Popular industry conference MJBizCon also goes virtual

For those of us who received the MJBizCon email it was a shock to some, perhaps not all, that the largest U.S. cannabis industry event will be virtual only this year.  Many will recall the plethora of virtual conferences available over the last few months, notably, MJUnpacked, which continues to set a high bar in terms of making attendees feel like they’re interacting.

Last weekend, the organizers of CannaCon held their CannaCon Southwest conference in Oklahoma City in-person.  As someone in attendance, it was surreal to attempt to have a “normal” conference experience when everyone in the building was under strict mask mandates.  Temperatures were taken at the door and CannaCon gave out branded masks with their conference bags.   However, the event was scaled back in terms of size considerably, using only one section of the usually full exhibit space.  In Oklahoma’s wild west cannabis atmosphere, there was high attendance from Oklahoma licensees and big brand suppliers like Raw and OCB.

Back in early September, the MJBizCon team sent out an email invite noting that participation in the 40k+ attended annual industry event held in Las Vegas would be available in two ways – one in-person and one virtual.  Speculation at that time was high and many postponed booking travel accommodations as the uncertainty about COVID-19 impacts on events have been mixed.  Since this conference is the largest in the industry here in the US and often is critical to industry players in terms of networking and meeting with people from other places, the question has been circulating among Missouri players – are you guys going to BizCon in person?

A Tuesday email confirmed that MJBizCon, normally held in Las Vegas and attended by thousands each December, will ONLY be virtual.

“We have recently received the disappointing news that the Las Vegas Convention Center is no longer able to host MJBizCon in-person this year,” reads the email.

We can only speculate that this is the result of the ongoing pandemic, but the email went on to detail all of the ways that the organizers will deliver on an outstanding experience despite the virtual requirement.  Operators who are trying to get to market and fulfill obligations of the state within the one-year timeframe for conditional approvals can take some solace in the fact that a virtual version will be far less expensive not eliminating travel expenses, but also to get in the door.

Were YOU planning to go to MJBizCon in person this year?