I would love to go to one of the Big Smokes. More so the Vegas one because of what the city has to offer. However, $'s are holding me back. Would CA ever consider doing smaller, more regional ones, or would that minimize the "specialty" of the two BIG ones?

I think the cost of putting on a Big Smoke in a smaller size would be prohibitive. They have to rent a cigar friendly venue, get vendors from all over the world to commit, do a lot of printing and advertizing and then have staff to run the event.

I went to several New York Big Smokes when they were still at the Marriot and they were enormous events and now they have to hold them on a pier on the Hudson because of anti-smoking rules.

It is true, the built-in cost of doing a Big Smoke makes smaller venues very hard to support. Top that off with the difficulty in finding locales that allow smoking, and it's a double whammy.

There was a time when we did cities other than New York and Las Vegas. Over time, it became clear that it was better to focus on those two cities, and be sure that the show we put on brings together all the major players in the industry for the cigar community and readers of the magazine.

Thanks for the responses guys. A guy can dream, though...

How about alternating between several cities then? East Coast one year, then West coast, then Mid continent then Gulf Coast etc.? You still really put on the same number of shows, just in a few different locations.

New Orleans would be a great venue. The Big Sleazy is about as cigar smoker friendly a city I know of.