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The global cannabis industry is exploding and nowhere was it more evident than at last week\u2019s MJBizCon in fabulous Las Vegas.<\/p>\n
The annual conference and expo, put on by\u00a0Marijuana Business Daily<\/a>\u00a0magazine, attracted more than 27,000 people from over 70 countries to the city\u2019s sprawling Las Vegas Convention Center and that\u2019s just counting the people who actually went to the show. Riding high off recent wins for the industry, such as three more states approving cannabis reform and the resignation of weed\u2019s enemy of the people Attorney General Jeff Sessions, show attendees, exhibitors and speakers were more enthusiastic about what lies ahead than ever before.<\/p>\n The\u00a0conference<\/a>\u00a0itself has grown by leaps and bounds over the last seven years. It started from humble beginnings in 2011 with only a few hundred folks at a conference room in Denver and has evolved to the juggernaut it is today. This year, governing authorities at Clark County and the City of Las Vegas announced the designation of \u201cMJBizCon Week,\u201d will begin during the 2019 show, which is moving from mid-November to mid-December. Additionally,\u00a0Trade Show Executive Magazine ranks<\/a>\u00a0MJBizCon the fastest-growing retail show in the United States.<\/p>\n Simply speaking, if you thought 2018 was a busy show, just wait until next year. And if you didn\u2019t make it out to Vegas or you spent all of your time in the elevator lobby of the Cosmo, here\u2019s our breakdown.<\/p>\n For those looking to learn about the budding marijuana market, there were over 30 unique topics covered over the three days of conference programming touching on business development, policy, marketing and everything in between.<\/p>\n \u201cI was humbled by the amount of interest at this year\u2019s MJBizCon, especially as it related to my presentation,\u201d said Zachary Venegas, chairman and CEO of\u00a0Helix TCS, Inc.<\/a>, who spoke about mergers and acquisitions to a packed room. \u201cIt was immediately evident from the turnout that consolidation is at the forefront of people\u2019s minds. We spoke with business owners and entrepreneurs from all over the world.\u201d<\/p>\n Of the myriad of speeches and panels covering such topics as compliance, investments, cultivation, data analytics and branding, none was more controversial than the presentation on Canada\u2019s first month into adult-use sales nationwide, featuring\u00a0Aurora Cannabis<\/a>\u00a0CEO and founder, Terry Booth. As reported by the\u00a0Vancouver Sun<\/a>, Booth (who appeared late to the session) spent his time on stage delivering profanity-laced diatribes, including some against several Canadian provinces who, according to him, \u201csh*t the bed\u201d during the roll-out.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n Other popular, albeit less explosive, sessions included \u201cMarijuana, Hemp and the IRS: 280E & Tax Strategies with the Experts,\u201d \u201cBulletproofing Your Business: The Big Boys Are Coming, Are You Ready?\u201d, \u201cHarnessing the Entourage Effect for Enhanced Therapeutic Effect,\u201d and \u201cWhat Are We Smoking? How Strain Name, Chemical Composition & Genetics Impact Product Marketability.\u201d<\/p>\n Many people I spoke with stated that they were too busy with meetings to attend even one speaker session, a testament to how massive the event really is.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is the one time of year when the entire industry is in one place,\u201d said Jamie Cooper of\u00a0Cannabiz Connection<\/a>, who traveled from Michigan to attend. \u201cIt\u2019s all about the networking!\u201d<\/p>\n With over 1,000 exhibits in a hall the length of what felt like 8,000 football fields, the expo floor was a dizzying yet robust location featuring a wide variety of plant-touching and ancillary companies thirsty for commerce. Packed for nearly the entire duration of the conference, the energy in the massive room was simply astounding. From bright LED grow lights to the latest and greatest in vaporizer technology, there were almost too many sights to see. Some of the highlights included the demonstration of a high-tech trimming robot from\u00a0Bloom Automation<\/a>, an innovative \u201cweed capsule\u201d that uses loss activation technology (think the\u00a0Limitless\u00a0pill) by\u00a0Harvest Direct Enterprises<\/a>, free personalized engraved Era devices at the\u00a0PAX<\/a>\u00a0booth and an appearance by actor Kelsey Grammer, who at one point was spotted checking out the vape hardware at the\u00a0Jupiter Research<\/a>\u00a0exhibit.<\/p>\n \u201cThe scale of this event is completely massive,\u201d remarked David Sutton, chairman and CEO of\u00a0NanoSphere Health Sciences<\/a>, whose booth was buzzing for run of the show. \u201cI\u2019ve been here for three days and there\u2019s no way I\u2019ve seen every company that\u2019s on the exhibit floor. I haven\u2019t even probably made it from one wall to the other! There are thousands of new companies here doing great things and showing that this industry is on fire.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s like the Superbowl of cannabis because all the companies come here and congregate,\u201d added\u00a0CuraLeaf<\/a>\u00a0CEO Joseph Lusardi. \u201cIt\u2019s an excellent way to not only interact with entrepreneurs from around the world but also see and stay up on the trends in the industry.\u201d<\/p>\n Sam Whetsel, co-Founder and CEO of\u00a0Smokus Focus<\/a>, echoed that sentiment.<\/p>\n \u201cI left feeling very optimistic about future business for our company,\u201d Whetsel said. \u201cSeeing how fast this event has grown and the industry as a whole is incredibly impressive.\u201d<\/p>\n As anyone who has attended MJBizCon in the past knows, the real magic happens after-hours at any one of the dozens of networking receptions and soirees. This reporter only made it to a small handful of the extracurricular events, but as a seasoned vet I know it\u2019s quality not quantity. Some of the highlights included the\u00a0Golden Key<\/a>\u00a0party, an ultra-exclusive event sponsored by\u00a0Trellis<\/a>,\u00a0NexTech<\/a> and\u00a0Cova<\/a>, which featured master hashishin\u00a0Frenchy Cannoli<\/a>\u00a0serving up his famous fare in a garden gazebo, and Cannabis in Wonderland, an over-the-top fete presented by\u00a0Vista Prime Distribution Network<\/a>\u00a0that saw the entire Artisan Hotel taken over by a cast of colorful characters that would make Lewis Carroll dance with delight. And while I wish I could have made it to the infamous Golden Ticket fete presented by\u00a0DOPE Magazine<\/a>, a party that always makes waves, it just wasn\u2019t in the cards (Vegas joke!).<\/p>\n Additionally, off-site events like the\u00a0Industry Power Women<\/a>\u00a0awards ceremony, CannaBrunch Wake and Bake Media Showcase presented by\u00a0Canna Newswire<\/a>, the Entrepreneur Lounge by\u00a0Direct Cannabis Network<\/a>, and the first ever\u00a0Women of Cannabis<\/a>\u00a0conference at Enclave proved that the power of MJBizCon extends far beyond the walls of the Las Vegas Convention Center and does indeed deserve the designation offered by the city itself.<\/p>\n \u201cThe \u2018MJBizCon Week\u2019 proclamation really is a testament that this event has not only become a cornerstone event for the cannabis industry and the\u00a0place where people set themselves up for a successful year ahead, but it is also having an increasing impact on the City of Las Vegas as a whole,\u201d Cassandra Farrington, CEO of Marijuana Business Daily, told Cannabis Now. \u201cIt\u2019s great to have that recognition.\u201d<\/p>\n TELL US<\/strong>, will you attend MJBizCon next year?<\/p>\n The post MJBizCon Boasts Record Attendance as Fastest Growing Trade Show in U.S.<\/a> appeared first on Cannabis Now<\/a>.<\/p>\n
The global cannabis industry is exploding and nowhere was it more evident than at last week\u2019s MJBizCon in fabulous Las Vegas. The annual conference and expo, put on by\u00a0Marijuana Business Daily\u00a0magazine, attracted more than 27,000 people from over 70 countries to the city\u2019s sprawling Las Vegas Convention Center and that\u2019sContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":97,"featured_media":30747,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[50,3835,2724,69,6536,228,6537,3846,2372,6538],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30746"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/97"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30746"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30746\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30748,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30746\/revisions\/30748"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"http:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/MJBizCon-Speakers-Panel.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nSessions Offered Education, Biting Opinions<\/h4>\n
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<\/a><\/p>\nAn Epic Scene on 175,000 Square Feet of Expo Floor<\/h4>\n
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<\/a><\/p>\nParties, Parties, Parties<\/h4>\n
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\nRead More: MJBizCon Boasts Record Attendance as Fastest Growing Trade Show in U.S.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"