Originally published at Tiki Bar Online
It’s that time of the year again…when the question I get most seems to be some variation on, “Will I see you at the IPCPR show?” The answer (again) is, “No.” Instead of repeating my semi-rant from last year on the issue, I just want to lay out what goes through my head when I think about going.
IT’S A RETAIL SHOW
This is the big time of the year for retailers and manufacturers to get together for some one-on-one time, making purchase commitments for the coming year, and book in-store appearances of company owners and others. These things do happen at other times during the year, to be sure, but there is not another event that I know of that has practically every manufacturer, large and small, in attendance along with a majority of the legitimate tobacconists from around the country.
There was the thought of a “Consumer Day” thrown around at the beginning of the year, but it was shot down. The manufacturers are putting their energy into selling to shops and I understand that they didn’t want to have to put forth more energy to deal with random consumers who would be walking through looking for samples of the latest and greatest. Two things occur to me here: First, there are tons of other opportunities for consumers to meet company reps and brand owners through the year, whether through large multi-vendor events or regular in-store events. Second, the samples at the show are often not kept in the best conditions (it’s Vegas, which is dry enough, then you put them in an air conditioned convention hall, which is also dry) and therefore won’t always show these blends at their best. I’ve had plenty of show samples that just didn’t stand out, but when they hit the shelves months later they were great.
THERE IS A LEGITIMATE REASON FOR PRESS TO BE THERE
Because this is a large meeting of manufacturers and retailers, it’s a great opportunity for cigar press to get out there and “get the story.” And I don’t just include the large publications who tend to publish show information sporadically, if at all, but so-called “new media.” The way it works is as pretty much free publicity for the manufacturers who are trying to introduce a ton of new material into the marketplace. They honestly should be welcoming the press into their midst…and most do!
The organization does not seem to hold as high a view of new media, though, and they have worked to make it harder for those who wish to cover the show. Instead of trying to condense the content of a thousand conversations, I’ll just refer you to the Doc’s fantastic article from a year ago. It all still applies.
I look forward as much as anyone else to some of the stellar coverage that comes out of the show and I will post some thoughts on it after it’s done.
IT ISN’T AS IMPORTANT AS IT USED TO BE
This may be hard for some people to read, but the IPCPR show isn’t as important to the industry as it was 5 or 10 years ago. More and more, companies are introducing new products all year long rather than waiting until the summer retail show. This is not a new thought, but it seems to be getting more frequent every year. It’s to a point now where it seems like the “new product” from many manufacturers for this year’s show seems to be line extensions. Important and interesting, but hardly the stuff of “breaking news.”
And fewer manufacturers seem to run “show only” specials. I’ve been told by more than one tobacconist that if they don’t go to the show they can get the same deals just by making a phone call. Which is to the manufacturer’s benefit; after all, they just want to sell product and most don’t particularly care if it’s from a face-to-face meeting on the show floor or over the phone.
OTHER OPPORTUNITIES
As I mentioned before, consumers have plenty of other opportunities to meet the brand owners and company reps and one of the best ones (in my humble opinion) happens shortly after the doors close on IPCPR 2013.
I am once again deeply involved with organizing and planning the Chattanooga Tweet-Up and Cigar Festival. We are in our third year and are working hard to make this the best yet. We’ve made some mistakes and unforced errors our first two years. What I am proudest of for our second year is that we didn’t repeat the mistakes of the first year and we are working now to avoid the mistakes we made last year.
We have over 45 cigar companies committed to sponsoring the event with cigars, along with 30 or more (the list grows almost every day) “special guests” that include local area reps, company executives and brand owners. Tickets are priced at $75 each and are limited to 300 total and I can guarantee you will get your money’s worth.
Each ticket holder will get a grab bag of cigars from our sponsors, somewhere between 8 and 10 cigars…and that alone may cover the price of admission. Then you’ll get to meet all those special guests, like Gary Griffith from Emilio Cigars, Willy Herrera from Drew Estate, and Michael Rosales from RoMa Craft (these are our 3 “major sponsors” this year). Friday night we have a fantastic evening riverboat ride planned. Here you’ll get more cigars from Drew Estate as well as a sampling of Prichard’s Distillery’s wares (this is in place of the ill-fated baseball game we’ve tried the past couple years). And you’ll get to hang out with “a couple hundred of your best friends,” most of whom are active on social media cigar communities. Go to the official website for all the details.
And that’s just the start. We did not invent the idea of a “Cigar Tweet-Up,” but we have helped to popularize the idea and it has started to spread. Washington D.C. has held their own annual event the last couple Springs and there are events in the works for Phoenix and Chicago. If you can’t make it to Chattanooga in August (or even if you can!), you should check out some of these others.
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