CBS requests information from DC area vapers.

No, I wasn't referring to your comment about a video and no - there's no worry about grinding and hammering coming across on your mic.

If you can get all of those people to actually take the time and do this, you will have achieved something we've been trying to do for some time. We can't even get people to take 10 minutes to write a letter or make a call to stop bans in their own town where it will directly affect them.

Honestly, I'm not trying to poo-poo the idea at all - we've had the same idea and proposed it in the past quite a few times. But it never takes off, because we don't have the manpower to coordinate the project and no one volunteers to step up and run with it. If you want to try to get something like this going and follow through with it, I'm pretty certain that CASAA would happily promote it by getting the word out to our membership and ask them to contribute videos. But I should warn you that a year or so ago we asked people to send in a video testimonial for the CASAA channel and only TWO people actually followed through and contributed a video. That's one reason why we were so happy about Linc's project - we figured testimonial excerpts and the interviews of experts from the film would make great mini videos to post online and send to legislators. Which is why we are acting as consultants on the film.

That's what I'm trying to tell people. We can have all the great ideas in the world, but unless members step up and participate and help implement it, they all die in the idea stage.

 

Wow, I'm not active in the vaping YouTube community, I only mention vaping when letting friends in the vlogging community know I'm still not smoking.
I expected a lot of people would be unwilling to record themselves but figured those that do get in front of a camera would say how quitting went and any health changes in a second.
Ask for collab input in the YT community I'm in and you may get more submissions than you hoped for if you're not asking for too much acting.

Did you try asking on YT too?

 

Okay, I propose this:
All you vapors who read this- this is important!!!! Please take heed!!!!


When you see a news item that appears important- take the link back to whatever subforum you hang out in and ask your friends there to go and make a comment- make it positive!!! If everyone would do this, then we WOULD have the man power to become active in raising awareness and showing the public that this really is an important topic. Just tell your story! That's all I'm asking. You don't have to belittle anyone or start a fight- just be honest about how e-cigs has changed you for the better!!!

 

Now tell us how you really feel, Kristin.

Kristin also pointed out what I spoke on earlier in this thread. Without firepower $$$$ the best you can hope for is shooting the regulars from behind trees. It works, but it's not like the old days where everyone was carrying muskets. All the work done so far can be destroyed by one well placed nuclear weapon. We just hope the FDA doesn't use it.

 

In complete agreement here with one additional thought. In the time it takes to post opinion in ECF, you can post a comment on an article. Instead of preaching to the choir, you're preaching to the opposition as well as people sitting on the fence. I have found it sad that there aren't more that click on the links provided in here and voice their opinion.

It doesn't have to be eloquent, use your personal experiences. The more people on the outside read, the better chance we have of winning.

 

I am so fed up with this government and the alphabets that support them I don't think I can be completely positive anymore.
If you want to ban flavors because adults don't like flavors I've got to point out how stupid that is, and if you're a politician proposing such a law I'm liable to sacrifice a year's worth of cider and deliver a couple hundred pounds of rotting apples to their office.

 

Well, The History Channel has a nice budget and makes tons of docs every year...most are laughed at as garbage. Nazi Aliens, anyone?

Just saying...like polls, studies or clinical trials, everything is bought and sold by a special interest...oh wait...we ARE a special interest.

See how that works?

We need political and financial firepower. Period. Those two things can create whatever image and shape whatever opinion we want them to. Sounds immoral? Damn right it is...that is how this country works underneath the fake veneer of Democracy. You want to play hardball, better get ready for some knees to the groin.

Look at how many hundreds of millions of dollars it takes to be President....no cash, no media, no "push" and you lose. No matter how good or qualified you are.

I say, have a nice long talk with the Chinese.
How much do they make a year off us? How much do they stand to lose if the USA gets tight in the e-cig department?

When cornered by a bear, it's nice to have a dragon on your side.

 

One forum I am aware of and that I posted in that "seemed" to have a positive impact was WebMD (the quit smoking blog part of that web site). The doctor that moderates that section actually came around to stating that vaping has potential to be a positive in the fight to stop smoking or something to that effect. Prior to that, the site just spit out the old NRT is the only "approved" method to help quit smoking. I believe about 100 ECF people commented on that site.

 

I know that comments on web articles made a difference for me. When I first started vaping I started looking around to see if it was really safe (seemed too good to be true, right?)

Googling brought up lots of articles, many of them scare mongering. I read all of the comments and they were definitely influential to me. I tend to be skeptical and always worry that overly zealous comments are from fake posters, but the sheer number and type of comments on the ECG articles convinced me that many were real. The comments that convinced me were both personal stories that had the ring of truth (without links to specific products as I assumed these were advertising not real stories), AND many very well informed comments with links to actual research and science.

I don't know how many people are influenced by comments but I can say with certainty that *I* was.

Oh, and I try to comment on many online articles for this reason. I don't hit them all, since for some you have to register and wait for approval. Sometimes, with two kids home for the summer it's just too much bother, but I do try to post as often as I can.

 

Smokers are a tight knit community.
We are more likely to believe another smoker than advertisement.

My history is when I've talked to smokers about switching
It's normally a slam dunk ... They don't want all the research,
just reassurance that I checked it out and then they just ask
which PV I would suggest.

 

I would have clicked the "Love" button, but all ECF offered was "Like."

This idea is easy, quick, and free.

Regardless of whether the article on which you comment is positive or negative, or whether it talks about flavors, indoor use, or some other issue, you don't need to have a lot of scientific facts in your arsenal. Don't worry about countering the propaganda that keep popping up in story after story and comment after comment. There are plenty of veterans with the requisite writing skills who can jump in with the facts to contest the oft-repeated myths. But facts are boring. A personal story is interesting.

So, all you have to do is Tell Your Story.

If you are worried about your grammar and spelling, write it out and give it to a friend or relative to edit. When you have it the way you want it, here's a time and work-saving tip: Store your personal story in a document file that you open whenever you need to comment. Copy the text in your document and then paste it into the comment window on the story. You can then edit it, if necessary, to make it fit the situation.

Time-saving keystroke shortcuts:
Ctrl+A - Selects all the text in the document
Ctrl+C - Copies all of the selected text into your "Copy buffer"
Ctrl+V - Pastes all of the text in your "Copy buffer" wherever you place your cursor.

Need inspiration? Consider the personal stories told here: Right to Choose - Focus on E-CIG BAN - FlavourArt.it - YouTube

Yours does not need to be as long or as detailed.

Need more ideas? There are over 13,000 comments on this petition (now closed) and many of them include a sharing of how ecigarettes helped them escape from smoke and the positive impact this has had on their lives. http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/keep-life-saving-electronic-cigarettes-available/

So stop sitting on the sidelines.

Let's get busy, people!

 

I remember a long time ago ... running into this page on the NET
The Electronic Cigarette Survey: User Comments
186 "Unedited" testimonials: LINK

 

If you missed the meeting two weeks ago, CASAA made two announcements about upcoming projects intended to generate positive press:

1) CASAA is working on a new Consumer Survey to gather valid and usable statistics/demographics about e-cigarette users. Some may remember that CASAA did a survey a couple of years ago. If the results turn out as we suspect they will, we'll have a lot of , positivereal-life information about the age and gender of consumers, their previous smoking habits, dual use, use of flavors, use of nicotine strengths, why people use them, other smoke-free tobacco use, etc. This time we have new CASAA science director, Dr. Carl Phillips, helping us to keep it unbiased and scientific, which will make the results more professional and usable.

2) CASAA will be gathering written testimonials (ie. personal success stories) about using e-cigarettes. We haven't fleshed out yet how these stories will be gathered and/or displayed, but it's in the works. These will not only be used in fighting legislation (sending legislators a link to all of the posted testimonials) but Dr. Phillips thinks we may be able to use the information to publish a paper based on the testimonials (I'd have to defer to Dr. Phillips to explain it better.)

Other projects we've been discussing:

3) We have a map on our web site showing where all of the members are in the country and in the world. The more people that add their "pin" the more impressive that map is showing how many e-cigarette users there are.

4) The more people who join CASAA, the bigger the number is we can tell reporters and legislators (ie. "We are X-number of members strong.") Right now we have just over 2,500 members - it should be at LEAST a quarter million! So, if you haven't signed up, do so. And then spread the word on every Facebook group, vaping forum, Google + hang out, favorite vendor, etc., that you can and encourage people to at least JOIN and start getting the newsletter.

5) We have a section on our YouTube Channel specifically for personal stories about e-cigarette/smoke-free success stories (smoking cessation, not reviews of products) Either submit your own video (add it to your account and then send us the link and we'll add it to our playlist) or tell us about great videos you've seen on YouTube and we'll add those to our playlists. This is where the "manpower" and "talent" comes in. We need people attending or listening to meetings and reading the newsletters and then spreading the word that we need help. When we announce these things, we count on the members to not only do it themselves, but to also spread the word to get others to participate. Ideally, someone with great YouTube presence and/or experience would have stepped up to help us. It would basically be free - but the board cannot do it by themselves.

So, if you'd like to see more positive press, just help us with these projects when they come up! We need volunteers to help us implement any and all ideas. I think a lot of people think they just need to give us a great idea and then the board will take it over and do it. But folks need to remember that we are just 10 volunteers scattered all over the country. People who are already doing a LOT of things just to keep CASAA going day-to-day and fighting bans and still have regular jobs and families to attend to.

Even if we wanted to do all of the things suggested, we (the board members alone) just don't have the time, resources or knowledge/expertise. We DESPERATELY NEED MEMBERS to step up and volunteer to run/head these projects. And for the things members can't do, we need money to pay someone to do it and/or find someone who knows someone who can do it. That's why I'm saying that CASAA (or any other group) cannot be effective without money, manpower, talent and connections.

 

So then you're talking about making something smaller?

 

All excellent idea's/action, Kristin.

Personally, I am disappointed that every member of ECF is not also a member of CASAA. I'm also disappointed that we see very few "CASAA banners/signatures" at the bottom of ECF member posts. I just don't understand it. If people won't even join/support/show signage about CASAA on ECF, why would they go the extra effort of supporting vaping outside of this safe haven. I know my personal contribution is quite small but even small is better than none. I appluad you and the entire CASAA board.

 

I linked the Greek Cardiologist's discoveries on WebMD. Hopefully some American Doctors will watch it, since all they want is facts and science.

 

Yes but it seems CASAA has put out the request and didn't get many takers. I thought the e-cig community on Youtube was like the community I'm in with there but I guess not.
I don't think they have enough videos in their playlist to use for what I'm thinking of let alone to cherry pick quality blurbs from.

In their play list it looks like someone set up a camera at a vape meet and has done it, sort of. They say how long they smoked and that they switched, and it has the problem of background noise you'll have at a convention. We made the switch! - YouTube
But something like that, maybe up to 10 minutes long with as many people as possible chopped into tiny sound bites to say how long they smoked, other quits that didn't work, health problems they had, how easy it was to quit with the e-cigs, maybe they needed flavors, how long they've been smoke-free, health benefits.
Then the video gets posted to the negative stories/blogs that take comments. E-cig bloggers should do a story on it (again it seems there's a problem with participation).
If that type of video would rocket up to 100K views the media would take notice, but like with guns it doesn't mean they'd react in a favorable way but they would take notice.
Possibly more importantly people searching "quit smoking" would find it.

I was poking around YT today and there are plenty of vapers with good cameras who aren't afraid to get in front of a camera to review everything under the sun so the question comes down to how to get them to do a simple updated story of their quit. There are also some that are great editors.
So I guess it's a question of how to get people to act.

 

If whatever is done ain't fun and entertaining also ...
Few will watch it. If its too long, people won't watch it.

If ya look at some of the videos the marketers put out
you will find smiling happy people having fun AND they
don't look like they were taped a noisy vape fest
which is just "so yesterday" ... This ain't the old days
vaping on a bed with sheet hung down as a backdrop.

Ya want to get attention today ... It needs to be
professionally done and be fun at the same time.

Just my 2 cents

 

And short. It's a soundbite society.

 

Nobody wants me speaking in front of a camera! What's another option? A killer PowerPoint presentation doesn't seem as moving.