codeyf

Don't get me wrong, I had a good time and look forward to next year.

I bet the brands couldn't sell due to not having a tobacco license or some BS like that. Which makes sense, but still, have some sort of presence in your booth. Matt Booth was the only one I felt was consistently in/around his (Room 101) booth. Although I never went up and actually chatted it up.

Also, I can see the plus/minus of having the brands hand out the sticks at their booth. I can see the first couple hours everyone being mobbed around each booth to get their stick and a punch in their card. But at the same time, with an event this "small" (compared to TBS) it could be figured out. Just off the top of my head, have 2-4 different colored punch cards, and rotate what colors can go get their sticks every X minutes or something.

Ultimately, I got tired/bored of standing for 5 hours, which is why I headed home. Plus I didn't want to go feed the meter again. Had I came with some friends it may have been a different story.

I was weary of the pre/post events. I've been to Vertigo several times, and I can see the draw if you live/work nearby. The only real knock on it in my mind is the HVAC needs some help. If there were at least 10 folks in there, it gets smoky real quick, to the point where it made my eyes burn a little. But I suspect people's tolerances are different in that regard so could just be me.

Bottom line, and I can't stress it enough, though there is definite room for improvement, it was a great first shot. It really wouldn't take much tweaking to really hit a home run, and I'm confident next year will be even better.