Post-Game Report on #CHAtweetup2016

It’s become a bit of a tradition for me to give a post-game report on the Chattanooga Tweet-Up and Cigar Festival. This year it has taken me a little longer to get to it than most years, but it’s been in the back of my mind for the week-plus since the event ended.

Thanks!

It’s always important to start off by saying a big public “Thank You!” to all of those who made the event possible. So I’ll do that in the next three sections.

Our Reps Rock

I can’t say enough about the reps we have in the Chattanooga cigar market. They do an outstanding job all year long supporting and building their brands, but they also really step up their game during Tweet-Up.

Specifically, I want to thank Kyle from Drew Estate (and Agio and Joya de Nicaragua); Chris from Alec Bradley; Glynn from Caldwell (and Villiger, Mombacho and Guayacan); Markus Raty (co-owner of Mombacho); Tim from HVC and Catelli; Mike (co-owner of Catelli); Louie from Fuente and JC Newman; Sheldon from Kings, Imperia, Jordan Alexander III, and Saga; Oscar, owner of GTO Cigars; Fred, owner of Nomad Cigars; Shannon, representing Nomad; Jake from La Palina; Sean from General (Macanudo, CAO and Toraño); Nate from Miami Cigar & Company; Rick from Nat Sherman; Jonathan from Oliva; Chris from Perdomo; Jason from Espinosa and Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust; Patrick from Xikar; Stacy from Rocky Patel; Don from PDR Cigars; and Eddie, owner of Tarazona Cigars.

Also, without reps, but still present: Foundation Cigars, Avo Cigars, and La Flor Dominicana for providing cigars for the grab bags, as well as Boveda for providing the humidified bags we put all those cigar into.

All the reps that were on hand worked tirelessly to sell cigars in their brands…and they played hard, too. A special thanks to Oscar (GTO) and Don (PDR) who definitely came to work and rarely let an hour go by when they weren’t telling people all about the cigars they had available.

Our customers are incredibly patient

Because of some logistical…um…”issues”…we couldn’t plan everything to the nth degree that we normally try to, which left some holes in our schedule. Our customers came through, though…when it came time for the Dominoes Tournament, several teams stepped up.

Then someone suggested a Cornhole Tournament and we ended up with twice as many teams as we did last year when we actually planned for it.

For the most part, though, everyone seemed very happy with the changed format where herfing was the focus. People met and befriended others that came from across the country or just across town. And that’s really what this whole “cigar smoking thing” is about…it’s a fellowship enhancement device. People from different background, states, incomes and political views all came together to share some great times over a cigar, a beer, and some catfish and okra.

Give our Partners a hand

We worked with some fantastic partner companies this year. Moss Place provided incredible BBQ chicken and pulled pork for Thursday night’s “Preview Night” and all day Friday with the aforementioned fried catfish and okra. Sadly, a fire broke out at their physical business location on Friday afternoon and a Good Samaritan died after putting it out. That made it impossible for Moss to come back on Saturday.

Lashes and Mustashes from Atlanta rented us a mobile lounge, tents and furniture to provide a cool(er) place for people to escape during the hot parts of the day. Thanks to MJ and Joyce for all their hard work.

Smooth Draws Radio Show had a live broadcast from Burns on Saturday morning (I was on the radio!) and hosted a Cigar Trivia Contest on Friday afternoon.

Brown Bag Delivery Service ensured that we had a little more than beer to drink.

And finally Fred from Star Entertainment provided the sound system, music and karaoke that everyone is sure to be talking about for years…seriously, you had to hear Glynn Segars singing “My Girl” and Drew Whatley rapping to several hits.

FDA: confusion & interpretations

I haven’t said much about the FDA regulations that currently afflict the cigar industry. Look, the new rules suck, but it’s a very complicated and fluid issue that simply won’t be resolved anytime soon. A couple things affected the Tweet-Up.

I was told that if someone bought a ticket for the event, reps could hand them cigars because it was no longer a “free sample.” Some companies agreed and went by that rule. Others would only give out cigars when a customer bought more of that companies sticks. Still others would only give out swag when cigars were purchased. Seems like the bureaucrats-who-would-be-kings can’t be bothered to give exact and consistent information on the issue, so every company is advising their reps differently at the moment. The rules are stupid and the implementation is completely asinine.

Furthermore, we were warned early in the week that FDA “shock troops” were showing up to surprise cigar shops with sting operations and handing out warning and fines. That may be true…or it could have just been “urban legend” level info. I heard from one person that the CRA was going to help out reps who got fined for violating the rules…and from someone else that they had heard of no such thing. Information is slow to disseminate and highly subject to error. It’s a time of fear and confusion in the industry. I can’t wait for a freedom-minded judge to throw the whole thing out.

What does the future bring

When we started the Chattanooga Tweet-Up, it seemed that Twitter had the largest gathering of cigar enthusiasts. There are still a lot there, but times have changed. I suggested adding on “and Cigar Festival” to the name a few years back, sensing that Twitter would run its course, like AOL and MySpace had before it…people seem to find a new way to connect online every few years.

Turns out the “new” way cigar people are connecting is really the “old” way. We have much better response from advertising events and sales on Facebook than anywhere else. Facebook’s cigar groups weathered a storm and potential shut-down earlier this year and are going stronger than ever. Practically everyone I know in the industry—company, rep, owner, blogger, retailer, consumer—is active on Facebook.

So it seems that the “Tweet-Up” name has run its course. It’s safe to say that whatever large, multi-vendor event we have at Burns in 2017 will NOT be called the Chattanooga Tweet-Up. It may be the Chattanooga Cigar Festival…it may be something entirely different…but we do plan on continuing this great tradition of bringing together social-media-connected cigar smokers from around the country for a big multi-day event…to gather, relax and smoke.

Burns Tobacconist is a sponsor of Leaf Enthusiast. Find them on Facebook by clicking HERE. You can also follow them @BurnsCigars on Twitter and Instagram.