Quote Originally Posted by gaybucks_chip View Post
And I think that since you've pointed that out, several posters have changed the tone of what they've been saying. Yet, they are still greeted with stony silence. And as you've said above, apparently AVN believes that stony silence is the right way to handle the situation, so therefore, it wouldn't matter how friendly and charming the thread is, there still would not have been any answers.

Actually, it's not about silence; it's more about not getting embroiled in flame wars on a message board. I just don't think that posting on a message board where--to be frank--a good portion of the posters aren't even those who attend the shows in the first place will do anybody any good. I should have taken their example and just not gotten involved in this at all, actually. At some point you just have to rise above it all. Because, in the end, this thread is really just a lot of board drama being perpetuated by people with way too much time on their hands. Talking to people in person at the Phoenix Forum last week, I got a much clearer understanding of the opinions out there, and this board seems to represent a small faction of those opinions.

You're a decent guy, Chip, with a lot of heart. That much is obvious. And of course, I agree with you that it IS possible for companies to work together in this space. The GAYVN Retreat show, regardless of what you might think, is, in fact, a representation of the way that companies can come together to work for the good of the industry. Admittedly, the details of how the show came about may be unfortunate, but in the end, I think those who are able to see past all the controversy and the board drama will, in fact, see the benefit in attending the show. If the show's a bomb, then we were wrong. I'll guess we'll find out come October.

Go if you want to go, or don't go. It's up to you. That's the freedom that YOU have to conduct business the way that YOU see fit.