As many of you may know, MJBizCon is the annual cannabis industry trade show hosted each year at the Las Vegas Convention Center. In fact, it’s the biggest cannabis trade show in the world, and this year came with a whole week’s worth of affiliated events, awards, speakers, and networking — and The Grove is right near the epicenter of it all.
MJBiz 2019 Highlights
2019 MJ Biz saw a whopping 35,000 folks from over 70 countries. Needless to say, the shop was busy.
MJBiz Week
This year was more than just a tradeshow, it was a week’s worth of educational and networking events all over the city. The Board of Clark County Commissioners and the City of Las Vegas even declared December 9-13th as the first-ever MJBiz Week to make it official.
It was a week packed with exciting events and cannabis professionals from every sector of the cannabis industry. It featured over 130 speakers (on topics like marketing, legal and social issues, cannabis science and interesting news features), including a keynote by Netflix founding CEO Marc Randolph.
MJBizDaily Hall of Fame
This year also brought MJBiz’s first awards ceremony, complete with two inaugural MJBizDaily Hall of Fame inductees: Wanda James and Steve D’Angelo.
Wanda James- An activist, entrepreneur, and former U.S Navy lieutenant, Wanda James is the founder and CEO of Simply Pure Dispensary and founder of the Cannabis Global Initiative. In addition to being the first African American woman to receive licenses for cannabis cultivation, retail, and processing, she was named to Barack Obama’s National Finance Committee and Colorado’s Amendment 64 Task Force.
Steve DeAngelo- Often referred to as the “father of the legal cannabis industry,” DeAngelo co-founded a number of cannabis industry firsts: one of the first licensed cannabis dispensaries, Harborside, Steep Hill Laboratory, the ArcView Group, and the National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA).
MJBizCon Awards Ceremony
The MJBiz Awards ceremony honored the leaders of the cannabis and hemp industries and showcased the monumental achievements of some of the most forward-thinking companies in the game. Categories ranged from cultivation to infused products, industry impact, community impact, sustainable business practices and more. You can check out the complete list of 2019’s winners here.