How Many Shows Is Too Many Shows?
Reading the CCBill/Epoch debate has me thinking more about something that has been plaguing me since I put together my 2007 budget - who the He** can afford to go to all of these shows that pop up? And, more importantly, why do they all have to be at the same damn time?
When I started in this industry two years ago, the gay shows included Aee/Internext and Phoenix Forum - we attended others, but these were the two at which we met the bulk of our audience. Now, all of a sudden, Gay is the new Black in the adult tradeshow industry and we are expected to go everywhere (in force) and sponsor something at each event, and throw a party and, and, and...
What no one has convinced me of yet, is their ability to get the webmasters to attend their events (other than PF). The last few shows I've attended (although I've enjoyed each one and done good business at each) have been very much the same faces and very Business2Business with very few indy webmasters in attendance.
Why are the new GayVN Webmaster Retreat, the GPF and Webmaster Access West all within 4 weeks of each other?
I'd like to see a more regional focus, to keep travel costs down and attendance up, so that we are really maximizing our opportunities to meet and greet. I'd like to see the Gay-focused shows spread out over the year, Q1, Q2, Q3 and Q4 not all lumped together in January and October.
There is room for all of these shows in a yearly calendar, but the way things are set up now is likely just to cause the destruction of one over the other instead of helping our industry as a whole.
Thoughts?
More shows and more shows
A bridge over the pond - no, no, no... my in-laws would visit more often. My only saving grace now is that they are too old to sit on a plane for that long...
I'm not sure why AVN thought that October was a good month for their show. My concern is that people will choose, and the LA people will choose the LA show (which is what I would do to save money) and the GPF will be left behind. OR, people will just stay loyal to the GPF and not bother with the new one (which I doubt). This year, I've added enough cash to my budget to do them all, but I'll be making some big decisions about what we ever attend again.
Decisions already made:
Although the networking at AEE/Internext and Internext Miami is invaluable, we won't take booth space again. We'll continue to throw our Cock&Tail, but no more big sponsorships as the value just isn't there in terms of new business (sorry guys!).
I'll continue to support the GayVN Summit and Awards. It is a show designed for gay businesses and webmasters, and I think they did a good job, especially considering it was the first year for the event.
What's left? Well, the Access shows, the Phoenix Forums, the new Retreat, XBIZ shows... We'll see what else I decide at the end of the year.
A gay-oriented show in Europe would be awesome. Venus Berlin has a huge gay presence, but it is such a massive event that it could never have the focus of a forum and the gay presence seems to get lost there.