How We Built The Essential Guide to California Cannabis!
Welcome to the first year of the GreenState Cannabis Awards — offering readers the definitive, independent guide to the best products, experiences and services to try in California in 2018 — the first year of legal sales.
The GreenState Cannabis Awards cannot be bought. They can only be won.
Winners of either the top-tier “Best” or the second-tier “Excellence” awards were nominated by a committee of industry experts from across the state, and then voted on, with final determination being made by me, the GreenState Cannabis Editor and the editorial team at The Chronicle. Our experts, including myself, have spent years going into the best dispensaries in California, trying out its immense range of products, and experiencing the best attractions California cannabis has to offer. We also filtered the nominees through our brand values: which emphasize approachability, diversity, inclusiveness, and innovation.
The “Best” winners are literally just that — the best in their class in California. There can be only one Best Dispensary in California, for example. By contrast, there are many “Excellent” cannabis retailers. So there are multiple Excellence in Retail winners representing great places to start your own cannabis explorations in the new year.
All Best and Excellence winners are getting physical and digital decals and certificates to post in their business and celebrate their achievement. Next year, the current Best winners will have to defend their title, and Excellence winners will be added or subtracted depending on their performance in the coming months.
This project was a massive undertaking, but it was worth it. Never before has any team created such a detailed map of what’s cool in California and we’re excited to share it with you, in print and online at GreenState.com, as well as hear your feedback about what’s spot-on, and what’s missing.
Next year, the GreenState Cannabis Awards plans to even better serve our audiences in the now-eight legalization states
Thank you to every product maker, dispensary owner, and event promoter making California the richest cannabis state in the world. And special thanks to all the GreenState team members making this undertaking possible.
David Downs is the cannabis editor of the San Francisco Chronicle, where he leads GreenState. He’s the author, co-author, contributing author or editor of four cannabis-related books, including Marijuana Harvest (2017). Email: ddowns@sfchronicle.com
AWARDS TEAM
EDITORIAL
GreenState editor
David Downs
San Francisco Chronicle Contributors
Tony Bravo, Liz Hafalia (photography), Gabrielle Lurie (photography), Urmila Ramakrishnan (social media), Carolyne Zinko
GreenState Contributors
Ted Andersen, Ngaio Bealum, Tobias Coughlin-Bogue, Conor Buckley, Jimi Devine, Emily Earlenbaugh, Ellen Holland, Max Savage Levenson, Elise McDonough, Elise McRoberts, Dan Mitchell, Ed Murrieta, Oscar Pascual, Evan Senn, April Short
Awards Nominating Committee
Ngaio Bealum, Tony Bravo, Neil Dellacava, Jimi Devine, Kitt Hall, Ellen Holland, Elise McDonough, Elise McRoberts, Ed Murrieta, Oscar Pascual, Carolyne Zinko
Web Development
Ted Metzger
Art Director
Danielle Mollette-Parks
Deputy Director, Photography
Russell Yip
ADVERTISING
Sales Associate
Ben Grambergu
MARKETING
Marketing Director
Sarah Morse Cooney
Awards Designer
Christina Rascon
PUBLISHING
Publisher
Jeffrey M. Johnson
Editor in Chief
Audrey Cooper
Assistant Managing Editor, Lifestyle
Kitty Morgan
Senior Vice President, Sales
Steve Bentz
Vice President, Consumer Sales and Distribution
Mick Cohen
Assistant Managing Editor, Production
Ron Kitagawa
Digital Development
Ted Metzger
Newsletter Distribution
Matt Dickow
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Contact
E-mail: ddowns@sfchronicle.com
Mail / Reviews: 901 Mission St.,
San Francisco, CA 94103
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