Originally Posted by codeyf

Interesting to hear the "it was awesome!" feedback on the event. I also went, though not on a VIP ticket. At $150 + fees, I was going to pass. However I found the online discount codes for $50 off admission Friday afternoon and decided to bite @ $100.

I felt it was a solid first effort for an event, given the restrictions that exist. I did my opinion on it on the cigar family board, I'll copy/paste here for my thoughts. And sorry, as although I took a camera, I took no pics

Here's my recap / opinion of the event;

I think it was a solid freshman effort. Hopefully the organizers will get some good feedback (there should be plenty) and take that to the planning meetings for next years event. Here are my pluses:

+ Great selection of wine and spirit samplings!
+ The overall ambiance was great
+ Excellent food vendors: El Gaucho steak slider, the pulled pork sandwich from Crush, and the bacon mac & cheese. Mmmm....
+ For the average smoker, the included sticks weren't bad. I'm pretty picky, but will definitely try half of the 15 sticks.
+ THE WOMEN "AMBASSADORS". WOW. THAT WAS AN UNEXPECTED AND PLEASANT SURPRISE.
+ The venue I think worked great. Weather played a big part in this working out well.
+ The music was EXCELLENT! I think it would've been better had the Latin band played a longer set.

And the things I think could be improved:

- MORE OUTDOOR SEATING. Doesn't need to be all leather couches and lounge chairs. Just some folding chairs and tables would've been nice.
- The manufacturer booths were pitiful. Only 1 or 2 actually had sticks on display. Shoot, the La Gloria Cubana had a sign.....and nothing else. What was the point? The Vertigo Lounge booth had a stack of flyers.....and noone there.
- Some of the manufacturers that were listed as sponsors had ZERO visible representation. No booth, no sticks in my goody bag, what gives? Tatuaje? Padron? 601?
- Pete Johnson & Rocky Patel bailing on the event and not showing up. Was nice to see Dion from Illusione and Matt (Room 101) representing.
- Ticket price was steep. At $150, I'd have been dissapointed. With the $50 coupon code, I can work out $100 worth of value from what I got, and I think it's "fair".
- I got 2 dessert tokens, and there was 1 dessert booth. I guess it's good they had several choices?

Some thought's / suggestions:

Rather than do a goody bag with sticks, why not have a punch card where you can get them from the manufacturer's booth? This way the brands could actually have goods at their booth and it would give attendees a chance to interact with them and find out what the stick they're getting is all about. If I get some stick I've never even heard of in a ziplock bag, there is a small chance I'm ever going to smoke it. However if I'm talking to a rep as it's given to me, and I hear about what the brand is about, it sparks actual interest in that brand (assuming I like what I hear) and I'm more likely to remember them the next time I'm in the shop looking for something to smoke.

I think $100 bucks is the "sweet spot" for a general admission ticket. This isn't Vegas / The Big Smoke. No seminars or talks about where the industry / individual manufacturers are headed. No "big" names attending. No sticks that I couldn't see in a $30 Cigars International sampler. The way I broke it down was $35 for the CRA membership, easily $50 in food and wine/booze tastings, and then some $ value to the sticks. At a c-note, I'd be in no questions asked, as would probably a half dozen or so of folks I know that I talked about it with.

Seemed to me that every attendee should've gotten a raffle ticket. The 1 ticket per stick purchased was silly given that if you bought a box you'd get 20+ tickets. I don't know how the raffle turned out, but I would think everyone should get a small shot. I certainly wasn't going to go buy something that I wouldn't normally simply to get a single raffle ticket. And none of the 3 vendors selling sticks seemed to have anything in box quantities, or any special "deal" for the event. The local I try to get my sticks from runs special pricing any time you buy a full box, and their event deals are amazing. And they sure don't get the amount of attendees the expo got.

Do a better job of nailing down what attendees are getting for their ticket. I heard "15+" sticks, saw a bigger list of manufacturers on the website, and then got exactly 15 sticks in my bag. While I don't feel like I didn't get any value, there were a couple sticks I thought I was going to get but didn't see (601 Maduro, Padron).

In general, it just needs more stuff. The even ran from 1pm-8pm (or started at noon for "VIP's"). I got there at one, and had seen everything there was to see well before 2pm.

Overall, like I said it was a solid showing for a first time event. I think it showed that there is definitely enough audience for this, and there is excellent potential for this to be a GREAT event. Hopefully brands of cigars and accessories take note and will have a stronger showing next year, as I really think they were the weak spot in this. Of note, the Xikar rep was doing the best he could given all he had were a couple catalogs out to look through. Very friendly, made it a point to shake my hand and talk about what they had going on. But I did find it pretty sad that representation by the cigar brands was lacking the most at a cigar expo.

I look forward to seeing what they come up with next year. I think they've got a real opportunity here to start something great and hope that they capitalize. Additionally, the legislation coming up at the start of the year to amend the smoking ban has the potential to further broaden the audience, and really push this event over the edge.