Everyone wants to be a Thought Leader.
It only works when you can authentically hold a position as a brand that brings value and insight. One of the best way to showcase those qualities is through well-crafted event strategies.
Ricardo presenting the Technology Awards
My beautiful mug as I kicked off the event
A collection of about half of the awards winners
The Pineapple d'Or, our custom trophy designed and crafted by a local Denver artist
Ex-NFL player Eugene Monroe, being interviewed by Ricardo Baca, as our keynote
Nancy Whiteman of Wana Brands presenting the Sustainability awards category
Wide shot of the venue, the Paris Nightclub on the Las Vegas Strip
Ean Seeb and Christian Sederberg embrace after both won awards
The Cannabist team enjoying a hard-earned drink afterwards
Guy Rocourt of Papa & Barkley presenting the 2016 Cannabist Person of the Year award
Ricardo addresses the crowd at the beginning of the awards ceremony
The Cannabist Awards - MJBiz, Vegas at The Paris Nightclub
During the MJBiz Conference and Expo of 2016, we threw The Cannabist Awards, an international award show honoring every possible category of cannabis organization and personality.
Accomplishments:
40 Awards given across 9 categories, internationally
1st event thrown out of state for The Denver Post
Most revenue generated for an event at The Denver Post
Turned away 2X as many attendees as we had capacity for
Established The Cannabist as the foremost thought leader in cannabis journalism
Lupé, a sculpture made out of cannabis packaging that can't be recycled by Portland artist Paige Wright
A party guest listens to the music played by the electrical impulses of these cannabis plants, played through a MIDI Sprout
I address the crowd to explain the party theme and introduce the artists
3D projection mapping display showing artistic interpretations of data from Connect
A shot from 1 of our 2 tasting rooms, being served by Oregon's Cannabis Concierge
A live performance by futuristic galactic marching band Lovebomb GoGo
A live performance by futuristic galactic marching band Lovebomb GoGo
Max White of Aroma Cannabis tasting some concentrates in a Dr. Dabber rig
Party goers mingle in the light of the 3D art display
Our CBD cocktail/mocktail bar sponsored by Muru CBD
Some of Oregon's finest producers enjoy some flower in one of our 2 tasting rooms, served by Joshua Taylor of Oregon's Cannabis Concierge
We held the event at The Commune, a woman-owned cannabis events and coworking space in downtown Portland
Confident Cannabis Wholesale Launch Party, Portland OR
When it was time to launch Confident Cannabis’s Wholesale platform in Oregon, I decided we needed to do it to honor and celebrate all the amazing small producers in the state that were surviving through the worst oversupply crisis the state had ever seen.
The Future of Cannabis Party:
Art sculpture commissioned using waste packaging that operators could not recycle because of Oregon’s regulations, viewable in a gallery at the party
3D projection mapping visualizing an artist interpretation of our cannabis chemistry data science tool, Connect
2 consumption lounges featuring some of Oregon’s best flower, concentrates, and edibles, one of which had 4 cannabis clones hooked up to Midi Sprouts to convert the plants’ electrical signals into music
CBD mocktail and cocktail bar
Performance by futuristic galactic marching band Lovebomb GoGo
Signed up 50% of the hundreds of licensed cannabis operators present to sell their product B2B on the Wholesale platform
The Cannabist Team & Julian Marley
The Denver Post lobby, site of the 420 Week Launch Party
It's a huge lobby, full of sponsors and attendees
Julian Marley interviewed by Jake Browne
Alex Pasquariello interviewed by Ricardo Baca
We brought The Cannabist Show set down into the lobby for people to enjoy
Inside shot of the Weedstreamer, our mobile consumption lounge sponsor
Outside shot of the Weedstreamer, our mobile consumption lounge sponsor
New branding presented on table cards for attendees to take and learn about the new brand
Binske set up a chocolate tasting booth with beautiful art prints
I just like this shot of me, before we kicked off the program in the auditorium
420 Week Launch Party at The Denver Post
The Cannabist had been going through some big changes: Ricardo Baca, founding Editor-in-Chief resigned, we had to rebrand our visual identity, there was legal turbulence at The Denver Post affecting our reputation.
To combat this, we threw a party to kickoff the week of 420 with some very specific programming:
We released our new brand for the first time and explained our vision to the attendees, cementing our leadership position in the future of cannabis journalism
Ricardo hosted an interview of our new, incoming Editor-in-Chief, Alex Pasquirello
Jake Browne was announced as the official new host of The Cannabist Show
Julian Marley was our keynote, interviewed by Jake, talking about the importance of cannabis to lifestyle, medicine, art and culture
Premiered a new video series with Top Chef winner Hosea Rosenberg, sponsored by Binske
Had a consumption lounge in an Airstream trailer set up on The Denver Post campus for attendees to enjoy a wide variety of cannabis