All photos by Lisa Kaler unless otherwise noted
The most exceptional Cannabis business to business trade show in the legal Cannabis world is Hall of Flowers.
Hall of Flowers is an important ingredient in California’s Cannabis industry’s success. Why? Because this expansive trade show is unlike any other in the industry. Typically, Hall of Flowers has two shows a year, one in Southern California (venue in the past was Palm Springs) and Northern California in Santa Rosa, which is where Hall of Flowers began. In fact, there is a building inside the Santa Rosa Fair grounds called Hall of Flowers. This two-day event is what everyone that works in the California Cannabis biz gets excited about. Hall of Flowers is California’s Cannabis industry champion for success. Retailers, cultivators, packaging, every facet of the industry benefits from this one of a kind trade show. Consumers benefit as well from this show as their local dispensaries come to HOF to be introduced to existing and new brands that are sure to delight.
Photo above by Romie Jagminas
This year in Southern California, Hall of Flowers will land in Ventura County for the first time on March 13-14, 2024!
This is a BIG deal for Ventura County!
VC has been impossible in the past (especially during the medical cannabis years and early legalization) to get any kind of Cannabis business or services to be available for patients and consumers to have access to. For years activists have fought for patients to have access. Over the years, city by city have gone their own way against the greater County’s stance on Cannabis. It’s high time that VC’s time has come with retail stores first opening up in this order; Ojai, Port Hueneme, Ventura, Oxnard and a few storefronts in Newbury Park near Thousand Oaks.
More and more cities are finally “getting it” and realizing that these businesses are great for the community and also provide security in the neighborhoods that they are in. You don’t see security guards outside your local liquor store, so one would think these retail stores are a benefit to their cities.
This is a monumental occasion for something as big as Hall of Flowers to be happening at the Ventura County Fair Grounds. As a lifelong native of VC, it has been a dream and a hope for me as an Cannabis activist, writer, and publisher that one day we could have such an event in Ventura County. This may be an exclusive B2B event and not open to the public, but this is a GREAT start for big things to come in the future to Ventura County.
I for one would love to see HOF come to VC every year, we’re only an hour away from LA, less than hour away from Santa Barbara and it invites more of the central coast and valley community to easily come to HOF. This is a HUGE win for the entire Cannabis community (consumers, retailers, Cannabis brands and growers, distributors, magazine publishers and more). Hall of Flowers also produces a great amount of business revenue for the entire county with attendees staying at local hotels, restaurants, and more. Good for everyone!
As a consumer of Cannabis, you might ask, what does this mean for me?
Well, the number one reason is that this event connects your favorite Cannabis retailers with Cannabis brands. The outcome determines which products that hit the shelves for you to purchase at your dispensary is reflective of this event. We look forward to attending this show to get behind the scenes and share all the brands and innovations that this show curates beautifully every time.
Which products do dispensary buyers choose to buy?
Brands come and go if there isn’t enough sales happening, your favorite brand of Cannabis flowers could be on the chopping block at your favorite store if the sales are poor. There is limited amount of counter space for products, so those that don’t sell well get bumped. It’s sometimes reflective of the product, sometimes the consumer just doesn’t know enough about the product or want to take a chance on it for it to stay on the shelf. Many consumers would not know the struggle that brands have to get into the doors of the dispensaries. This is why many brands do customer appreciation days at stores to help with loyalty as well as gain new customers interest in purchasing. It’s not an easy task, even for the “biggest” of brands. As a consumer, perhaps you understand the overload of choices when you enter a retail Cannabis dispensary. Hall of Flowers is the connector of the community.
The process for sales people to develop relationships with buyers and owners of dispensaries is treacherous sometimes. Setting an appointment, making sure the staff member will be there to meet on time, presenting to the potential retailer and offering them something they don’t already have enough of, it’s a whole thing and process. At Hall of Flowers, they have made the process for the retailer to connect with the brands much more seamless and set for success.
If you are in or plan to be in the Cannabis business community in California, this is the place to be!
For two days, twice a year, Hall of Flowers provides an environment for owners and buyers of retail stores to experience each of the brands; presentations of their booths, branding, packaging, their staff, upper management to interact, and most importantly the product itself for them to discover. This gives the brand an opportunity to leave a great impression on the buyer/ owner(s) of these retail shops that we all count on to provide us with Cannabis products.
It’s not just strictly Cannabis products either, in the past season of HOF ancillary businesses that also serve the space or have a product geared towards the consumer for retail sales inside dispensaries have also participated in showcasing their goods. Brands like Puff Co, RAW Rolling papers, Zippo, and more have had booths at HOF.
If you’re a cultivation company, a distributor, a sales professional in the Cannabis space, this show is also for you on day 2.
What kind of products are featured at Hall of Flowers?
All kinds of Cannabis products from edibles, topicals, flower, pre-rolls, concentrates, vape cartridges and more that are merging into the market. Your next new favorite product and brand could be presenting at Hall of Flowers.
The educational and informative speaker series is outside the box of traditional trade shows.
The speaker series is intended to inspire, elevate, and create greater success for all attendees. The intention is to help operators to go deeper into how they can innovate and improve on their business practices and much more. Hall of Flowers’ organizers are entrepreneurs in their own right. So it’s no surprise that this year’s HOF speakers are also entrepreneurs and activists that will be sharing their experiences and knowledge to this influential audience. That’s right, all that attend HOF have the opportunity to share what they learn and experience in their field of the industry to create a better Cannabis experience for all.
This year’s unique group of confirmed speakers include: Beard Bros, David Bienenstock, Kraig Fox, Mary Jane Gibson, Chris Hanley, Roberta Hanley, Lili Hayes, Kevin Hayes, Randy Lanier, Kanani Mahi, Andy Nguyen, Shavo Odadjian, Tammy Pettigrew, Mitch Pfeifer, Jesse Sebastiani, Dee Sidhu, Jonathan Tucker, Seth Yakatan. Each of these speakers have insight and experience in the Cannabis space in a variety of ways; writers, entrepreneurs, product makers and more.
Often imitated, never duplicated!
Hall of Flowers is an important driver in the success of the Cannabis community and industry that no other trade show has been able to replicate. I have been in the thick of this community since 2009 and even longer as an activist, I have been to more trade shows than many in the Cannabis space. Hall of Flowers organizers are taking steps and opening up doors that were once impossible to open.
Cannapolitan is grateful and proud to be a media partner to Hall of Flowers.
We look forward to sharing with our readers all the Cannabis brands new and existing in today’s marketplace that you the consumer should get excited about. We always pick and choose brands to review and feature in Cannapolitan based on our trips to HOF every year. We serve as your conduit to all the hottest, dankest, most premium brands of Cannabis that are in the market in California. When it comes to the best Cannabis, we know that all the best Cannabis comes from California. All the trends, strains, products, and how you experience a dispensary today was all birthed here in Cali. Stay tuned to Cannapolitan through our socials and here at CannapolitanMagazine.com for our post HOF feature, sharing with you all the brands and Cannabis we plan to share with you throughout the year. Here’s a link to a brand that we discovered at Hall of Flowers in past season, A Golden State and Phases Cannabis.
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Until next time, stay Cannapolitan.
