VapeCon 2016 - the story in pictures

[Silver]

Hi all

We have received the professional photos from VapeCon 2016 and lets just say - they are AWESOME !

@Rob Fisher and myself are going to use them to retell the story - with full commentary as we go. It's going to be an incremental build up so we can relive the awesomeness on that day.

We are going to try give a lot of context to the photos and where possible fill in the happenings, the quirks and the fun things that happened around them. Feel free to contribute if we missed anything.

Keep your eyes on this thread - I think it's going to be fun to watch it unfold...

 

[Rob Fisher]

VapeCon 2016 was a long time in the planning and the excitement running up to the event was huge… I find it hard to describe the 27th August 2016… all I can really say about it was that it was the dawning of the age of Vaping… it was the day that vaping went from the lunatic fringe to mainstream!

So the day finally arrived and Hi Ho @Silver and I pulled into the Heartfelt Area parking lot at 06:00am and already there were people in the queue. By 06:30 the excitement and work going on inside had reached fever pitch! Last minute fixing of stands and packing of stock was going on and the rest of the team had arrived and were setting up in anticipation of the crowds we hoped would come... Hi Ho will post some pics later of the inside goings on...

Attention was needed outside so I headed to the gate to control the flow of vehicles and see all the peeps in the queue! Here are the first die hards that were first in the queue! One wise man brought along a chair...
`

The queue grew rather quickly and I was stunned by how many people came so early... I think next year we need to open the doors a lot earlier... the queue just grew and grew... walking up and down greeting the peeps it was great to hear all the vaping chatter and the excitement was growing by the minute.


One of my jobs was allowing the vendors in with last minute stock to pack out... Here is Mike from Vape Decadence trying to look cool with his sun glasses!

 

[Rob Fisher]

OK let's put up some pics of all the early birds chilling in the queue! If you spot yourself in the pics let us know your Forum Name!

 

[Rob Fisher]

As time went on the queue just grew and grew! It was around the 7am mark that we realised that VapeCon 2016 was going to be the sucess and more than we had hoped it would be! There were lots of backpacks in the queue and the vaping chatter was growing louder and more excited all the time... the clouds were billowing and the security and Heartfelt staff could not believe their eyes!

 

[Rob Fisher]

There was a light cold wind blowing and one of the early arrival promo girls was a dash on the chilly side... and being the gentleman I am I lent her my @Paulie's Jacket... it kept her warm and we bonded.

 

[Rob Fisher]

There were lots of cute girls at VapeCon and the cameraman had a good eye!

What do we have behind the clouds of Vapour?


Yes we have cute girls!

 

[Rob Fisher]

Vendor Flags adorned the route to the entrance and by 08:30 the excitement was off the charts... we were running around like demons possessed sorting out last minute issues. I have to say at this point that we have made a lot of notes on how to do things a bit better next year and an exhibition of this size is quite some undertaking. Next year pre bought tickets will have the giant's share of the entry points... the amount of tickets bought online on the day before VapeCon was nothing short of exceptional...

 

[Gizmo]

Wow those pictures are amazing! Looking forward to seeing more!!

 

[Nizamudeen]

OK let's put up some pics of all the early birds chilling in the queue! If you spot yourself in the pics let us know your Forum Name!
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Nizamudeen im there lol in the 2nd pic

 

[Metal Liz]

Absolutely amazing!!! wish i was there

 

[kimbo]

Absolutely amazing!!! wish i was there

Liz Nice to see you again

 

[johan]

looking forward to more pics of awesome chicks - (yes I know .... ).

 

[SAVaper]

As time went on the queue just grew and grew! It was around the 7am mark that we realised that VapeCon 2016 was going to be the sucess and more than we had hoped it would be! There were lots of backpacks in the queue and the vaping chatter was growing louder and more excited all the time... the clouds were billowing and the security and Heartfelt staff could not believe their eyes!
View attachment 66685 View attachment 66686 View attachment 66687

me and @Tisha in the first 2 pics.... from behind...

 

[Silver]

Right, it's time to continue...

I am going to post some of the photos of the vendor stands before the crowds descended on them. There wasn't much time to do this but there were some great photos taken. Later on I will return with more commentary on more of the stands - from later in the day...

First up is Juicy Joes

These guys were incredible. They set up their stand in record time. And came all the way from Cape Town. Thank you @ShaneW - you guys are champs! That orange background with the Juicy Joes logo was rather striking. I think its @MarkK in the pic...

 

[Silver]

Next up is L'dy Vape and Vape Candy

They shared a small stand. Lots of excitement it seems with their own promo girls getting ready for the onslaught It's actually quite funny because at that point I was standing probably only a few meters to the left of that picture and I did not even notice what was happening at their stand. At that point I was nervously anticipating the opening...
Lol

Thanks for being there with us and for the support @Joyce L'dy Vape and @Robin Cilliers !

 

[Friep]

Me and the wife in the pick with the guy and his chair. He also brought some snaks to share... Realy like the vape comunity. We the first five had a lot of fun in the q. Tasted some juice tested some mods realy awsome time we got their at 6:13

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

 

[Silver]

Last minute touches to the Noble stand

You guys had such a clean orderly stand - very nice! @SwickedV
Such a pity I didn't get a chance to try the juices. Damn

 

[Silver]

This was a fabulous stand from Vapers Corner

So well laid out. They had a full blown shop there! Lovely use of the medium sized corner stand. Big ups to you for the effort you put in. I know how much preparation you put in. Lots of counter space and good space for stock. Seems like it worked well because later on in the day your stand was always packed...

Thanks for the support @Vapers Corner - and Lol on the chirps on the day and the scares you gave me on build day We had some power issues on that island of stands and as a joke they asked me where they can plug in their coffee machine!!! Needless to say that comment floored me... I can only laugh now - but it was a tense moment then.

 

[Silver]

Ok this is a classic from The Vapery

If there was an award for it, you guys would be right up there for the most creative stand of the day. My gosh, those back metal "steampunk" shelves were awesome. And this photo does not do full justice. (more later though) - there were lots of other weird and wonderful things at your stand. And the great clothing and amazing headwear!

Thanks for the support @Dirk. You and your team put in a huge amount of effort and put on a great spectacle for the attendees.

 

[Silver]

And here we have Sir Vape with their long stand right next to the bar.

Also a big thanks for the effort you put in travelling from Durban @Sir Vape. Not an easy task to bring all the stock and the final bits and pieces from afar. You did the attendees proud. There is @BigGuy on the right hand side

And the 2nd photo is of Steam Masters, their wholesale business. Great to see representation from you at VapeCon!

 

[Rob Fisher]

8:40 am and the peeps are getting restless... we open the outside gates gates and get the queue to move to the main entrance to the Arena... the organisers are at Defcon 1... the lights are going green and we are almost ready for lift off... final mic checks done... the check in girls and boys are almost ready... the anticipation is almost palpable!

I'm not sure what to do with myself so I'm checking and double checking inside and out... not sure what I'm checking but I'm doing it anyway because it looks like we are in total control! Each time Hi Ho @Silver and I cross paths we just grin at each other... we can't believe we are at T-Minus 15!



T-Minus 10 and it appears that Hi Ho @Silver is ready to rock and roll...

 

[Silver]

I'm not sure what to do with myself so I'm checking and double checking inside and out... not sure what I'm checking but I'm doing it anyway

That was so accurate @Rob Fisher - lol - I got butterflies just reading that

 

[Rob Fisher]

That was so accurate @Rob Fisher - lol - I got butterflies just reading that

That was the Butterflies part... in the morning we can do the goosebump post!

 

[Rob Fisher]

T-Minus 3 and last minute chat with Hi Ho @Silver! The last picture taken of me before the opening... VapeCon 2016 is about to become a reality after all the months of planning... I think at this stage I am shaking with anticipation! Right my peeps let's do this!


I moved back into the Arena and began the count down from 10... 9... 8... 7... 6... 5... 4... 3... 2... 1...
VapeCon 2016 is now open!

That moment I will cherish forever... the emotions flooding... the hairs on my arms stood up and the goosebumps were visible... this may all sound a bit melodramatic but for @Silver, @Stroodlepuff, myself and the whole team this was the realisation of a dream and the day Vaping went Mainstream!

And now all hell breaks loose! the queues start to stream in! @Silver and I now stand back and watch the peeps filing into the Area! We look at each other and share a special moment!

 

[Rob Fisher]

All hands on deck! We have a 2 km line of anxious deal getting vapers to get into the arena!


The Team in full swing doing the name tag stickers! These were important because there are a lot of prizes to be had for ecigssa members wearing them!