Exhibition World Issue 5 — 2019 | Page 51

Emerging sector “We were able to hold a mirror up to the industry and show it was a professional and interesting business space.” an opinion. His early appointment of Jeff Sessions as Attorney General caused some dismay in the industry as Sessions was on record as saying he thought the Ku Klux Klan were decent people until he discovered they smoked pot. Then Sessions fell out spectacularly with his boss. Farrington was confident that the pace of growth would lift her news site and conference business, MJBizCon, into a key service for those who wanted to navigate the choppy waters. It wasn’t plain sailing. “You’d be shocked how quickly people were booked up,” she told the audience. “But we put 400 people into a Masonic Lodge in downtown Denver. Her business grew from 15 employees to 30, and then in 2018, from 30 to 60. The company, which is self-funded, achieved US$27m of revenue in 2018, up 50% from $18m in 2017. Most of the revenue comes from the events business, which comprises three large expo-type events, including MJBizCon. In addition to the flagship conference, the catalogue of events from Marijuana Business Daily includes MJBizConINT’L, an event held in Toronto to evaluate the w w w.exhibitionworld.co.uk Canadian market; MJBizConNEXT in New Orleans, a show with the purpose of reviewing the upcoming advancements in technology for the marijuana industry; MJBizDaily’s Latin American Cannabis Symposium, an event held in Colombia to evaluate the nascent Latin American marijuana market; the Hemp Industry Daily Conference, a show dedicated to the burgeoning hemp market; and the MJBizDaily’s European Cannabis Symposium in Denmark, which recognises the emerging European medical cannabis space. Left: Indoor marijuana growing room Below: Farrington on stage at ECEF in June “We are able to marry together our journalism mission with the support of the industry. We feel we are part of the industry,” Farrington said. That said, she is clear eyed that as a woman in both the media and cannabis worlds she faces challenges. Less than four years ago, top jobs in the cannabis industry were among the most female-friendly in the world, with women occupying 36% of senior positions. But as the industry grew, women started to bump into the so- called ‘grass ceiling’. By 2018, women were only occupying 27% of senior level positions in the marijuana industry. And alongside issues of diversity, the sector also faces huge sustainability questions. But Farrington insists that her business is there to help find solutions to these thorny problems. MJBizCon 2019 will attract 35,000 attendees in December 2019 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. “It’s on us to continue to serve that marketplace in the way it needs,” Farrington says. Issue 5 2019 51