Arranging UK meets, 'Vap-In's, 'Vap crawls' and other stuff

[LungFish]

In the UK vapping is less common and this puts us at a greater risk of bad legislation, taxation and ban inclusion. The Tamworth vapefest sounds like it was pretty cool, but I think we probably need to take vapping out to the smoke deprived barflies and ban-suffering landlords.

I was thinking, wouldn't it be great if we had regular local meets of vappers in each city. Starting at a vap-friendly establishment to sample each others juices (ooer missus) and get our hands on equipment and PV's we might be thinking of purchasing.

We could also 'vap crawl' as a group. The 'vap-crawls' are where a group of vappers go pub-to-pub openly vapping, passing out literature and getting landlords and clientel on board and generally having fun. Ban-nervous landlords are less likely to listen to a lone vapper than a higher-profile group of vappers.

Perhaps we could even push a 'VAP FRIENDLY' logo for pub landlords to display as a sign that vapping is understood and welcomed there. Maybe we could publish a google-maps based list of 'vap friendly establishments' etc. Where landlords are pro-vapping or anti-ban we could ask them to put up our flyers up and get more vappers on board.

There is so much we could be doing to increase our numbers and public awareness quickly, and the less of a 'fringe interest' we are, the more chance we have against smoking bans, public ignorance and bad legislation.

Hmmm, is there already a UK organisation promoting and protecting the rights of vappers in the UK ? If so, maybe we can start local chapters to get all of our local pubs 'vap-aware'


Anyway, If anyone fancies a vappers meetup in or around preston I'm game.


-Gary

 

[Rusty]

Ay Up Gary,

Last year I put a lot of time and effort into trying to promote vaping in a similar way to which you suggest. Unfortunately, I do not have the time to carry on promoting these events as I used to so, would you be interested in continuing to promote the Campaign for vaping in Pubs (CAM-VIP)?

There are a couple of websites to maintain, a community map of vaping pubs and a facebook group.

If you are interested, please pm me and I will let you have the relevant links/passwords etc..


Cheers!

Rusty

 

[LungFish]

Absolutely,

Oh wait, I just had an absolutely mammoth thought. I think I've got us a potential celeb frontman. Wait, I'll PM you.

-GaryC

 

[CatVTTV]

Gary, as you are aware Vapefest is also working towards this goal.

We do have several regional groups now, who meet up at a regular basis, so the journey is progressing, slow but sure. However, one of the problems with City meet ups, is the lack of vapers within any particular area. But in time, this will change.

Rusty has done a hell of a good job with CAM-VIP, and it's still vital to the cause, as we need to continue working together to spread awareness.

Without the National and Regional Groups, vapers would be spread too thin over the ground, and the result of that is that Landlords and Tenanted Pubs wont take it seriously.

A Celeb frontman or woman, would help a great deal, so if you can come up with one, brilliant..

 

[Rusty]

I have pm'd Gary with some of the initiatives that are already running in the UK and a way to access the information more quickly

 

[LungFish]

Hmmm, would 10 be enough to carry out a vap-crawl ? Looks bigger with T-shirts.

I think the way into landlords is firstly to address law (the main worry is fines) then cleanliness, then straight-up business sense. Thats why I think, besides a pursuasive info pack, we would probably need a nationally recogniseable and displayable 'VAP-FRIENDLY' logo. Follow this up with a google-map of vap-friendly places (the directory) and the killer 'android/iphone/ipad/netbook/webapp' for vappers... it tells you all the vap-friendly locations close to you, driving vappers into vap-friendly pubs.

I can write the apps, I've written indie games and business/security apps for mobile devices before. A social aspect to the app could be made available, rather like the gaydar apps for mobiles, allowing minority vappers to aggregate (safety in numbers)


I think local groups are CRUCIAL though. As you know, a lot of people's first experiences in the UK will be through shoddy MO brands which are hardly robust, some UK models offer almost no TH (IMHO) and combined with technical difficulties and perceived high cost of such brands will put many people off ... so, we need to funnel these people into their local groups to get a true taste of the varied joys and intricacies of vapping. Vapping successfully is like pipe smoking, there's a level of care and experience that goes into it or you end up with a nasty taste in your mouth 'literally'

These local groups could protect member retention by offering a non-profit source for discounted consumables purchased through the national body - in turn, giving a stronger political voice than forums alone. It needs to be a membership with a newsletter, cost savings and a strong editorial line.


Oh, Just been chatting on the phone to a friend of mine at Durham uni and I think I have a promising line into the celeb I mentioned. Rusty, check your PM : ) I'll forward to someone representing Vapefest too, who would that be ?

And do we have any vap-friendly councillors, MP's, MEP's ? Might be worthwhile doing some research for scientific, political and celebrity advocates. If not, at least locating MP's and MEP's that stood with the smokers rights lobby and getting some approaches going.


If we don't have the people for a pub crawl, there are more efficient things (in terms of bodies) we might be able to pull off. For example, taking a 'vapping stand' into shopping centres and highstreets around the UK and encouraging the smoking public to partake in several vaps ... we could make this fun. Guess the three flavours and win voucher off a starter kit for example. We would involve local radio, newspapers and local TV. I'm thinking we might be able to strike a deal with liquid/equipment vendors in return for including their own promotional material in our 'getting started' info-pack.

It would be nice to try to get at least one smokey celebrity, civil servant, landlord, etc to try a vap for the camera per month. This would be good media work I think.

Womens magazines too. We need some female vappers or wives of long-term smokers to write short pieces about getting their families health back with the aid of vapour after multiple failures at NRT and cold turkey. Life saving stories too would be excellent here as would any story with a good emotional side-story. These stories could push a contact number for finding out more. Women tend to be more health conscious so it is a good demographic and will also reach their smoking partners.

So many angles,

I just think we need to push this hard or sit back and get marginalised.


-GaryC

 

[Rusty]

Petbe (Cat) would be THE VapeFest person to contact

 

[BenP]

A lot of your ideas sound brilliant LungFish. And I am defiantly up for any kind of meet up/pub crawl.

I would also be willing to donate a fair amount of disposable cigarettes to hand out to people wanting to try vaping before taking the plunge and buying one.

 

[LungFish]

Hmmm...

Actually, a bunch of cheap disposables is a bloody good idea... especially if we can get a little sale-or-return, and sell them off pretty much at cost. I'm thinking a nightclub drive with some young volunteer 'eCig girls' helping out with sales. People are more likely to have a higher spend at a nightclub than a bar and are usually less able/willing to leave the premises for a smoke.

Since nightclubs tend to have smoke machines anyway (PG Anyone?) I'm guessing they would be easily primed for marketing the disposables over the counter. This could boost funds for other events. Also, since nightclubs tend to battle for retention - eCig friendly nightclubs will usually end up being the ones most punters stay at till closing. So, again, possible reciprocal marketing, opportunities for 'eCig Friendly' logos, etc.

On fridays and saturdays it probably wouldn't make so much difference, but midweek the difference could be huge. Of course, in a nightclub the cigs would HAVE to be blue-LED models for security and fire safety.

But yeah, the more I think of it - nightclubs are likely to be both a pushover AND a very likely outlet for dispo's. If we pitch it to management before we turn up we can satisfy them up-front that there are no issues with Health & Safety, fire regs or the Ban. Should easily wangle a free pass to gauge the market by selling cost price dispo's by the bar to gauge reaction. Followed up with a sale-or-return offer for a month, then taking regular orders.

Flavours, too, would be very profitable in a nightclub setting. Especially among the female clientel. Zero's might even be popular just for the expressiveness. This might sound crazy but is there a natural non-toxic flourescent? as in: Glo-stick -meet- Glo-Smoke ?


As for the 'eCig girls' ...

Asking lads if they smoke... then offering them a puff. Trust me, halfway through the night if you give a smoker a decent nic hit they're gonna buy a dispo on the spot. Garaunteed, cus after 3-5 minutes following the hit they're going to want to hold onto one for the night. 2am feels like a long way away when they suddenly have the option. Especially since it won't mess up their breath and get them knocked back.

And why not buy one for the lady? What flavour does she want ? Nicotine or no nicotine ?

Should I do some enquiries, call a few nightclubs and if it is something they'd like to trial for the night, expense free.


-Gary

 

[BenP]

It all sounds very good, but I think you might be getting a little carried away.

What your proposing may be possible in the future but I think were quite a way off from having women in skimpy clothes selling E-Cigs, or having vending machines.

Its defiantly worth phoning up some clubs to see if they would be interested in allowing someone to go round offering them out. Although not just dishing them out as they would probably just get wasted without handing them out to specific people that seem interested.

I would however say that pubs would probably be a better place to promote E-Cig's instead of clubs. A club tends to be to noisy to be able to communicate anything to anyone.
Most the punters will likely be far to legless by that point to even understand let alone remember what you told them.

 

[Rusty]

I know of a couple of ecig vendors that hold vape nights at local boozers. I think that is the way to go. I am willing to organise such nights in the Barnsley/South Yorkshire area if a supplier is willing to supply the merchandise.

I know that others would be willing to do the same in their areas.


Rusty

 

[LungFish]

What your proposing may be possible in the future but I think were quite a way off from having women in skimpy clothes selling E-Cigs, or having vending machines.

Hmmm, we managed it at the Birmingham NEC without invoking an agency, just friends + relatives of employees. I wasn't thinking of vending machines either, but behind the bar disposables with fliers on the bar (Easier to read than try to communicate) ... besides, once one person notices then the whole group does - people get interested pretty quickly.

Its defiantly worth phoning up some clubs to see if they would be interested in allowing someone to go round offering them out. Although not just dishing them out as they would probably just get wasted without handing them out to specific people that seem interested.

Absolutely, that's what I was saying. As for poor communication - you'd be surprised how willing lads are to communicate when two girls dressed identically are saying something to them and waving a flyer. It's almost superhuman - lol.

The message is pretty simple, DO YOU SMOKE? Try this! Do you like it? They last all night! THEY LAST ALL NIGHT! OMG! CHEEKY! (PASS FLYER)

If the club is real loud you can do it in the queue or by the cloaks and say they can get them at the bar. Just put them at the bar on Sale-or-Return, and some leaflets in the seating and on the bar, people always look at the flyers.

Besides, people seeing others puffing on a blue cig will say HEY, WHATS THAT ? Even if it is just to break the ice. If not understood will be pointed at a flyer.

Seriously, it's pretty easy. But unlike a bar some of those people get in at 11pm and may not leave till 2am... gagging for one. In a busy club you don't go out for one. They usually don't get legless until they get outside, the atmosphere tends to keep the punters vertical for the most part.

LOL

But yes, maybe you're right... I just think it is a more captive audience with a larger spend and more likely to engage each other about things like that (even if it's just part of the 'pull').

I know of a couple of ecig vendors that hold vape nights at local boozers. I think that is the way to go. I am willing to organise such nights in the Barnsley/South Yorkshire area if a supplier is willing to supply the merchandise.

I know that others would be willing to do the same in their areas.

Cool. A couple of bars here got into trouble for willful ban avoidance in the early days of the ban, their landlords would almost certainly be up for it if you can assuage their paranoia about fines.

I know a lot of bars have been hurting since the ban as many people just turned to the off-licences.


-Gary

 

[BenP]

You sound like your quite passionate about the whole thing, give me a pm if you need some help.