1. BETTER THAN EXPECTED All of us at halfwheel were pleasantly surprised by the overall mood of the show, which seemed pretty good. That’s a far cry from the last time we were leaving the Sands Expo Center when disgust with the PCA organization and its trade show were at all-time highs. Getting people to smile and be happy has been such a struggle for this trade show over the years, but—for the most part—it finally happened. Furthermore, I was surprised by the lack of fall-off for Day 3 attendance, something that had become a problem in 2018 and 2019. Miami Cigar & Co. was one of a number of companies that dramatically reduced the size of its booth in 2021.