Russ Ouellette reports in from the Chicago Pipe Show

Sorry about being so late posting info about our trip, but to say we’ve been busy is a major understatement.

Jack and I met and loaded up around 11:45 pm on Wednesday night and went to pick up Bob and we started on our way to Chicago. The trip itself was remarkably uneventfful, and we got in around 2:30 pm local time on Thursday. We went to the resort after dropping off our personal stuff at the motel and met a number of old acquaintances, got the info we needed and went to supper at Portillo’s for an unhealthy, but delicious meal. After eating, we picked up a few items and went back to crash.

Friday morning came quickly as we had to be there early (5:50 am) to get a table for the pre-show, and then had to set up. The crowd was good, we said hi to a lot of friends, and sold a bunch of our “swag bags”. Right after we broke down the table, Scotty and Bob Gates arrived. The rest of the crew hung out at the smoking tent while I went to the United Pipe Club meeting and a seminar on Perique. I wound up being appointed to the executive board of UPCA again, so the CDPC is well represented, and the member clubs were excited about hearing that we’re having a show. The UPCA will also sanction our slow-smoking contest and will provide a trophy.

We went to the welcoming dinner and renewed even more acquaintances and met many new fans of Pipesandcigars.com. As some of you know, Pipes Magazine.com did a 3 part interview we me a while back, and after talking to Kevin and Bob (the publishers), we agreed that I will write regular articles for them- another opportunity the spread the good word. We stayed around the tent for some time and went back for rest.

Today started a little after 8 as we set up for the real show. Confusion reigned (as usual), but we figured out how we wanted things to be set up and we were ready for business.

The traffic seemed better than recent years and we rocked and rolled to the best sales day I remember at a show. Our reputation continues to grow as many people came over to tell us how much they enjoy dealing with us. We headed back to freshen up and Scott took us to a really nice restaurant. After dinner we went back to the tent for a fun evening. I had a great chat with a vendor who may be able to help me with some blending projects that could be amazing. We didn’t leave until about 1:30 am (2:30 your time), and came back to rest up.

Unfortunately, not all news was positive. A lot of anti-smoking efforts are brewing, but there are a lot of passionate people fighting on our behalf. Despite all that crap, the mood here is generally upbeat. I’ll try to drop another post tomorrow.

Russ

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