ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The Alaska Cannabis Classic is the first stop on a tour of three trade shows and cannabis competitions that will also feature events in Tacoma, Washington and Portland, Oregon later in the year. The three-day kick-off event at the Dena’aina Center in Anchorage will include vendors, product demonstrations, informative seminars, a hemp fashion show, live music and networking opportunities.
Despite the recent ban on marijuana in public facilities by the city of Anchorage, show organizer Cory Wray has worked around the ban so the show can go forward as planned. “We’ve been sitting down with the mayor’s office, the city attorney and we go in front of the city assembly on April 23, to get our permit,” Wray said. “So we’re getting a permit to allow us to have cannabis in the Den’aina Center. We won’t be able to smoke within the facility but they have an outdoor terrace and we have a permit from the fire marshal stating that we can have outdoor smoking there.”
The competition will feature locally-produced cannabis products with an awards show to follow.
“There’s a buzz in the lower 48 about what we’re doing,” Wray said. “We’re getting a ton of phone calls every single day. The way that we structured it, focusing on the northwest as well as having smoking but maintaining professionalism, it sets us apart from something like the Cannabis Cup.”
The Tacoma event will be July 18-19, while the Portland event is set for Sept. 19-20.
More information: nwcannabisclassic.com.
More events
May 15-17: Only the busiest travelers will be able to hit all the Hempcon shows scheduled for 2015. The next event of the series will be May 15-17 at Cashman Center in Las Vegas.
Subsequent Hempcon events will be May 29-31 and Aug. 21-23 at the Washington State Fairgrounds in Puyallup, Washington, Oct. 9-11 at the Denver Merchandise Mart and Nov. 6-8 at the National Orange Show (NOS) in San Bernardino, California.
The shows will feature hundreds of exhibitors, competitions and seminars.
More information: hempcon.com.
May 19-21: The Marijuana Business Conference and Expo will hit Chicago for a three-day, business-only event that is expected to have more than 125 exhibitors and 70 expert speakers, including dispensary owners, private equity leaders and top lawyers. With Illinois recently joining other states that have legalized medical marijuana, there will also be a “marijuana business crash course” — a workshop for new business owners in the cannabis industry.
Consumers and the general public are not invited to Marijuana Business Conferences.
More information: mmjbusinessdaily.com/conference.
May 29: THC Plexus will be hosting a networking event in Bellingham, Washington on May 29 from 7-9 p.m.
The event is open to anybody involved in the medical or recreational cannabis industry. Registration must be done online. The event’s location after attendees RSVP.
More information: www.thcplexus.com.
May TBD: The Secret Cup takes a different approach to the different cannabis competitions across the nation, putting its focus on the hash-maker. The event mixes vendors and competition, with the next event being set for May in Oregon. Details are pending so keep your ear to the ground if you want to attend.
Other stops on the Secret Cup schedule (exact dates and locations to be determined) include Northern California, Rhode Island, Colorado, Las Vegas and Los Angeles.
More information: www.thesecretcup.com.
June 5-7: The 11th annual Green Festival will take place in the D.C. Convention Center in Washington, DC. The Green Festival is the longest running event focused on green living, environmental action and sustainability in the United States.
The event regularly draws more than 20,000 attendees and features vendors from industries such as the legal cannabis market to industry leaders like Wells Fargo and BMW.
The show promises to be one of the most diverse gatherings of 2015 and should provide a unique opportunity for business professionals to meet and network outside of their usual market.
This is only the second stop for the Green Festival, after Washington DC the show will head out west to Los Angeles at the LA Convention Center for September 25-27, then a couple months later in San Francisco’s Cow Palace on November 13-15 and then concluding with its first ever show in Portland, Oregon on December 11-13 at the Oregon Convention Center.
More information: www.greenfestivals.org.
June 11-13: CannaCon is preparing for its third show this year to be held in Denver at the Colorado Convention Center. Show organizers are looking to host 10,000 attendees and more than 300 vendors at the 100,000-square-foot venue.
The show also will be hosting more than 50 seminars led by industry experts in their fields.
People interested in speaking at CannaCon must submit a proposal no later than May 4 at 9 a.m. More information: www.cannacon.org.
June 18-19: The International Cannabis Association will host the second Cannabis World Congress and Business Exposition at the Javits Center in New York.
The event will bring entrepreneurs, business professionals and lawmakers together with cannabis industry veterans at the largest marijuana-related business show on the East Coast. Organizers are planning to have more than 150 exhibitors and 50 speakers at the two-day event, geared to help aspiring entrepreneurs understand what it takes to succeed in this rapidly growing industry.
Speakers will include Ryan Hurley, a partner at Rose Law Group, Andy Joseph, president of Apeks Supercritical, and Dean Guske, a CPA with more than 30 years of experience. There will also be a subsequent show in Los Angeles in the fall.
More information: internationalcannabisassociation.com.
June 26-27: High Times, the famed cannabis culture magazine, keeps its Cannabis Cups on the road and headed to Northern California near the end of June. The event will feature the usual festivities, like competitions, vendors and entertainment in sunny Nor-Cal.
Details on the show location and performers are still pending for the Nor-Cal show as well as the next few stops in Portland, Oregon, Clio, Michigan, Seattle, Washington and Southern California.
More information: www.cannabiscup.com.
June 29-July 1: More than 2,000 attendees are expected at the second National Cannabis Business Summit and Expo starting at the end of June. The event, hosted by the National Cannabis Industry Association, will be held at the Denver Convention Center.
Topics will include infused products, cultivation management, policy and regulation, emerging trends and more.
The show is expected to have more than 100 exhibitors, 70 speakers, 55 educational sessions and 10 hands-on workshops.
More information: thecannabisindustry.org.
June 27-28: Oaksterdam University will be hosting its own certification and training program for the emerging recreational marijuana market in Washington, D.C. The event will take place at the Capital Hilton for the weekend and is being sponsored by a variety of local and national businesses. The training courses being offered are intended to prepare attendees with all of the critical information that they will need to venture into the cannabis markets of Washington, D.C.
“The District of Columbia has positioned itself as a leader in the legal marijuana movement, and we are proud to bring our deep bench of industry knowledge and experience to help D.C.’s and other East Coast cannabis industry pioneers grow their careers and emerging businesses,” said Dale Sky Jones, executive chancellor of Oaksterdam University. Space is limited, so attendees should sign up by May 31.
More information: www.oaksterdam.com/dcseminar.
July 11-12: The Indo Expo Trade Show will be at The Denver Mart Expo Building for two days in July. The trade show aims to cement relationships between growers, manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers by providing a networking event that will allow the new and old to construct new ideas, exchange information and forge new partnerships.
The expo will be bringing together local and national industry leaders from around the country for their two day, weekend event. The first day of the show will be reserved for industry insiders only. The following day will be open to the public and will also host a job fair where new talent can be hired and contracted.
More information: www.indoexpoco.com.
July 25-26: Maximum Yield brings together several industry leaders for the 2015 Los Angeles Indoor Gardening Expo which will be held at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
The weekend event will be divided into two sections — Saturday is dedicated to industry only and will host a VIP seminar, expert panel discussion and a six-hour networking period; Sunday will be open to the public and industry alike.
More information: www.indoorgardenexpo.com/show-info-los-angeles/
To submit events for consideration in Marijuana Venture’s calendar, send an email to Editor@MarijuanaVenture.com.