Internext Fallout....Is it the yearly love in or

[softball]

was it a bomb? Or something in between? Inquiring minds want to know.

[gonzo]

I dont think you will hear a love in nor will you hear that it was a bomb.

Im unpacking and watching the replay of Rome. Ill have some post show thoughts tomorrow.

[Forest]

it was a good show for me. alot of business done.

show floor was good monday quiet tues and ok on weds

[gonzo]

I still managed to do a great deal of business in Vegas.

My view is that what we are seeing is the show is having to find value both to AVN as well as the online community.

The traffic seminar was hands down the BEST seminar I have ever attended.
If you were lucky enough to be in the crowd I heard Scott Coffman tell everyone in the room how to generate traffic in 2007.

The floor layout was pretty nice as well. Im still confused why they took away the drinks included with the brunch leaving only $4 beverages availible.

The auction was a big hit as well both the silent and public one. MJ if your reading that is a keeper as well.

Still a large amount of people playing poker which Ive been told has a great way of rapid networking. Looked to be where the action was the entire show.

I dont think you can hang the blame totally on AVN if you are an exhibitor.
A lot of companies finally went to an open format of ooths instead of hiding behind a chair.

But really guys.... booth bunnys handing out a slck post card which is your banner ad on the boards isnt going to be very effective.

I saw Forest packed in the back of the hall out there working the crowd. Sexmoney was lining up folks to tell them how to make money with hteir program and what sets them aside.

Woody you need to keep Forest around. He gets the hustle and from what I understand his show was very fruitful for him in terms of business.

Really AVN responded to a lot of complaints this time. The show was moved away from CES, away from the Sands, the seminars had value.

Its going to be both a challenge and interesting to see how next years Vegas show goes.

AEE on the other hand was an astounding success.

[Forest]

Woody you need to keep Forest around. He gets the hustle and from what I understand his show was very fruitful for him in terms of business.

.

woody keep me around?

he doesnt even work for sexmoney anymore and he was just a rep for the month he was with us

[gonzo]

woody keep me around?

he doesnt even work for sexmoney anymore and he was just a rep for the month he was with us
I thought the press release said he was a sales manager or something. My mistake.

[mjavn]

Yeah, I try to read them all. Several valid points made here, as opposed to elsewhere.
There are a lot of challenges associated in putting on a trade show in Vegas at a major hotel and casino, and a lot of people will just never understand them - there are certain things the an industry even bigger than ours will not bend on. They don't have to - they'll gladly say, "Fuck you, go to the Flamingo. Next."
Saying that, the majority of the show feedback we've received thus far has been extremely positive, especially from exhibitors. There need to be some tweaks made to the show to improve upon the stronger features of it. Overall, though, I think the educational series - seminars, classes, and workshops - were a success. Several of them were filled over capacity. The domain auction brought in nearly $2 million - it took the mainstream three tries to hit that number. The parties, especially the Ice Cube show and the Homegrown suite, well... I guess it's open to interpretation, but I had a hell of a time at. It's good to be working with D-Money again.

Saying all that, I'd love to hear anymore thoughts, suggestions, etc. from attendees. We're already talking about next year and I think we're going to be able to add another killer, un-equaled event to that show.

[Forest]

I thought the press release said he was a sales manager or something. My mistake.

all the reps are considered sales managers i guess

[Hell Puppy]

Yeah, I try to read them all. Several valid points made here, as opposed to elsewhere.
There are a lot of challenges associated in putting on a trade show in Vegas at a major hotel and casino, and a lot of people will just never understand them - there are certain things the an industry even bigger than ours will not bend on. They don't have to - they'll gladly say, "Fuck you, go to the Flamingo. Next."
Saying that, the majority of the show feedback we've received thus far has been extremely positive, especially from exhibitors. There need to be some tweaks made to the show to improve upon the stronger features of it. Overall, though, I think the educational series - seminars, classes, and workshops - were a success. Several of them were filled over capacity. The domain auction brought in nearly $2 million - it took the mainstream three tries to hit that number. The parties, especially the Ice Cube show and the Homegrown suite, well... I guess it's open to interpretation, but I had a hell of a time at. It's good to be working with D-Money again.

Saying all that, I'd love to hear anymore thoughts, suggestions, etc. from attendees. We're already talking about next year and I think we're going to be able to add another killer, un-equaled event to that show.

Some random comments and observations of my own....

--I liked NOT having it head to head with CES. It makes Vegas itself much easier to manage with no ridiculous cab lines and cost of entry of accomodations is much better. However, for the companies who wish to do both AEE and Internext it makes for a long couple of weeks. I still think having them separated is the lesser of the two evils.

--Mandalay is always a crowd pleaser for location. Was glad it was in the closer ballrooms this time avoiding that mile long walk out to the Shark Reef where it was 2 years ago.

--I only attended one seminar as well, if you can continue to draw the quality of panel you had for the traffic seminar and get them to actually be forthcoming like Scott was, I'll definitely attend more in the future. The problem here in the past has either been the panel is all shills and/or no one wants to give away their secrets. Coffman in particular was candid about how he did what he did in 2006, he just didn't share any specific plans with 2007. Still some great lessons there.

--Porn Poker. I thought this would be a fad that burned out quickly. Still going strong. I have to wonder how many people came just for this.

--Show floor. I'm glad to hear some folks got business done there. I didn't. Took maybe 10 minutes to cruise thru the whole thing. I already knew everyone there and either already do business with them, or if I dont there's a reason why. Not a lot gained. Another observation there, I was on the show floor 4 times total, and each time I was there about halfway thru there was an announcement encouraging me to go somewhere else.....poker, seminar, etc.

--Circle Bar on show floor. If AVN was trying to recreate the type of hanging out that goes on at the center bar in whatever hotel it is based, that's not it. Everyone was still out in the Islander Bar in the middle of the casino. As usual, that's the spot to hang out to actually meet and do business with people.

--Deal Making rooms. Did anyone actually use these? Most of us talk business over meals and drinks, not in a hotel straight chair in a room quiet enough for others to overhear.

--Domain auction. This was another big draw that I think may have made a few people come in who wouldn't otherwise.

--Mix of attendees. Seems like it was the people who "have to" be there. Most of the mid-sized or better business owners in adult internet were in town or represented. What was missing this time is the small business owner and affiliates for the most part. My gut feel is they've made a choice between Phoenix and January Internext and chose Phoenix. Eliniating the freeloaders is a good thing. But we've also washed out a lot of the small players that are worthwhile. I daresay most of the mix of people in Vegas this year already knew or knew of each other.

Overall, Vegas is still a great place for a show. A lot of people will use any show in Vegas as an excuse to go to Vegas. The catch is how to do that and come up with a format that is profitable for everyone.

I think the concept of booths as we know it is done. What is needed is a way to lure everyone into one place at the same time and have people easily able to locate one another. The pool cabanas works in warm weather.

I would love to see an out of the box thought on how to do same thing in Vegas during cool weather. Instead of booths just have an a relatively affordable way to rent some space to each company and have a comfortable area for them to sit around and entertain people while attendees make their rounds.

[softball]

My observation....and this is from someone who has never been to internext but has followed the fallout after everyone. There is a strange disquieting silence after this one. No one seems to care enough even to bitch any more. It seems these shows have been going downhill for years. I thought about going out of curiosity this year, but passed due to other commitments, and am glad I did. I haven't heard anything really positive, (apart from a couple of good seminars...hell I could pay a couple of hundred bucks to attend that) that would attract me.
They seem to have lost entirely the amateur girl component. You know pic exchanges and parties. There is, of course, lots of traffic rat stuff. But that is not entirely what this business is about and in many ways is moving on from even that.
It feels like this show has lost its way. The business has left it behind and it has not managed to provide the fun necessary to get and keep the buzz. I for one, am surprised it has even survived.
It kind of feels like an old school business that could survive and make a shitpot of money when a trained gorilla could make a good living back in the day. If anyone thinks I am pissing up a rope, please feel free to shoot me down, but I have seen lots of board boredom after this show.

[gonzo]

My observation....and this is from someone who has never been to internext but has followed the fallout after everyone. There is a strange disquieting silence after this one. No one seems to care enough even to bitch any more. It seems these shows have been going downhill for years. I thought about going out of curiosity this year, but passed due to other commitments, and am glad I did. I haven't heard anything really positive, (apart from a couple of good seminars...hell I could pay a couple of hundred bucks to attend that) that would attract me.
They seem to have lost entirely the amateur girl component. You know pic exchanges and parties. There is, of course, lots of traffic rat stuff. But that is not entirely what this business is about and in many ways is moving on from even that.
It feels like this show has lost its way. The business has left it behind and it has not managed to provide the fun necessary to get and keep the buzz. I for one, am surprised it has even survived.
It kind of feels like an old school business that could survive and make a shitpot of money when a trained gorilla could make a good living back in the day. If anyone thinks I am pissing up a rope, please feel free to shoot me down, but I have seen lots of board boredom after this show.


I dont envy MJ the task of revitialziing this show.

[softball]

I dont envy MJ the task of revitialziing this show.
Karnak, the magnificent predicts......the death of Las Vegas internext due to extreme lack of interest.
No fun. No money. No show.

[Hell Puppy]

I've actually seen less bitching and more positive response than usual. That's not to say the show is healthy and should continue as is, far from it. My reaction when I walked onto the show floor was "wow, what a joke!" But there were some positive aspects.

1) For the most part the guys who just come to party and throw around one or two signups a month from their dorm room were NOT there. They'll be in Phoenix.

2) Quantity was down, but quality was up.

The big flaw this time was there was really nothing to force everyone into the same place at the same time. There are tons of people who I know were in town that I would've like to have seen but never ran into. Nothing to keep people on the show floor, so your only chance was the hotel bar which quickly got overcrowded.

And you're right, there's nothing there to serve the niches. Amateurs have fallen by the wayside. Everything there is geared toward the big paysite owner. Nothing much there for the smaller player.

There was supposed to be a Girls of the Internet party again, but there was no visibility for it at the show itself. I have no idea if it came off, I dont remember seeing a single girl from the amateur community. I did see Kacy, but I think of her more for hosting business than her ties back to the amateur community at this point.

[Sharpie]

"I think the concept of booths as we know it is done. What is needed is a way to lure everyone into one place at the same time and have people easily able to locate one another. The pool cabanas works in warm weather."

Hellpuppy, we saw that 3 years ago.... that is why Corridor Crusin was invented at Cybernet Expo. 3 hr show room, instead of 3 days. (It has been renamed to ' Show & Sell.) It is a featured event. Everyone shows up for that 3 hours & it is easy to find the people you are lookng for. This is the closest idea I have been able to dream up to draw a crowd, and actually have an area condsusive to doing business in a short period of time. It has been extremely successful!

[LAJ]

I had a great time... saw almost everyone I wanted to... starting my follow up this week.

I will always attend and support Internext.

Hey... maybe you guys want to give the Corridor Cruisin idea a try? Everyone else has "borrowed" from us... so no worries about offending us :D

[Hell Puppy]

"I think the concept of booths as we know it is done. What is needed is a way to lure everyone into one place at the same time and have people easily able to locate one another. The pool cabanas works in warm weather."

Hellpuppy, we saw that 3 years ago.... that is why Corridor Crusin was invented at Cybernet Expo. 3 hr show room, instead of 3 days. (It has been renamed to ' Show & Sell.) It is a featured event. Everyone shows up for that 3 hours & it is easy to find the people you are lookng for. This is the closest idea I have been able to dream up to draw a crowd, and actually have an area condsusive to doing business in a short period of time. It has been extremely successful!

Yeah, I remembered you had done something like that. Since you're putting it on east coast this year, I'll be checking it out. Definitely planning to make Tampa.

[LadyMischief]

The show for us was great this year... but most of the business was done off the show floor. I didn't attend any of the seminars personally this time around, but everything I heard about them was amazing. Vegas is a tough venue, and AVN is developing their shows to meet the expectations of the webmaster community as it evolves.. sometimes new ideas take a few tries to perfect. I have no doubt that AVN will take the feedback they got after the launch of their new show format and incorporate it into their plans going forward.

MJ, thanks for coming to our suite, we should definitely chat! :)

[Dee_InsomniacCash]

Most people I talked to said it sucked, but they still managed to get a lot of biz done