If you’re in the cannabis industry, you most likely have heard of George Jage. He is a leader in the trade show industry, took MJBizCon from a 20-table cannabis trade event, and elevated it into the highly regarded show it is today. 

George recently introduced his latest iteration of trade show experiences and announced a new event called MJ Unpacked, which debuted last October in Las Vegas. MJ Unpacked is unique in that it’s strictly geared toward bringing together CPG brands with investors and retailers with a strict vetting process to attend. The next show continues in New York City on May 18, 2022. 

Let’s hear more from George Jage and dig into his latest creation – MJ Unpacked.

I’m very interested to learn how you approach trade shows through design, ambiance, and attendee curation. You have a narrow focus on who can participate in the show, and you are opposed to giving a ticket to anyone who will pay for it. Please tell us how you put together MJ Unpacked and your upcoming show in New York City.

I’ve been in the trade show industry for close to 30 years. Most trade show operators will sell somebody 100 square feet of real estate and put up a drape. The physical setup and additional cost to build out the booth are on the exhibitor. And the trade shows don’t necessarily have a strong value proposition or return on objectives for brand and retail operators in our space. 

I took a strategic approach to deconstructing the trade show and looked at people’s pain points in participating in a trade show. 

By qualifying everyone looking to attend our show as a CPG brand or retail executive, we’re taking out all noise, and dilution, and narrowing the show’s focus.

If brands don’t build a moat around themselves and start growing into multiple state markets, they will get overrun by the alcohol and tobacco industries. We listened to the market’s needs and found that most independent brands and retailers needed access to capital. So we also opened our doors to accredited investors actively investing in cannabis.

Independent brands are the lifeblood of our industry. We want to embrace creativity and thought leadership on the grassroots level and support these independent business operators. 

You have also reimagined the layout of trade shows. Tell us about that.

When you think about the process of the trade shows, they cram everybody in with endless rows of booths. Typically you go to a trade show, walk down the aisle, and maybe pick up a squishy ball or a piece of candy, and somebody scans your badge. That tends to create warm leads that will probably turn cold. You get the highest value by sitting down with somebody for a conversation. We design a lot of seating areas for people to be able to sit down and do business with people.

You don’t offer exhibitors a traditional booth setup; instead, you have showcases throughout the show like you would see browsing products in a store. 

We offer booths and showcases. The showcases you mentioned are so the brands don’t get stuck in a booth and can walk around to network and have conversations. We also tech-enabled them with a QR code located on the showcase, allowing someone to pull up the company and product information or schedule a time to meet with that brand while they’re at the show. 

I assumed the MJ Unpacked event would be for local brands looking to sell to dispensaries in the tri-state area. But you’re promoting it as a way for brands across the country to start networking and build a national presence in preparation for federal legalization.

We’ve seen the industry change dramatically over the last 8-10 years. Still, none of the trade shows have evolved, and they don’t necessarily have a strong value proposition or return on objectives for brand and retail operators in our space. Our show is designed for companies looking to increase their national profile. 

Are there any legacy people exhibiting at the show?

We do have a couple of legacy operators that are coming. Still, again, with our qualification process, we are only allowing people applying for licenses to exhibit to maintain a level of qualifications. We are asking for proof that they’ve formed a business or have the capital set aside to execute this business. It’s tough for some legacy operators to exhibit at this point because they can’t technically put their products on display, but we still want them in the room because they need to be part of our foundation. 

Are most exhibitors coming to the New York show consumables or ancillary products? 

We try to keep it to about 70% of brands and filter out the 120 packaging companies looking to participate. Nobody wants to look at 120 packaging companies. We also allow some ancillary companies specifically around marketing or a product that would help support a brand or a retail outlet. 

We have some great brands exhibiting in NY and are looking to expand to the East Coast. Our goal at MJUnpacked is to put the right people in the room and drive transactional success by having conversations with people relevant to them.

Is it primarily people from the East Coast, the West Coast, or a mix of both?

It’s a very diverse audience. We have a lot of companies coming from the traditional West Coast states and the tri-state area, Massachusetts as well. And Virginia is becoming a pretty hot topic in the cannabis industry and Ohio and Illinois. So, you know, we expect to see a pretty broad geographic distribution for our attendance. 

Are you seeing growers or manufacturers looking to attend the show? You would think these companies would want to participate in connecting with possible brand partners.

Some of the deals that got done at our last show are phenomenal. We have companies and cultivators that specialize in pre-rolls and flower. However, we see many manufactured products partnering up to do multi-state deals and white labeling to spread brand awareness to other states. And life-changing for some of these people. And that’s what we’re trying to do.

Who are the investors attending the show? 

First of all, New York is the financial capital of the universe. And we’re continuing to mainstream the conversation for the capital community in New York.

How about the Shark Tank-style pitch session you have planned for MJ Unpacked NYC? The winner will receive an investment partnership with Canna Advisors, a cannabis advisory company in Denver that recently opened an office in NYC. It sounds like an excellent opportunity for a budding entrepreneur.

Canna Advisors is exhibiting with us. They’re doing a competition in a private business suit that involves capital investment and consulting hours for the lucky winner. So, this is kind of a show within a show.

We consciously try to evolve and improve our shows and recognize that our program’s investment aspect needs to be highlighted more. We are also hosting a money stage where people pitch in front of an audience of accredited investors. We’ve asked about eight or nine prominent investment funds to come and commit to listening to the presentations and creating a $5,000 pitch prize. Somebody raising $5 million isn’t going to benefit from that prize, so we will probably skew the judging in favor of earlier-stage companies that would benefit more from a $5,000 pitch prize. 

We’re focused on one thing -creating transactional success for our clients. And so when somebody comes in, and they present on stage to raise money, we want to make sure they walk out of there successfully.

Thank you, George Jage, for sharing your vision on cannabis trade shows and how you plan to shape the industry.

Article by Pam Chmiel.

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