GRASS LANDS SPONSOR MANAGER
CLIENTS: SUPERFLY, ANOTHER PLANET ENTERTAINMENT
Objective: to manage the activations of 28 cannabis sponsors and at the first ever large-scale event to feature the legal sale and consumption of cannabis on-site
Context: Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival is the largest independently-owned music festival in the United States, held annually in San Francisco, CA and hosting over 200,000 attendees over a three-day weekend. In 2019, we became the first major event to offer legal cannabis sales and onsite consumption after securing a temporary sales permit from the SF Office of Cannabis. 28 brands including Cresco Labs, PAX, Eaze, Kiva Confections and Flow Kana offered a selection of cannabis-infused seltzers, edibles, dabs, pods, flower, and pre-rolls from both brand-specific activation footprints and a general store. A historic moment for the cannabis and festival industries, we navigated more than a few state and local regulatory hurdles to ensure a safe, educational, and fun weekend for brand partners and festival goers alike
The Results:
28 cannabis sponsors representing well over $1MM in sponsorship revenue
20% more sponsors than anticipated
overwhelmingly positive sponsor feedback (quotes below)
historic first-ever permit for sale and consumption of cannabis on site
over $1MM in on-site cannabis sales
0 requests for medical transport within Grass Lands
My Role:
Primary liaison between brands, festival leadership, and government regulatory bodies
Ultimately responsible for the daily workflow and execution of all sponsor programs from contract signature through load-in, day-of-show needs, load-out and post-event reporting / reconciliation.
Pioneered production workflows to ensure compliant, safe cannabis activations and marketplace
Skills: client relations, project management, production logistics, state and city cannabis regulation compliance
PRESS COVERAGE
‘By Outside Lands doing this, it is a huge moment in history’ - The LA Times
‘The 2019 Outside Lands music festival in San Francisco will allow for the public sale and consumption of cannabis, one of the first times it will be legal to smoke marijuana in public in the United State’ - Newsweek
‘All five senses came alive at Grass Lands with an endless invitation to touch, smell, observe, drink, eat, laugh, create and consume all things cannabis’ - Golden State
‘an enormous breakthrough’ - Rolling Stone
"It's going to be a landmark moment for the end of prohibition," Alex Fang, co-founder of Oakland cannabis company Sublime, as told to the San Francisco Chronicle
‘Grass Lands felt like a festival in and of itself...you could enjoy an augmented-reality experience with Loud + Clear, take $10 dab shots at the MOXIE Gas Station, or check out the Flow Kana Grass Lands stage for a hash-making demo hosted’ - The Bold Italic
PARTNER FEEDBACK
“This is a lifetime achievement for all of us”
“It looks beautiful…This is the best that cannabis has ever looked.”
“This is legendary, historic, you pick the adjective—it’s pretty amazing”
“This is a major milestone for the cannabis industry and live entertainment in general,” Jordan Lams”
SPONSOR RECAP VIDEO
Flow Kana, our Grass Lands stage sponsor, created the below recap video to capture the look and feel of the historic day, and their ‘Farm to Bong’ activation.
“There’s such a deep connection between music and food and art and cannabis. One of the things we love to do as a company and one of our programming philosophies is being that nexus, being a place where people from different disciplines come together to create things that wouldn’t happen anywhere else. The opportunity to do that with Grass Lands is going to be significant over the years”
SOCIAL MEDIA COVERAGE
EVENT PHOTOS
Photographer credits: Syra McCarthy, IG @Syranara