Sensi Boston Launch

Last week I joined over 50 local businesses, artists, and service providers gathered at The Royale on Tremont Street in Boston to celebrate the release of the first Boston edition of Sensi BostonMagazine, a cannabis lifestyle publication with regionally-oriented editions for Las Vegas, Phoenix, Florida, Pennsylvania, Seattle, Northern California and now Boston.  I attended at the behest of Eric Rogers who’s company, TINC, is in the process of bringing innovative cannabis beverages to the MA market. Eric was right, this was a great event to attend.  I also think Eric is right about the cannabis beverage product category.  This should be a key growth area over the coming years and I could not be happier about that.  You can easily imagine that as adult-use (recreational as opposed to medicinal users) becomes more prevalent we could be seeing cannabis bars or cafes offering an entire menu of non-alcoholic, cannabis-infused beverages emulating the social experience of alcohol we all know very well.  We will also likely see, regulations dependent of course, traditional bars start to offer healthier cannabis-infused options for consumers to party and socialize with friends in order to compete with these new establishments.  Imagine instead of giving yourself a headache from partying all night, you are treating your headache simultaneously with your beverage of choice!  Exciting stuff.Back to the Sensi event, this was my first organized cannabis conference and I have to say it further validated how quickly the industry is becoming mainstream.  Well-attended, well organized, and the excitement in the room and the rapid developments in the industry were palpable.  In some ways, I felt like I had been transported back to an early internet technology and advertising show. It would be nearly impossible to tell from afar if this was a Search Engine Strategies crowd circa 2001 or, in fact, a show dedicated to this once-taboo-turned-miracle plant.  There were investors walking around in suits, product experts touting their technologies and new products with the requisite supporting materials and tchotchkes, and marketers giving out schwag and working to build communities around their brands. It had a similar demographic, energy, and that buzz that felt like we are here experiencing something bursting into the mainstream right before our eyes.  And of course, DJ Lord from Public Enemy spinning records as the headliner gave it an exclusive, unique vibe in this very cool venue!I’ll be attending quite a few more of these types of events in the coming months.  Reach out and let me know if there is something I can’t miss, let me know where you might be so we can connect, and stay tuned for more reports on cannabis shows from around the country.