2014 Chattanooga Tweet-up is a gathering at Burns Tobacconist shop in Chattanooga Tennessee that started out as way for those in the social media sphere of the cigar world to meet up and eventually evolved into a major event open to all. Sponsored and attended by several cigar manufactures, there were no lack of people in the industry to talk to. I went with my friend Nick, and G and Ryan from Dissident Cigars, a cigar company out of Wichita, were one of the sponsors, so I was guaranteed to know some people. Turns out the place was packed with familiar faces and everybody else was friendly, so that wasn't really an issue anyway. If you like cigars and hanging out with people from the industry in a nice environment, this is the place for you.
The shop at Burns is one of the largest I've ever been to, and it's connected to a pool hall and bar that you're allowed to smoke in, which was awesome. Never having known the joy of being able to smoke in a bar while eating a sandwich, I didn't know what I'd been missing. I don't know how to describe why it's such a great thing, but the freedom to relax and enjoy so many things at once with friends is something I will miss. The staff at Burns is excellent and accommodating. Their humidor is quite large and stocked with many familiar quality names. I found many of my favorites and would have no issue staying occupied if I was a regular. We got a bag of cigars (and a cool shirt, a neat lanyard, and some cedar spills from The Cigar Spill Guy) from the sponsors with the ticket, so finding something to smoke was not a problem.
Finding a place to smoke wasn't a problem either. Out front there are chairs and a big deck that I never found my way to for some reason, probably because it was muggy and raining for a good portion of my time there, but it looked like a nice place to be. Inside, there are three big rooms that are usually for rent and an area across from the humidor with barber chairs and a television. The big room downstairs is a multipurpose type room with a stage, sound system, bar, and room for several tables. This is where they had the VIP dinner, raffles, panel discussion, auction, tasting, and after-party. The upstairs, is accessible by keypad has two separate lounge areas. I love the keypad, made me feel like some sort of big shot or secret agent every time I used it. The larger of the lounges is in the process of becoming a Room 101 lounge and seeing as how it's already a pretty nice place to be, I imagine when it's done it will be really spiffy. Comfy wicker chairs, a couple of leather chairs, televisions and a sound system fill the room. Spent a good portion of my time there talking with other guests and vendors or chilling out by myself when I wanted to sneak away. When I went up there by myself, I was never sure if I was supposed to be there, but I found it nice to be able to smoke in peace for a few minutes if I felt like it. Across from the future Davidoff lounge is a smaller room with a big table and a home theater setup with a fine leather couch. I imagine it's a great place to watch a movie, sporting event. or regular television. Didn't check, but I bet it would be a great place for a gaming console if the members were into that kind of thing. Overall, as a place to hang out with friends and smoke, the facilities are top notch. If I had one complaint, and it is a small one, is the lack of paper towels in the bathrooms. I noticed that in several places we stopped they only had air dryers. I wonder if they've banned paper towels in parts of the country and I've just never heard about it.
As for the Tweet-up itself, there was a full schedule with plenty of time in-between things to smoke and socialize. They had arranged a good deal with one of the nearby hotels and it was within walking distance so we didn't have to do any driving once we got there, except for the kickball game.
Yes, there was a kickball tournament, of sorts. Since this was a cigar event there was an addition to the usual rules. As long as you were on the field, offense or defense, you had to have a lit cigar. There were supposed to be four teams, but two of them couldn't recruit enough players so they were combined into one. I happened to be on the winning team, which was nice, although I had little to do with our victory.
Since I didn't have a VIP ticket I didn't go to the VIP dinner on Friday and we missed the barbecue on Thursday, but I heard both were very good. Didn't go to the ladies brunch, as I'm not a lady, but reports assure me it was tasty. We were given a drink ticket that was good for two (maybe three?) drinks during the event and you could buy drinks as the bars, so nobody went thirsty. They had a pretty good $10 breakfast buffet available in the morning at the pool-hall/bar and no lack of restaurants in the area, including the excellent one at the bar, so nobody starved either. There was also a tasting which paired an excellent smooth whiskey from Belle Meade Bourbon with a well matched cigar from Asylum Cigars.
There was a raffle on both Friday and Saturday which we got two free entries for with the purchase of our ticket. If you bought a certain amount of stuff, you got more tickets. We got a discount already, so the raffle tickets were a nice bonus. They had a lot of stuff to give away. I didn't win anything, but my buddy Nick won a nice glass with some cigars in it. After the second raffle, there was a charity auction for some pretty nice swag. I was surprised that some of the items didn't go for more, so it seems like the winners got a good deal.
The guys from Dissident brought in a DJ from Wichita to to power the after party, and it seemed to go well, although I didn't stick around because I needed sleep for the drive home the next day. I imagine, that right after I left it took off and became a party of epic proportions, as I imagine happens any time I leave early. I've been told this wasn't the case, but I don't believe them.
Overall the event was a blast and well worth the 700+ mile drive. The cigar world is full of great people, fans and creators alike. I didn't mention many names of the people there or many of the vendors for fear of leaving somebody out. I would suggest checking out the website to get a look at all the vendors and looking up the hashtag #CHATtweetup to see all the related tweets and pics. From now on I'm going to be taking pictures and such, but didn't this time because I hadn't decided to resurrect the blog yet. I'm sure they'll do it all again next year, and I plan on being there.
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