“I’m inspired daily by the creative entrepreneurs I work with,” said industry PR professional Jim Walsh. “The common thread among my clients is cohesive teams going above and beyond to elevate the customer experience, ensuring their end products—be it a top-of-the-line vapor pen or a music-and-hash festival drawing 30,000-plus attendees—are of the highest quality.”
And that’s exactly the way you’d want your publicist to feel. Walsh is just coming off a successful Chalice Festival, aka “the Coachella of Cannabis,” held July 7-9, in Victorville, California, which he worked to publicize with its founder and cannabis entrepreneur Doug Dracup and the festival’s team.
Thunder rumbled across the desert venue in a wave of warm, monsoonal weather, as well as in the caliber of talent that appeared at the fest, including West Coast hip hop legends Ice Cube and Cypress Hill, as well as hit electronica group Thievery Corporation, among others. Steamy temps did not dissuade vendors and attendees from having a good time, according to media reports.
Walsh is also high on client Puffco, and said, “The Brooklyn-based Puffco team is really hitting its stride, too. Founder Roger Volodarsky is a savant when it comes to designing smart, stylish products for the consumption of cannabis and concentrates. He is honestly making the products he most wants to use, with no compromises. We sometimes tease him by calling him the Steve Jobs of cannabis, but it’s also kind of true.”
Pieces including Puffco products have appeared in Rolling Stone, and online at VICE, CNN, and Mashable. Their Plus vapor pen features a “ceramic nail” design that is tech-sleek for the expanding concentrates market.
Walsh said that potential clients sometimes are eager for publicity and media interest to happen quickly; like other PR professionals, Walsh knows that quickly-earned publicity can also quickly fade. He suggested any media strategy be well rounded and long-term; by building relationships with journalists and curating media opportunities. He’s also all about generating good will – maybe the most elusive result of successful marketing campaigns.
“Bloom Farms is one of the most well respected brands in cannabis, in part due to the San Francisco company’s one-for-one program,” Walsh explained. “For each vapor pen sold, Bloom Farms donates a healthy meal to a California food bank—and they expect to donate their millionth meal before Christmas 2017.”
