About the Virtual Smoking Lounge
The Virtual Smoking Lounge was born out of the simple desire to connect with other pipe enthusiasts. I was thoroughly enjoying my hobby but wanted to experience more of the social aspects and to exchange insights and ideas with other pipe smokers. In short, I wanted to enjoy some camaraderie with my fellow "brothers of the briar."
It was not possible for me to establish an actual smoking lounge, and even if I could have, it would have been limited to people in the local area. But I wanted to communicate with pipe smokers all over the world. So I set out to create a virtual smoking lounge, one without boundaries. And so, I began converting my YouTube channel into something with a purpose. In a relatively short period of time, my previously dormant YouTube channel (under the member name "Laughter1099") had over 1,300 subscribers and my videos received over 186,000 views.
It seemed that my social experiment was a greater success than I could have imagined! YouTube provided an excellent opportunity to connect with others in an online community. Through videos, comments, and private messages, pipe smokers from around the world were able to exchange ideas and share their common interest. Through the Virtual Smoking Lounge on YouTube, I've had the opportunity to meet hundreds of wonderful people, and I am pleased to call many of them my friends.
In conjunction with my YouTube channel, I also decided to launch my own website. This site would enable me to take things to the next level. Along with my appreciation of the social aspects of pipe smoking, I also enjoyed collecting pipes and caring for my humble treasures. Through a small business website, I could not only share my ideas and information with others, but I could also provide a tangible service to those in the pipe smoking community.
Just like recreating a comfortable smoking lounge social environment on YouTube, I wanted to recreate the friendly, helpful atmosphere of a small, local pipe shop through my business website. Unlike the "big boy" online pipe and cigar stores, I focused more on personal service and value rather than product quantity and sales volume. I provide professional pipe refurbishing and restoration services and a small selection of hand-picked products. Of course, any business endeavor hopes to make a profit, but I can honestly say that my primary goal was to offer outstanding service and value to those in the pipe smoking community.
Unfortunately, I had to abruptly close both my YouTube account and my primary business website in December 2009, when my wife was stricken by a horrible medical condition after an outpatient procedure went terribly wrong. Our lives were changed forever by this event.
But many months later, the desire for some small degree of normalcy in my life prompted me to open a new YouTube account (under the member name VSLDavid) and to relaunch the Virtual Smoking Lounge website. The outstanding character of the folks I've encountered online was made evident by the warm and enthusiastic response I received upon returning. I am truly grateful for the kindness shown toward me and the encouragement I received from my customers and the people in the YouTube pipe community.
The new YouTube Channel is up and running, and I post videos as frequently as I'm able. I'm definitely looking forward to more interaction and discussion with old friends and the opportunity to meet new friends.
Thank you very much for stopping by the site. I hope the VSL will become one of your favorite Internet destinations for pipe and cigar products and related information.