ECTA Directors Stepping Down…

As many of you may already know, Charlene and John from VapeMate are stepping down as one of the ten original Founding Directors of the ECTA. Reluctantly, we have accepted their resignation. They have been extremely valuable assets to our organization and they will be sorely missed. They are moving to the US and, being the advocates that they are, will surely continue to fight the good fight down there as well.

They still have their online/retail store in Kenora, which will remain as a member of ECTA but, unfortunately, we are loosing them as active directors.

We wish them the best of luck and we will certainly remain in close contact going forward.

They are departing with these words…

With mixed emotion, the time has come for us to step down as directors from the board of the ECTA. Many already know that we are moving to the United States (I know, right?). We blame our children and aging parents for not moving North to be closer us, but c’est la vie… In all likelihood, (John says) we will be back but when is unknown.

Click for a short trip down Memory Lane...

Our journey began the same way it did for most of the OG. We were smokers that found vaping and wanted to help others to “stop setting stuff on fire” (thanks Thomas), so we starting giving, then selling products out of our home, ultimately opening VapeMate, an online/retail store in Kenora Ontario, 2011.

The lack of regulation, standards or any sort of guidance was concerning as a new business. Like the dozens of other business owners in Canada (yeah, only dozens back then), we were flying blind and doing the best we could.

In late 2011, we were approached by a couple of other businesses with similar concerns and we began looking at the Electronic Cigarette Industry Trade Association (ECITA) model in the UK. We believed that we could make a similar model work in Canada, so we brought in Katherine Devlin and Tom Pruen to help.

The ECTA was born!

After many bumps, bruises, several cuts and scratches and even a concussion or two, we completed the first release of the ISE Guide in July 2013 and took on our first member in August 2013.

Since then, our program has been running quite well. Membership has fluctuated, but each (unfortunate) time a member departed the ECTA, they left with a better sense of what regulation for our industry “should” look like. They were running their businesses differently. They knew that how we present ourselves will directly impact how we are regulated by the government.

All-in-all, there has been a steady growing foundation of true believers in the ECTA. We are very proud of what has been accomplished in these few years. The people that we have worked with; industry leaders, early start-ups, vapers, politicians and regulators that we have met. The research, the submissions, the letters, the emails, the interviews, the good and the bad. It has been an incredible ride, to say the least and we would do it again!

I feel a bit like Augustus McCrae in Lonesome Dove (spoiler alert) during his death scene with Woodrow, “My God, Woodrow. It has been quite a party, ain’t it?” But Woodrow’s journey is not over, and neither is the journey of the ECTA. There is still a long and bumpy road ahead for this industry.

Although we are stepping down as directors and moving out of the country, we are not dying. We still have VapeMate and will still continue to assist/support the ECTA (or anyone) in an advisory capacity wherever we are able. The ECTA and the Canadian vaping industry are in our blood and you can’t just shut that down. But the ECTA is in excellent hands to move forward to a bright future! There have been several new board members to step up this past year and fresh blood brings fresh ideas. Watch for BIG things to come!

Now the formalities, we want to say a HUGE thank you to the current and past directors, members, businesses, vapers and non-vapers for all of the support that you have given us over the years as we could not have done what we have done without you.

With that, we will leave you with these final words:

Test your liquids for what we know
Keep the faith and press forward
What you give up is gone and you can’t always get what you want
Use child-resistant / childproof caps
Vaping isn’t smoking, be proud of that
Be honest because the truth will catch up
Fix your labels (It’s on the website! Just plug in the numbers…)
Silence is consent

Vape Proud, Canada!