By: Eugene Olkhov
You’re going to a what?? This was the reaction from family members and friends when I told them I was going to Las Vegas for a cannabis business conference.
It’s important though to go back several months to get some context around how we ended up at the 2021 MJBizCon, and the beginning of my journey into the world of the science of cannabis.
There’s never a boring day at CompassRed due to the plethora of interesting clients we get to work with on a daily basis, and LabWare is no exception. LabWare is one of the global leaders in providing LIMS (Lab Information Management System) software to analytical laboratories across many industries. One of their newest offerings, LabWare GROW, is aimed at tailoring and providing their software to cannabis testing labs. LabWare GROW automates sample management from receipt to reporting while capturing data with a fully compliant audit trail. Our solution, Orbis Lab, provides LabWare GROW users with advanced analytics capabilities. With the tools we’ve developed together, laboratory managers are able to yield better insights about their operations and quality assurance practices using interactive visualizations and predictive insights (anticipate demand and instrument repair). We’re excited about the work as we see a big opportunity in the LIMS space for advanced analytics.
So, we got to work on learning everything there is to know about how different cannabis products are tested. I didn’t know too much about the area before this work, so it really opened my eyes to just how much goes into this, from the countless combinations of products, to the potential contaminants and variations in potency of strains.
While there’s plenty of information available online — nothing compares to talking to actual people working in the industry. When we were told that the biggest cannabis business conference was happening in Las Vegas, we knew this would be an incredible opportunity to learn more about the industry.
First, the atmosphere: it was energizing and it felt like everyone was there with a purpose. During the first day of the conference (out of the two full days we were attending), our booth at LabWare was getting non-stop traffic! While most people were curious about the software — many were interested in the car that was parked in the booth!
LabWare CEO Vance Kershner’s “Hellrunner” — a 1973 Plymouth Roadrunner with a 2016 Dodge Hellcat with a slogan of “High Performance” to attract attention
While talking to prospective testing laboratory clients was informative, it was really the second day where we started to explore other booths and hear what others are doing in the industry. The floor space was huge and stretched multiple conference halls, with hundreds of booths. This definitely made it difficult to talk to everyone, but we were still able to talk to some interesting people.
Environmental Monitoring
We spoke with several companies that provide equipment to cannabis growers to monitor their plants. While growers send their samples to testing labs to check for contaminants, potency, and other factors, it’s important to have a step which keeps track of the growing conditions. Having this step would allow an analysis where we can start to understand why certain contamination happens, and what types of growing conditions lead to differences in potency. Ultimately, this provides us with an incredible opportunity to begin to predict when these things will occur, which can then allow for prevention of unwanted outcomes.
Therapeutics
Most people likely associate cannabis use with changing one’s mental state for (usually) recreational use, and sometimes to reduce pain / stress from illness. However, doing research into cannabis and attending this conference revealed just how many other therapeutic applications there are.
For example, there’s companies that are producing CBD infused gels which can be applied to joints topically for a targeted way to reduce pain.
There’s also research going into what types of cannabis strains help with specific ailments. Similarly, the key is having targeted ways to alleviate health problems. This is a really exciting development that can help people without requiring having to try multiple products, and minimizing any unwanted side effects.
Booming Industry
The third takeaway is simply just how much growth and opportunity exists in the cannabis space. This industry is still in its infancy — and yet is already showing so much potential and innovation with the wide range of vendors.
We had conversations with folks from cannabis-focused digital marketing agencies, cannabis cultivator apparel companies, cannabis-focused payment processors, agriculture monitoring system providers, cannabis podcasters, supply chain focused vendors, and more. Every part of the cannabis production process was covered in one way or another.
It’s surprising to see how many people there were actively researching, making purchases, and forming formal partnerships. There is urgency in the industry to move quickly right now so the energy was exciting all around.
Overall, attending this conference was an incredibly informative experience. The CompassRed team got the opportunity to dive in head first into this exciting industry and learn quickly.
We saw that the business needs we help meet for our current clients are similar to the ones we talked about with cannabis vendors at MJBizCon: “I need to reduce costs”, “I need to optimize my production process”, “I need to better attract new customers”. These statements underline the need for good data solutions for people making decisions in every industry.
We took a lot away from the experience and it allowed us to better understand the clients we’re developing software for in the cannabis space! We see a bright future where LabWare Grow clients are able to utilize Orbis Lab, and gain valuable, actionable insights. Thanks again to our partner LabWare for including us.