By Alyssa Stahr
Photos courtesy of David Jones, event manager for the Next Generation Nicotine Delivery Conference
The highly anticipated Next Generation Nicotine Delivery Conference returned Nov. 17-18, 2015 for another informative, engaging event. Held in London at the Novotel London West, this year’s event focused on advancements in the e-cigarette and NCP market, presenting an open learning forum with valuable take home messages, interactive sessions and high calibre speakers.
Show organizers planned for the 2015 event to build on the success of last years’ conference program and to continue to spotlight innovation in the e-cigarette market alongside other alternative nicotine delivery products, while delving into key regulatory aspects and highlighting advancement in product/manufacturing quality standards.
“The round table sessions alongside engaging panel discussions and case studies always resonate well with the audience and as a result we aim to encourage more interactivity in the 2015 conference program,” organizers said.
The conference served as a platform to discuss pivotal developments in the e-cigarette and alternative nicotine delivery industry, with key senior level representatives participating in open and interactive discussions, facing the shared uncertainty of regulation. The delegate list included innovators and thought leaders from the sector.
VAPE spoke via email to Program Director Rachel Tesfaye and other organizers of the event about 2015’s happenings. As program director, Tesfaye is responsible for developing the program/agenda pre-conference (speaking faculty, topics, presentations).
“I work alongside our wonderful NGND team to engage with the audience through pre-conference industry updates, support smooth on-site delivery and develop the conference for the following year based on valuable attendee feedback. This is a conference tailored for the NCP industry by the NCP industry,” she said.
Tesfaye said that there are many different opinions and perspectives regarding the development of this evolving market, so it was particularly good to see the audience actively participate in discussions/debates while also respecting each other’s opinions. Innovation with the consumer at heart was a recurring theme—specific standards have to be met here (e.g. GMP and, PAS 54115 as presented by Katherine Devlin, ECITA) so it is important to gain an understanding of what is expected before investing further in product manufacturing/development.
Organizers said that it was interesting to hear the MHRA’s perspective from Beryl Keely since again the TPD is the hottest topic at this time, and the MHRA play a crucial role in its implementation, so it was invaluable to hear Beryl’s insights—it was especially good to see the audience engage with this presentation in a positive way.
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This year’s conference featured 23 presenters/roundtable hosts across the two days, and both days were chaired by Clive Bates, director at Counterfactual.
Spotlighted Presentation Day 1:
Beryl Keeley from the MHRA providing an update on the TPD and the relevant timescales for submissions. Positioned alongside industry leaders: Gamucci (U.K.), Diamond Pharma Services (U.K.) and EcigIntelligence (U.K.).
Spotlighted Presentation Day 2:
Liam Humberstone from Totally Wicked—exploring hardware innovations. Positioned alongside industry leaders: White Cloud Electronics Cigarettes (U.S.), Nicoccino (Sweden) and ECITA (UK Trade Association). The event had a total of 99 attendees, including those from the United Kingdom, Poland, Germany, Netherlands, Croatia, Switzerland and the United States. There were five exhibitors—Diamond Pharma Services, Connect2 Cleanrooms, Monmouth Scientific, Medical Engineering Technologies and Nicoccino—and four sponsors: Diamond Pharma Services, ELDA, Nerudia and Smithers Rapra.Due to the success of this year’s conference, organizers want to mainly focus on developing the programme further next year to incorporate the perspectives of other NCPs and potentially NRTs. While NRTs work to different regulatory guidelines, this is a consumer-driven conference, hence it is important to observe products that speak to consumers within this framework. Why do consumers invest in these products? What opportunities are there? What trends have been observed in consumer behavior? How can we educate consumers better? Organizers also will feature selected updates from the 2015 conference e.g. MHRA update on the TPD Article 20, alongside having dedicated morning and afternoon focus groups across both days to have more open and interactive sessions—this is where topics can be discussed at a deeper level with a little more interactivity.
With so many events in 2015, organizers said that while this conference features predominately electronic cigarettes
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and e-liquids, they have weaved in topics from other NCPs to create a holistic view of the market from a consumer perspective. Dedicated research is carried out with around 40 different industry representatives to establish the topics and overall scope of the conference. This is to gain an unbiased and robust understanding of the key challenges and opportunities for the industry, which Tesfaye then translates onto the program. She then invites selected speakers to share his or her insights.
“The overall aim is to ensure this is an interactive content driven conference with the consumer at heart. This is an evolving market facing many challenges (primarily implementation of TPD Article 20), however a collaborative effort is required to succeed alongside educating consumers (and those who have a different perception of electronic cigarettes and NCPs),” Tesfaye said.
For more information, email events@arena-international.com or visit http://www.arena-international.com/nextgennicotine.
2015 References:
“Honestly, everything was good. You did a good job!”
- International Sales Manager, Alternative Ingredients
“Good mix of attendees. Good layout and excellent time dedicated to networking”
- Managing Director, Broughton Laboratories
“Very well organized. Good attendance, Great level of knowledge.”
- Account Manager, Nerudia
“The opportunities to network were plentiful, and the number of delegates allowed for meaningful discussions with all relevant parties. The format was excellent and well managed, and the location and food was superb!”
- Managing Director, VaperCrew eLiquids
“Great speakers, good venue, well organized, valuable knowledge exchange.”
- Toxicologist, Bibra Toxicology
Second Next Generation Nicotine Delivery Conference Returns with Engaging, Informative Information
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