Re: Anybody attending the Seattle Cigar Expo?
 

I blame the traffic due to Hempfest and Seahawks game in the evening to get set up for the after party. I was pretty exhausted from the expo during the day...so the after party didn't really matter to me.

Re: Anybody attending the Seattle Cigar Expo?
 

Don't get me wrong, I had a good time and look forward to next year.

I bet the brands couldn't sell due to not having a tobacco license or some BS like that. Which makes sense, but still, have some sort of presence in your booth. Matt Booth was the only one I felt was consistently in/around his (Room 101) booth. Although I never went up and actually chatted it up.

Also, I can see the plus/minus of having the brands hand out the sticks at their booth. I can see the first couple hours everyone being mobbed around each booth to get their stick and a punch in their card. But at the same time, with an event this "small" (compared to TBS) it could be figured out. Just off the top of my head, have 2-4 different colored punch cards, and rotate what colors can go get their sticks every X minutes or something.

Ultimately, I got tired/bored of standing for 5 hours, which is why I headed home. Plus I didn't want to go feed the meter again. Had I came with some friends it may have been a different story.

I was weary of the pre/post events. I've been to Vertigo several times, and I can see the draw if you live/work nearby. The only real knock on it in my mind is the HVAC needs some help. If there were at least 10 folks in there, it gets smoky real quick, to the point where it made my eyes burn a little. But I suspect people's tolerances are different in that regard so could just be me.

Bottom line, and I can't stress it enough, though there is definite room for improvement, it was a great first shot. It really wouldn't take much tweaking to really hit a home run, and I'm confident next year will be even better.

Re: Anybody attending the Seattle Cigar Expo?
 

Well any event you go to, the vendor can't sell anything. It's like going to the homeshow or something. They're just there to display their product.

Re: Anybody attending the Seattle Cigar Expo?
 

Quite the contrary; the ones that were there and active were definitely selling cigars. They were just mostly not very active. They had special deals ... buy 3 get 1 free, buy a box, get 8 sticks free ... stuff like that. But there were very few manufacturers, and none of them brought any swag (some that were pre announced didn't show up). I think they missed an opportunity.

Maybe they weren't sure it would be worth it; I bet that aspect of the event improves next year :tu

Re: Anybody attending the Seattle Cigar Expo?
 

I was thinking about that, but it wasn't clear if you would actually be buying from them, or the shops that had booths.

But I definitely found the lack of swag to be disappointing!

Re: Anybody attending the Seattle Cigar Expo?
 

The manufacturers there weren't selling cigars personally. The buy 3 get 1 free thing was you buy 3 from an inside cigar store vendor and they tell you to go to the rep for the freebie. Thats how I saw it. Some did give you a free cigar inside depending on who had what going on for specials.

Re: Anybody attending the Seattle Cigar Expo?
 

The folks who put this on busted their asses to put this on smack dab in the middle of PC Seattle. I still give it :tu:tu:tu for it's first year.

I'm really looking forward to next years event and the opportunity to watch it grow. Many who slept through this have been shaken out of bed. I'm just an outsider who had the privilege of peeking in as this whole party hatched.

Re: Anybody attending the Seattle Cigar Expo?
 

This was a great event and I'm glad I bought the VIP ticket. I met allot of characters and plan to stay in touch with them.

The opening VIP party at Brouwers Cafe was a great event with more drinks than the average man could handle. The food was fantastic, especially the wild boar. I met and had more than a few cocktails with Bill Paley the owner of La Palina cigars. He was a gentleman and gave me a few of his reserves that are very hard to come by. He loos like the guy from Dos Equis and in fact says "Stay toasted my friends'...

Ed Ryan and Jason with PDX Cigars are kindred spirits and the kid of guys you sit up and smoke BS and drink with until 2AM. I did such a thing in fact.

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/...e/e7aba1d9.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/...e/64a91d5d.jpg

The Event at Seattle Center was one of the best smoking times I've had. Sme of the points above are true and worth sharing with the organizers JJ and Gloria. Two great people by the way.

The music was perfect for the day and the Latino kid wining Johnny Cash and Elise was great... Cudos to him.

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/...e/a60344b4.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/...e/5e6a5617.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/...e/b711df2d.jpg

Re: Anybody attending the Seattle Cigar Expo?
 

A few more pics...

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/...e/c807c2f4.jpg

A few of the cigars in the gift bag.

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/...e/eabfa8df.jpg

At the VIP wind up we hung out, talked politics, drank/smoked until 2. In the photo is Ed his wife and a Texan that I can't remember the name of. Also a shot of Glynn with the cigar rights of America. A man after my own heart.

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/...e/e54fc3df.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/...e/43f14e7e.jpg

I love the networking side of this event and will sign up in a heartbeat. The 2012 event will be sold out I'm sure of it. Again cudos to JJ and Gloria. Great event. Worth the cost of the VIP ticket.

Re: Anybody attending the Seattle Cigar Expo?
 

I also bought a box of PDX cigars and Ed gave me another free box. They were only offering 8 free with a box. So networking does have it's upsides. Because of this purchase I won a SousVide Supreme BBQ and vacuum sealer. I was told it's a 600 value...

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/...e/cbac933b.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/...e/f2298242.jpg

Re: Anybody attending the Seattle Cigar Expo?
 

Considering the Hempfest has been going for over 10 years now, I would assume that the SCF event organizers should probably make a mental note for next year.

They get 50,000 folks on saturday alone. To try and run a competing event in Seattle will do nothing but piss off your ticket holders due to stinky hippies, bad traffic, no vacancies in hotels, yada yada.

On a side note, no Pete Johnson? I thought he was the guy that was sponsoring this event? Sorry Petey, I'm done with your brands now. Yah, they are yummy, but I don't pay douchbags.

Re: Anybody attending the Seattle Cigar Expo?
 

hahaha, are you serious? You ever been to Hempfest? The people that go there have no interest in cigars unless it's flavored blunt wraps or phillies. Plus those 50k of people are mostly stupid stoners under 21 hat just go to socialize and not care about anything but smoking weed. Only competition there is traffic, in which, there's always traffic in Seattle.

And way to jump to conclusions about Pete Johnson. He was already booked for another event before the Seattle Cigar Expo crew could get him. He still supplied cigars to the VIP people that signed up for it. Don't blame him because every other shop are booking him for their own events as well.

Re: Anybody attending the Seattle Cigar Expo?
 

This event has been cancelled. I just got the email. Bummer....

Re: Anybody attending the Seattle Cigar Expo?
 

Did they say why? Just wondering if it was due to the smoking rules in Seattle...