EVENTS
EVENTS
ROTHERHAM TOUR | 24TH NOVEMBER 2017
Some would say that you ’ d be mad to head north at the tail end of November when the country is in the grip of a cold snap . It certainly felt that way as we wound the Vapouround bus through the freezing cold streets of Rotherham . But we had a job to do . Come rain , shine or bone-rattling cold , the Vapouround bus is out and about meeting vapers and helping smokers quit for good , not to mention bringing them in from the cold . Why smoke outside when you can vape in the warm instead ? Oh , did I mention that it was cold ? Given that it was Black Friday , we anticipated that it would be busy and we weren ’ t wrong . We must have met upwards of 100 smokers and committed vapers over the course of the day . But our first customer fell into another group that ’ s rarely discussed – the smoker who ’ d tried to make the switch but for whatever reason hadn ’ t been converted . “ I tried it but it ’ s not quite the same . I wanted something that actually tastes like tobacco but I couldn ’ t find anything quite right ,” she said . Fortunately my colleague Reuben knew just the thing , so I jotted down the name of his recommended e-liquid and the customer sped off to a nearby shop to try it for herself . Demand for goody bags was off the charts - I had to replenish them every half hour or so . The inflatable flamingo mod-holder proved to be a bigger hit than the juices with one customer , who popped it on his head , donned the blue plastic sunglasses and proudly posed for photos . As we moved into the afternoon , more and more people came by to enquire about CBD e-liquid , presumably in response to a recent ITV programme on the subject . It was the perfect opportunity to encourage them to pick up the December issue of the magazine that included a feature on the subject . Always on-brand , me . Also on-brand and on-message was Reuben , who responded to an enquirer ’ s rant about the tax increase on tobacco with the statistic that vaping is getting cheaper every year . Perhaps these two facts explain why the locals were so keen to find out more and try the various liquids in the vape box . Later in the afternoon , hardened vaper Darren came to see what we were up to , having recognised the bus from October ’ s Vaper Expo UK . He was happy to share his story with some fellow vapers . “ A mate of mine recommended vaping . He ’ d cut down from 20-a-day to two – one in the morning and one just before bed . I thought I ’ d try it . But unlike him , I didn ’ t need fags at all . Since then , my health ’ s improved and I just feel better in myself .” This was a really enjoyable day out . The people of Rotherham were almost exclusively pro-vaping and it was great meeting so many people . We shall definitely make a note to come back here .
156 | VM15