The Friday evening event starting promptly at 6:30PM, but the line began to form by 5:00PM. It was surreal to see no smoking signs posted by Cigar Aficionado, which applied to the areas outside of the ballroom, not inside the event itself (God forbid!). There were different strategies employed by attendees to efficiently gather up cigars, eat, drink, and check out all the amenities. It seems that the best strategy was to go for the cigars first, but only if you were near the beginning of the line. If you were hungry and near the back of the line, it was better to go for the eats first, before the food line formed. Some cigar makers gave away cutters and other cigar accessories, which were in limited supply. To go immediately to a certain cigar maker, diagrams were posted to show the layout of the room.
Surprisingly, the room did not feel like a gas chamber, even with more than 3,000 people smoking cigars. Cigar Aficionado has been doing this for 12 years, and they know how to handle a large number of cigar smokers without any major snags. Some opted to arrive at 7:00PM, in order to avoid standing in line before the event. However, those folks ended up standing in longer lines at the various booths for cigars and food.
I talked with many cigar smokers at this event, and there were quite a few repeat customers, who religiously return every year. Rudy Giuliani happened to be in town, and talked to the various cigar makers and Cigar Aficionado executives before the doors opened to the public. Read more...
Surprisingly, the room did not feel like a gas chamber, even with more than 3,000 people smoking cigars. Cigar Aficionado has been doing this for 12 years, and they know how to handle a large number of cigar smokers without any major snags. Some opted to arrive at 7:00PM, in order to avoid standing in line before the event. However, those folks ended up standing in longer lines at the various booths for cigars and food.
I talked with many cigar smokers at this event, and there were quite a few repeat customers, who religiously return every year. Rudy Giuliani happened to be in town, and talked to the various cigar makers and Cigar Aficionado executives before the doors opened to the public. Read more...