Montana Cannabis Show was an opportunity to meet new friends and reconnect with old acquaintances
Photo by Kerry.
I just recently returned home from the Montana Cannabis Show. Billings was bright and sunny. Seattle is cold and going through another one of our legendary wet, rainy Juneuarys. Ug.
The Montana show was great, and I was impressed with the overall upbeat aura at the event, which featured more than 100 booths. The Big Sky State, like everywhere else that legalized adult-use cannabis, has not seen the overnight millionaires or rags-to-riches success stories once promised. However, the businesspeople at the show were unfailingly upbeat, friendly and happy to chat. It was also great to run into industry veterans who understand that the key to success is long hours of work, regular visits to customers, plenty of travel and a welcoming smile when they see you.
No surprise that Devin from Weedmaps and David from Canna Brand Solutions made the trek east from Seattle and worked customers and new prospects with their charm. I see them regularly at Marijuana Venture’s Interchange events, and it was great to see them doing their thing in Montana. I also ran into Eugenio and Chris from Cannabis Now magazine and the Lionheart Cannabis dispensaries. We had a fun chat, catching up and laughing over some funny memories from our first meeting at MJBizCon nearly a decade ago. It was good to know their excellent publication is still healthy and regularly printing valuable industry news and well-written articles.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t also mention all the wonderful people manning the booths. There are too many to name here, but I left the show impressed with the overall quality of the show workers. A great example would be Alec. I’m friends with his mom, and my oldest son went to school with him in the Seattle area. He was a budtender at one of our local Seattle pot shops and moved to Montana a couple years ago to work at Montana Kush. I mention this because he’s the type of budtender who will be an asset wherever he goes: smart, friendly, upbeat and a big cheerleader for the legal cannabis industry.
Finally, I want to thank Dakota Wyatt for organizing and producing the event. His staff were great, welcomed us with open arms and generally did a top-notch job with the show. While it’s early and the legal cannabis industry is still in its infancy, the business environment in Montana and the infectious nature of those involved seem to be good signs about the future of cannabis in Montana. Sure, the state has a relatively low population and a store count that might be unrealistic. However, it also borders Idaho and Wyoming — two states that are unlikely to legalize marijuana anytime soon and give Montana an extra customer base. This, when combined with the millions who visit Yellowstone, Big Sky, Glacier National Park and other attractions, seems to indicate the future of cannabis in the Big Sky State is bright.
Greg James
Publisher