EVENTS
BY PATRICK GRIFFIN
MOSCOW VAPEXPO2017. SOKOLNIKI EXHIBITION
AND CONVENTION CENTRE - DECEMBER 8-10
This was my first visit to Moscow and the last thing I expected was to have a bottle of Russian
vodka confiscated from me at the checkout of the supermarket opposite my hotel.
A very stern looking checkout operator looked at the vodka, added
disapproval to her facial expression and wagged a finger at me as
she placed the offending bottle out of sight under the till. (I later
learned that I had missed the 10pm cut off point for spirits sales.)
The other thing which surprised me was that the weather was
relatively mild, just a couple of degrees below freezing on arrival
but no bitingly chilly winds that I had been led to expect. It was
positively t-shirt and light jacket weather for the duration of the trip.
I was also expecting long queues at the airport and an inefficient
arrivals process but nothing could have been further from the truth.
Clearing immigration, baggage reclaim and customs was all done
within minutes and we were soon in a taxi for the 90 minute journey
to the hotel.
We bumped into our friends Mo and Imran from The Doozy Vape
Co in the hotel lobby and soon saw a couple of other friendly
faces so we had clearly chosen a hotel which was convenient for
the expo.
As we set out in search of food later that evening both I and
colleague Dave Turner were careful not to trip on the icy pavements
and roads. While our ultra slow walking pace kept us from falling
flat on our backs, it was a little embarrassing to see little old ladies
overtaking us with carefree abandon.
148 | VM15
The expo itself turned out to be in a wonderful snow-covered forest
and this was about as perfect a winter setting as one could hope
to see. It was held over three days and followed the conventional
format for these events; a business day on day one, followed by
two days which were open to the public. Full marks for organisers