FEATURE
Q&A:
Jason Monti of
Vape Conventions
An interview with the man bringing vape expos to the up and coming
corners of the global market.
The city of Asunción, Paraguay will host Vape South America in an effort to spread the reach of vaping in the region. Organisers Vape
Conventions have described their mission as holding expos and conventions anywhere “there is a high demand for premium e-liquids,
hardware and wholesale suppliers, but [not yet] any access to these products and services.” As media partner to Vape Conventions,
Vapouround caught up with Jason Monti to talk about global markets and upcoming shows.
Q: How and why did you get into the business of event
management? What is it about the e-cigarette industry that
compelled you to run vaping events?
A: Like most people, I was a long-time smoker – 25 plus years
and had tried everything to quit. In 2015 I tried vaping as a way
to quit and never looked back. By October that year I got into the
industry.
I was working in financial services when I became interested in
a career change. I reached out to a few e-liquid companies that
I found online and asked if I can try to sell their liquids to any
shops in my area that weren’t carrying them. After meeting with
some shop owners, I was introduced to Zach at East Coast Vape
Distribution. We hit it off immediately and found a few projects to
work on together.
In late 2016, Zach had the idea to host a trade show in Medellín,
Colombia. Zach has a business partner in Medellín that owns a
call centre and had visited Medellín a few times. He thought the
timing was right for the market. We started planning for our first
vape expo in Medellín in early 2017 and announced in March
2017 for a September 1 show date. That show was a success in
that it introduced our industry to an ignored audience.
Q: Are there any Vape Conventions milestones or achievements
you are particularly proud of?
A: We hosted our second show in Medellín this past May only eight
months after the first and were amazed at how much the market
had grown and how sophisticated it had become in such a short
period of time. We hosted Vape Scandinavia in Copenhagen,
Denmark this past July as well. Denmark recently announced that
they were easing restrictions on vaping and we thought it was a
great market to do an event in. We now have five events on the
books for 2019 and will be adding one or two more.
Q: Why host such an event in Paraguay?
A: When we held our first event in Medellín, we had asked all
the attendees and vendors where they would like to do a show
in South America and Paraguay kept coming up. We didn’t know
much about the market at the time but after looking into it and
studying it, we realised that Paraguay has a sophisticated vape
scene and has been used as an entry point for distribution into
its neighbouring countries that have restrictions like Brazil, Chile,
Bolivia, and Argentina. This is the place to make contacts to do
business in those countries as well as support Paraguay’s strong
vape business.
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“Each region and culture is different in
terms of how you market to them and
what they want to see at an expo.”
Q: Do you have any comments on the growth and potential
of the e-cigarette industry in South America in general?
A: The thing that we’re most excited about is the upward potential
of South America. We will plan more shows in new countries as
well. Peru and Costa Rica are on our radar and we plan on hosting
shows there in the next 12 to 14 months. If what’s happened in
Colombia is an indicator of what this continent can look like, it’s
very exciting to see where we’ll be in two to three years.
Q: What can a vape company hope to gain by attending Vape
South America?
A: Meeting local consumers and business owners from the region
that still have a passion for this industry. We have vendors from
our past shows that are doing very well in South America and it’s
where they’ve seen the most growth internationally.
Q: How have you needed to adapt in order to run shows in
places like Scandinavia and South America?
A: We had Vape South America first and what we learned from
doing both is that each region and culture is different in terms of
how you market to them and what they want to see at an expo.
Q: What should our readers know about the future projects
of Vape Conventions?
A: Vape South America, Paraguay will be a great opportunity for
our vendors to do real business in South America. We will be back
in Medellín in May and we have doubled our floor space based
on this past year’s show.
Vape Conventions has a packed calendar of events in 2019, including:
Vape South America, Paraguay, Jan 26-27
Vape North America, Toronto, March 2-3
Vape South America, Medellín, May 25-26
Vape Barcelona Expo, Barcelona, July 6-7
Vape Scandinavia, Copenhagen, Sept 21-22