The Happy Cabbage Hot Takes on MJ Biz

It’s that time of year again, where everyone posts their hot takes on MJ Biz. There is always a lot of groaning after the biggest conference in the industry, as well as plenty of praise. From an operator that is too busy to go, it may be impossible to gauge whether the show was valuable or not.

Since so many of you are working in your stores and not traveling to Vegas, we thought we’d share our observations we made meeting with retailers and partners at the show, as well as our own personal opinions on the vibes to be found there.

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For one, every show is what you make of it.

We made great use of our time there. We did not buy a booth on the show floor. Instead we collaborated with partners that were throwing side events like brunches or after parties, and we even hosted one ourselves.

We spent a lot of time at the Chandelier Bar in the Cosmo because, quite frankly, that’s where we get deals done. Andrew or Danny need only sit at the bar wearing a Happy Cabbage shirt and people come find us. #blessed

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The show floor still works for people.

We’re not trying to shill for the show here, but we had partners like AIQ, BLAZE, and others that did connect with qualified buyers on the floor even if reports are that it was sparsely populated. It seemed the quality of attendees was high and gave space for deeper conversations.

Others experienced a bust. At every show, some hit home runs and some strike out. 🤷

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Retailers did come out to the show from all over the country.

We met up with customers, potential customers, and retailers we’ve been trying to reach for months that we finally got face time with. It wasn’t just the executive teams either, retail managers were attending as well.

We spent time with retailers that came in from Oregon, California, Colorado, New York, New Jersey, Michigan, and even Alaska.

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Our event highlights:

1. Alpine IQ Brunch
   This brunch was spectacular and the attendees were quality! Some of the biggest brands and retailers in the country mixed with smaller well run operations. Full spectrum.
   
   We’ve been collaborating with AIQ and Flowhub leading up to this event and AIQ printed a really in-depth zine outlining the benefits of the tech stack that includes our three platforms.
   
   
2. VC And CEO Mixer
   Patrick Rea of Poseidon, who we recently featured on our webinar series, throws this mixer every year and it’s one of the most valuable rooms to be in. The guest list includes investors, execs and founders of the industry’s most exciting companies.
   
   He had over 400 people come through the first night of the show. He knows how to fill a room! If you’re planning on going to Vegas next year, put this on your agenda. This was the top event for us of the entire week.
   
   
3. Dai Truong Brunch
   So, we’re going to be upfront about our bias on this one, as we co-hosted it with Dai in the Happy Cabbage Suite in the Cosmo. Like Patrick, Dai has always thrown a quality event with a curated guest list.
   
   And while the event was both fun and productive, the sad news is that someone killed Clippy! Read about the whole sordid affair on Danny’s post here.
   
   
4. Chandelier Bar at the Cosmo
   We already talked about this above, but it bears repeating: the most amount of deals we do at this show take place at this bar. And it’s been this way for YEARS.
   
   Some of us at Happy Cabbage have been going to this show since 2016. From at least 2017 onwards (perhaps prior, we don’t know), the Chandelier Bar has been this magical little central hub for industry folks to gather and carouse. Perfect for late night deal making.

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Honorable mentions:

1. Puf Creativ’s 3 events
   Puf does an incredible job hosting memorable and creative events. They throw THREE of them (we think this is nuts to take on, but they do it with gusto).
   
   From pickleball tournaments to late night parties with live musicians to restorative sound baths at a consumption lounge, their events never disappoint and the community they pull out is among the best in the industry. We were too engaged in other things to attend, but made it to them last year and heard great things this year.
   
   
2. The Surfside Suite
   Other than Travis’ questionable DJing, the Surfside suite in the Cosmo hosted numerous happy hours and late night hangs. It was a place to be inside the Cosmo, and many Chandelier Bar connections ended up in this room at least once.

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So that’s our “hot take” - the show is great for us and we had a blast. We did deals, we strengthened existing relationships, we planned 2026 with partners. What more can you ask for of an event?

Our industry is the suits, the care givers, the creators, the growers, the extractors - all of them, together, and they all attend this show. We like to remind ourselves that $40B in cannabis transactions happened in 2025, and much of that is represented at BizCon. The important thing to remember is you find your tribe and you’ll find your vibe.

Did you make it to the show? What were your thoughts, the good, bad and the ugly? Let us know, we’d love to hear.

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