E-cig vs. Cigarette Infograph

[Stephra]

I have a few suggestions - not criticisms, just places where I think your rhetoric could be a little sharper.

Under e-liquid I would be more candid about the particular ingredients, rather than stating a number. One of the big talking points the antis like to use is that "we don't know what's in them". Without a specific list, it does nothing to clear this point up.

I'd also change the wording for the "400,000 people will not die" line. This figure only really applies IF all smokers switch. A better way to phrase it might be, "400,000 smoking-attributed deaths per year COULD BE AVOIDED through use of the E-Cig." Hammers in the fact that those 400,000 deaths are related to SMOKING, not vaping.

One more suggestion: when mentioning the associations that support ban, you might want to be a tad more aggressive. Perhaps something along the lines of, These organizations refuse to acknowledge the benefits of harm reduction, opting instead for a ban on e-cigs that leaves tobacco cigarettes freely available. They aren't just supporting a ban, they're telling us that e-cigs don't reduce harm at all - dangerous mis-information that could cost lives. People trust those organizations to be working in our best interest - many will think, "If ALA or ACS support a ban, they must know better than us". Take the opportunity to point out that they AREN'T acting in the best interests of public health when they support a ban.

Again, not criticism, just a few points I noticed. When you have this finished I'd love to use it!

 

[sherid]

Not every job offers designated break times. My job is one of them. I work in a small shop where I'm usually the only one on staff. My cigarette break is whenever the customers clear out. I can tell you I've wasted my fair share of time on cigarettes at work.

For some people, a designated cigarette break can end up being pretty long. Imagine you're a smoker on the 17th floor of an office building in the city. You've got to leave your office, go down an elevator, maybe walk 100 feet away from the building, smoke your ...., and then go back in, up the elevator, back to your office... A five minute .... break ends up taking fifteen minutes or more. If you are a salaried worker, that amount of time adds up. Say 15 minutes twice a day. That's 2.5 hours every week, in a year that's 130 hours - more than three full weeks. Sheesh, I don't get that much vacation time in a year!

I'd also add that when you're stressing for a ...., your performance will suffer, too. It's harder to estimate how much ground you lose for that, but it's still significant.

I know I'm more productive with my vape. If I had a busy night when I was a smoker, and couldn't get out for a ...., it could ruin my whole evening. Now that I vape, I don't stress like that. My mind is more focused on work, rather than the next cigarette.

YMMV.

I've worked with a ton of non-smokers who, although they are not officially declaring themselves on break, are wasting more time than the smokers. Talking on the phone, visiting with fellow workers, hanging out by the vending machines, surfing the web, and a number of other time wasters qualify as break time...even when the worker does not declare it. I think smokers are no more guilty of wasting time than all of these others. In fact, where I've worked, if one added the total time off company business, I'm guessing a number of non-smokers use more time than smokers without declaring it.

 

[Posidon]

Great suggestions Stephra. I'll defiantly change some stuff around and get it more ironed out tonight. It still feels like its going to be a little empty compared to the smoking one that I posted. I am also using CorelDRAW right now, I'm downloading a free trial of Adobe Illustrator which may work better.

You can definitely use it. I just want it to be something that makes an impact to someone that isn't familiar with the electronic cigarette and maybe opens some eyes.

I have a few suggestions - not criticisms, just places where I think your rhetoric could be a little sharper.

Under E-liquid I would be more candid about the particular ingredients, rather than stating a number. One of the big talking points the antis like to use is that "we don't know what's in them". Without a specific list, it does nothing to clear this point up.

I'd also change the wording for the "400,000 people will not die" line. This figure only really applies IF all smokers switch. A better way to phrase it might be, "400,000 smoking-attributed deaths per year COULD BE AVOIDED through use of the E-Cig." Hammers in the fact that those 400,000 deaths are related to SMOKING, not vaping.

One more suggestion: when mentioning the associations that support ban, you might want to be a tad more aggressive. Perhaps something along the lines of, These organizations refuse to acknowledge the benefits of harm reduction, opting instead for a ban on e-cigs that leaves tobacco cigarettes freely available. They aren't just supporting a ban, they're telling us that e-cigs don't reduce harm at all - dangerous mis-information that could cost lives. People trust those organizations to be working in our best interest - many will think, "If ALA or ACS support a ban, they must know better than us". Take the opportunity to point out that they AREN'T acting in the best interests of public health when they support a ban.

Again, not criticism, just a few points I noticed. When you have this finished I'd love to use it!

 

[Stephra]

I've worked with a ton of non-smokers who, although they are not officially declaring themselves on break, are wasting more time than the smokers. Talking on the phone, visiting with fellow workers, hanging out by the vending machines, surfing the web, and a number of other time wasters qualify as break time...even when the worker does not declare it. I think smokers are no more guilty of wasting time than all of these others. In fact, where I've worked, if one added the total time off company business, I'm guessing a number of non-smokers use more time than smokers without declaring it.

You're absolutely right - there are a myriad of ways people "lose productivity". But that doesn't negate the point that smoking can waste productivity as well. It's not a comparison of which one is a bigger time waster - just noting that it IS a time waster, period.

 

[Posidon]

I completely redesigned the infograph last night and I think it looks great. I designed it to help with the petition that is going on. I am just making sure that the Vapers Coalition thinks its OK to start spreading around before I post it, since I designed as a document for them. Hopefully they like what I did and we can start digging it.

I sent it to Kristin and am going to send it to Volcalek to see what they think.

 

[jeanblackwood]

Very nice !

 

[sherid]

You're absolutely right - there are a myriad of ways people "lose productivity". But that doesn't negate the point that smoking can waste productivity as well. It's not a comparison of which one is a bigger time waster - just noting that it IS a time waster, period.

What it is is human behavior...a very difficult thing to change. The issue is not really smoking or otherwise wasting time. The issue is wasting time at work.

 

[Big Thier]

Seeing the pot leaf on there made me think that the creator was uninformed and would make me questions the other data being provided. I would suggest changing it to an image representing a dangerous illegal drug such as a needle or pill. Those are also generic images that don't necessarily target one drug.

Thank you.

 

[Stephra]

What it is is human behavior...a very difficult thing to change. The issue is not really smoking or otherwise wasting time. The issue is wasting time at work.

It's still a valid point in terms of the infograph though. And it just now occurred to me that wasted productivity could also come in the form of more time off work for illness than non-smoking coworkers.

And since I'm bumping this thread, any word on that infograph Posidon? I'm interested to see it.

 

[Posidon]

Yeah, I think its just about done. I'll confirm with some of my sources that its ready.

 

[Posidon]

Anyone know a site to host this for Digg?

 

[Stephra]

BEAUTIFUL, Posidon! It's going into to my information arsenal right now! Thanks for your work!

 

[Vocalek]

Anyone know a site to host this for Digg?

Send me the final version. I will post it on the CASAA site and set up a Digg for you.

 

[CJsKee]

I'm not seeing a pic...is it my computer or ECF?

 

[Vocalek]

You can see it here:

The Electronic Cigarette - Lifting the Smokescreen

Register your Digg vote and click the handy button under the description to "Share this Healthy Idea" on Facebook or Twitter. There is also an envelope icon to email it to friends and family who aren't on Facebook or Twitter. Also, add a comment.

Adding a comment helps to move the story up into the list of "Top in Health" (the Digg Category). Sometimes top stories get picked up by the news services. Wouldn't it be great?

 

[5cardstud]

That is a great graph. Kudos to whoever created it. The facebook idea is a good one.

 

[Vocalek]

The Kudos go to Kristin for authoring the Petition site, and to Posidon for his wonderful graphic talents. I'll take credit for the Digg and the Facebook suggestion. Also, thanks to all the Vapers Coalition members who reviewed the Infograph and provided suggestions. It was a team effort.

 

[Posidon]

Vocalek,

I sent you a PDF version instead of the JPEG. It may come out better on Digg.


Thanks again to Kristin, Bill, and Vocalek for helping me put this together.

 

[kristin]

I can't see the PDF either. It loads blank for me.

 

[Vocalek]

I can't see the PDF either. It loads blank for me.

It's a large document (over 8 mb) so it takes a while to load.