Schedule of Events
Cannabis Conference
08:00 AM – 05:30 PM
Registration Open
10:00 AM – 05:30 PM
VIP Cultivation Roundtable (VIP Pass/Cultivators Only)
A first-time event at Cannabis Conference 2023, the Cultivation Roundtable is a daylong educational and networking event for cultivation professionals only.* This VIP opportunity — co-chaired by longtime cultivators David Holmes, founder and CEO of Clade9, and Scott Reach, owner of Rare Dankness and House of Dankness — will be limited to 150 attendees and offers an exclusive forum for growers (indoor, greenhouse and/or outdoor) to expand their peer networks and their knowledge of advanced cultivation techniques and practices, solve the most crucial problems facing cultivators today, and find new opportunities and potential partnerships.
The Cultivation Roundtable is available as an add-on ticket to any Cannabis Conference pass type. Don’t wait to register, as seating is limited to ensure the ultimate educational and networking environment for attendees!*
*This is a special educational event for leaders and managers of growing operations. Limited to 150 attendees and to those who own or work for a company that cultivates cannabis. Registrants will be vetted by show organizers.
CLICK HERE for more information.
10:00 AM – 05:30 PM
How to Launch a Cannabis Cultivation Business Workshop (add-on)
A successful operation depends on much more than high-quality and high-volume yields. Key decisions made early on in a cultivation business will have long-lasting impacts on your chances of success.
In this workshop, experienced and successful cannabis business leaders will share essential considerations when mapping out your start-up, along with some of the key lessons they’ve learned along the way when it comes to:
- Early-stage decisions, from determining your long- and short-term goals, site location to cultivation
- methods and genetics sourcing options;
- Financial modeling, fundraising and unexpected costs;
- The application process;
- Regulatory and compliance requirements;
- Hiring an all-star cultivation team;
- Other critical team members and outsourced services to have in place;
- Building relationships with dispensary customers; and
- Packaging and wholesaling.
...and much more!
CLICK HERE for more information.
10:00 AM – 05:30 PM
How to Launch a Cannabis Dispensary Workshop (add-on)
As dispensary competition continues to stiffen in nascent and established markets, getting your dispensary off to a good start is critical to your chances of success. From site selection to ensuring you have enough capital to sustain your business through common project delays that could otherwise derail your opening plans, the success of your dispensary launch hinges on many factors.
In this in-depth workshop, learn from experienced dispensary operators about:
- Site selection and market analysis;
- Start-up budgeting and unexpected costs;
- How to work with municipalities and regulatory committees;
- Critical team members, partners and vendors to hire; and
- Keys to product selection and pricing.
...and much more!
CLICK HERE for more information.
09:00 AM – 06:30 PM
Registration Open
09:30 AM – 10:30 AM
Networking Refreshments in the Exhibit Hall
09:45 AM – 10:30 AM
Technology & Solutions Session 1
10:30 AM – 11:15 AM
ALL-ACCESS PASS: Create a Winning License Application
10:30 AM – 11:15 AM
ALL-ACCESS PASS: Cultivators’ Profit Killer: HpLVd and the Next Viruses Coming to Cannabis
10:30 AM – 11:15 AM
ALL-ACCESS PASS: Built to Last: Shifting From Reacting to Planning Ahead to Withstand Market Volatility
There is no question that these are volatile times in the industry. To some operators, this does not come as a surprise; rather the inevitable market evolution. Be it wholesale price compression, shifting regulations, supply chain pressures, inflation, or consumer behavior and spending – there are organizations that are ready and eager to tackle anything.
The key premise is understanding all of the major drivers and impacts to your business; control what you can, and plan for the rest. It is a fundamental shift from reaction to executing on a plan. In a sense moving from surviving to thriving. In this session, learn how to look for the interdependencies in your business, to create a living budget, how to evaluate your fixed and variable costs, and how to streamline your production, post-harvest, procession, packaging, labeling, (and so much more).
10:30 AM – 11:15 AM
ALL-ACCESS PASS: Crop Steering Intensive: Latest Cultivation Research on Flushing, Height Control and Photoperiod Strategies for Desired Outcomes and Cost Goals
11:30 AM – 12:30 PM
ALL-ACCESS PASS: Cannabis Market Predictions for the Year Ahead … and Marketing and Product Selection for an Evolving Customer Base
11:30 AM – 12:30 PM
ALL-ACCESS PASS: Latest Research in Lighting and Nutrients
11:30 AM – 12:30 PM
ALL-ACCESS PASS: The Funding Conundrum: Your Best Options (and Pros and Cons) for Raising Capital for Your Cannabis Business -- From Equity to Debt Financing, Crowd Funding and More
11:30 AM – 12:30 PM
ALL-ACCESS PASS: The Great Balancing Act: Genetic Selection to Give Your Business an Edge in the Competitive Cannabis Market
12:30 PM – 02:00 PM
Networking Lunch in the Exhibit Hall
12:30 PM – 01:15 PM
Technology & Solutions Session 2
02:10 PM – 02:45 PM
Welcome Remarks & State of the Industry
02:45 PM – 03:45 PM
Opening Keynote
03:55 PM – 04:55 PM
The Untraditional M&A Deal: What You Can Learn From a Craft/Small Business Merger and How It Could Save Your Business
Faced with a turbulent market, continually plummeting prices amid widespread inflation and long-term uncertainty, two craft companies (East Fork Cultivars and Peak Extracts) decided to merge to benefit from each others’ strengths while gaining cost and operational savings, among other benefits. East Fork acquired Peak in late 2022, and East Fork CEO Mason Walker believes many other small and mid-sized businesses could benefit from his story. In this candid session, Walker will share how the merger enabled both companies to reduce overhead by sharing costs for compliance, insurance, payroll, legal and other administrative and professional services, which come at a premium for cannabis companies. As Cannabis Business Times reported, “Stem and Walker estimate these costs together run each company about $200,000 each per year—including $13,000 in adult-use licensing fees, $10,000 in hemp licensing fees and $14,000 in banking fees to carry checking accounts for each entity. They estimate these costs eventually will be cut by at least 40% with the merger.”
Walker will also share the details of the entire process, from finding the right partner to setting deal terms to the cost and logistics of merging the company (legal fees, regulatory approval process, etc.) and important lessons he learned along the way.

03:55 PM – 04:55 PM
Mastering Post-Harvest: Drying and Curing
03:55 PM – 04:55 PM
Management Boot Camp: Helping You Become a Cultivation Leader
03:55 PM – 04:55 PM
General Session
05:00 PM – 06:30 PM
Networking Reception in the Exhibit Hall
06:30 PM – 09:00 PM
Official After Party
08:30 AM – 05:00 PM
Registration Open
09:00 AM – 10:00 AM
General Session
09:00 AM – 10:00 AM
Experiential Marketing: 10 Lessons on Creating an Immersive Dispensary Environment in a Competitive Market
10:00 AM – 10:45 AM
Networking Refreshments in the Exhibit Hall
10:00 AM – 10:45 AM
Technology & Solutions Session 4
11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
General Session
11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Your Extraction Game Plan: A Guide to Winning the Long Game
Building an extraction lab before understanding what is relevant and sustainable long-term in your market(s) is like putting the cart before the horse, and you risk going to market with products that are irrelevant and won’t sell. If launching an extraction business or expanding into extraction is in your sights, they are key things you should consider at the outset. In this session, you will:
- Gain an understanding of different extract products on the market and the methods used to create them (e.g., CO2, hydrocarbon, ethanol, solventless extraction)
- Learn how to evaluate product demand, price points, trends and opportunities in your market
- Understand your goals (to produce CPGs, wholesale to other CPG brands, diversify your revenue channels) and whether it makes business/financial sense for you to build your own lab
- How to use a data-driven approach and market analysis to determine the business case (market/consumer demand analysis) for which products you will create and what equipment you will need
… and more.
12:00 PM – 01:30 PM
Networking Lunch in the Exhibit Hall
12:00 PM – 12:45 PM
Technology & Solutions Session 5
12:45 PM – 01:30 PM
Technology & Solutions Session 6
01:30 PM – 02:20 PM
Federal Cannabis Legalization or Rescheduling in the United States: What Will It Mean for Your Business and the Industry?
01:30 PM – 02:20 PM
Facility Design - Greenhouse
Building (or retrofitting) a greenhouse structure for cultivation provides tighter environmental control than an outdoor operation, but also maximizes the use of natural resources, like sunlight. Learn from seasoned cannabis greenhouse operators the intricacies of building a structure that is highly efficient yet keeps production costs low.
In this session, you’ll take away tips on:
- Climate location factors;
- Materials selection (e.g., glass, polycarbonate, aluminum, galvanized steel, etc.);
- Designing for tight environmental controls and workflow efficiency;
- Automated equipment and technologies to consider (e.g., HVAC, odor control, supplemental lighting);
- and much more.
01:30 PM – 02:20 PM
Growing Up (Not Out): Best Practices for Building and Operating Vertical Grows (and Making It Worth Your Investment in Time and Money)
01:30 PM – 02:20 PM
20 Ways to Stand Out from the Competition
02:30 PM – 03:20 PM
Pest Management: The Newest and Most Effective Ways to Prevent Pests and Mitigate Them for Good
02:30 PM – 03:20 PM
Facility Design - Indoor
02:30 PM – 03:20 PM
Sales Strategies to Help Growers and Brands Succeed in Falling Markets
Even in an up market, it can be challenging for cultivators and brands to gain access to retail shelves, especially in states with limited retail licenses, unlimited cultivation licenses and/or high competition. In a down market with major price compression, even the most savvy and skilled cultivators can struggle.
What are those gaining shelf space and/or finding new opportunities doing from both a product and business perspective? From initial approach to face-to-face time with budtenders, terms, differentiation through genetic and inventory offerings, communication and marketing/brand support, and critical partnerships, this session will share what leading cultivators, brands and dispensaries say are the key to getting and staying on dispensary shelves. Plus, learn what successful cultivators, processors and brands are doing to more successfully collect on deliverables or manage accounts as they navigate challenges throughout a strained supply chain where many retailers are struggling to pay cultivators on time … or at all.
02:30 PM – 03:20 PM
When Lean Is the Name of the Game: Optimizing Your Operations Through Lean Management/Six Sigma
03:30 PM – 04:15 PM
How to Offset Price in a Compressed Market (Getting More Out of Your Fixed Costs)
03:30 PM – 04:15 PM
Marketing 101: A Step-By-Step Guide To Building A Cannabis Brand
Everyone creates brands—but few companies are successful in creating brands that cultivate staying power with consumers. Many entrepreneurs, not just in the cannabis industry, but in all consumer segments, get excited about the idea of creating a brand, and jump straight to designing a logo. But that’s a big mistake, according to experts, especially as brand power becomes increasingly important in the ubercompetitive, rapidly expanding cannabis industry.
This session will help determine what your ideal customer should look like, how to build out the demographic, and how to conduct important research. Presenters will also outline how to determine your company’s points of parity and/or differentiation in the marketplace, what your brand stands for, and what types of emotions you want to evoke. Then, they’ll provide building-blocks for design and more traditional branding ideas. They will also dive into how to evaluate these concepts for both medical and adult-use markets (as these applications should be handled differently).