Cybernet Expo is a "gay friendly" show

Greetings GWW community (and great seeing you in Phx, Lee, if even for just a fleeting moment.)

Cybernet Expo, Tampa is approaching quickly (4 weeks away) and I'm thrilled to announce that our 10th year is shaping up to be a great show. To those not in the know, I've been the tradeshow director for 4 years now for Cybernet Expo and we are the longest running mid-sized international show in the adult Internet.

I have been asked by several people who run or work for adult online companies focused solely on the gay market if Cybernet Expo is "gay friendly". Now while one person's definition of what is gay friendly might differ somewhat from another person's definition, I want to go on the record as saying that IMO, yes, Cybernet Expo is "gay friendly"... in as much as we are friendly to any market or sector of the industry... gay, straight, TS, BBW, teen, twink, bear, milf... and on and on. We give everyone a level playing field to sponsor, exhibit, attend and party. Our main focus every year is business and networking. While some other shows may be more "gay friendly" or even have individual aspects of their show geared only to gay companies and webmasters, I like to think we run a show that is open to anyone involved in the adult Internet interested in creating and establishing business opportunities. Now granted there were problems in the past that pre-date my involvement with Cybernet Expo... and frankly I'm not even 100% exactly what issues there might have been, but the past is the past, and given that the industry landscape is radically different now as compared to 10 or even 5 years ago... I just want to say to the gay community at large that should you have any questions or concerns about the Cybernet Expo of today to please let me know.

And of course should you wish to attend the show... advance registration prices are still available as well as a few available hotel rooms. Hope to see you there and if we haven't met, I hope you introduce yourself to me.

You know.. it's funny..

I had a great time at the Florida show the time we went and I did more business there than I do at more "gay" shows.

And the worst nightmares of straight webmasters has come true..


FRATMEN is launching a straight site.

(and no.. it's not one of those straight guys as the focus but with girls in teh background aimed at gay guys with straight guy fetish sites... it's a boner-fied straight site with no guys at all)

So I'll be there.. and as usual, Jasun will be going to the straight parties, making inappropriate advances on the straight men and probably dancing naked somewhere.

(although since I quit drinking and smoking, I'll have abs and won't be as entertaining with my drunken stories about times past.)

Unfortunately, due to this or that reason Maleflixxx is not attending Cybernet Expo this year - but I do support the show.

We definitely attended last year and came home with some very interesting deals with some great companies!

I know that BadPuppy supports them, and Maleflixxx will again next year.

Good Luck Jay! Have a great show and I'll see you soon!

Im just curious as to why it took up to 4 weeks away from the show date for it to have even been mentioned on a gay board when since February its been posted about on pretty much every straight wm forum going.

Its really short notice for many in the gay webmaster community to even be able to plan for this show now J.

Regards,

Lee

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Originally Posted by Jasun

You know.. it's funny..

I had a great time at the Florida show the time we went and I did more business there than I do at more "gay" shows.

And the worst nightmares of straight webmasters has come true..


FRATMEN is launching a straight site.

(and no.. it's not one of those straight guys as the focus but with girls in teh background aimed at gay guys with straight guy fetish sites... it's a boner-fied straight site with no guys at all)

So I'll be there.. and as usual, Jasun will be going to the straight parties, making inappropriate advances on the straight men and probably dancing naked somewhere.

(although since I quit drinking and smoking, I'll have abs and won't be as entertaining with my drunken stories about times past.)

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Well congrats on quitting drinking and smoking at least! See you next month Jasun...

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Originally Posted by mgillis

Unfortunately, due to this or that reason Maleflixxx is not attending Cybernet Expo this year - but I do support the show.

We definitely attended last year and came home with some very interesting deals with some great companies!

I know that BadPuppy supports them, and Maleflixxx will again next year.

Good Luck Jay! Have a great show and I'll see you soon!

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Thanks Mary!

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Originally Posted by LAJ

Well congrats on quitting drinking and smoking at least! See you next month Jasun...

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If this show is like any other, you'll be seeing more of me than you're planning on. :jasun:

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Originally Posted by Lee

Im just curious as to why it took up to 4 weeks away from the show date for it to have even been mentioned on a gay board when since February its been posted about on pretty much every straight wm forum going.

Its really short notice for many in the gay webmaster community to even be able to plan for this show now J.

Regards,

Lee

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And hello to you too Lee.

For starters... I've been promoting the show on about 10 forums tops... hardly constitutes "every straight wm forum going". And what constitutes a "straight forum" anyway? One where 90% of the active posters are straight and only do biz with straight companies? 95%? More? And what about companies that have a straight and a gay division? There's a lot of gray area about what constitutes a straight board vs. a board or a resource site that has several walks of life who use it and don't constitute a significant majority. I'm straight and do biz with mostly straight companies but have done biz with Pridebucks, Badpuppy, Maleflixxx, and several affiliate programs who have a gay division. Does me posting here make GWW less of a gay community for example?

4 weeks in this biz is long time... especially considering so many people wait til the last minute to make plans on something and especially since the cheapest airline tickets still haven't taken effect yet. I personally think a month is enough time to plan for a 3 day weekend.

And frankly... I didn't really even think that there was an issue anymore regarding possible past problems with the gay community and Cybernet Expo until literally a few days ago when requests started coming in to me from individuals asking if the show was "gay friendly". If in February this had been an issue brought to my attention I would have addressed it then.

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Originally Posted by LAJ

.... I want to go on the record as saying that IMO, yes, Cybernet Expo is "gay friendly"... in as much as we are friendly to any market or sector of the industry...... gay, straight, TS, BBW, teen, twink, bear, milf... and on and on. We give everyone a level playing field to sponsor, exhibit, attend and party.

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:nobody:

It's not like we're a bunch of timid little bitches that are afraid to step out and goto mainstream events lol

All these years LAJ and you still don't get it :kickcan:

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Originally Posted by Squirt

:nobody:

It's not like we're a bunch of timid little bitches that are afraid to step out and goto mainstream events lol

All these years LAJ and you still don't get it :kickcan:

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Wow... so you speak for the entire gay community now eh squirt?

And who said anything about the community being timid? If you are going to be the community spokesperson, it would probably be best to lose the years of bitterness and not put words into other peoples mouths, no? Just not healthy...

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Originally Posted by LAJ

Wow... so you speak for the entire gay community now eh squirt?

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And you speak for the whole straight community in declaring the Cybernet Expo "Gay friendly"? Are you serious?

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Originally Posted by LAJ

Now granted there were problems in the past that pre-date my involvement with Cybernet Expo... and frankly I'm not even 100% exactly what issues there might have been

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Well, if there were problems in the past, and you're not 100% on what the issues were, then how have you worked past those old issues involving the Gay community and Cybernet Expo?

On one hand you're telling us that being Gay has nothing to do with networking and doing business at the Expo, then you make a point to say you're Gay friendly, a number of times.

Just tell us about the Cybernet Expo and that it's opened for registration and leave the whole Gay thing out of it. Lots of us goto all the shows and don't give a rats ass about playing the Gay card. Business is business.

Have you posted on African American adult webmaster boards letting them know you're "black friendly" as well? :innocent:

LAJ,

We've never attended Cybernet. We considered it a year or two ago, when someone was actively courting gay attendees, but it just didn't fit into our schedule.

I can't speak for any other webmasters, but for us, 4 weeks advance notice is waaaaaay too short a time for us to be able to seriously consider attending a new show. Not to say we've never done it - our first Phoenix Forum we went to with about 10 days notice - but now we're a little more schedule-conscious and things have to be fit into the mix.

I don't think anyone was saying that you were intentionally blowing off gay webmasters, but when you have been promoting the show on a dozen other boards (many of which probably do not have a significant gay webmaster presence on them) and wait until 4 weeks beforehand to make any mention on either of the two highest traffic gay boards, it does tend to look like an afterthought.

Forward thinking gay webmasters want to network with straight companies, no question. But we also appreciate creating opportunities to network with people we already know, and it's nice to have seminars, parties, or events focused on our community, in part because it's an easy networking opportunity and in part because there's no question that at least a few straight webmasters are not very comfortable or open about mingling and interacting with people on the gay side of the industry.

So... next year, if you want more gay presence, seek out some people on the gay side of the industry early in the production cycle of the show, find out what you can do to make the show more inviting, and start communicating with the community in the places where the community hangs out... and you'll almost certainly get a warm reception.

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Originally Posted by Squirt

And you speak for the whole straight community in declaring the Cybernet Expo "Gay friendly"? Are you serious?



Well, if there were problems in the past, and you're not 100% on what the issues were, then how have you worked past those old issues involving the Gay community and Cybernet Expo?

On one hand you're telling us that being Gay has nothing to do with networking and doing business at the Expo, then you make a point to say you're Gay friendly, a number of times.

Just tell us about the Cybernet Expo and that it's opened for registration and leave the whole Gay thing out of it. Lots of us goto all the shows and don't give a rats ass about playing the Gay card. Business is business.

Have you posted on African American adult webmaster boards letting them know you're "black friendly" as well? :innocent:

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I speak on behalf of Cybernet Expo. I forgot that carrying on a rational discussion with you is impossible, thanks for reminding me.

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Originally Posted by gaybucks_chip

LAJ,

We've never attended Cybernet. We considered it a year or two ago, when someone was actively courting gay attendees, but it just didn't fit into our schedule.

I can't speak for any other webmasters, but for us, 4 weeks advance notice is waaaaaay too short a time for us to be able to seriously consider attending a new show. Not to say we've never done it - our first Phoenix Forum we went to with about 10 days notice - but now we're a little more schedule-conscious and things have to be fit into the mix.

I don't think anyone was saying that you were intentionally blowing off gay webmasters, but when you have been promoting the show on a dozen other boards (many of which probably do not have a significant gay webmaster presence on them) and wait until 4 weeks beforehand to make any mention on either of the two highest traffic gay boards, it does tend to look like an afterthought.

Forward thinking gay webmasters want to network with straight companies, no question. But we also appreciate creating opportunities to network with people we already know, and it's nice to have seminars, parties, or events focused on our community, in part because it's an easy networking opportunity and in part because there's no question that at least a few straight webmasters are not very comfortable or open about mingling and interacting with people on the gay side of the industry.

So... next year, if you want more gay presence, seek out some people on the gay side of the industry early in the production cycle of the show, find out what you can do to make the show more inviting, and start communicating with the community in the places where the community hangs out... and you'll almost certainly get a warm reception.

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So noted, gaybucks_chip. Thanks for taking the time to offer me your constructive criticism. It's unfortunate that you won't be able to attend the show this year, and while I appreciate that you've given it thought in the past, I understand where you are coming from with scheduling. Many folks choose to make plans a month out or less, I realize now that I should have come here sooner to discuss, or at the very least not try to kill two birds with one stone (show promotion and reaching out to the gay community). I'm sure you understand it's no easy task putting together a trade show and pleasing everyone? Regardless, I will be doing things a bit differently for next year.

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Originally Posted by LAJ

I speak on behalf of Cybernet Expo.

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Originally Posted by LAJ

Now granted there were problems in the past that pre-date my involvement with Cybernet Expo... and frankly I'm not even 100% exactly what issues there might have been.

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:thumbsup:

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Originally Posted by gaybucks_chip

I don't think anyone was saying that you were intentionally blowing off gay webmasters, but when you have been promoting the show on a dozen other boards (many of which probably do not have a significant gay webmaster presence on them) and wait until 4 weeks beforehand to make any mention on either of the two highest traffic gay boards, it does tend to look like an afterthought.

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That's a good point and something I didn't think about.

Despite LAJ I've heard the Cybernet Expo is a great unique venue for people looking to do business. I'm sure I'll be going next year, it's just to short notice this year, and I'm half way round the world ;)

Jay..

Sorry i didnt mean to come off sounding harsh, just wanted to state what Chip did a few posts above this one that 4 weeks really isnt enough notice for you to be able to garner a strong 'gay' presence.

Was great seeing you at Phoenix also :)

Regards,

Lee