Rama Mayo, Founder of Hall of Flowers – Interview Series

As the United States cannabis industry grows beyond expectations, so has the need for large-scale conventions, which continue to be hosted across states with legal cannabis industries. After decades in the field of marketing and advertising, Rama Mayo founded the Hall of Flowers B2B tradeshow for cannabis brands. For a better understanding of the multi-faceted logistics and the greater importance of those conventions, mycannabis.com had the pleasure of speaking with Mayo.

How did you first get started in the music business, and how would you describe the process of starting a record label?

I was in high school booking punk shows in the suburbs of Boston in VFW halls and other DIY venues with my friend Dicky Cummings. I would take “bathroom breaks” and use the school pay phone (this was before cell phones) and make calls with a “dialer,” which mimicked the sound of a quarter going into the pay phone. After a handful of those shows, we scraped together some cash to send our first band, Cast Iron Hike, to the studio with Brian McTernan. Suddenly I had a record label. That was Big Wheel Recreation, founded in 1994 and operated DIY-style out of my dorm, then apartment, then full office with a staff working for me. Starting a label back then meant everything was on credit cards and Kinko’s (now FedEx (FDX )): finding great music, designing artwork, begging distributors to pay me, hand-stuffing mail orders, making flyers, putting on punk shows, booking tours, and all of that stuff.

As a music lover myself, I wanted to ask who some of the artists were that you worked with/produced music for? Were there specific genres you preferred producing over others while running both Big Time Recreation and Tarantulas?

Big Wheel put out 60-plus releases from bands like Jimmy Eat World, At the Drive-In, Piebald, The (International) Noise Conspiracy, Braid, and The Hives. When I co-founded Tarantulas Records in 2002 with The Explosion, we put out records by The Distillers, The Bronx, Darker My Love, and others. I’ve always chased energy and authenticity more than a particular sound; the common thread was whether I believed in it and whether I thought the community would share my vision.

What were the most important lessons that you learned in management and successful marketing that you learned while working in the music business?

Nights, Weekends, Holidays: If you own your own business, time off during nights, weekends, and holidays don’t apply to you. This is never going to be 9 to 5, and creativity is never 9 to 5. The sooner you accept this, the better.

Enthusiasm Goes a Long Way: We’ve won many jobs for which we were not the most qualified, but we had the most passion and excitement about the project or opportunity.

The Radiohead: It is actually possible to appeal to both the smartest person and the most basic person in the room at the exact same time. It’s not easy, but it should always be your goal.

From a logistical standpoint, what went into organizing the United Trade Show, and who were some of the most memorable exhibitors from those trade shows that you remember?

In 2006 I teamed with Ryan Walker and Steve Aoki to launch United, a boutique fashion trade show that ran five consecutive sold-out editions in Vegas and NYC. Logistics were equal parts curation and hospitality: 120-plus streetwear and footwear brands, cool DJs and talent instead of Muzak, and free food for our guests. The process was super similar to booking punk shows, actually. Ryan had the fashion trade-show experience, and we were all working together to make United as relevant and cool as possible.There were a number of memorable booths from Obey, Supra, Free Gold Watch, Skullcandy, Matthew Jay Landon, Jeffrey Campbell, and Neff. One of the coolest things was bringing Kevin Ma, the founder of Hypebeast, to America for the first time ever. I also brought over David Fischer from Highsnobiety.

Prior to getting into cannabis marketing/PR and event planning, what brands/industries did you provide marketing/media services to? And how did you have to tailor your services and job duties depending on the client/industry itself?

Before Green Street, I worked with a mentor of mine, Darren Romanelli. His agency, StreetVirus, was already working directly with the world’s top brands. Together, we created The Pancake Epidemic and landed campaigns for Beats by Dre, Deckers, and Universal. Earlier, my company Medicine Agency, which I ran with longtime friend John LaCroix, serviced skate-media brand The Berrics and launched gallery shows with artists like Ron English, Day 19, Greg Mike, and Alvaro Ilizarbe. We applied our same unique point of view across most of the projects. We were doing “experiential” before there was a term for it. Again, much of my punk roots in producing events applied to this work. Additionally, each vertical demanded its own rulebook (compliance for adult beverages, tour-merch timelines for musicians, or unique brand-book policing).

What inspired you to create the Hall of Flowers Expo? As an event organizer, how do you ensure that the expo continues to be a B2B-focused event that “facilitates the trade of premium cannabis products”?

By 2018, the cannabis space had plenty of consumer festivals but no true trade environment. Hall of Flowers is modeled after the premium fashion shows that I did as United and my partners did as Liberty, Capsule, Project, and Agenda: turnkey booths, vetted guest lists, zero consumer noise. We screen every attendee, require active retail licenses for buyers, and vet every brand so deals drive the show, not lines. We’ve turned away hundreds of brands from the show because the fit was not perfect. Most shows, if your check clears, you get in.

In the seven years since founding the expo, how have you had to change and alter the expo during that time? Especially after the pandemic and all the unexpected changes that it brought to large events and conventions, how did you ensure that the values and the goals of the expo stayed present?

Modular footprint. We know the show needs to evolve as the industry does, and we are not afraid to experiment by adding new activations or sections, rearranging the floor plan, etc.
The Most Respectful. The cannabis community is truly that—a community. Our guests are incredibly respectful, so evolving through COVID and then after was really easy because our team and all professionals, and our attendees are all excited to work together with us.

When did you decide to expand out to New York City, and how do you hope that the NYC Hall of Flowers Expo helps cannabis businesses and ancillary service providers in the Empire State?

We are SWINGING FOR THE FENCES in New York! We’ve been talking about New York since day one of HOF. NYC is where my partner Dani (HOF CEO) built his trade-show career, including shows at the venue where we’re debuting HOF. I lived in Williamsburg in the late 1990s when I was running the punk labels. Pier 36 (Oct. 8–9, 2025) lets us drop a 100,000-sq-ft show in Lower Manhattan and plug NY operators with fast-tracked meetings, top media outlets, and that unmistakable NYC energy does the rest. 100% B2B, no distractions.

What have been some of the brands and celebrities that you’ve worked with through Green Street Agency? What would you say are the most notable differences between marketing a celebrity cannabis brand versus a cannabis brand without a celebrity affiliation?

Hall of Flowers has had some incredible celebs come to the show; most notable would probably be Seth Rogen, Chelsea Handler, Redman, Gunna, Tiffany Haddish, Kevin Smith, Shep Gordon, Marshawn “Beast Mode” Lynch, Kevin Garnett, Glen “Big Baby” Davis, Ricky Williams, Al Harrington, Wiz Khalifa, Bobby Hundreds, Jim Jones, and more.

“Celebrity” weed has a bad rap, but there is a right way to do it. At Green Street we’ve had the opportunity to work with Snoop Dogg, Post Malone, 2 Chainz, The Game, Juicy J, Cypress Hill, Waka Flocka, and Gary Vaynerchuk. Celeb brands come with baked-in reach but also higher scrutiny. Either way, the product has to be great, or the hype window closes quickly.

What are some exciting future plans that you have for the Hall of Flowers and Green Street Agency? As more states recreationally legalize cannabis, do you plan on expanding out into those new states?

Hall of Flowers is expanding our AXIS Club private-lounge space at the shows. We’re doubling down on our new Blueprint space for manufacturers and equipment next year with Good Life Gang and Beard Bros Pharms. We’ve added a Breeders Village in Santa Rosa with 30-plus of the world’s top cannabis geneticists curated by Skunk Magazine. We’re introducing a new concept called Budtender Blitz with the goal of delivering more educational opportunities.

Thank you for joining us, Rama! For more information on Hall of Flowers, please visit its website.