George Jage, Co-Founder & CEO of Jage Media – Interview Series

Few industries rely on large, specialized conventions for networking as heavily as the cannabis industry. In a market where success often hinges on who you know, large-scale events tailored to cannabis operators are the lifeblood for building vital connections. Beyond bringing together every sector of the supply chain, these conventions offer valuable panel discussions and educational sessions. For emerging sectors like the cannabis beverage industry, these gatherings are especially critical.

For a deeper look into planning and executing cannabis conventions—and the growing demand for beverage-focused events—mycannabis.com spoke with George Jage, Co-Founder & CEO of Jage Media.

What subjects did you study at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and Marquette University? What student organizations were you involved in?

I earned my undergraduate degree in Microbiology from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh before going on to complete my MBA at Marquette. While at UW-O, I was actively involved in campus life. I was a member of a fraternity and served as President of the Microbiology Club, where one of my favourite experiences was teaching fellow students the science and process of brewing beer. It was a fun way to make microbiology practical and engaging while bringing people together around a shared interest.My experience at Marquette was slightly different. I attended classes in the evenings while working full-time, so I wasn’t able to participate in student organisations to the same extent. Balancing work and graduate school taught me a great deal about time management, discipline, and applying what I was learning in the classroom directly to the business world. Looking back, that combination of academic study and real-world experience proved invaluable throughout my career.

How did you first get into event/expo planning? What made you interested in organizing massive trade expos?

After graduating from UW O, my dad’s off-price apparel wholesale business was in distress. Having worked for him for many summers while in college, I came to work for him to help him sort out some challenges, and out of necessity we created the Off-Price Specialist Show.

The first event was held at the Debbie Reynolds Casino and Movie Museum in Las Vegas in hotel rooms with 20 exhibitors. Within five years the event had over 450 exhibitors and we were setting it up in 185,000 square foot tent in the middle of the Las Vegas desert.  

I fell in love with trade shows from the simple fact that you could have a profound effect on people’s businesses, their livelihoods and the people who worked for them. We sold the Off-Price Specialist Show to a publicly traded company in London and after a two year earn out I moved to Las Vegas to launch several new businesses.

What went into the creation and design of World Tea Media? When did you see a need for a trade show for tea producers and sellers? How did you successfully turn World Tea Expo into one of the fastest-growing trade shows?

One of the businesses I started when I moved to Las Vegas was the World Tea Expo. Honestly, I didn’t know a tremendous amount about tea when I started it. The idea came from a close friend’s wife who was passionately involved in specialty tea.

We immediately partnered with the US Tea Association to garner the support from the major players in the industry and quickly realized that they had no interest in an open marketplace, given they already controlled about 80% of the tea sales in the United States.

We saw a very different opportunity. Tea is the second most consumed beverage in the world after water, yet in the US it ranked only seventh. We recognized the growing consumer interest in specialty tea and built the event around that emerging market.

During the period that we built and grew the World Tea Expo, we saw tea sales in the US increase from $2.5 billion to close to $7 billion.  In addition to the tradeshow, we launched World Tea News, an online B2B publication, World Tea Championships, a global tea competition, and World Tea Academy, an online training program for tea sommeliers.  

How did you take the lead on organizing MJBizCon and how did you make sure to position it as the premier tradeshow for the cannabis industry and its professionals?

After we sold and exited World Team Media, I was approached by a gentleman who wanted to know if I wanted to start a “pot” expo.  He pitched me the idea that I could run the business as a partner, to which I replied, “so does that mean you’re putting up the money?” His response was that he had none. Shortly after, he had shared my contact information with the founders of MMJBusinessDaily.com, which had one full time employee at the time.

Prior to my taking the lead for the business, they had held two small conferences, one at a Masonic lodge in Denver in 2012 and a second at a dog race track in Seattle in 2013.  Despite nobody in the organization having any meaningful trade show experience, what attracted me to the opportunity was the quality and competency of their lead editor, Chris Walsh. 

The first year after I came on board, there was only one other trade show in the cannabis space, by the second year there were 7, and the third year there were 15.  Fortunately, none of these other groups seem to have experience running trade shows and were looking to capitalize on the green rush. I was able to incorporate a number of tools and tactics into the event as well as rebranded as MJBizCon to make it the dominant event in the industry.

I was able to accelerate the event from 20 table stops to over 400 exhibitors in 23 years.  The event was named THE fastest growing tradeshow in the US in 2026 & 2027 under my leadership.  Sadly, the event has since lost a lot of its luster, primarily due to a lack of capex spend in the market.  I estimate the event has contracted nearly 50% in exhibit space in the last 3 years under current management.  

What were the most transferable skills between organizing the World Tea Expo and organizing cannabis/hemp-centered expos like MJBizCon and Hemp Beverage Expo?

I think that all trade shows require the same skill sets and fundamental understanding of consumer behavior to be successful. However, there’s always nuances within each market that are important to understand to deliver the best possible product. 

Where I believe I’ve always differentiated myself is by fully immersing myself in the industries we serve. Rather than trying to run ten different events across ten different sectors, we become part of the community and develop events that genuinely reflect its needs. 

I see many organizers focus on selling real estate and tickets when the truth is you are selling access to opportunity. The three pillars I always focus on are creating a return on investment, return on objectives and a return experience.

What inspired you to co-found Jage Media? How did you envision that the company would be able to assist the cannabis industry?

From the first day I stepped foot into MJBizCon, I always knew the cannabis industry would eventually evolve into a Consumer-Packaged Goods, or CPG, industry and that the largest trade show would be much more focused on brands and retailers than it would be on light bulbs and label makers.

At the same time, I felt there was a gap in the market. I didn’t see any trade show in the cannabis industry directly addressing the needs of the licensed operators. Many overpromised on attendance, exaggerated their marketing, and ultimately delivered little value for both exhibitors and attendees. 

We started the concept for MJ Unpacked with asking the question what do people hate the most about trade events. They don’t like waiting in line, so we mailed them their badges. They hate being sold from the aisle, so we qualified our audience. And they don’t appreciate paying to hear sales pitches disguised as educational sessions, so we curated all of our conference programming and do not allow pay-to-play programming.

In the end, quality matters. There are plenty of events that sell the booths and tickets as I mentioned.  It is important to put the right people on both sides of the aisle and why we qualify every attendee at MJ Unpacked to be a licensed operator with the title of manager or higher. For those who are loyal customers, they know we are focused on creating their ROI, not just filling the room with tire kickers.

Where was the first MJ Unpacked held and how has the convention series evolved since the first one?

We actually founded the company and funded it the month before the pandemic. Obviously, we have great timing. We waited patiently to find the right time to insert our event into the market and, when we saw events coming back online in late 2021, saw the opportunity to locate the event in Las Vegas during MJBizCon to show the stark contrast of what an event can be and what an event should be.

We are always refining the model to improve performance of the event for the exhibitor sponsors and attendees. Since the first event, we have built a custom lead retrieval system that allows the exhibitors to use their phone to capture leads for free, we developed an engaged platform to allow attendees and exhibitors to schedule meetings on the show floor, and I’ve added our official after party to create a consumption friendly event during MJ Unpacked.

What are the main differences between the Atlantic City convention and the Kansas City convention? Does the AC convention focus more on the Northeast markets than the KC convention would?

At this time all cannabis events have a regional draw, but the design of MJ Unpacked is to attract decision makers from across the country. The Event in Atlantic City is definitely our flagship event and the largest conferencewe produce each year. Our fall edition of MJ Unpacked will be held in Kansas City, which is a tough market with the extreme consolidation and verticalization of that market but it is one of the best run state markets that we’ve seen. We’ve also built strong partnerships with organisations like MoCannTrade and other leading stakeholders, allowing us to create an event that’s highly relevant to the region.

How do you think that large-scale conventions like MJ Unpacked and MJBizCon have helped the cannabis industry grow to the size it is now?

One of the things I love about trade shows is that they are a catalyst to drive growth of any industry. Trade shows provide an opportunity for professional development, education, lead generation and branding. But what’s most important is that we do business with people. not companies. Meeting people face to face is where trust is established and is the launchpad for building meaningful partnerships.

How did you come up with the idea of the Hemp Beverage Expo? What all went into the event’s production?

We had been watching the hemp derived market closely since the 2018 Farm Bill. We Join the Hemp Beverage Alliance as members and when they started a discussion to start a trade event, I volunteered to support them in any way possible with my experience. They asked why I wanted to help and I told them because I think they have a tiger by the tail, this category is going to scale rapidly, and we have a lot of experience growing events quickly. In 2025, we built an agreement for us to own and produce the event in partnership with the Hemp Beverage Alliance.

What were some reviews you received of the Hemp Beverage Expo from hemp beverage business owners? How would you hope this expo is helpful for attendees moving forward?

The feedback from the event has been fantastic. And this is a category that has a lot of new entrants and new products being brought to market which makes a trade show even more valuable. The loophole in the 2018 Farm Bill was closed late last year and the industry is scheduled for extinction on November 12, 2026.

We are actively supporting a number of trade associations who are working on behalf of the industry to change legislation to allow the THC beverage category to continue forward. We have big plans for the future once we have clarity on the regulatory path forward.

How do you envision cannabis and hemp conventions changing in America as federal cannabis reforms are finally implemented?

Trade shows are not inherently designed to function as lobbying organizations. However, we have consistently supported a number of the critical advocacy groups that are working on behalf of cannabis and hemp reform.But in the end, tradeshows are where the real conversations happen. And the topic of reform is always top of mind at cannabis trade events. I am optimistic that we will have some major breakthroughs this year and early next.

Thank you for joining us, George! For more information on Jage Media, please visit its website.