2018 Azbee Awards of Excellence

Category

Overall Excellence > Magazine of the Year > Less Than $3 Million Revenue

Awarded to

Jim Gilbride, Group Publisher; Noelle Skodzinski, Editorial Director; Cassie Neiden, Managing Editor; Scott Guthrie, Senior Editor; Brian MacIver, Associate Editor; Melissa Schiller, Assistant Digital Editor; Katelyn Boyden, Graphic Designer.

Entry details

Cannabis Business Times

Issue date (if applicable): 
Publication name: Cannabis Business Times
Publishing company: GIE Media
Website home page: www.cannabisbusinesstimes.com

Please describe the publication's mission and readership:

Cannabis Business Times' mission is to provide state-legal cannabis cultivation businesses with strategic information, news and legislative updates and analysis that help them more effectively and profitably run their businesses—from both a cultivation and business perspective—and navigate a brand-new, high-risk, and uniquely challenged industry. We serve a variety of business types, from small outdoor grows in the California market to large-scale grows in states with advanced medical marijuana programs and/or adult-use laws (for recreational cannabis). Our readers also range from cultivators/head growers, who may or may not also be the business owners, to investors and business owners, who have little or no cultivation background. We strive to provide articles, research, case studies/profiles and interviews that ensure our coverage serves our entire audience.

Please describe the enterprising work that went into this entry and its significance or impact on readers:

Cannabis Business Times experienced significant growth from 2016 to 2017—most notably moving from a bi-monthly to monthly publishing schedule with issues boasting a folio between 100 to 136 pages.
Since 2015, CBT built its reputation on being the cultivator’s magazine. By homing in on the horticultural vertical versus covering the entire cannabis industry, the team has established itself as a recognized brand for deep-dive editorial into relevant cultivation intelligence that helps head cultivators and business owners advance their businesses in this legally challenging and unpredictable market.
In 2017, the team continued its company profiles with custom photoshoots and established columns (see “Hort How-To”). But it has also added fresh, regular columnists (see the science-backed “Biology Brief” and regulatory-focused “Technically Speaking”) and innovated with new departments (see “Quick Tips” – business advice offered by cultivators). Tip- and service-related articles span the pages ranging in topics from integrated pest management to structure design to product testing to packaging, and CBT has also expanded its custom research in topics such as climate control and fertigation/nutrient delivery—topics crucial for every cultivator to understand thoroughly.
The editorial content is packaged and designed professionally, exhibiting a clean look that professionalizes an industry that frequently receives a bad rap for being associated with “stoner culture.”
Print accomplishments aside, the CBT team has added to its original web-exclusive content to the site, increased page views by 185 percent YOY, and launched a cultivation conference and trade show in California that garnered more than 800 cultivation-focused attendees.

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Entry URL(s), if applicable:

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