Considering Miami Internext? Read This

[gonzo]

LOS ANGELES — With the John Stagliano obscenity trial now history, many in the adult industry community have shifted their attention to one of the witnesses for the prosecution — the LAPD's Det. Michael Ozaki.
Ozaki, who works in the LAPD's vice squad, focuses his attention on obscenity-related matters.

Ozaki's transcribed testimony at the Stagliano trial included references that he travels to various adult entertainment venues and convention halls outside of the city of Los Angeles to "keep tabs on new lines of products" that may be of interest to authorities for future charges and indictments.

According to testimony, the detective said he first learned of Stagliano in 2007 at the Erotica LA show at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

Ozaki said he later observed Stagliano at the 2008 Adult Entertainment Expo in Las Vegas and that he visited Evil Angel offices in Van Nuys, where he shot photos of the facility and Stagliano’s wife, Karen, entering the building.

All told, Ozaki testified that he had been to AEE five times, with porn star Aurora Snow even recognizing him.

Snow, who was at the four-day trial and wrote dispatches for AVN, even said that she is "almost sure" that she has signed autographs for the detective at adult conventions. Snow later said that she only reported the facts. "I was clear and concise with what I wrote on the subject as it pertained to the trial I was covering," Snow told XBIZ.

Snow continued that she was "surprised to hear how the LAPD spends tax money so consistently on porn-related materials in the name of 'research' when the city is reeling from recent budget cuts."

Even Richard Abowitz, who covered the trial for Reason, said Ozaki's revelation on monitoring the porn biz was appalling. "His testimony was outrageous," Abowitz told XBIZ.

XBIZ wasn't able to find out more about Ozaki or any other details of the LAPD's obscenity unit, including which venues he has attended in the past five years and a listing of travel-related expenses incurred by Ozaki during the commission of those investigations.

In several waves of email and phone correspondence, a senior public information officer for the LAPD told XBIZ, "We have to decline your request" for information and documents relative to Ozaki's duties.

http://www.xbiz.com/news/123142

[RawAlex]

California is going broke, but they can afford to pay a detective to travel to and attend porn conventions? Want to bet this is another $100,000 a year sink hole?

[LAJ]

Nice spin in an attempt to smear AVN and hurt their attendance.

Anyone with a scintilla of a clue should be able to figure out that there is probably someone from law enforcement or at least direct ties to it at EVERY show, and looking at EVERY chat forum.

Guess I'll have to cancel my travel plans!

[EmporerEJ]

Now, why doesn't someone shape this story, and get it to the mainstream press?
That would be the best way of defeating this.

[RawAlex]

Originally Posted by LAJ

Nice spin in an attempt to smear AVN and hurt their attendance.

Anyone with a scintilla of a clue should be able to figure out that there is probably someone from law enforcement or at least direct ties to it at EVERY show, and looking at EVERY chat forum.

Guess I'll have to cancel my travel plans!

You don't think that Xbiz would try to create a negative vibe for an AVN show, would you? That never happens!

[EmporerEJ]

Originally Posted by RawAlex

You don't think that Xbiz would try to create a negative vibe for an AVN show, would you? That never happens!

ccc....c.c...ccccccc...cccccc.cccccc..ccccan't we all.....just....get along?.....get along?

[gonzo]

Originally Posted by RawAlex

You don't think that Xbiz would try to create a negative vibe for an AVN show, would you? That never happens!

Im trying to kiss and make up with Alec.
IVe been told he says he felt I got him butt raped on GFY.

[Toby]

Originally Posted by gonzo

Im trying to kiss and make up with Alec.
IVe been told he says he felt I got him butt raped on GFY.

He should have kicked the soap to the corner.

[RawAlex]

Originally Posted by gonzo

Im trying to kiss and make up with Alec.
IVe been told he says he felt I got him butt raped on GFY.

He who lubes up and bends over to worship a the alter of .xxx should never be surprised when ends up in their ass.

[MikeSouth]

Originally Posted by gonzo

Im trying to kiss and make up with Alec.
IVe been told he says he felt I got him butt raped on GFY.

Just like that fucking 2 bit coward...wont even take responsibility for his own actions

Fuck Helmy.

[tony404]

Originally Posted by LAJ

Nice spin in an attempt to smear AVN and hurt their attendance.

Anyone with a scintilla of a clue should be able to figure out that there is probably someone from law enforcement or at least direct ties to it at EVERY show, and looking at EVERY chat forum.

Guess I'll have to cancel my travel plans!

I dont think that's going to hurt attendance. I think an economy in the shitter is going to hurt attendance. I will never understand during the dead season in fl only porners would pay fuck you in the ass prices for rooms and food.

[LAJ]

I don't consider $200 / night at the Diplomat to be unreasonable at all.

Yeah sure the food is pricey but that is what the buffet is for in the mornings LOL. Load up on that and you are set for the day

[LAJ]

Originally Posted by gonzo

Im trying to kiss and make up with Alec.
IVe been told he says he felt I got him butt raped on GFY.

OHHHHHH... so that thread and the consequences that developed is all YOUR fault huh?

I know you wielded some power and cred in this biz but I didn't know HOW much.

Now I do!

[Toby]

Originally Posted by LAJ

I don't consider $200 / night at the Diplomat to be unreasonable at all.

Have they dropped room rates? Last time I attended I spent almost $850 for three nights in their least expensive room.

[RawAlex]

Superior rooms (the base) are listed at $199 plus 11% tax, but I think that doesn't include their arrogant "resort fee" which was $15-$25 a day, if I remember correctly. So 3 days, 4 nights at the show will run you just short of $900 without the resort fee, closer to $1000 with it, plus $350 for a badge. So you are around $1300 without eating to start.

[rhetorical]

I have to ask....is there money to be made attending really expensive shows or have they become as useful as dial up?
I look at JFK's piccies and it is always the same old usual suspects getting hammered. A few girls with shit painted on their tits and a few serious looking people sitting at tables watching a pitch.
What I do find interesting, is if you look beyond the obvious in the photos, is the level of boredom in the background.
I could see it back in the Boogie Nights days, but who the hell is making enough money to pay a few grand on a weekend. To me, that cost covers a lot of content which will certainly make a good return on that three grand.
Or, like I am about to do August and September, trip around Europe for a month and a half.
I am thinking....what is more fun. A few days in a crappy tacky resort or dinner in Provence and coffee on the Champs Elysee? Hmmmmmmm Maybe you guys can afford both, but not me.
But then I guess I am not a playa....just a soldier trying to put gas in the Carrera and see the world.

[MikeSouth]

^^^ DING DING DING ^^^

Good call

[EmporerEJ]

Well, I hear the whining and complaining about shows......
And you have valid points in many cases.
And if you are selling the same thing as the next guy, and your variation is your website is blue, instead of green, there's not much to be done.
And there will be an awful lot of "wasted" time, and events at the shows.

But here's the thing.......and I don't see a way around this.
The show's AREN'T about what's the best value in traveling. Clearly, they are the loser.
The thing is, you gather together the industry in a specific group, where they can interact, and work face to face. If you are making deals, there is more than what is on paper. There is, after all, the intrinsic value of talking to your "partner," face to face, and reading all those subtle things you don't get in a phone call, or written contract.
Not sure how you put a price on that. Or the one opportunity, but for being there, that you would have missed. Shows are what you make of them. If you go to get laid, and travel, you'll lose.
If you go to do business, and get at it, that's the value.
You guys act like trade shows were invented by the adult industry....they weren't.
It's just our expectations are much too high, and always fall short of the "sazzz," people think a "porn show," should have.

If I could, I'd go to every one. You never know which one is gonna be "the one," that has the golden deal. If you are there, you may get the brass ring. But if you don't show, you have zero chance.

Shows are what you make of them.

[rhetorical]

For once Emp I agree with you. Here is what I think. One trade show a year is all this industry can support. I would probably attend and have a good time. Why the fuck do you need more?

[EmporerEJ]

Because that's not how it works in a free market economy.
The best show(s) survive.......the others....not so much.

Why should anyone care? Go...don't go.
Vote with your dollars. But respect the fact that so many want to share, and build the industry.

Many a young webmaster are spoiled. There was a time, in the 80's, when an adult tradeshow was unheard of.

I was at the early AEE show, which, at the time, was a separate "room" off of CES. I was in the Video Store business then, and the people were surprised, and worried it was gonna get busted.

We've come a long way, but only by allowing the market to work itself.
Now, it would seem ridiculous to try to shut down the adult industry......it's grudgingly accepted, and they are just trying to nip at the edges.

Y'all seem to forget....back in the early 80's they were busting us video stores, left and right, and trying to shut down the industry completely.
I, myself, did battle with 3 of four town governments that tried to stop us renting adult videos.

People take it for granted today. I say the multitude of "business trade shows" had a huge effect on the "legitimacy" of the industry.
What town government is gonna come in and wreck the tourist industry by busting a show bringing in the almighty tourist buck?
Damn few....that's how many.


And THAT, alone, is a reason to keep them...all others aside.

[RawAlex]

Shows are incredibly useful, if they are structured in a way that allows and encourages you get things done.

Shows in Vegas are hit and miss. There is just so many things to do that are not related to the show, that most people are just not reachable, not at the show, not on the show floor, etc. The shows at the Palms are absolutely, utterly, and completely useless. Nobody wants to stay there, nobody wants to be there, and nobody wants to party there. The end result is people scattered all over and nothing getting done. The last two AVN shows I attended were basically a couple of hours of show, and 3 or 4 days of poker.

The Miami show (when it started) was somewhat better, mostly because between the show floor, the pool bar, and the central area around the entrance the fountain, you could usually find or run into almost anyone you wanted to see. But over time, the loss of the show floor (and replacing it with cliquish cabanas) turned it into a series of private meetings and everyone driving off to South Beach to party. Sort of made it hard to really meet anyone. Worse, except for the Porn Poker Tour, there wasn't any real poker!

There is still need for personal contact and interaction, but the ranks in the business are thinning rapidly. Things like CybernetExpo are likely more the longer term trend for the online part of the business.

[rhetorical]

I say the multitude of "business trade shows" had a huge effect on the "legitimacy" of the industry.

"|egitimacy" kills the business. The last thing we need is to be is too legit to quit. This biz has always done very well for the players when it was not legit. Profit margins were way higher. It needs to be an "entrance at rear" kind of deal to make money. Girls today are cheap which means profits crash. Its no big deal for a girl...or her mother...to do porn any more. Its bad for biz.
As far as the shows go, I do agree the market will take care of that. Its just my opinion that today's biz can really only support one a year. Time will tell as the buck forty nine affiliates fall off the planet and the affiliate model crashes...which it will. Its just way too expensive. In the real world, a referral sale is worth ten to twenty per cent and the tail does not wag the dog.

[DannyCox]

Loads of great points!

I agree that our industry has become mainstream. When we started way back when, no one could believe a housewife and mother would do what Carol did! It was unheard of! It's was perverted! It was obscene! It made us many millions of dollars!

Now, everyone and their Grandmother is doing it, and it's just become blasé. To make any money in the "girl next door" niche you got to be willing to go to such extremes as to have landed you in jail 10 years ago! Carol (me too) is just an anachronism now as she is considered to be so "vanilla" as to not even be relevant in Porn anymore. When you got a housewife stroking her dog's cock while being pissed on by 10 Black men, with a midget's head stuck up her ass, and the viewers don't consider it extreme...you know the times have changed. Straight ol' Swingers sex just doesn't cut it anymore!

[LAJ]

I attend the shows where I close enough deals to more than justify the expense of the trip.

And considering I work from home and am here 90% of the time busting my ass... I deserve that 10% of the year to travel on business.

[tony404]

Originally Posted by rhetorical

"|egitimacy" kills the business. The last thing we need is to be is too legit to quit. This biz has always done very well for the players when it was not legit. Profit margins were way higher. It needs to be an "entrance at rear" kind of deal to make money. Girls today are cheap which means profits crash. Its no big deal for a girl...or her mother...to do porn any more. Its bad for biz.
As far as the shows go, I do agree the market will take care of that. Its just my opinion that today's biz can really only support one a year. Time will tell as the buck forty nine affiliates fall off the planet and the affiliate model crashes...which it will. Its just way too expensive. In the real world, a referral sale is worth ten to twenty per cent and the tail does not wag the dog.

good points

[gonzo]

Originally Posted by DannyCox

Loads of great points!

I agree that our industry has become mainstream. When we started way back when, no one could believe a housewife and mother would do what Carol did! It was unheard of! It's was perverted! It was obscene! It made us many millions of dollars!

Now, everyone and their Grandmother is doing it, and it's just become blasé. To make any money in the "girl next door" niche you got to be willing to go to such extremes as to have landed you in jail 10 years ago! Carol (me too) is just an anachronism now as she is considered to be so "vanilla" as to not even be relevant in Porn anymore. When you got a housewife stroking her dog's cock while being pissed on by 10 Black men, with a midget's head stuck up her ass, and the viewers don't consider it extreme...you know the times have changed. Straight ol' Swingers sex just doesn't cut it anymore!

You are totally right Danny.

And the extremes are what consumers are searching for and paying for...

like this site http://www.cultofdesade.com

So many high yield keywords on that one it will make your head spin.

[EmporerEJ]

The market will sort it all out.
That's what makes the free market, a free market.

[Toby]

Originally Posted by EmporerEJ

The market will sort it all out.
That's what makes the free market, a free market.

Yes, but it's not always the best that survives. It's whoever has the deepest pockets.

[rycpitbull]

This Miami show is gonna be a one way ticket if some show up

[EmporerEJ]

Originally Posted by Toby

Yes, but it's not always the best that survives. It's whoever has the deepest pockets.

Gee, that's a warm, fuzzy thought.
But tell me, who is the arbiter of "best?"

[rhetorical]

Originally Posted by DannyCox

Loads of great points!

I agree that our industry has become mainstream. When we started way back when, no one could believe a housewife and mother would do what Carol did! It was unheard of! It's was perverted! It was obscene! It made us many millions of dollars!

Now, everyone and their Grandmother is doing it, and it's just become blasé. To make any money in the "girl next door" niche you got to be willing to go to such extremes as to have landed you in jail 10 years ago! Carol (me too) is just an anachronism now as she is considered to be so "vanilla" as to not even be relevant in Porn anymore. When you got a housewife stroking her dog's cock while being pissed on by 10 Black men, with a midget's head stuck up her ass, and the viewers don't consider it extreme...you know the times have changed. Straight ol' Swingers sex just doesn't cut it anymore!

I always kinda liked midget dog pissing porn. Problem is, that stuff is free.