Puff N Ponder #6

Puff n Ponder

With Papa Jefe

Cannaevents: Are they worth it?

'It's A Dangerous Business, Frodo, Going Out Your Door. You Step Onto The Road, And If You Don't Keep Your Feet, There's No Knowing Where You Might Be Swept Off To" - Gandalf in the Hobbit.

Cannabis events, conventions and sensory events are new and wild adventures, but are they worth it for all parties involved?

They seem costly on the LP side, to run a booth, staff it, give out samples and tear it all down again.

The carnie in me starts thinking dollar signs off the hop.

These are estimates not actual numbers, this is my best guess.

Pre-Event

• Booth design 100$+

• Swag design and cost 400$+

• Production plan/sample production (labor plus cost) est. 800$

• Marketing 300$+

• The actual booth 200$+

The Event

• Staff 2 to 6 for 10+ hrs. 440$+

• Lot expense 2,000$+

• Travel expenses 100$ to 500$

• Set up and tear down 2 to 4 hrs extra (@22$ = 88$+)

• Parking 15$ to 45$ Daily or per 4 hrs (thanks Toronto parking)

• Daily supplies 50$+

• Product samples est. 5,000$ cost of 10$ per visitor.

Low end estimate for one day at an event is 9,513$ and that's feeling generous. I could be way off but this seems fitting.

And what's the pay out? A few Instagram posts, some possible hype and maybe it's brought into stores. Maybe if it's not just a "budtender" event you might get a customer or two that end up knowing who you are after the festivities.

The budtenders however have a different cost set for these events. Most have to travel far and wide to attend, others have to worry if its wheelchair accessible. There's a centralized event hub in Ontario called Toronto.

Estimated costs for a budtender out of town to go.

• Travel either drive, bus, train or fly. Anywhere from 28$ to a few hundred.

• Place to stay. Air bnb, hotel, motel or sleeping on a couch. From 0$ to 400$ a night

• Food! Most events aren't catered and if they are the foods gone before YOU get there. Roughly 50$ a day.

• Ubers. No out if city drivers want to drive there. Roughly 60$

• After party tickets 25$

• Time off work, loss of income unless you have paid vacation days.

For me to go to a Toronto event I pay roughly 400$ over all to go and have to book off two days.

The pay off? Anywhere from 5 to 30 grams of live product, not to mention what's been consumed on premises.

Sure there's some networking but to what extent?  I highly doubt anyone was given a job at a cannabis event. Yes you get to meet your fellow peers in person but y'all already know each other.

I'm not trying to sour the experience, I've gone to a few events and had a blast! But mostly because I stayed outside and smoked with strangers.

There's a funny thing that happens at these events and it's quite amusing. Honestly it's slick and dirty, smaller brands/LP's will hand out samples while you wait in line. No ticket, no booth; just a bag of free weed. I've gotten more products waiting inline or out in the smoke spot than I ever did while inside any event.

Sensory events on the other hand are a whole other beast on its own.

"A sensory event is where you can touch, smell, and smoke the product. Ask questions on a lower more personal level"

Most if these are at LIT research group for research and development purposes, others are invite only and very small and close knit.

The LIT ones are more common and easier to attend, the invite only generally means you know someone really cool or you know your stuff.

The costs for these vary so much I'm not even going to try to estimate what they could cost.

So the question that echoes in my mind over and over again; what's the f*cking point.

I get different answers from who I ask. Here's a few samples:

"It's the people. It's the friendly faces I see and know from Instagram. The community that we have built online flows into real life and I am able to be myself with friends. Seeing new brands and products coming out always gets me excited and I love meeting the reps behind the brands I love." - @strictly_hippy

"Okay so reasons I go to cannaevents, networking mainly meeting faces to put to names and getting my name out there because I've found my career. I want to spend forever here." - @fairy_potmother

"Networking, puffs with pals , spreading the positives of the canna community and assisting those with disabilities in make sure all persons can be respectfully represented at events" - @dopendisabledproductions

"Samples and knowledge" - Fraser (coworker)

These answers make sense from who I got them from but is the cost and time worth it. The hazy memories, the random photos and meeting new people?

I say f*ck yeah it is. It's an experience in a new industry that changes almost daily. Do it all before they take it away from us.

Cost to payout for LP's is not worth it, the experience they give and how memorable their basketball court or redneck pool is will last a lifetime. I might not buy your products if I don't like them but I'll surely tell people how cool/crappy your booth was until the next big event.

As always,

Peace, love and pre-rolls

- Papa Jefe

These views are mine and mine alone and do not reflect those of Cannaviews.ca