MJBiz Archives - Green Market Report

If you are a first-time attendee at the MJ Biz conference or even if you are a veteran, we are going to try to help streamline your time at the event. Green Market Report has pulled together the top ten things you must put in your calendar while at the convention center. You’re welcome. 

1. If you want to get the event started with as much background as possible, tune into the opening session by MJBiz President and CEO Chris Walsh on Wednesday at 9am. Since the last in-person event, multiple states, some traditionally more conservative than others, have legalized new medical and adult-use cannabis programs. Walsh will bring everyone up to speed on the industry on existing markets with a nod toward the M&A landscape and any legislative movement in D.C.
2. The exhibitor floor.  While some people complain it’s too big and others complain that it’s mostly cultivators and processors (giant extraction setups are not your thing?) It is still the main attraction. Walking the floor you are sure to run into someone you know and are likely to meet someone new. Bring lots of those old-fashioned business cards. You’ll likely run out of them on the first day. The press booth is located in the middle of the floor as beleaguered journalists are mobbed by PR professionals eager to get their clients a mention or interview. Be nice to the journalists and feed them as they have limited budgets.
3. You’ll have to wait until Friday to see keynote speaker Daymond John (Fubu/Shark Tank) speak. Instead of opening the event, he will deliver a closing keynote on Friday at 9am. John is known for his advice to start-up companies and has also invested in halotest many that have appeared on Shark Tank. While numerous celebrities have gotten into the cannabis industry, John so far looks to have stayed away from the industry. Still, MJ Biz is hoping his wisdom for entrepreneurs will send the MJ Biz attendees away with inspiration and motivation to be successful.
4. Psychedelics – There has been a huge crossover between the cannabis industry and the psychedelics industry.  The Psychedelics Market Panel on Friday at 11:45 will address cannabis operators and investors who continue to gravitate toward this new opportunity. It will also address the parallels to the early days of the legal cannabis market and why this space will develop differently. Daniel Goldberg, Co-Founder & Partner, The Palo Santo Fund will be on the panel highlighting the outlook for the market moving forward for investors and operators.
5. MJBizCon is making industry numbers fun and interactive by sharing consumer and market trends in the cannabis and CBD industries game-show style. Get the most up-to-date data and trend insights from industry analysts and operators. The panel on Friday at 10:30 is headed up by some of the top women in the tech side of cannabis  Jessica Billingsley CEO of Akerna (NASDAQ: KERN), Carmen Brace CEO of Aclara and Liz Connors the VP Of Data and Analytics at Headset.
6. Entrepreneurs may find that the ancillary space is the easiest way to get your foot in the door to this rapidly growing industry and this panel on Thursday at 10:15 will provide the insights needed to find the best opportunities in the growing, ancillary landscape. Patrick Rea, a Managing Director at Poseidon, one of the top venture capital firms in the cannabis industry will be on the panel. In 2013, Patrick founded CanopyBoulder, a seed-stage, mentorship-driven business accelerator, and investment fund focused on data, fintech, software, and IoT in the cannabis industry as well as hemp/CBD businesses.
7. Sevenpoint Interiors always wows the floor with its retail layout. This year’s booth is all about the industry eye-catching “Focus on Flower”. The firm is launching a series of innovations dedicated to improving the customer experience when shopping for flower cannabis at dispensaries. Their newest development, The Flower Globe is an innovative display accessory and technology. It allows consumers to check out the flower without compromising it.
8. It grows like a weed, say many people in the cannabis industry. That is until you have to deal with mold, pests, water, and lights. David Kessler, CEO of Agrify will be on a panel on Thursday at 3pm that will give tips on maximizing cultivation yields and best practices for growers. When cultivators are facing intense competition, they need to grow the cleanest cannabis for the most economical price. This panel will combine tech know-how with plant-growing secrets.
9. Hawthorne, the hydroponic subsidiary of Scott’s Miracle-Gro (NYSE: SMG) is hosting its own conference in a conference called the Hawthorne House that will be happening all three days. Thursday at 1:30 is a social justice panel featuring Steve D’Angelo, Jeanette Horton, and Roz McCarthy. But what you really want to do is go by on Friday when they will have an R&D open house. Stop by and ask the experts anything about equipment ownership, irrigation, and more.
10. Hall of Flowers Experience – If you haven’t been able to go out to California for a real HOF event, then this is the next best thing. It might motivate you to go to their next event in Palm Springs if you like this one.  Here’s a partial list of just some of the fab suppliers you can meet:

• Big Island Grown Dispensaries
• Bud’s Goods & Provisions Corp.
• Buddies Brand
• Buddy Boy Farms
• Canndescent Brands
• Country Cannabis
• Ember Valley
• Green Life Productions
• Hype
• Kiva Confections
• Leune
• NUG
• Riverview Farms Inc.
• Select
• Stanley Brothers USA
• Willie’s Reserve