so realistic, coming out of the vapor. I remember the flavor was apple. This incident happened to me in 2011, but it was not until 2013 that vaping hit Guam hard. Next thing you know, shops are opening up
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“latte stone.” A latte is a pillar of stone that has a bowlshaped capstone. They were used by ancient Chamorros as supports for their houses, meeting, centers and canoe huts. We, the locals of Guam, are a very prideful people. There are a lot of symbols, such as the latte stone, that represent us and which we include in many of our designs. We like to flaunt the fact that we are from Guam. Making local products that have our home designs is just another interesting way to represent our island. With the abundance of resources, it is easy to get your hand on any of your vaping needs. This makes getting into vaping quite easy. A lot of people, like me, have put smoking cigarettes behind them and started living the vaping life. This is, in a way, astounding. A lot of
people do not like changing their habits and ways of life, especially the older people. They look at things the younger generation does and they shun them, simply because they are so used to the way they live and are suspicious of the things that threaten to alter their way of living. This did not happen to vaping. People looked at vaping and thought it was something so awesome. Quickly, it shot up from something no one knew about to something very much intertwined in our culture.
people who look down on it, thinking it is no better than cigarette smoking. I am sure it is like that everywhere vaping is popular. People do not realize that vaping is a much healthier alternative to smoking. Although we do have those few non-believers, vaping is still a very big part of our community, and it is a big contributor to healthier people, not just on our island, but everywhere else.
Finally, something so great has become tremendously popular on this island. Of course there have been a few
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I’m huge on giving people information and urging everyone to make the switch. This is a movement and I intend to put forth as much effort as possible to make it happen!
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I started vaping in December 2013. I started out with a Tsunami G Class pen style. I smoked about a pack to a pack and a half of Newport 100’s for five years. My last cigarette was on Jan. 3, 2014. I used the Tsunami for about three days and then jumped right into a mech mod. My first was a Magneto by Smok. I then learned how to build my own coils. My first wrap was dual nano dragon coils. They read at a .4 sub ohm. I then found a listing on Craigslist for a job at a vape shop that was soon to open in Madison, Wis. I did a four-day training in Minneapolis to learn the ins and outs of e-cigs. I now currently work at the vape shop. It’s called Infinite Vapor. I absolutely love it because we are in this for a movement—the movement of kicking the habit. I love that I get to help people help their health. I currently now use a brass Chiyou with a trident RDA and on back-up I have a Valkyrie hybrid mod. My choice of vape is probably a juice from Hells Vapors, which is the juice company owned by Infinite Vapor. It’s called champagne rose. Also I dabble in mixing my own as well because I like a higher VG mixture for dripping. My favorite house made juices are strawberry, banana, peanut butter and cheesecake. That is my ADV. I’m huge on giving people information and urging everyone to make the switch. This is a movement and I intend to put forth as much effort as possible to make it happen!
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By Alyssa Stahr / Photo courtesy of Gregory Conley The American Vaping Association is a nonprofit organization that advocates for the vaping and electronic cigarette industry. Gregory Conley, president of the organization, is dedicated to educating the public and government about vapor products and their benefits. A former volunteer legislative director for CASAA, Conley travels the country giving testimony before legislative bodies. In addition, he contributes pieces to national media outlets regarding vaping advocacy. Conley, who has a J.D. and master of business administration from Rutgers University, spoke to VAPE while at VaperCon in Richmond, Va. about the struggle to quit smoking, his love of helping people and why the industry needs to support advocacy efforts. VAPE: I read that you quit smoking in 2010 after picking up an e-cig. Can you describe your struggle to quit smoking and the feeling of trying out the e-cig? Conley: I had tried and failed to quit with e-cigs in the winter of 2009 because the technology was so terrible. Even though e-cigs hadn’t worked for me, I knew this technology was going to change the world and save lives, so I kept following it. Once I found out that the products had improved, I purchased a second starter kit in August 2010, and on day one I stopped smoking and never looked back.
As far as legislation goes, it’s quiet—as quiet as it gets in this industry. I’m working on the New York City flavor ban, the Philadelphia e-cig tax and the Michigan e-cig tax—and pretty much trying to organize people for 2015 to fight back against forthcoming anti e-cig legislation. VAPE: When will we finally be able to officially say that vaping and e-cigarettes is a smoking cessation product? Conley: You and I can say whatever we want. But manufacturers can’t label their products for quitting smoking or smoking cessation. It’s perfectly fine to encourage people to “switch.” You’re not telling them to quit nicotine, you’re just telling them to switch their nicotine source. However, there is little value in e-cigarettes becoming a smoking cessation product. If you want e-cigarettes to become as ineffective and boring as the Nicorette Inhaler, a good way to do so is to medicalize them.
VAPE: What’s your vape of choice right now? Conley: I have a Provari that I’ve used for a year and a half. I frequently switch liquids, but I usually go with something with watermelon.
VAPE: What is the ideal situation within regulations that you would like to have happen? Conley: Leaving e-cigarettes unregulated is far preferable and will do far less damage to public health than the proposed deeming regulation will. Ideally the FDA would put out a second draft of their deeming regulations or Congress would pass a bill to create a comprehensive regulatory policy that recognizes that innovative nicotine products are absolutely necessary to bringing down America’s smoking rate.
VAPE: How did this line of work with tobacco harm reduction in particular become so near and dear to your heart? Conley: Essentially I like to fight a little bit and I like to help people. I was going to be a special ed teacher before I decided to go to law school. Back in October 2010, I was on E-Cigarette Forum and reading the legislative news feed because I’m a nerd. I saw Seattle and New York working on their bans, and I just jumped in and started helping vapers organize and prepare testimony. By January I had hooked up with CASAA and I became a board member.
VAPE: What is the best way for vapers and business owners to get involved? Conley: I highly encourage all vapers to sign up at CASAA.org and for vendors to join either SFATA or the AVA. If there is something at the state or federal level to get in involved in, do it. Every vendor that has been in the business for nine months or so or has likely reached profitability and should be supporting one of the industry organizations. We’re fighting against so many forces that we need people in this industry to support advocacy efforts for both consumers and industry.
VAPE: How is your work going with the Heartland Institute? (Conley joined the Heartland Institute in Feb. 2014 as a tobacco and nicotine policy and regulation research fellow.) Conley: Heartland is great. They are longtime defenders of tobacco harm reduction and their support allows me to do a lot of great things, both under the Heartland banner and as Gregory Conley the independent advocate.
VAPE: How does it feel on a personal level to go from being a smoker to now one of the major advocates for tobacco harm reduction in your field? Conley: I never expected this to turn into a full-time job, but I love it regardless. I did this work as a volunteer for three years and I was going to quit last year to take a state government job. By the time your readers see this, it will have been a year since I decided to see if I could make a living doing this work. Thankfully, things have panned out well and I’m very happy with my spot in life and in this industry.
VAPE: What are some of the other big issues you are working on? Conley: A week and a half ago I was in New Mexico to testify in Santa Fe, and I put up a piece on vaping.com about that. One of the committee chairpersons, Rep. Liz Thompson, was completely disrespectful to myself and other advocates there. She pretty much indicated that
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she wanted to ban usage, tax e-cigarettes and restrict flavors, and pretty much painted the entire vapor industry as being a part of Big Tobacco. After the hearing, I found out she is in one of the tightest races in New Mexico, so I’ve spent time in my individual capacity raising money for her opponent. Now I’m at VaperCon, and after this I am traveling back to New Mexico to volunteer for her opponent.
For more information about the American Vaping Association, visit http://vaping.info/.
Words and Photos by Steffanie Atkins Clouds filled the air at VaperCon East in Richmond, Va. this October. This con is unlike any other vapor convention you may have visited. With only 30 vendors, VaperCon boasts an environment where vapers of all skill levels come together to learn and share ideas. Michael Thomas, a volunteer at the event, said that the event isn’t a trade show like normal conventions. VaperCon aims to allow for interconnectivity in
the vaping community. He said that he gets a thrill when he sees old-school vapers connect and interact with the newcomers, showing them the tricks of the trade. This con allowed for more vapers to come together and hang out, as opposed to just making purchases and leaving. There were dozens of tables spread out around the Clarion Hotel with vapers sitting and sharing at each table. They shared e-liquids, ideas on coil rebuilds and their passion for the art of vaping. Luciano Manente, organizer of the event, said that the experience is “what you see going on in the middle, people getting together, people speaking to each other online all year long and having a chance to meet face to face.” In addition, there was a costume contest on the second night to encourage more time for vapers to interact with each other on a personal level. Many of the attendees have become friends over social media, over many states, and this is one of the few times during the year they can actually sit down, interact in person and have a good time.
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Missing from the con were many local vendors. There is a three-year waiting period to become a vendor at VaperCon East (also known as VaperCon 5). Manente said that they give the vendors that have been on board since day one the first option to vend at VaperCon. He said if for any reason those vendors decline, they can bring new ones in. Some local vendors had expressed issues with this policy in online vaping forums, but Manente feels that those that have been supportive of his goal from the beginning and are still willing to participate should be the ones involved. The local vendor scene was not completely missing as tables were littered with advertisements for local shops in the area, some offering discounts to those who brought their VaperCon credentials. As VaperCon continues to grow, there has been some speculation of the event being moved to a larger venue. However, Manente hopes to keep the event at the Clarion. He said they are able to rent the entire hotel and the fire marshall turns off the smoke detectors and alarms for the event. “It’s hard to give up on a spot that supports you fully,” said Manente. The venue allows for vaping in the entire hotel, which is a benefit that other hotels and cons are not privy to. There are no other guests in the hotel during the time VaperCon is going on, which also gives a community feel to the con. Many vapers flew in from other parts of the country or made several hour drives for the event. Michael Johnson and Will Smith drove from Camp Lejune in North Carolina to take part in their first vaping convention ever. They both said they enjoyed the con because many of the people involved had a lot in common with Michael Johnson (left) and Will Smith them, and they were easier to talk to and get information from. And after all, that was the purpose of this convention, to bring vapers together, old and new, and to learn and share experiences.
E-Liquids Claiming Larger Market Share:
Cigarette Bonds Head for Default Faster Decline in Tobacco Usage Than Expected Unfortunately for investors, while many are making positive health choices by giving up their bad habits, the bonds are headed for default. The majority is expected to reach that point within the next decade. Though projections were expecting a two or even a three percent drop in consumption, the annual decline has been closer to 3.5 percent on average. Last year, the drop was 4.9 percent, the highest level of decline since the excise tax was passed in 2009.
By Jason Youk, CMO of VapeLuxury.com
In the past, the analysts blamed the banning of smoking in public facilities and the excise taxes for declined consumption, but the rapid decrease suggests that other factors are at play.
There is a downward trend within a portion of the investment market that has some celebrating, while other nervously cling to dreams of proper payout. Outstanding tobacco bonds are looking more than a little volatile as smokers drop their bad habit in record numbers. Many are suggesting that the growth of the e-liquids market is partially at fault.
Anti-Smoking Ads Certainly part of the decline could be blamed on government agencies’ efforts to spread the word about the dangers of smoking. The television ads of recent years are rather explicit in their attempts to showcase the true disfigurement that can occur after years of smoking. Among those is this video, issued by the CDC.
How Tobacco Bonds Work In 1998, the tobacco companies and state government agencies finally saw eye-to-eye, creating the Master Settlement Agreement (http://publichealthlawcenter.org/topics/tobacco-control/ tobacco-control-litigation/master-settlement-agreement). This is now, informally, referred to as the MSA and has resulted in 16 years of payments made from tobacco companies to 46 U.S. states. These payments are not fixed, but vary depending annual tobacco shipments. The states also receive a cut depending on their respective populations.
Video URL: http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/campaign/tips/resources/videos/brett-videos.html#brett
In order to get that money faster, many governments arranged the sale of bonds with appealing rates of return. The investors willing to put up sums upfront were rewarded with annual paybacks, as the tobacco funds arrived. Trouble arose when the tobacco shipments declined and the payments coming in did as well. Rapid Growth in E-Cig Market Though the government did expect a slight decline in tobacco usage over time, the drop has been nearly twice what was predicted. Many people feel that the soaring success of vaporizers and e-liquid flavors are the cause of the more drastic drop in tobacco usage. The ability to get the nicotine in a similar fashion, but without the toxins and within public establishments is a definite draw for many smokers. Though the sales remain miniscule when compared to those of traditional cigarettes, there were 2.2 billion dollars’ worth of e-cigarettes and paraphernalia last year. Some analysts believe that this niche could claim more than half of the total market within 10 years. Reuters was among the first to report the possible merger between two tobacco giants, Reynolds American Inc. and Lorillard Inc. What’s the attraction for Reynolds? Many believe that the deal has much to do with Lorillard’s ownership of Blu e-cigarettes. Lorillard bought the leading e-cig brand for $135 million a couple of years ago.
Growing Vaporizer Trend The drop of nearly five percent last year can be, in part, attributed to the growing popularity of e-liquids. In 2013, United States citizens bought nearly a billion fewer cigarettes than the year before, yet sales of e-cigarettes doubled in that same time. By current estimates, cigarette sales could decrease by nearly 70 percent by 2024, while e-cig sales are expected to reach more than five million units by that date. States Getting Themselves into a Bind The states were not truly acting irresponsibly, but at the same time, many investors will be feeling a bit uneasy about now. Even more frustrating for millions is the fact that the states have not done with the money as they had proposed. The entire purpose for the payments was to help cover some of the expense attributed to the use of tobacco, such as medical expenses. However, of the $100 billion paid out thus far, less than 15 percent has been used for such reasons. Now states are forced to seek funds from elsewhere as tobacco payments come up short of what is owed to investors. New Jersey has already withdrawn $12.5 million and it is expected that Ohio will pull more than twice that from reserves. What This Means for Bond Holders The big attraction to the tobacco bonds was the high rate of return promised. According to the Standard and Poor’s Index, they matured at 6.24 percent as compared to the 2.9 percent earned on general muni bonds. However, Moody’s now is suggesting that as many as 80 percent of them are headed for default. Should the decline in tobacco consumption reach rates of six or seven percent in the coming years, the defaults could occur much sooner. The first cases could be as soon as 2019.
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Protection Racket By Dave Cross
You are stupid, weak and unable to look after yourself. Worse, we are all setting a really poor example to my children; my children who blindly copy everything they see due to their CTRL-C and CTRL-V genes. But what’s that sound? Can you hear it? Far away someone is making a stentorian exclamation: “Someone ought to do something!” Step forward the Pennsylvania Medical Society (PMS), a professional association for the state’s physicians, residents, fellows, medical students and practice administrators. A professional association dedicated to saving the world from itself. Huzzah for PMS!
I know what you’re thinking: “Dick,” you are saying. “Dick, don’t you think that people have minds of their own? Do they really need the PMS to censor on their behalf?” Jacob Sullum explains why the over-parenting style of public health policy making is bad. Writing in his recent Forbes column he said: “This argument (for regulation), although couched in the language of moderate and sensible regulation, should be a non-starter in a free society, because it reduces adults to the level of children.” The United States isn’t alone in having vocal authority figures adopting the role of a patronizing nanny.
*Before continuing, it is important that you are aware of the possible symptoms when suffering from the PMS: you may suffer from emotional responses, such as depression, mood swings and/or irritability. The headline in Physicians News read: “Doctors Want Hollywood to Cancel E-Cigs.” I know what your immediate reaction is because I had it too—but don’t worry, I’ve checked it out and Nicolas Cage isn’t due to star in it. In fact “E-Cigs” doesn’t refer to a film at all, the PMS are getting all tender and bloated about vaping. That said, if Hollywood does go ahead with my film idea I want to see John Goodman as Phil Busardo, Ice-T as a cuddlier version of Vaping with twisted420 and Sean Connery in a small shed in Scotland. Physicians News tells us: “The Pennsylvania Medical Society passed a resolution calling on the American Medical Association to lobby federal agencies to prohibit celebrity endorsements and product placement of electronic cigarettes.” Richard Bell, pulmonologist and PMS e-cig policy guy said: “Electronic cigarettes should not be on television or in the movies.” He did not comment on whether ‘E-Cig Policy Guy’ would appear in the next Avengers film.
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Within the U.K., the Health Minister for Northern Ireland (supported by the charity Northern Ireland Chest Heart and Stroke) is pushing for a range of bans and restrictions. The language is peppered with catchphrases like “we cannot confidently state,” “these products could act as” and “I want to ensure that our children and young people are protected.” Edwin Poots, the Health Minister for Northern Ireland, doesn’t need reference to science to support his position; he doesn’t have to read any of the research carried out by ASH UK, Professor Robert West or Doctor Konstantinos Farsalinos. Well, it would be odd if he did seeing as they would destroy his stance. Maybe it wouldn’t; Poots is a man who (in the face of overwhelming scientific evidence to the contrary) labors under the misapprehension that the earth is only 4,000 years old. Banning things under the guise of protecting children is becoming more fashionable than posting pictures of cats on Facebook. The European Parliament even wants to get rid of our high-powered British vacuum cleaners; it will protect our environment for our children apparently. Don’t get me wrong; I’m all for curbing the excesses of pointless cleaning. A close relation spends her free time removing bacteria from work surfaces and creating toilet bowls fit to eat out of. A waste of time, I believe, that could be better spent supporting bar owners and keeping football players in luxury cars. A reduced capacity vacuum cleaner would result in more time spent cleaning and no net benefit for tomorrow’s adults ... but then an easy nonworking policy always is preferable for politicians when compared to government investment in developing green energy sources. Did the alcohol ban work well during the Prohibition era? After a century of standing at English soccer stadia the authorities are on the verge of giving up on their efforts to force supporters to sit down. But hang on a minute, is there one among us who has not had an aspect of their lives ruined by Hollywood? I’m not just referring to the mental anguish of having watched Jack Black in a rom-com here. Maybe Dick Bell has a point; it is possible that people are easily led by what actors do. Did Harry Potter convince you to run into a train station wall?
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Do you get your kicks from crawling through human waste because of Andy Dufresne? I can’t be the only person waving a stick at callers to the house bellowing “You shall not pass!” Yes, upon reflection, we do need protecting from ourselves; cinema and television clearly have a lot to answer for having influenced all of us weak-willed individuals. Logically, we need to remove all potential harm from adults and children. Some doctors had mass murdering tendencies—the medical profession has to be banned. I know it isn’t all doctors and nurses but remember—we have to think of the children. You can’t nit-pick when it comes to child safety. Add on to that list every profession (especially politics), nature, blunt and sharp objects. In fact, if we are to save children, we ought to give serious consideration to banning families too. I am convinced that such measures would lead to a planet safe from evil vaping devices, Hollywood and the Pennsylvania Medical Society. Referring to the whole ‘gateway’ nonsense, Jacob Sullum concludes: “In other words, [they] are prepared to sacrifice the interests, and potentially the lives, of verifiably real adults for the sake of hypothetical teenagers. This is where the logic of regulating “for the children” leads. Attempts to childproof the world do not necessarily make kids any safer, but they always make adults less free.”
Dave Cross is a writer, biker, vaper, ever-more rotund punk and perpetual disappointment to his parents. According to his wife he is frequently wrong about most things. Follow Dave Cross on Twitter @MawsleyX.
from the juices we have, and that’s tough for us. You never want to release anything that’s not as good as you have, so Jared has spent a lot of time perfecting this flavor. (Hopper describes Boss Reserve as a hazelnutty/smoky flavor, hitting the market in 30 ml bottles.)
By Alyssa Stahr President of Cuttwood for about four months as of press time, Austin Hopper takes great pride in providing stellar customer service in the industry. With a new “sauce” announced just in time for the holidays, Cuttwood is focusing on providing safe, quality products to vaping consumers. VAPE: For new readers who may not know, can you take me through your personal background and how you got started in the industry? Hopper: I actually started with Space Jam, and it was kind of a strange happening. I started doing national distribution for Space Jam, and then they hired their CEO. I was with them for about a year, and it was time for me to move to the next level. I was introduced to Jared of Cuttwood, and he asked me ‘How can you get me to the next level?’ I mc’d World Vapor Expo in Miami, and we struck up the Cuttwood conversation there and the deal. Now we’re doing vapor industry wholesale and distribution and working with a lot of great brands, so I’ve been able to maintain the evolution of the industry if you will. It’s about treating people the way you want to be treated, giving them a quality product at a fair price and telling people you do what you’re say you’re going to do. We’re grateful to the vape community for the acceptance of Cuttwood and will continue to evolve as the vaping industry does. VAPE: Let’s talk about your sauce. What truly sets Cuttwood apart and how do you maintain that consistency that you strive for? Hopper: I think that consistency is the key, giving the end user, the consumer, a quality product that’s always the same. We are ISO compliant and AEMSA certified, and we’re here to stay. Our product has been moved into molecule labs in Pittsburgh, Calif. To take out any questions from the consumer, ‘Can I vape this product with confidence?’ Yes you can. We ship within 24 hours; we have automated systems so it’s a smooth transition and they (customers) know when they place the order when it’s going out. They are sent a packing slip and a tracking number so they know exactly when their product is going to arrive, and they are never kept in the dark. VAPE: Tell us about your newest sauce, Boss Reserve. Hopper: In my opinion it’s the next step up
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VAPE: How much sauce do you produce monthly? Hopper: We sell well over 100,000 bottles a month. We’re evolving with the marketplace. We have three flavors right now. Obviously Unicorn Milk has got a fantastic following, and Sugar Bear is really starting to take off. VAPE: What you say to people who say that some liquids are marketed to kids? Hopper: I think you have to look at our marketing and the way our labels are done. The Sauce Boss—most people confuse that with a barbecue sauce and not something geared toward kids. We don’t have any cartoons on our logos; we have some vibrant colors because that’s what the eyes see. Nothing about the brand should be remotely targeted toward children. You may say Unicorn Milk … every little girl wants one … but everything we have is a mythical creature; there is no such thing as sugar bear or a monster. We’ve tied in a mythical creature with some kind of animal. We stay clear of My Little Pony, and there’s no Sauce Boss mascot. It would have to be a character, and it could be misconstrued. We don’t want children confused about the product. Do I think we have an obligation to the community? Of course I don’t want children drinking that. You don’t want kids saying ‘I want to be a vaper.’ The goal is to get off of cigarettes and nicotine; thats why we offer a zero nic. We’re trying very diligently to stay away from that—you don’t see us posting that type of stuff. VAPE: Can you address the titanium dioxide controversy that happened earlier this year and how you’ve turned things around so quickly? Hopper: I think what people need to realize is that when Jared did that (added food coloring in the juice) is that Jared’s sister is a pastry chef, and she said, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool if it was pink and add this vanilla food coloring to it.’ People immediately responded; that was Jared’s wakeup call. This was a three-week old company at the time. Jared immediately took action, ownership and responsibility because he doesn’t want anybody in the vape community to be harmed. He immediately said, ‘If you bought this I’ll replace it.’ We are the fastest growing juice line. That’s because people want it. They understand it was just a food coloring and it only lasted for three weeks. Cuttwood has a responsibility as a company, which is why we’re helping to fund Dimitris’ research, and we need to be the leaders and set the standards. Whether that’s Space Jam, Atomic Fog, Mad Mike’s. We have 23,000 followers on Instagram; we have to pay attention to everything we do. We want people to know we’re here to stay and doing everything to ensure the best products are coming to you and they’re safe, as safe as we know how to make them currently. We know it’s a safer product than traditional tobacco. We’ve done our due diligence and our homework. For more information, visit www.Cuttwood.com.
THE NATIONAL VAPE TOUR Coming to a City Near You By Jim Root and Alyssa Stahr As a retailer association, the Vapor Association fights to give retailers the greatest chance to reach their potential consumers. The consequences of this distinction are amazing; this freedom from tobacco as an umbrella category meant the industry could define “vape” without the last 50 years of baggage and negative press associated with tobacco.
The California Vapor Association is an industry group focused on building and promoting the vapor industry. Although the organization often represents retailers with regulators and assists other organizations with regulatory issues, the focus is on growing the consumer base for vapors from the retailers viewpoint. The California Vapor Association is a member directed association that responds to the needs of the retailer—its mission is to “MAKE OUR RETAILERS BETTER.” In early October, the Association morphed into a national organization. To kick off the celebration, the association has planned a 20-city tour over the span of six months. The tour will consist of two parts: 1. Outreach to local media for promoting the industry 2. Individual meetings with shop owners to discuss the Association and how they can make their shop better. During meeting with shops (about one and a half hours), the Association will get a full picture of the shop and its goals. New ideas about making their business successful will be analyzed, along with the location. The tour idea began with a huge distinction for vape shops, fondly named “The Yelp Victory.” When a retailer listed its business on Yelp, there was no distinction between tobacco shops and vape shops. If a vape shop wanted to appeal to smokers, hoping to give them an alternative to standard cigarettes, the shop had no way of differentiating themselves from smoke shops. In a mission to support retailers, the Association began the process of negotiating with Yelp to give vape shops their own sub-category. After almost two long months of hundreds of emails and countless phone calls, the Vapor Association took down Goliath—Yelp agreed to give vape shops their own sub-category. Now the category “Vape Shops” is available; they do not need to be classified as tobacco, electronics or retail, which until now aided in the “identity crisis” in this industry. Are we tobacco? Are we a specialty retailer? Are we electronics? We are none of these—we are vapor, a new distinction in adult consumables that is working on a clear definition.
The fight for retailers in California was a victory for all 50 states. This opened up an entirely new possibility —if retailers everywhere can be categorized as “Vape Shops,” perhaps the Federal Government will also give the same category for regulation. If so, it would mean a victory for more than just retail shops, it would mean a victory for millions of smokers and also public health across the United States. A few months after the Association’s victory with Yelp, the organization realized its effect on the vape industry was much larger than originally thought. They were contacted by a vape shop in Germany with gratitude that “Vape Shop” was a category for their new shop. There now is an opportunity to create a single category across the globe. Consistency in definitions and perception are the first step to growing this industry and creating a retail category that will survive upcoming regulations. The Association thanks Yelp and Vape Shops all around the world for the new distinction and the chance to visit shops across the United States. After receiving the new category news, vape shops sent hundreds of requests to the Association for help, thus spawning the National Vape Tour. The Association will be traveling to all the largest cities across the country promoting vaping, meeting with shop owners, attending vape meets and building momentum for the industry. The process of the tour includes: 1. Pictures of the outside of the business 2. Meet with the staff of the shop and introduce the Association 3. Pictures of the inside of the shop 4. Present copy of the “Vape Resource” book to the shop 5. Discuss business concerns and ways for sponsors to overcome those issues 6. Introduce each sponsor and briefly discuss the product/ service and its benefits 7. Explain the sponsor will be reaching out to them within the next week 8. Complete a full analysis of their location including product offerings and type of customers
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National Tour Cities and Approx. Dates
Tour Begins November 2014 – April 2015 1. Houston, TX 12.New Orleans, LA 2. Oklahoma City, OK 13.Dallas, TX 3. St. Louis, MO 14.Kansas City, KS 4. Chicago, IL 15.Denver, CO 5. Cincinnati, OH 16.Salt Lake City, UT 6. Pittsburgh, PA 17.Seattle, WA 7. Boston, MA 18.San Francisco, CA 8. New York, NY 19.Las Vegas, NV 9. Washington, D.C. 20.Phoenix, AZ 10.Atlanta, GA 21.Los Angeles, CA 11.Orlando, FL These stops may change due to unforeseen circumstances. We will keep you posted on any changes to the schedule. www.TheVaporAssociation.com www.TheVaporAssociation.com
(925) 727-7044
The Association’s goal is to make retail shops into good members of their business community. They want to give them all the tools they need to offer great products to their customers, but also protect their businesses by following good business practices. After the interview, information and observations will be put into a Recon Report, forwarded to sponsors set as of press time. Lastly, the Association is completing a retailer certification program called “VapeSafe” for shops that have controls in place to protect minors from purchasing products. Also, the VapeSafe program will be rolling out training videos for educating store employees on the dangers of custom subohm builds and battery safety.
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The National Vape Tour ends in March 2015. For tour information, contact Jim Root, president/founder of the California Vapor Association at info@TheVaporAssociation.com or visit www.TheVaporAssociation.com.
Follow the tour’s progress: Instagram @VaporAssociation FB /VaporAssociation Twitter @VaporAssoc