Had such a great time at Treating Yourself expo world’s largest vapor lounge I had to bring some of it home. No, the eight foot tall inflatable Volcano Digit isn’t on my front lawn, but I did score twenty (20) sealed Volcano Vaporizer bags with Storz & Bickel lanyards attached. Both Storz and Bickel volcano digit inflatable and their vapor bag giveaway were excellent marketing. Their brand is reinforced as top tier amongst those who don’t own a Volcano Vaporizer and those who do own receive a cool bonus. Which of course reinforces the idea they made a great purchase decision.

Volcano Vaporizer Swag

Anticipating huge demand, Storz & Bickel brought too many of their vapor bag lanyards. About 3500 too many. The largest vapor lounge was mighty empty. With less than ten volcanos. A massive open box half stuffed with sealed vapor bags was by the door. Sensing opportunity Saturday I returned Sunday with my large travel backpack with a sole goal of getting as many sealed vapor bag lanyards as possible. At $20 a pop, I scored $400 worth of Volcano goodies in one fell swoop.
Plenty of people told me they felt the world largest vapor lounge was deceptively advertised. I’m not sure how it was “government approved.” Numerous attendees reported they paid $25 admission to see the lounge only to be told they couldn’t get in. The ad in Toronto Sun said all were welcome right beside the announcement of world’s largest vapor lounge. The image was a mock of CN Tower with a vapor bag attachment.
Potheads in Toronto expect to be allowed into vapor lounges. After all they can visit Vapor Central, which has more Volcano Vaporizers, more experienced staff and 10 brand new Volcano vapor bags sans lanyards.
Though most couldn’t get into the world’s largest vapor lounge, not that they were really missing much, some exhibitor booths brought brand game. Admission should have been $10 this year to get everyone who attended hooked on the idea. That said there was opportunity to leave with about $100 in free stuff.

TY Expo Buds

Cannabis Culture’s Jermiah Vandermeer and myself used the last hour or so of TY Expo to take photographs of the better booths. I put my glittery pumpkin suit on a/k/a The Don Jail prison jumper and we had it. I’ll get a photo gallery from Cannabis Culture this week.
Greenhouse Seeds mocked up their Amsterdam location beautifully. Worthy of their Euro egos. Giving away posters, stickers and grinders. I got a whole box of Greenhouse Seeds grinders. They’re good grinders too. I’ll put them by the door of Pimp Pot Palace to hand to friends…or something.
We took some photos on Greenhouse Seeds Strain Hunters set with their beautiful bud babes. They didn’t sell a single marijuana seed, but did more to enhance their brand than any other Amsterdam seed breeder. Greenhouse Seeds peddled their brand perfectly.
Not saying the other Amsterdam marijuana seed breeders didn’t bring game. They just didn’t go to such extreme.
Serious Seeds had a nice backdrop too. And put cafe seating in. DNA Genetics had a newborn, Marley. Paradise Seeds had posters. Everyone had glossy marijuana seeds catalogs.
Most of the high end product companies brought out some great marketing. Reeferman Seeds new marijuana fertilizer Love Potion distributed pens with roll out feeding charts. Advance Nutrients distributed numbered buttons with the idea of matching them with another attendee. About the only disappointment was RooR. Especially considering the price tag of their bongs. They did little promote themselves as a top tier toking device.
Their booth was much too small.I’m a comic geek ganja enthusiasts who enjoys being marketed too. Like everyone, the products I consume, including my marijuana gear, better come with an element of branding cool. Many company’s, especially the ones I spend my money on, did just that.
Next year there needs to much more over-the-top toker gimmicks. The vibe was almost too sterile. The expo improved my appreciation of the brands I already invest in immensely. Especially my Volcano Digit. They had an inflatable volcano digit in Metro Toronto Convention Center. That’s fucking cool.
I’m almost too curious to see if Greenhouse Seeds products are worth their massive display and strain hunter egos. I suspect plenty of other marijuana growers did too.

Paradise Seeds @ TY Expo (By Cannabis Culture)

Volcano Vaporizer Hug (TY Expo)