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TOBACCO BUSINESS INTERNATIONAL
MARCH/APRIL 2015
TPC 2015—After the Ball Is Over
PUBLISHER’S LETTER
BY ed o’connor
“After the Ball,” a classic waltz written in ¾ time, filled
homes and entertainment palaces of the Gay Nineties
(1890s) with its sweet sound. Written in 1891 by Charles
K. Harris, it became the best-selling sheet music in Tin Pan
Alley’s history, selling over five million copies.
After our show is through, TPC 2015 attendees and ex-
hibitors tell their story for you.
A total of 433 exhibitors and nearly 1,800 buyers, whole-
salers and retailers from 42 countries participated in the
show. In surveying a few dozen attendees about their ex-
perience at the show, here’s what we found out:
• 60 percent said that the show was “excellent;”
40 percent said that the show was “very good.”
• 87 percent placed orders.
• 100 percent found new suppliers.
• 45 percent came with a primary interest in tobacco;
55 percent came with a primary interest in vapor.
• 40 percent said that their businesses sell both tobacco
and vapor.
• Asked, “Would you like the show to be three days
instead of two?” 80 percent responded “no,” and
20 percent responded “yes.”
When asked what was best about attending TPC, respon-
dents said:
1. Meeting new suppliers
2. Seeing current vendors
3. Exhibits
4. Networking
5. Time of year
And yes, there were discordant notes. Some respon-
dents asked for food to be available in the hall, a better
floor plan with names, lower volume on the music, reduced
pricing, more parking, more seating and more sampling.
Somewhere betwixt the tempo of a waltz and the cha-cha
exists a balance…maybe the two-step. And somewhere
between the mix of traditional tobacco and vapor products
our industry will find a balance. Most likely, this will occur
over a period of years. Given TPC’s “big tent” philosophy,
your show is comfortable welcoming all participants from
all of the different industry segments—cigarettes, RYO,
pipe tobacco, cigars, smokeless tobacco, tobacco acces-
sories and all of the varieties of electronic nicotine delivery
items—to ensure you have a broad, inclusive array of qual-
ity item options with which to stock your most valuable
commodity: your shelf space.
May the sweet melody of prosperity and good health fol-
low you throughout 2015. Thank you for being our guest
at TPC 2015. We hope to see you at Vapor Expo Interna-
tional on June 17-18 in Chicago, and back at TPC 2016 next
March.
Best to you,