Internext Impressions

[Hell Puppy]

These will be more random than usual as I am just off the plane...and really haven't even attempted to formulate thoughts yet.

First off, the Palms still sucks. I hate that hotel. Last year they pissed me off with the premium price and total lack of service or concern. So I opted to stay in a suite over on the strip and my entire bill for the week was what one day in a regular room at Palms.

As I spent pretty much all of Monday at the Palms, I figured out why I really hate it. First off the only decent food there is the food court. Second, the casino sucks dominated by elderly locals who fart more than GonZo and chain smokers. And the real thing I cant get past is they dont have the ventilation that the strip casinos have. I end up with a headache after just an hour at the casino or bar. Smokers are a fact of life in Vegas, but on the strip you can sit right next to one and be ok as long as he doesn't blow it straight into your face.

So I pretty much came, saw and left on monday. I spent most of the week over on the strip having fun and just hanging out with people I wanted to hang out with.

[Hell Puppy]

So what about the show itself?

Seminars -- AVN is doing a better job of picking topics and getting a mix of knowledgeable people to speak. The problem is who is the audience and what is really accomplished? Noobs are not really the target now. And the seminars are not attended by true industry movers and key players who could bring about change. And that's a cat herding exercise to begin with. So seminars are basically a bitch session IMO.

Show floor -- What's the point?

Attendance -- This is tough to call because everyone was scattered and tough to see everyone in one place. My hunch is badged attendees were probably about same as last year but attendance may have actually been up overall because Vegas rates are so cheap right now.

The mix of attendees was still very heavily oriented toward larger business owners and employees of the big companies. This is becoming the norm for shows. The independent webmaster is a shrinking group. Though there were more at this show than any of the other handful I attended in 2008.

Parties -- Wow, those sponsorship dollars are getting tough. Looks as though both the welcome party and players ball were undersponsored so they merged and moved to rain....head to head with another open party at the Ghost bar. And other than private invite only parties, everything I attended was cash bar.

I'm quite alright with cash bar and buying my own drinks. My tips at open bar are often as much as what I'd spend at a cash bar anyway. But here's a pet peeve that will turn me off on a party and make me leave in like 15 minutes. Not to seem like an unappreciative fuck, but if you reserve every single place to sit in a club for the entire evening including the 2 hours before the "VIPs" you're holding them for make their grand entrance, I'm leaving. It's vegas. People are on their feet all day, when it's time to relax, they want to sit the fuck down. Rant over.

I also noted that at least one of the suites on the block party floor folded and didn't have their party. That left three. The whole floor was active last year.

The good parties were all private...expect that trend to continue.

Sponsors -- Remember AVN made a big deal that you could sponsor about anything this year. Skin the tables, light up the side of the hotel, etc. I saw ONE table skinned. The registration area did have some sponsors. That was about it as far as out of the ordinary for Vegas. Also of note, very few traditional affiliate programs are sponsoring right now, this is indicative of who still has a lot of cash, and it's cams, dating, vod, b2b, etc.

Circle Bar -- Active as usual. This is where everyone went to meet because AVN failed to provide anything else. Typical for all shows I reckon. I just wish it were at a better hotel with a bigger center bar area. Venetian circle bar is also too small and packed. Of the Vegas bars used in recent years, I loved the one at mandalay....about the right size and layout. Lots of pits for private conversation. Huge area that could accomodate a lot of people, and a staff that had a clue and you could actually get a drink.

Business -- If you went to do business, had an agenda and a plan, you likely got alot done because people were in town. But it required work and some organization. People who setup their meetings in advance or at least capture people's cell numbers to hook up, and had a plan about what they wanted to achieve, likely got a lot done. This has become true of most shows of late as well. Not a lot of off the cuff deals being struck.

[Hell Puppy]

So what was most common thing discussed?

Everyone is sweating. Most people were readily admitting and bemoaning business being off, typical number I heard batted around was 20%-ish.

As is always the case with adult, no one wants to admit that the real problem is the industry is a den of thieves that supports market destructive behaviors. Instead, they all whine about whatever the latest change is that is making them not able to make the same money they were used to making the same way they were used to making it.

Good news is TGPs are no longer the root of all evil. That honor now belongs to tube sites. Everyone saying why produce new content when it'll just be given away free, blah blah blah. Tubes are going to be the end of porn I even heard at one seminar. Give me a break.

And on the processing side, everyone worried that pre-checked cross sales are going to cause loss of processing, poison the well, etc.

But here's the thing. There are valid concerns in both of those. Cross sales in and of themselves are a legitimate tool if disclosed properly, but jackasses hide pre-checks, etc. As for tube sites, they can be done legitimately, but a site that posts full length copyrighted material from membership areas will always draw more surfers. But why do both of these (and most other industry evils) exist? Because someone is making money off of them.

The real villains here are those monetizing the things that are poison the market. As long as you have people like Adult Friend Finder willing to sponsor sites that rip us all off, those sites are going to continue to exist.

[Hell Puppy]

Trends?

Adversity creates opportunity.

Everyone agrees the traditional cookie cutter affiliate program model is going to decline. Niche will do a bit better.

But the real growth is in things that cant be pirated or cloned. Notice how well cams and dating are still doing. Everyone looking for that "next big thing".

AEBN may have it one piece with RealTouch. The show buzz was good on it, but the exciting part is the mainstream and consumer level buzz. Anyone who has been around a while knows that cross over marketing is pure gold.

[Hell Puppy]

Most surprising trend of show?

Maybe the worm has finally turned, but this is one show where people were turning down business. I heard of multiple situations from multiple companies where deals would've been made out of greed a year ago that received no play this time.

I think that's a huge step forward to actually look past a quick buck and really think about whether you want someone's action and think about how it might impact your business and customers if you get together.

[TheEnforcer]

Excellent recap and reinforced my opinions of shows held in vegas. :>))

[gonzo]

Most surprising trend of show?

Maybe the worm has finally turned, but this is one show where people were turning down business. I heard of multiple situations from multiple companies where deals would've been made out of greed a year ago that received no play this time.

I think that's a huge step forward to actually look past a quick buck and really think about whether you want someone's action and think about how it might impact your business and customers if you get together.

SON!

You know someone went back home upset.

[gonzo]

Trends?

Adversity creates opportunity.

Everyone agrees the traditional cookie cutter affiliate program model is going to decline. Niche will do a bit better.

But the real growth is in things that cant be pirated or cloned. Notice how well cams and dating are still doing. Everyone looking for that "next big thing".

AEBN may have it one piece with RealTouch. The show buzz was good on it, but the exciting part is the mainstream and consumer level buzz. Anyone who has been around a while knows that cross over marketing is pure gold.

I came into the office just to organize my cross over emails from the show.

The contacts we now have into mainstream are singlehandedly the biggest bar of gold Ive seen in this business in the past 5 years.

[LAJ]

I'm glad we did a booth at Internext. Got a LOT of potential business deals going as a result.

[RawAlex]

LAJ, it was great to see you again at the show(s). You really did look rather busy and all. I will say that your "booth" at Internext was very well placed to get a bunch of traffic in both directions. I actually feel bad for the guys that bought the sky boxes on the far end of the hallway, I don't suspect that they got anywhere near the traffic that you guys got where you were at.

[tony404]

a good review

[Hell Puppy]

After sleeping on it, I have a few more thoughts about shows in general. I think we'll see some shows fold and not come off this year. Others probably should fold but cant/wont because contracts are signed. Next year will probably see a big decline.

That's a good thing in my opinion, it's part of consolidation. The industry would benefit from dropping to just 2-3 BIG shows per year plus some regional stuff. Like everything else in adult we have so many shows because someone figured out they can make a dollar at it. It's just like the boards. Someone makes money doing one, so everyone and their brother starts one.

As for internext in particular, I hope to hell it's not at the Palms again. I hate that place with a passion, but I have a hunch they did a 3 year deal. In which case you'll see AVN soon tout what a huge success it was and that they're going back in 2010.

Although alot of us, including me, bitched when AEE and Internext overlapped, it may be time to revisit that idea. It virtually killed the show last time it was attempted because the CES overlap made it so outrageously expensive. If Vegas accomodations are priced in 2010 like they were during CES 2009, I'd be absolutely in favor of combining them. In fact, you can almost bet i'll come for AEE and maybe only one or two days of Internext next year regardless if the costs stay down.

I generally only skip the AEE portion because I hate $400 a night rooms and long lines....

[miz_wright]

Most surprising trend of show?

Maybe the worm has finally turned, but this is one show where people were turning down business. I heard of multiple situations from multiple companies where deals would've been made out of greed a year ago that received no play this time.

I think that's a huge step forward to actually look past a quick buck and really think about whether you want someone's action and think about how it might impact your business and customers if you get together.

Some of those deals woulda been shitcanned a year ago, too.

[LAJ]

LAJ, it was great to see you again at the show(s). You really did look rather busy and all. I will say that your "booth" at Internext was very well placed to get a bunch of traffic in both directions. I actually feel bad for the guys that bought the sky boxes on the far end of the hallway, I don't suspect that they got anywhere near the traffic that you guys got where you were at.

Great seeing you too RawAlex... I was actually very thrilled with our booth placement at both shows. The proof will be in the follow up tho, but I'm confident and in a very happy place right now.

[miz_wright]

Y'know, I hafta say - I don't really give a crap about hotels, generally speaking. But I have a serious hate-on for The Palms now.

Not only did they insist they must have a $400 hold on my card for the room ("for incidentals") - which they "graciously" reduced to $200 when I advised them I wasn't going to use anything in the minibar/ fridge (which was then locked, just to be sure)...

And the hold was booked as a charge to my account after I checked out and received my "credit" -- which, by the way, hasn't been applied to my account as yet, despite having checked out at 10 am on Thursday.

BRILLIANT.

[Hell Puppy]

Y'know, I hafta say - I don't really give a crap about hotels, generally speaking. But I have a serious hate-on for The Palms now.

Not only did they insist they must have a $400 hold on my card for the room ("for incidentals") - which they "graciously" reduced to $200 when I advised them I wasn't going to use anything in the minibar/ fridge (which was then locked, just to be sure)...

And the hold was booked as a charge to my account after I checked out and received my "credit" -- which, by the way, hasn't been applied to my account as yet, despite having checked out at 10 am on Thursday.

BRILLIANT.

Oh that was what pissed me off last year, they do not understand customer service at all.

I dont rattle easy, but ask GonZo, the smarmy little redheaded 23 year old manager there last year when I tried to check in had me ready to come over the counter and stomp his ass.

[gonzo]

Oh that was what pissed me off last year, they do not understand customer service at all.

I dont rattle easy, but ask GonZo, the smarmy little redheaded 23 year old manager there last year when I tried to check in had me ready to come over the counter and stomp his ass.

He even sent the MIGHTY down the street to the Monte Carlo like he was looking for a new merchant account....SON!

[Buckwheat]

I stays at The Motel 6 on Fremont when I'm Vegas!