Making MJBizcon Better?

First, to be clear: I have no problem with anyone who doesn't feel the need to attend MJBizcon. No convention is productive for everyone, and there's no shortage of valid reasons for people not to attend. Further, if you had a bad experience there or have issues with the event in general that you want to post about, I've got no problem with that either.

One thing I'm not I'm not a fan of is when people make lazy generalizations about those who DO attend. The same tired cliches get trotted out every year: it's a chad-fest, nothing but corporate phonies, just 4 days of booze and coke, it's everything that's wrong with the industry, no one even goes into the convention, etc. etc. etc.

Putting aside the obvious irony of people giving a review of an event they didn't attend, it's also extremely unfair and insulting to the thousands of kind, genuine, hardworking, talented, and dedicated industry leaders, mentors, entrepreneurs, social equity recipients, staff people, and newcomers, who were there to do business, network, share knowledge, and learn.

Are there CannaBros, Poseurs, Scammers, Empty Suits, and Corporate Sleezebags there? It's the biggest event of the year for a young, growing, industry. Of COURSE there are. Lots of them. Luckily, they are pretty easy to spot and avoid, or even call out. So who cares?

The other thing that gets thrown around way too much are exaggerations like, "there was no one there", "the show was dead", etc. I was at the peak Bizcons in 2018& 2019, so I get it; compared to those years, the show is significantly smaller. That being said, it is still the largest B2B event in the cannabis industry in terms of both exhibitors, and attendees.

So down? Yes. Dead? Not even close. It's still the largest by a wide margin.

At this point, you are probably wondering...

How much is MJBiz paying this guy???

I've been to every MJBizcon since 2015, and it's been a valuable resource for NECANN year after year. So I actually have a vested interest in it's continued success. But in order to fix something, it's important to first accurately define what's wrong with it so I guess what I'm saying is that I think the accepted narratives of its problems are exaggerated.

Interlude - I'll sum up after if you want to skip this part

MJBizcon's current situation is fascinating to me because of the correlation to what I experienced in the print media industry as the internet decimated newspaper classified advertising revenue beginning in the early 2000's. The Alt-Weekly newspaper group I was running sales & ops for had slowly grown over the previous 40 years, reaching peaks in the $10mil range - the largest segment of it coming from classified advertising. As that revenue disappeared with unprecedented speed, we tried everything: bringing in higher level sales people, trying to create new revenue streams, monetize the web, and of course, budget cuts.

After several years of huge sales decreases (while budgeting increases), and severely inadequate budget reductions, I felt like the only possible solution was to burn the current model to the ground and build a new one based on the revenue level we knew we could count on. Looking back, there was a time in the company's history when a $5mil year was record high revenue, and profitable. As painful as it would be in terms of the amount of staff and content reductions needed to go back to that level, it felt like a much better alternative than just pretending to believe we would magically increase sales again despite the continued decline in ad spends in print media.

Unfortunately, I also knew that this strategy would never be accepted by the rest of the core leadership group & the owner, all of whom were committed to a "grow or die" philosophy. I pitched it anyway, with predictable results. To paraphrase, it went something like this:

Them: "It's your job to show us a plan to grow revenue. If you don't believe we can do that, you should quit".

Me: "My job is actually profitability, not revenue. I've showed you the plan I think has the best chance to return the company to profitability. If you don't believe in my plan, you should fire me." (confession: I didn't say it anywhere near as calmly and clearly as that. I was a mess)

Someone else was willing to to say they believed they could bring revenue back up, and I was fired about 6 months later. Another 6 months after that, the paper was completely shut down. I don't know if it would have made a difference, but if I had a chance to go back I know I would fight harder to get my plan accepted. Lesson learned.

End of Interlude - Back to MJBizCon

The way I see it, MJBiz is in the same position I described in the interlude: there's a successful, profitable, event to be had moving forward if ownership is willing to stop setting the sales bar at the level of success the convention had at it's peak, which results in killing profitability.

So if I was tasked with submitting a plan for MJBizCon 2025, here's what I would say:

#1: I'm not renting Central Hall

We once again rented both the North and Central Halls this year despite a two-year decline in exhibitor space sold and no real reason to believe it would grow in 2025. The decision to do so wasn't based on realistic sales forecasting, but rather the amount of space we would need to hit an unachievable budget goal. In the end, the entire 2024 show could have fit in the central hall which not only would have saved a TON of money in rental fees and logistics, but would have had the added benefit of a much fuller floor with no empty space or dead areas, and a much higher concentration of attendees, and the added floor buzz that comes with that.

#2: Reduce the exhibit hall hours on Tuesday & Wednesday, and eliminate it completely on Friday.

No one, and I mean NO ONE, needs the hall to be open on Friday. Trust me. Keep the Friday programming, and then rent some indoor & outdoor space with plenty of tables, chairs, and food options (like this year's meeting rooms & the Patio). Then encourage/incentivize people to use the app to set up Friday meetings there. Another large rental logistics savings, and we eliminate having the final impression of all the exhibitors being five extremely slow hours on the floor on Friday. As for Tuesday & Wednesday, shut it down at 5pm. People will thanks us for it.

#3 Dump the exhibitor sections model

In a show this size, exhibitors only see value in terms of how close they are to the entrance. By relegating three of the five "sections" to the back 1/3rd of of the hall (more than two full football fields away from the main entrance), we're disincentivizing early renewals, larger booths, and premium locations for all of them. What's the difference in value between an inline booth and a corner booth when they are both a mile from the entrance? If you expect those sections to grow, you need to give them the opportunity to buy prime real estate.

#4 Scholarships and state-based incentives

Pick a number - 500? 1,000? Let first-time attendees apply for a free attendee scholarship. Pick another number - 100? Do the same for first time exhibitors with SE or EE designation. A sponsor might help defray the cost, but the point is to get the new people in the industry here, so they want to come back.

Growing attendance was a cake walk back in 2014-2017 when all the new people entering the industry were out west, tens of thousands of them a drivable distance from Las Vegas. A little harder to convince people its worth the time & expense of a cross country flight. East coast markets are under-represented? Reach out to them & incentivize them.

I have 5-6 more items, but honestly, you really should get back to work now.

Maybe I'll post them next time.