MATH: MD(24) = MA(16)

NECANN's 1st ever Maryland Cannabis Convention is almost upon us (May 3rd-4th the Baltimore Convention Center), and the most common question I'm getting from prospective attendees and exhibitors is, "How does it compare to the Boston show"? I'm always tempted to respond "It should actually be a bit bigger than Boston" then mumble, "in 2016" under my breath.

It's the truth, because the 2016 New England Cannabis Convention had around 80 exhibitors and maybe 1,250 attendees and as of this writing we're on pace to have over 100 exhibitors and about 1,500 attendees at the Maryland Convention. Makes sense, as successful events will always be a reflection of the current state of the host market. So while the Maryland market is still in its infancy, it has progressed much faster than Massachusetts did out of the gate, so it was always reasonable to assume that this event would outpace the early Boston shows year by year.

In the B2B cannabis event biz, one of the hardest decisions we have to make is when to enter a new market. Being first to market has obvious appeal but if you are too early you risk burning through your cash flow just to get poor attendance, low ROI, and a potentially fatal first impression for your brand there. On the other hand, if you wait too long you risk other events establishing themselves, leaving you to try and play catch up as the unnecessary 2nd or 3rd option.

It's a similar decision for most cannabis businesses and ancillary products and services in general when it comes to the events - is it worth exhibiting the 1st year, or is it better to walk the floor? Depends on the individual situation of course, and we'll never hesitate to recommend someone wait a year before exhibiting if we don't feel the first show can meet the goals they need for exhibiting. At the same time, we also know there's an undeniable brand value to being an early exhibitor, so we do everything we can to minimize the investment at our early-market shows (for Maryland, we were able to get booth prices down to $1,200), which also makes them accessible to local businesses. We're also happy to continue our long-running commitment to donating exhibitor space in the name of equity to access at our events, partnering with the team at BCB Mastermind to award booths to S.E. licensees from all across the state.

Hope to see many of you in Baltimore (oh, and Illinois - stay tuned for an announcement about that next time)!