3 minute read
From the Editor
Events Galore!
By David Halpert
Now that the fall season is in full swing, so too comes the roster of events in September/October, old and new. If you work in the cannabis industry, it’s a feeling of renewal being able to reconnect with colleagues, talk business, and catchup with likeminded professionals first-hand from the otherwise drought of summer (Lift & Co. and O’ Cannabiz being the last big events in May and June, respectively). Now I’ve covered cannabis events here in my letter to the editor section before and their importance to the lifeblood of the industry but ever since the pandemic, I can’t help but notice a sea-change of sorts in the way they are administered and conducted. So I thought this would be a good opportunity to go over some of these changes in more detail without naming names or singling out one event over another.
1. Virtual Events Are Becoming More Accepted and Prevalant
When lockdowns first came into effect during the pandemic, virtual events were the only sensible replacement as they afforded dozens (or even hundreds) of participants to interact while at the same time remaining isolated in place from the virus. Pre-COVID, virtual events were arguably the less popular option compared to inperson events when it came to lead generation and interaction with potential clients. Post-COVID, there’s less of a stigma behind putting events on virtually as it allows more attendees near and far to participate, and event planners can collect sponsorship revenue and require less overhead to produce overall. attendance (Indiva, Ayurcann, Greenseal, JMCC and the CannGroup, just to name a few), noticeable absences were far more striking and apparent. Aurora, Hexo, Tilray, Aphria, Benchmarks Botanicals, Redecan, just to name a few. One of the reasons these absences were so striking, aside from being some of the largest LPs in the industry, was pre-covid these companies would have the largest booths by far in terms of square footage as well as overhanging displays, and while no one reason can be attributed to these absences, their disappearances cannot be denied.
3. New(er) Events taking Centre Stage
In mid-September I had the pleasure of attending the Hall of Flowers in Toronto, the first B2B event geared specifically towards cannabis retailers with licensed producers and cannabis brands exhibiting. The spirit of the event was warm and welcome and one of the most targeted events in the Canadian cannabis industry to date. Last year, I also had the pleasure of attending the Cannabis Executive Summit, this one targeting LP executives in the cannabis space. While annual mainstays like Lift & Co. and O’ Cannabiz will always have their place in the Canadian cannabis space, it’s great to see the inclusion of new events added to the cannabis mosaic, and a refreshing change of pace from the usual status quo.
As I always say, a higher tide raises all boats, and that idiom couldn’t be more true about the cannabis industry, a community that continues to be supportive across the entire supply chain and beyond.
The first big change I noticed in the fall of 2021 in the return from COVID to live in-person events was the notable absence of big-name LPs exhibiting at shows. While there’ve been notable LPs and processors in President / CEO, Straight Dope Media Inc.
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