Lemonhaze Archives - Green Market Report

StaffDecember 16, 2021
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5min00

Penny Cook, Chief Operating Officer of Lemonhaze,  a premier boutique events company that facilitates connections within the cannabis space.  Lemonhaze events are designed to foster elite experiences.

Looking back at 2021, what were some highlights for the industry and/or your business?

The industry was able to get back to in-person events, which has been a highlight for all of us. For Lemonhaze, COVID forced us to look at new approaches to events, and coming up with the executive golf tournament turned out to be successful and easily replicated in multiple markets. The market responded overwhelmingly positively because there wasn’t anything else bringing the industry together in such a meaningful and focused way. They’ve proven to be fun and valuable for everyone involved.

Besides legalization/decriminalization, do you have any cannabis-related forecasts or predictions for 2022 that you would like to share?  

We’ll continue to see acquisitions and mergers, allowing MSOs to get bigger and grow into more markets. We will see more boutique brands emerge like the craft alcohol and beer markets, with incredible niche products and great branding. And, mainstream companies like health care providers, HR companies, lenders, and technology companies who have started taking the cannabis business seriously will be creating segments in their businesses specifically for cannabis.

What are your thoughts on the return of in-person cannabis events in 2021?  

The pandemic has allowed us to rethink the way events have been done, and we’ve come up with better and more effective events than we had before. As a result, we come out of this, helping businesses form deeper connections and more exciting and fun ways for the industry to grow together.

What are industry trends that need to disappear in 2022?

There’s been a long-standing stigma around cannabis that is beginning to fade away. People use it as a great wellness and health tool and a safe recreational alternative. There’s some great product development, branding, and innovative business going on around it. The stigma around it needs to go away as it finds its way into mainstream business and consumer markets.

Top 5 Business Learnings in Cannabis in 2021

5. Mainstream companies can help your business, and you need to look outside the industry for services.

4. Thinking outside of the marketing box is more important than ever due to no change in any advertising regulation anytime soon. As a result, companies are finding new and creative ways to get their names and businesses out there.

3. The move to smaller, high-end premium-level events connects you to more of the right people and has a higher ROI than investing in one large, all-encompassing trade event a year.

2. Product is becoming more commoditized, and companies with solid brand approaches are winning.

1. Waiting on the safe banking act to pass isn’t a viable business approach. Instead, companies are finding ways to circumvent financing hurdles and get the services they need.

The inaugural Lemonhaze Cannabis Industry Executive Golf Invitational has emerged as the most coveted invitation in the cannabis industry. Please visit their website to stay informed about other Lemonhaze experiences, including Virtual Upfronts, legendary Budtender Parties, and focus groups.


StaffNovember 5, 2021
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5min00

This is a guest submission by Robyn Griggs Lawrence.

It’s never been a secret that many, if not most, of the world’s biggest business deals, are contrived, cemented, and celebrated on the golf course, a rarified place where executives go to relax and relate away from the noise. In yet another sign the cannabis industry is mainstreaming, boutique events company Lemonhaze just pulled off the largest gathering of cannabis industry C-suite executives and thought leaders ever assembled in one place—for an elite golf invitational. 

As the industry set up for MJBizCon and MJ Unleashed on October 19, dealmakers and thought-leaders, including Curaleaf (OTC: CURLF) CEO Joe Bayern, ROVE CEO Phil Hon, 4Front CEO Leo Gontmakher, and MJ Holdings CEO Roger Bloss, were chauffeured in limousine buses to the Lemonhaze Cannabis Industry Executive Golf Invitational at the prestigious Cascata Golf Club in Boulder City, Nevada, where they joined into foursomes for a full caddied scramble. A quartet made up of Bloss, CBD.io President Robb Hackett, CBD.io CMO Mike McNeely, and Coachilln’ Holding CTO Michael Dickerson took first place.

A half-hour—and many worlds away—from the convention center and the Vegas Strip, Cascata is a challenging par-72 course designed by renowned architect Rees Jones, who calls it “the eighth wonder of the golfing world.” The course meanders through the scenic River Mountain Range foothills with stunning views of a 418-foot waterfall with rolling vistas teeming with desert wildlife. One might encounter majestic bighorn sheep on the lush practice green or a curious coyote meandering from the bushes of the craggy red desert valley. Cascata’s rambling Tuscan-style clubhouse has a Class A PGA pro shop and a cigar lounge stocked with fine, rare tobacco. 

“I’m proud that Lemonhaze was able to construct an opportunity for executive decision-makers of legalized cannabis to gather so they could build relationships and bond over the unique challenges that operating in the industry presents, and this became even more urgent after the pandemic,” said Lemonhaze CEO Brian Yauger. “Lemonhaze was in a unique position to fill this need, and we knew whatever we produced had to be above and beyond.”

Lemonhaze made its name producing budtender parties and cannabis industry conferences—a great strategy until Covid hit. In 2020, the company pivoted to facilitating digital connections between cannabis brands and dispensary buyers through Lemonhaze Virtual Up Fronts, described as “speed dating for cannabis buying,” and are spreading like wildfire through legal states. With the Lemonhaze Invitational, the company has earned a reputation as “the Allen and Co. of the cannabis industry,” a comparison to the investment firm’s annual gathering of tech and media moguls, where some of the biggest deals in history were devised. 

“We were thrilled with how the first-ever Lemonhaze Golf Invitational turned out,” said FoHSE CEO Brett Stevens. “We took it as an extremely positive sign of how the cannabis industry is maturing. Golf networking is a longstanding tradition in established business sectors, and it was encouraging to see how eagerly the titans of the industry adopted it. Brian and his team are definitely onto something big with these events.”

The first Lemonhaze Cannabis Industry Golf Classic was held in Las Vegas on April 28th, followed by Arizona, Oklahoma, Massachusetts, Michigan, Illinois, Southern California, Florida, and the Northeast.  Lemonhaze’s 2022 roster of golf classics will add Northern California, Colorado, Ohio, Detroit, Chicago, and Missouri to the schedule, with a second annual invitational in Nevada, in 2022.

 


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