For the Culture Networking Event Bridges Gap Between Legacy Growers and Industry Pros
Photo Courtesy of Frank Drebin
It’s a Friday night in the suburbs of Boston. Sun was still shining, and smoke filled the air.
This past Friday, Cannabis Management Solutions CEO Mike Fantasia, a Boston-based cannabis consultant, event host and self-proclaimed “Cannabis Entrepreneur," held his first For the Culture B2B Legacy and Industry Networking Party. These networking events are perfect for building bridges within the cannabis industry, which is why Fat Nugs Magazine embraced the opportunity to sponsor the event.
We caught up with Mike as he waited out front of The Summit Lounge, a gorgeous, private cannabis lounge located in the heart of Worcester’s famous Kelly Square. He paced nervously, picking up his cell phone to answer a call before looking up and flagging down somebody. It was his first vendor, Junior, a brand rep for Resinate Cannabis Dispensary in Worcester. Mike was relieved to see him. "Guy didn't answer a single call all week. I didn't know if he'd show," he said.
Mike was a bit nervous during the final moments before the doors opened. He knew that once they did he would find out if his venture was worth it and if people understood what he was trying to do. The event was sponsored by Canna~Wise Alternative Medicine and Fat Nugs Magazine, and had every intention of bridging the gap between the legacy homegrow market and the established industry. It was a tightrope act never before seen in Boston.
Minutes later, another phone call came through. Mike, who had just entered The Summit Lounge, quickly stepped back outside to help two of New England's more popular homegrowers, CannaLifeCollective and Gasoholic Farms, bring their tables inside the venue. Vendors were shuffling and additional tables were going up all around us.
Photo Courtesy of Frank Drebin
"Keep the industry pop-ups in the front, put our homegrowers in the back. We will create a literal bridge," Mike directed. The setup was perfect. Everyone who walked inside was immediately greeted by Mike's assistant, Janelle, and one of the two Summit Lounge employees, who were responsible for explaining the private lounge’s rules.
Mike told us that his prior nervous energy began to fade when the first of the night's guests began to show. By 6:15 p.m., there was a steady line growing at the door. About 30+ people had settled into The Summit Lounge, which was now at about half capacity, and some impressively good cannabis was both on display and in the air.
First, we stopped to talk with Junior, the brand rep from Resinate we mentioned earlier. Junior seemed to be having a good time, so much so that his vendor table was quickly emptied. The last we saw of him he was somewhere in the back of the venue, immersed within a circle of joints and blunts that contained Massachusetts’ finest weed. Needless to say, we didn’t hear from Junior for the rest of the night.
We wove through the crowd toward the back of the lounge while the front quickly filled with cannabis industry professionals. In the back, we found an even livelier party of mostly cannabis enthusiasts and entrepreneurs. The legacy tables stood out all evening with their dope branding and packaging, making it known that, in some games at least, the streets seem to stay a step ahead. It was amazing to see where the two different markets were similar and where they differed. The melding of the various players in the legal cannabis game was a brave and worthwhile endeavor, thus something needed to be done to bring the two rooms together.
We remembered Mike's words when he came to the back of the lounge with a microphone in his hand: "You always got to have a gimmick." It was time for the quarter elbow raffle!
If you were to ask most ticket holders what stood out about Mike's event, they would have said, “It was the raffle, and I can’t believe I won!” The raffle drawing created the perfect opportunity for the two crowds to join together, as prizes provided by both sides of cannabis culture were being raffled off. Items up for grabs included concentrates and quarters of locally-sourced flower from CannaLife Collective, Gasoholic and Resinate; a couple of 600 mg packs of Gasoholic Farms’ famous Dr. ZarioPatch Kids, which Mike repeatedly mentioned were way too strong to host an event on (he did so anyway, and he did it well); seeds from Bayarea Seed Co.; and so much more. The offerings covered the entire spectrum of what one might desire to win at a cannabis event, and the guests were sent home happy.
A little bit later, a new wave of ticket holders showed up to replace those funneling out of the venue post-raffle. It was the industry workers and local budtenders who had just gotten out of their closing shifts. This unexpected second wave of guests put Mike that much closer to his goal of hosting a sellout event.
Photo Courtesy of Frank Drebin
"We fell just shy,” he shared. “I guess I set lofty goals, but the people were happy, and The Summit was Happy, and that makes me happy!"
For the Culture began as a great idea and resulted in a well-executed networking event like no other. The merging of the legacy and established markets was much needed and truly couldn't have gone better. Mike and his team will do it again on July 22, 2022, with a Vol. 2 called "New Pack City.” This event is set to feature new strains, new dispensaries and new drops!
If you are in the Boston/Worcester area, I highly recommend you don't miss out on Mike's events this summer. It's so rare to find everyone from cannabis enthusiasts, to entrepreneurs, to CEOS and every category in between all under one roof, celebrating the cannabis plant and its evolving culture together. After all, cannabis culture welcomes us all, and it only makes sense to join forces in our efforts to free this plant and see businesses thrive. For the Culture Vol. 2 tickets are available for purchase here.
