MJUnpacked surprised St. Louis as cannabis industry participants nationwide descended on the gorgeous, four-diamond Union Station Hotel. Highlights included a Beatles-themed light show, a brightly lit, engaging expo hall, expert panels, two tasty meals per day on site, and XL gift boxes containing many full-sized products.
There were puppy playpens on the show floor, part of an adopt-don’t-shop initiative sponsored by Headset. The on-site cuddlefest helped to reduce election stress, and a few participants warmheartedly adopted some of the lucky pups and flew home with them.
The mood on the floor was sometimes somber as people processed their shock and disbelief that an adjudicated felon had been elected leader of the free world. However, having a sense of community—and a puppy room—helped to soften the blow. Vendor PayPro had two professional, complimentary masseuses on deck to rub the stress out of everyone’s necks and shoulders.
MJ Unpacked provided some “VIPs” with high-quality gift boxes on-site containing full-size, high-dose THC products, including a Stiizy vape starter kit. On the CBD side, the kit contained Missouri’s Own Edibles gourmet gummies in Concord grape.
Other attendees had to venture outside the venue, taking complimentary, comfortable round-trip shuttle buses to the dispensary partner, Blue Sage Cannabis Deli, to pick up their gift boxes. The staff at Blue Sage were kind and accommodating.
Missouri packaging requires all cannabis consumer packaged goods (CPG products) to be adorned with “MARIJUANA” in big, bold letters.
Attendee Raymond Guns, CPA, posted that his top takeaways from MJUnpacked were, ”The Missouri cannabis industry is more collaborative than others. MoCannTrade (Missouri Cannabis Trade Association) is well-run and has consistent member events. When speaking with the operators, they [seem to] know and trust each other.
Guns surmised, “Capital is still the largest domino for many cannabis companies. Even established operations are looking to expand need capital their cash flows can support. Positive cash flows are important. You can not get around running a profitable business when it comes to buying, selling, or raising capital for a cannabis business.”
“The Move to Missouri was phenomenal. It is one of the best-run markets in the country, and we were able to showcase it and connect with a national audience,” said George Jage, Founder of MJUnpacked.
“Missouri gave me a bit of a blueprint for how I want to shape Wisconsin’s cannabis industry,” said Guns.
MJUnpacked certainly provided a blueprint for how cannabis conferences should be – hyperlocal, genuine, and engaging.
