Actions and attractions for 2026 include mixers and parties, the return of the terpene tent, social equity features, and a TJM panel series
NECANN Boston is about a month-and-a-half away, taking place at the Hynes Convention Center in Back Bay on Friday, April 24 and Saturday, April 25.
It’s sure to be a ripping and didactic time; as you will see in the preview below, Talking Joints Memo is deeply involved, not just with our spectacular booth but also with a whole track of panels and workshops.
More on all of that soon, but for now here is a point-by-point preview from NECANN Co‑Founder & President Marc Shepard …
The Women’s Lounge, hosted by Canna MGT
Conveniently located in Room 208 just outside the entrance to the exhibit hall, the Lounge is a dedicated space for women to connect, network, relax, and decompress. Stay tuned for updates on cool activations Angela Bradway {She/Her} and her team are working on!
Gratitude Gallery
This incredible installment of curated cannabis-focused art for purchase will be in the exhibit hall and hosted by Greg Welch, with all proceeds going to Freedom Grow, who distributes the funds to cannabis prisoner commissary accounts. Buy something!
Official Exhibitor/Media Mixer hosted by Beard Bros Pharms Thursday night
This exclusive event will give exhibitors a chance to relax and network with each other without the hustle and bustle of the show, and also interact with tons of cannabis media outlets and content creators. Free for Exhibitor staff & invited media, and included in the VIP attendee ticket, on sale now!
The Terpene Tent is back!
A big hit in 2025, this unique olfactory terpene experience returns, hosted this year by the Ganjier Guild!
Official Friday After-Party at Kings
We’re taking over King’s after the show ends Friday for post-convention networking, bowling, pool, snacks, drinks, and convenient outdoor consumption. Included in the VIP ticket, or can be purchased as an add-on with any other ticket!
Social Equity and Diversity
Our long-standing commitment to reserve at least 10% of our exhibit hall space for booths that will be directly donated to local social equity participants.
This is about walking the walk as an event producer in the cannabis industry. When I first entered the space, I attended many conventions that put SE participants on stage (unpaid, and only to talk about social equity – not about their knowledge or experience in the industry), while offering no path for those same people to be an exhibitor. Sad to say, I’m still seeing it it 2026.
Allocating an equitable percentage of speaker spots to women and people of color.
For those in the back mumbling “speaker spots should go to the best candidates, not based on gender or skin color: THEY ARE GOING TO THE BEST CANDIDATES. As I mentioned, we get up to 10 times as many qualified applications than we can use. We just make sure that the group of qualified speakers includes fair representation for everyone.
Deep dive Massachusetts Market Panels, hosted by Talking Joints Memo.
Grab a dunks & get ready for a wild ride. Chris Faraone is putting together a series of three panels each day covering anything and everything happening in the Mass market. If you know Chris, you know these will be opinionated, loud, and probably a little combative. All of the conventions sessions and speakers should be posted on our site by end of next week, but you can take a peek at waht’s already been finalized HERE!
