EVENTS
BY ANNABELLE TURNER
VAPE SOUTH AMERICA, COLOMBIA. MAY 26-27
This is the second time that the team has attended Vape South America, so we
had high hopes for the show and I am pleased to report that it did not disappoint.
We flew to Medellin via the Colombian capital Bogota where, after
a 5,200-mile journey, we landed at the city’s El Dorado airport.
We fly a lot at Vapouround so the occasional bump here and there
is something we get used to. However, this was a little different.
The plane seemed to make a number of often quite dramatic
twists and turns as we neared the runway and the descent was
less than smooth.
It turns out that the airport is more than 8,000ft above sea level
and very close to the Andes mountains which explains the bumps
and twists as we lined up with the runway.
Another unusual event during this visit was the occurrence of the
presidential election which saw a national alcohol ban from 6pm
on Saturday until 6am on Monday to help facilitate voting. During
the ban police could arrest people for being intoxicated or for
simply being in possession of alcohol.
Colombia has had a bit of a bad reputation over the years, but
we have always found it to be a beautifully scenic country with
friendly, approachable residents.
The show itself was a two-day event held at the Plaza Mayor
in Medellin and it was really well-organised and put together by
Jason Monti and his team.
There was also the added bonus of it not beginning until noon,
meaning there were no early starts, which is always a positive.
Immediately I noticed the busy but well-organised nature of the
134 | VM18
expo. The steady
inflow of people
positively maintained
the atmosphere
creating a sense
of animated
liveliness and this
was also carried through to the
second day of the event. I was
particularly pleased with the natural flow
of events during the expo. Nothing was
forced on those who were there, making the
expo even more enjoyable.
Many expos feel the need to bombard the
attendees with loud, distracting music, making it a challenge to
complete a conversation, yet this was not the case here.
It was lovely to catch up with Vape Dinner lady at the expo while
also being able to interact with lots of South American companies
who we were meeting for the first time.
By the time this edition comes out Jason will have yet another
vape show under his belt – Vape Scandinavia which took place at
the end of July in Copenhagen, Denmark, and we hope to have a
review of that event in our October magazine.