F E AT U R E
“When I started working
in the vaping Industry and
doing marketing in the Wild
West, from the beginning I
knew I wanted to incorporate
a proven formula into an
incredible platform.”
consumers, their poise throughout the
show and ability to engage with others.
Of course, there is also the Stage show
which we usually have a few time slots
for, to get to know the ladies better and
introduce them to the audience at the
show. We also take this time to see how
they perform in a live audience situation.
As a brand ambassador you can end
up travelling all over representing your
brand and it's important to be prepared
for every photo opportunity, every
chance to convert someone into a fan or
customer and of course be a part of the
community that people want to watch!
VM: Talk us through the competition
process. What can an entrant expect
when they put their name forward for the
pageant?
CW: The process is pretty straight
forward. First we do casting calls that
are specific to the area we are hosting a
search near. We do them at many major
and well respected shows stateside and
internationally. We ask girls to submit
photos and information as the first
step. We do pre-select the contestants
to show up at the actual show ahead
of time. I take the time to review them
along with a panel from the companies
involved. We look at their overall beauty
– this is a model search, not a “girls who
vape” search. I know there are a lot of
people who like to debate on this, but the
bottom line is that if we don't think the
girl is capable of representing any of the
companies in a print or digital campaign,
we don't put her past the submission
portion. We also look at her social media,
whether or not it seems that vaping is an
actual part of her life, and whether she
would be a suitable brand ambassador
for the companies sponsoring the
search.
The second round is online. We
generally take overall feedback and
social media presence into consideration
at the end – because let's be real,
anyone with a following could beat out
a more deserving winner with one post
if we completely relied on social media.
We do post and promote that each
contestant will be at the show with us
and to gauge online feedback, ask for
interaction from our followers. It's a great
way to promote the ladies in a positive
light and get the community to rally
around them and show support, not just
make them an object for show.
The next step is the actual convention.
We tailor the search to the needs of
the convention so sometimes the Miss
Vapor hopefuls will come multiple days
and sometimes they will only come on
one. The competition has more of a
culture and consumer based following,
so we like to keep it on public days. We
watch and judge the ladies interact with
The decision comes from all of those
factors and it's always hard. What most
people don't realise is I end up spending
quite a bit of time with these amazing
ladies and not being able to choose more
than one and sometimes all of them is
tough. They all have inspiring stories of
why they are a part of the community
from a family member to their own
personal journeys and I am so grateful
I get to be a part of that. There can only
be one Queen of course but walking
away with incredible relationships is a
very valued residual win for all the ladies
and to be honest, myself.
VM: What are the exciting prizes up for
grabs? What does a three month juice
sponsorship mean?
CW: I have seen a lot of companies
expect girls to do tons of work for shoutouts, or juice etc., but I wanted the Miss
Vapor Search to be different. Every
lady who is accepted to the Live Show
receives an authentic mod and atomizer
from our equipment sponsor. We are
currently working with Council of Vapor
who have been kind enough to provide
each lovely lady with a Mini-Volt and
Tank. For Miss Vape Jam UK they even
made a Special Edition. We also provide
each girl with a full line of Timebomb
Vapors and of course no beauty contest
VAPOUROUND MAGAZINE ISSUE 04 61