A few months back, the Philip Morris International folks in Beirut got in touch to invite me to the Infinium Event, a yearly, huge event they organize in a different city every year. This year’s was in Prague, in the Czech Republic.

The event itself was shrouded in mystery, and we didn’t really know the details of what would happen throughout evening. Personally, the fact there was no snooty dress code was enough for me, and I was excited to see what the fuss was all about, given more than 1500 guests from around the world were invited to participate.

The group from Lebanon included Celine Sarraf, a good friend and hilarious Instagram personality, and Pierre Choueiry another good friend who’s part of the PMI team, and of course, myself. We got to Prague a couple days before, and set out to explore the gorgeous city before the event on Saturday evening. I’ll write a post about cool places and things to do in Prague later on, but for now, I’m gonna focus on the event itself.

The Event

We made our way to the venue, which was a massive convention center in the Czech capital. After having our ticket barcodes scanned, we got our special NFC bracelets and made our way into a welcome drinks area with a live piano serenading us before we got asked to choose between three teams: blue, red and grey. Myself not being a fan of colors, we tapped our bracelets on the NFC station for “grey”, and were ushered into a holding area with a team leader dressed in a labcoat explaining the journey we were about to embark on “into the unknown”.

After a brief introduction, we waited as a “portal” slowly powered up and revealed the main hall, with the three teams bursting into the amazingly decorated venue full of bars, food stalls and a lot of interactive game stations.

We were invited to try out the games, with some needing a “token” to be played, while others earning you tokens if you complete the task and the person in charge of the game liked you. The games were fun and high-tech, with lights and lasers, fog and electricity being manipulated to create beautiful visuals and soundscapes. It wasn’t just the game rooms though, but there was another layer to the fun and games. You would be sent on quests by people, such as “enlighteners” to seek out “finders” or “tattoo artists” and continue on that quest, for a final prize at the end for the participants that followed through till the end.

Outside the main hall, was a large food court, with live cooking stations offering a range of foods. My favorite ones were the ribs station and the sausages one, but they had plenty of options for vegetarians and vegans too.

I found a cool YouTube video made by another guest, that sums up the experience nicely.

The IQOS Hall

The hall adjacent was the IQOS hall, where an IQOS representative would come up to you, explain how the device works and lends you one (only if you’re an adult, and already a smoker like me) for the night so you can use it while you play and discover the event.

IQOS is a new tobacco product that the company believes will slowly replace cigarettes in the coming few years. It’s still tobacco (unlike “vapes”) but instead of burning it at 950 degrees like a cigarette, the device heats the tobacco up to just 350 degrees, minimizing other chemicals such as tar and carbon monoxide that are a byproduct of the burning process. You take drags from the sleek-looking device just like you would from a cigarette, and a vapor full of tobacco flavor comes out.

The IQOS has special “HeatSticks” (Heets), which are mini tobacco sticks that are inserted inside the IQOS holder and heated, producing a Nicotine-containing aerosol. They come in several flavors, but my favorite was the “amber” one, and stuck to it most of the night. The “menthol” one was my second favorite.

As a smoker, who hasn’t really been able to quit, I found the IQOS to be a viable alternative to switch to from cigarettes. The high-techness of it was also interesting: you can link your device via bluetooth to an app on your smartphone to track how much you’re “smoking” (inhaling) and other stuff like when it’s time to clean your device. I ended up not smoking a single cigarette for 5 days total, and sticking only to the IQOS. Sadly, my “heets” ran out and they’re still not available in Lebanon, but once I have a steady source, I think it’ll be easy to make the switch completely from traditional cigarettes.

The Surprise Festival with Booka Shade, Claptone and Oliver Koletzki

I thought that it was gonna be just another corporate event, done by midnight. I was wrong though. Throughout the night, DJs, bands, rappers and dancers entertained the crowd, but around midnight, after an awesome acrobatics show, the MC introduced none other than Booka Shade, electronic music heavyweights behind the iconic “Body Language” track and regular staples in Lebanon’s Grand Factory club. This was a beautiful surprise for me, and I immediately switched into my party mode.

That wasn’t all though… After Booka Shade’s set, Claptone came on stage, much to my and the crowd’s delight. The cherry on top however, was Techno royalty Oliver Koletzki closing the night with a 2.5 hour set, turning the Infinium Event into a veritable mini-festival with massive artists, all kept as a surprise for us, the unsuspecting guests.

On the way out, we returned our NFC bracelets and handed back our IQOS devices that they lent us for the night, only to be given a brand new IQOS device as a parting gift!

All in All

All in all, it was an awesome event that was beautifully organized, and a lot of fun. Perhaps the best part is all the cool people I met from across the world, like Julia from Mexico, Don from Germany and Ben from Ireland.

As for IQOS, I was a bit skeptical at first, but I now see it as a more attainable option to cut down on the danger of smoking traditional cigarettes. If you’re not a smoker, then don’t start. If you are however, like me, this could be a much less harmful option if you’re finding quitting easier said than done.

I’d like to thank the PMI team for the invitation, and hope they will introduce the IQOS and its Heets to Lebanon soon so we don’t have to beg friends coming from countries that have it a couple of packs!