As one of the "Alliance" members and a member here and at my home base at rightovape, I feel an urgency to put in a few words. First, I learned everything I needed to know about vaping from this very forum. Thank you to everyone...too numerous to name, for your information, support and amusement in my early days as a newbie. For that reason and only that reason, I feel indebted to this forum and will, with great respect, put my two cents in. This group of people that I have had the pleasure of working with are some of the most intelligent, passionate and caring people I have ever worked with and believe me...I do have a history of being a part of groups. While this brief was being formulated, we, as a group, had tremendous input. Not at one time, did any of those listed or those that chose to remain anonymous, ever make a decision regarding wording, verbage or inuendo that did not take the feelings of the majority of vapers in mind. Yes, we had issues to concede to to make the argument viable and atainable....but when there was room for conjecture, it was each of you those members sought to speak for. I recall one session where LIka stood firm on a matter against all of the rest because he "felt it would not be the opinion of all vapers." When Lika is attacked or flames are thrown at him...they are thrown at all of you as he was one of YOUR greatest assests in those decisions. He is a kind and thoughtful person who deserves to have his back patted and if you feel you can not do such...please be quiet. Everyone has an important role in this, we are united by one thing only, our right to vape. Please, lets do as most have suggested. Let us form a more perfect union....whereby all vapers are created equal.... I guess you get my message. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the support, which rightfully belongs to all of you. Let us avoid the negative and move forward.
Most Sincerely
Bonnie Martin
Alliance Of Electronic Smokers
Bonnie, after reading this I admit initially I was at a loss for words - Imagine that, the impossible!
As I've said and thought many times, you never cease to amaze me. Thank you. Not surprisingly my loss of words didn't last long. And with that...
I hope you guys won't mind but I want to share a little about each those who originally had a hand in this.
Bonnie played the "Mama" role in a lot of what we did. By that, I mean, she kept us in check,e.g., keeping us in line if we veered off the path. In that sense, Bonnie, was our leader though it was totally a group effort without official leadership. With Bonnie's motivation and encouragement we all took that role together and made it one as a team.
Taz, is our "digger" because she's always digging up news and information and then presenting it with her own profound thoughts. Her ability to throw an idea or suggestion out of the blue is uncanny. We'll be discussing something and then all of a sudden here comes Taz with a short one-liner and it sticks. Love that!
Julie, has a great sense of direction with the foresight of where things need to be. She's not afraid to take a task head on and work all the angles out giving it a streamlined direction. Her ideas and suggestions are selfless in nature and are always geared towards the betterment of the team and the community at large.
Nate, the I-Man, is motivated, energetic and very smart. He's got a great sense of "community" and passion for our right to vape that is unrelenting. His views of the big picture are right on target. I truly believe he will take his convictions beyond a level any of us have seen.
I can't forget to mention the others that asked not to be named in our announcement. They were just as much a part of this as the rest of us and offered their own talents, skills and personalities that attributed to our success as a team.
It is wonderful to be a part of such a great team who, and I will put it bluntly, all worked their asses off to get this done. I think I can say on behalf of all those mentioned above that we greatly appreciate those of you who are joining us now in support of this Brief by PMing your personal details to us.
Believe me, I realize that on a public forum it's not always considered a wise thing to give someone else your information. But in this case it shows your dedication, compassion and conviction in this fight we're all in together. And, with that, I want to express a resounding "Thank You" to each and every one of you.
I am in no way excluding those who choose not to disclose their information. It took me 8 months to get to this point. To be honest I still had some reservations in putting my real name out there knowing that it could be viewed in a very public federal court case.
So... Thank all of you who have collectively expressed your support and appreciation within the pages of this thread - That speaks volumes. More so than what any of us could do on a personal level. Just think, the ASH lurkers and trolls read THIS! They ARE WRONG and they KNOW IT!
[Personal thought: "Right now at this moment, nothing, not even the naysayers of the world, can bring me down. Because I know that we (our entire community) kicked a little ASH with this one."]
And, with that thought in mind I say, "Hell Yeah!"
