With winter well and truly upon us , I made sure to wrap up warm ahead of my shift dishing out flyers outside of our flagship lounge in Derby to celebrate its first anniversary . Inside , Riot Squad set up for their first of two Vapouround events that day . Given their huge profile and our lounge ’ s reputation for dishing out bargains , my job was easy and soon the store was full of vapers , smokers and curious non-vapers . Despite spending three days in the same building as Riot Squad at the Vaper Expo the previous month , I somehow hadn ’ t taken the time to properly try out their juices . So before heading outside , I decided to put that right and get vaping . I was instantly struck by how subtle the flavours were , given the intensity implied by the brightly-coloured bottles . While they certainly packed a punch , they didn ’ t beat you to a pulp with it . Even Iron Bruise was gentle in its flavour while still living up to its sweet , fruity namesake . I headed outside and began talking to passers-by , my eyes now highly trained to spot vapers and smokers approaching from afar . After a lesson in patter from Reuben from our marketing team , I soon found myself chatting to committed vapers and speculative smokers . Unsurprisingly , many of the vapers were already well-aware of Riot Squad , so they didn ’ t need a lot of encouragement to pop in to see the guys and try some of their flavours . Things got a bit trickier when a very vocal evangelist started preaching right next to me , so I made sure to make our flyers as visible as possible to reassure potential customers that the only preaching I ’ d be doing was the gentle encouragement for smokers and vapers to pop into the lounge to see what we and were all about . Midway through the day I hopped into a taxi with the Riot
Squad guys and headed over for the second of the day ’ s events : the launch party of Vapouround @ Del Boys . This time , the iconic Riot Squad van was parked up outside . As they set up shop and began blasting music , I headed into the lounge , where the party was already well-underway . Customers , staff and the guys from Ultimate Juice filled their plates at the buffet table and sipped flutes of bubbly and bottles of beer . Ultimate Juice were behind some of my favourite flavours at Vaper Expo UK , so it was great to have a chat with the guys so proudly ‘ Straight Outta Coventry ’ about how they came to be and what they like about working in the industry . It was a familiar story of falling into the scene as a consumer before deciding to give back to the community and helping educate vapers and speculative smokers alike . After filling up on sausage rolls , I had a chat with a committed vaper who popped by . Since the day he took up vaping , he ’ s become something of an ambassador for the industry . “ I smoked for sixteen years . Since trying vaping two years ago I haven ’ t touched a cigarette at all . Never again !” As always in the vaping world , it was encouraging to see competing vape companies having a laugh with one another , letting their hair down and supporting each other ’ s e-liquid flavours . That said , there was no love lost at the Riot Squad vs Ultimate Juice cloud contest , where each team of two attempted to fill the van with as much vapour as possible before opening the hatch , roughly measuring the size of the cloud and then totting up the judges ’ scores . Everyone came away with a prize at the end , which was probably for the best , given the competitiveness on display . Then it was time for the main event – the indoor cloud contest . Pairs stood back-to back before exhaling vapour the furthest distance possible , making use of the spacious shop floor . Eventual winner Neil did pretty well for himself , walking away with a Limitless mod . Rather than having a maiden vape there-and-then , he looked forward to getting his new bit of kit back home . “ This will take pride-of-place on the shelf at home ”, he said . As the cold afternoon gave way to an even colder evening , the day ’ s festivities drew to a close . It was a pretty intense day for all involved and further evidence of Vapouround ’ s growing presence in the city it calls home .
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