DAY ONE LIQUID OF THE DAY: ‘WIMTO’ BY ULTIMATE JUICE
Day Two arrived and I knew what that meant – thousands more
vapers and loads of giveaways. A siren blared and I hastily weaved
my way to the main stage. Once the chant of ‘I Love VG!’ filled
the area surrounding the stage, we were showered with liquids.
This was my first experience of an expo giveaway so I was pretty
chuffed to come away with a free bottle of e-liquid.
I reminded myself that I was there for business, not pleasure, so
I made a beeline to the Vampire Vape stand to see what they had
planned. Clearly, they weren’t going to miss the opportunity to
bare their fangs over the Halloween weekend. I was impressed
with how they represented their contrasting juice lines. They
seemed to have quite a heavy rotation of performers throughout
the weekend too, but one constant was their mascot, who revelled
in creeping up on passers-by.
I decided to visit some stands that weren’t selling liquids or
mods. I’d never thought about the need for label presses, display
cabinets and cleanrooms. They were all represented by staff who
were very grateful for the opportunities the vaping industry has
provided them and it was great to meet them.
DAY TWO LIQUID OF THE DAY: ‘FROSTY SHAKES BLUE
RASPBERRY MILKSHAKE’ BY DR FROST
Day Three rolled around and as my aching legs were apparently
still working, I felt it was time to see what the Twelve Monkeys
guys were up to.
As usual they had really gone to town with their set-up. Other
than the dim purple and blue hue of the lights it was very dark
and foreboding, with camo netting hanging from the walls like
dense vegetation. The monkey walking around seemed perfectly
at home too.
Over at the 13 Sins stand, a contender standing in a Crystal
Maze-inspired circular glass booth desperately tried to catch the
paper blowing all around him. Up close it was clear to see that
it’s a lot harder than it looks on TV, so I sympathised when he left
empty-handed.
Shortly afterwards I bumped into fellow Vapouround journalist,
Patrick, who suggested we visit the much talked-about Front Line
stand. I admit that I was sceptical when I heard how scary it was.
But I soon discovered that they weren’t exaggerating!
As the Expo wound down I decided to see what was going on at
the Vapouround Casino. It turned out to be perfect timing as a
slightly baffled winner, who hadn’t gambled since his school prom
some six years ago, was cashing in his chips to claim a 32” HD
TV! Not bad for an afternoon’s work, John!
DAY THREE LIQUID OF THE DAY: ‘SILENCE’ BY TRANCE VAPE
Physically and mentally exhausted, it was time to say farewell
to my first ever Vaper Expo UK. I’ll see you at my second in
May 2018.
VM14 | 103