💡 What Our Spea kers Want You to L earn at Cannabis C onference

There is a reason Cannabis Conference (produced by Cannabis Business Times and taking place Aug. 15-17, 2023, in Las Vegas) is known for its industry-leading education program and why attendees say it is “invaluable,” “unmatched” and “fantastic.”
The CBT editors spend countless hours working with the Cannabis Conference Advisory Board on creating the most relevant and timely agenda to address the industry’s greatest challenges and opportunities, finding the very best speakers and prepping to ensure that the sessions provide actionable takeaways that will truly impact your business and career.
Here’s a glimpse at what some of our speakers want you to take away from their sessions at Cannabis Conference 2023:

What is one thing you’d like attendees to take back to their business after attending your session this year?
Christina: The idea is to give attendees a playbook for building a cultivation operation, from pre-application through operationalization. We’ll give them a step-by-step process, and my goal is really to speak to smaller entrepreneurs about how they can leverage their existing experience and knowledge base and resources to be incredibly successful.
There are a lot of conferences and panels that you can attend. I think where this differs is that this is a concentrated amount of time where cultivators, in particular, have the ability to sit down with peers and learn from them in a way that could provide them with a real roadmap to success. This is a comprehensive opportunity, soup to nuts, to understand what existing operators are doing, how they got there, how they started, why they make the decisions that they make, and when they do have hiccups or failures, how they bounce back from that. I think learning from people who are already doing what you want to do, who fully appreciate the nuances that this very nuanced space, is incredibly valuable. I think this is a different opportunity because you’re getting a playbook. It really is a step-by-step how-to in the cultivation space, and I think that’s unique.
(Read the full interview with Christina here.)

What is one thing you'd like attendees to take back to their business after attending your session this year?
Mason: I think that so many folks in the cannabis industry have a strong vision for what they’re creating with their company, and a lot of people are in it for intrinsic reasons. They believe in the plant, or they believe in their team or their direction. I think the main thing I want people to take away is an openness to change before it’s needed. I think in retrospect, we really needed to change our company. I’m so glad that we made the deal when we did, before it felt like we really needed to change. So, I think the main takeaway I want people to have is a little bit more comfortability and openness to dealmaking as a way to really shift and pivot before you’re trapped under duress or in a bad way. And I think the way that the market is right now for cannabis, M&A is a really powerful tool, a strategic tool that companies should use to navigate an industry full of headwinds.
I want to demystify M&A and dealmaking. I’m not a financial expert. I don’t have an MBA. I’m not a corporate trained person. I’m a scrappy farm entrepreneur, and I was able to put a professional M&A deal together. So, I really want to demystify the dealmaking process and make it feel doable for other small cannabis companies as a strategic path forward.
(Read the full interview with Mason here.)

What is one thing you’d like attendees to take back to their business after attending your session this year?
Raymond: … I want them to know that there are sources [and] there are people out there, that can help them—such as myself. So, know that you have a source of contact, but also be diligent in understanding the production system and understanding the ecology of insects so that you can avoid problems with them, such as the environmental temperatures [that they thrive in]. Also, scout vigorously. I call it an aggressive scouting program. When dealing with this plant protection, when your bud is in bloom and it’s sticky and you have pest problems, you’ve lost the game. So, in working with the growers in Colorado and across the country, when they implement these aggressive scouting programs, they don’t have to deal with the pests on the back end.
It really isn’t even prevention. It’s being very proactive in scouting and implementing a biocontrol program, a sanitation program, a phytosanitation program. It’s a lot of work, but like I tell my students, the more you do in the front end, the less problems you’re going to have on the back end. And when you start having problems at the back end, that starts cutting into yield and profits.

What is one thing you'd like attendees to take back to their business after attending your session this year?
Colin: I want them to feel really confident and comfortable in knowing and understanding their business, and [feel] confident in their businesses’ ability to be successful in any environment.
(Read the full interview with Colin here.)

What is one thing you'd like attendees to take back to their business after attending your session this year?
Hope: After attending my session, I am hopeful that attendees feel confident in opening up a dispensary. I’m excited to go to the next stage. I feel like I’ve talked a lot about the application process and going through that, and I’m super excited to talk to people that are ready to take the real plunge in opening up their stores and need that advice from someone that has gone through it and made a lot of the mistakes that hopefully they won’t have to. I hope that people feel empowered and that they have all the resources and tools that they need to be able to successfully open a new store.
(Read the full interview with Hope here.)

What is one thing you'd like attendees to take back to their business after attending your session this year?
Matthew: Genetics are the foundation of your cultivation business. It is often an undervalued part of the operation, but everything cascades from your choice of what to grow. Plan to document the fine details, growth habits, and performance of each genetic you grow. It takes a certain type of person to develop that data structure, but it is invaluable information for your business. Ask your genetics provider for their data on the genetics they are selling. Use that information to guide each cycle thereafter. Every genetic has its specifics that take time and practice to execute perfectly.
(Read the full interview with Matthew here.)

What is one thing you'd like attendees to take back to their business after attending your session this year?
David: The one thing that I want them to take away is the way to approach these situations and think about how to create this experience and how to win over that customer, especially in a competitive market that we're seeing in a lot of these recreational markets. It varies on what will work, but I think [it’s about] trying those things, creating those excuses to market to your customer besides just, 'Hey, this is on sale today and this is the same product that we've had for two years.' What is new and exciting? Keep them coming back. What can improve that retention? I think for a lot of the visitors that come to the conference, [they] have control over that and are either small business owners or represent marketing for these larger enterprises. Activity is important in this space and always being in the ‘what's new and what's exciting’ is important. In this social media age and this age that we're in, we have to keep our foot on the gas and keep trying things.
(Read the full interview with David here.)

What is one thing you'd like attendees to take back to their business after attending your session this year?
Claudio: First and foremost, I would like them to walk away with a deeper understanding of the process one needs to follow to make the most informed and impactful business decisions. A lot of people go into cannabis and don't use a data-driven approach. They're not thinking about defining their goals clearly, whether that's an end product or financial goal. They just kind of shotgun it. So, I would like people to walk away with a good understanding of that research process and due diligence checklist, which will better position them for success against someone who doesn't go through that process.
(Read the full interview with Claudio here.)

With 30+ sessions and 60+ speakers, plus an 85,000-sq.-ft. expo filled with more industry experts, technologies and solutions, there is A LOT to learn.
Invest in your business and career by gaining valuable insights for cannabis industry success not found anywhere else! Register for Cannabis Conference today. (Rates increase July 19, so don’t wait!)