Cannabis Entrepreneurship Academy

9:00-10:00 a.m.

Federal Regulatory Frameworks and Cannabis

• Rebecca Stamey-White
  Partner, Hinman & Carmichael LLP
• Shabnam Malek
  Founding President, International Cannabis Bar Association and partner, Brand & Branch LLP

Drawing from a variety of federally-regulated industries, this panel will help lawyers working in the cannabis space to learn from other federal regulatory frameworks about federally-compliant branding, marketing, trade, and other practices.

10:00-11:00 a.m.

Encroachment of the FDA in Cannabis

• Shawn Hauser
  Partner, Vicente Sederberg LLP
• Will Woodlee
  Partner, Kleinfeld, Kaplan & Becker LLP 

Cannabis companies face increased federal regulatory uncertainty with the FDA, which is posing new and significant risks for the cannabis industry.  This panel will help educate attorneys about those risks and train them to help advise their clients appropriately.

11:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

The States' Perspectives

• Jim Burack, former Director of Colorado's Marijuana Enforcement Division
• Danielle Perry, Cannabis Regulation Oversight Officer, State of Illinois
• Steven Marks, Executive Director, Oregon Liquor Control Commission
• Rick Garza, Agency Director, Washington State Liquor & Cannabis Board
• Dr. Gillian Schauer, PhD, MPH, Senior Advisor to the Cannabis Regulators Association

A panel of state and local regulators from around the country, led by Jim Burack, former Director of Colorado's Marijuana Enforcement Division, will provide their perspective on the latest regulatory challenges facing the industry and how attorneys can help advise their clients.

9:00-10:00 a.m.

The Shifting Federal Landscape

• Christian Sederberg
  Founding Partner, Vicente Sederberg LLP
• Khurshid Khoja
  Greenbridge Corporate Counsel

The Federal landscape is consistently changing in the cannabis industry as we shift toward national legalization. Join Christian Sederberg and Khurshid Khoja for a discussion of the changes we have seen and the changes we anticipate seeing in 2021 and the future.

10:00-11:00 a.m.

The Many Roles and Value of General Counsel

• Hon. Dan Pabon
  General Counsel and Chief Government Affairs Officer, Schwazze
• Sean McAllister
  Founding Attorney, McAllister Garfield P.C.
• CJ Chapman
  Executive Vice President and General Counsel, BellRock Brands Inc. 

Cannabis companies of all sizes face unique challenges that require a legal team with diverse skills and backgrounds.  Join Dan Pabon, Sean McAllister, and CJ Chapman as they explore the costs and benefits of using inside general counsel, outside counsel, and a mix of the two, including lessons for lawyers on how to most efficiently and effectively work together in both roles.

11:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

Social Justice Issues

• Doug Berman
  Professor of Law, The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law
• Carol Conzelman
  Senior Instructor, Global Studies Academic Program and International Affairs Program, University of Colorado Boulder
• Shaleen Title
  Distinguished Cannabis Policy Practitioner in Residence, Drug Enforcement and Policy Center, The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law
• Wanda James
  Founder and CEO, Simply Pure Dispensary

As states and municipalities across the U.S. are rapidly transforming their policies, business regulations, and social norms around cannabis, it is critical to avoid replicating the racial injustices of prohibition and explore how new laws and practices can advance equity. In this panel you will learn from academics, regulators, and entrepreneurs about the social equity and economic justice issues inherent in domestic and international drug policies, how some groups are designing and implementing innovative paths toward reform, and what the future holds for the cannabis industry and lawyers working in it.

8:30-10:30 a.m.

The Psychology of Branding/Behavioral Economics

• Nicholas Reinholtz
  Assistant Professor of Marketing, Leeds School of Business

Brand equity resides in consumer memory, so understanding the psychology of attention, perception, learning, and memory can inform successful brand management.  Prof. Reinholtz will present a basic model of consumer memory and, through this framework, discuss the challenges associated with establishing your brand in a privileged positing in your consumer’s minds.

10:30-12:30 p.m.

Marketing and Brand Development

• Heather Kennedy
  Instructor, Leeds School of Business 

As the cannabis industry continues to grow and more and more competitors enter the space, branding becomes a critical element in consumer choice.  Customers are much more likely to choose a brand that they recognize and trust when faced with a multitude of options.  In this session, Prof. Kennedy will provide a brand story-telling framework that will enable you to reach your consumer in an age of overwhelming messaging and information.  You will leave with practical tools to identify and communicate your unique story in a memorable and compelling way that allows your brand to rise above the fray by creating a relationship with your target consumer.

8:30-10:30 a.m.

Competitive Strategy

• Jeff Reuer
  Professor, Strategy, Entrepreneurship, and Operations, Leeds School of Business

The core aim of strategy is to develop a sustainable competitive advantage.  In the cannabis industry, significant opportunities exist for profitable growth alongside many challenges to obtaining sustainable advantages (e.g., a plethora of new products coming online, entry by giant diversifying firms, M&A, etc.).  We will consider the elements that go into a sound strategy and the ways that firms can create value that is durable.  We will use a set of short video cases from other industries for inspiration on ways to appeal to noncustomers and develop innovative business models.

10:30-12:30 p.m.

Data in Action

• Tony Cookson
  Associate Professor of Finance, Leeds School of Business

Business decisions can be improved if they are based on insights from data.  At the same time, datasets do not come well organized, nor pre-packaged with insights.  In this session, we’ll discuss some fundamentals of extracting insight from data — visualizations and through simple tabulation statistics.  The session will focus on data examples that employ cannabis industry data.