Oklahoma City – The newly built Oklahoma City Convention Center has smartly positioned itself to capitalize on the rapidly growing cannabis industry in the state.
The OKCCC recently completed a successful two-day run as host of CannaCon, a Seattle-based event where industry professionals, entrepreneurs and experts gather to talk about industry trends. The event was the first business-business trade show hosted since OKCCC’s opening in January 2021.
Over 7,800 people entered the convention center’s doors, which featured over 260 vendors and breakout sessions in many rooms. Signs are pointed to the continued growth of the Oklahoma cannabis boom since the legalization of medical cannabis in 2018. With this boom, Oklahoma cannabis events will become more and more common.
“The OKCCC Team executed the Canna Con logistical event plan perfectly,” said Al Rojas, General Manager of the Oklahoma City Convention Center. “To get this level of execution there were many hours of preparation and planning sessions to ensure all team members knew their roles and responsibilities, but they knew their fellow team members as well. The next key factor, how to pivot when the logistical plan did not go as designed to still be on time and on task.
The convention center was widely praised for providing a state-of-the-art venue that kept social distance guidelines in place even with the large number of attendees.
“We had a fantastic experience. The new facility is gorgeous,” said Angela Grelle, CannaCon Director of Marketing. “Everything was super easy. Everyone we’ve worked here has been wonderful and very responsive. The staff took care of any issues we had immediately. We are booked for 2022.”
Future events such as the Lucky Leaf Expo in September and the Oklahoma Cannabis Convention in November are already booked with others already dotting the 2022 schedule.
“Destination OKC is breaking the ceiling and entering the next tier of the convention and meeting industry,” said Rojas. “The Canna Con tradeshow set the stage for the industry people who produce and attend large-scale shows to experience OKC. The first experience is the Oklahoma City Convention Center, the state-of-the-art facility designed with the infrastructure and amenities that meet and exceed show requirements and a team committed to exceed our customer’s expectations every day. The second and third experiences happen when show management, exhibitors and attendees step into all the attractions of OKC – the dining, shopping and entertainment.”
