The Classic Events is a national B2B golf and networking tour for the cannabis industry. Founded in 2024 by James “Bo” Keyes in Kettering, Ohio, The Classic brings cannabis operators, brands, buyers, ancillary businesses and investors together for a day of championship golf, a brand showcase and a closing reception, with every event giving back to brain tumor research.
What The Classic is
Trade shows put thousands of people in a hall for a few minutes each. The Classic puts the right people together for a full day. Every Classic is a one-day event at a championship course, built around business-to-business networking: foursomes that mix brands with buyers, a brand showcase, chef-prepared meals, contests and an awards reception.
The Classic started with The Ohio Classic at NCR Country Club in 2024. In 2026 the tour ran events in Ohio (NCR Country Club), Illinois (Cog Hill Golf & Country Club), Michigan (The Woodlands Course at Whittaker, New Buffalo) and New York (Bethpage State Park), plus The West Coast Classic during NBA All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles and The Classic Tip-Off, a 3-on-3 basketball tournament for Ohio cannabis teams.
The 2027 National Tour brings The Classic to six of the largest U.S. cannabis markets: Florida, California, Ohio, New York, Michigan and Illinois. The Ohio Classic returns to NCR Country Club on May 3, 2027.
Meet the founder: James “Bo” Keyes
Bo Keyes has spent roughly fifteen years building the standards, training and compliance systems the legal cannabis industry runs on. He founded cannabisstandards.com in 2012, wrote a Responsible Vendor Training program that Massachusetts approved, led international compliance in Colombia, and today chairs the Technical Advisory Committee for CSQ standards.
He is also a brain tumor survivor. The Classic is how he brings both of those things together: the relationships he has built across the industry, and a cause that is personal.
Bo’s background
- Founder of The Classic Events (2024)
- Founder of cannabisstandards.com (2012), and founder of FOCUS, the Foundation of Cannabis Unified Standards (2012–2015)
- Certified Responsible Vendor Training (RVT) vendor in Massachusetts, approved by the Cannabis Control Commission in 2023: one of roughly 30 approved vendors for the state-mandated training
- Chair of the Technical Advisory Committee for CSQ standards
- Director of International Compliance at Khiron Life Sciences (2018–2020), which licensed the first medical cannabis cultivation facility in Colombia
- Led a large-scale Humboldt County, California farm permit and coordinated international research teams advising governments on cannabis regulation
- Attended the inaugural Forbes Under 30 Summit (2014)
- MBA in Leadership & Finance
- Based in Kettering, Ohio; father of five
Connect with Bo on LinkedIn or email bo@theclassicevents.com.
Our purpose: brain tumor research
Every Classic gives back. In 2026, The Classic’s fundraising directed $5,000 in grants: $3,500 to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Jimmy Fund for cancer and brain tumor research, and $1,500 to the Cincinnati Minority Cannabis Group.
For 2027 we are giving again, and we time our gifts to Dana-Farber’s matching campaigns so every dollar can go three to four times further.
Who plays The Classic
140 brands and companies have played, sponsored or partnered with The Classic, including Smithers, Trulieve, Green Thumb Industries, Curaleaf, Cresco, Verano, Jeeter, Wyld, STIIIZY, Kiva Confections, Flowhub, Dutchie, Weedmaps and Vicente LLP. See them all on our Partners page.