Interterm Day Five, Final Day
Field Trip
This morning we met at Sweet Grass Kitchen for a very exciting final day of class. We got to sit down with the founder and CEO Julie Berliner to her her story about how Sweet Grass came to be what it is today. Through connections she had made from friends she started making edibles out of her home before there was more restrictions on such things. When the restrictions came she followed the procedure to be up to code and maintain a legitamite operation. What started out as a 200 square foot facility expanded to the size it is today with two storefronts under their address. In addition to that, she is also a founding member and chair of the Cannabis Business Alliance Edibles Council
Being an industry leader, and a first person witness to difficulty, she was an excellent source to discuss banking with. I was lucky enough to ask her a couple questions, on the record, about her experience with the banking industry. The conversation yielded some great material for my paper.
We then got a tour of their facilities, which were very impressive. They run from the ground up, meaning they grow their own crop and make the edibles along with everything in-between. They had each section of the facility designated for one specific job, and a very clean kitchen. It was almost overwhelming going behind the scene, and definitely a very exciting and unique experience.
What Happened?
This week was full of remarkable experiences. We heard the stories of many influential people on this flourishing industry, including:
- Ry Prichard
- Josiah Hesse
- Susannah Grossman
- Ricardo Baca
- Jonathan Singer
- Emmet Nelson
- Jay Daily
- Julie Berliner
Monday morning we met in Sturm 434 for the first time and went over the course expectations and assignments. Pretty typical day one stuff. We then watched Rolling Papers, a very new documentary made by the Denver Post illustrating the cannabis industry in Colorado, specifically Denver, since legalization. It was a very well done documentary and I would highly recommend it to anyone. We then had a discussion with Ry Prichard. We began our social media ventures as I made a twitter account for the first time, and was introduced to medium.
Tuesday morning we had two speakers, Josiah and Susannah. In the afternooon we met downton at the Denver Post. We were escorted up to the news room and in a curtained off area designated for a studio. While we were there we had the privelage of watching the recording of the live-to-tape show The Cannabist. It was a very thrilling experience to get a behind the scenes look at the production aspect of a show like this. We had a great talk about journalism and cannabis in the studio with Ricardo after the show.
Wednesday’s class met at the State Capitol Building in downtown Denver. We heard reresentative Mark Singer discuss cannabis legislature he has been working on bringing to the house. We then went to the House Gallery where we watched a portion of a General Assembly. Trying to find my way through the hectic capital building was challenging, but it was rewarding seeing democracy at work in a beautiful piece of arcitechture.
On Thursday, our last meeting in Sturm 434, we got an inside perspective on marketing and talk radio in the cannabis industry from Emmett and Jay. After out discussions we briefly went over some formating and citing for our final papers, which was helpful because I had a few questions. We then broke and went home to remotely write and edit our paper.
Friday morning was the field trip above, in the after noon we continued to remotely edit our papers. It was a fast paced five days, but it was the most entertaining and interesting class I have taken, and I wouldn’t change a thing. After previously taking two interterm classes, I believe this class was structured the best to be able to thoroughly engage a topic in five days without becoming overwhelming.
