I don't know if I'm the only one that thinks this way, but in my mind, it's completely ridiculous for a bunch of Epoch employees to register at GWW jam the GWW ballot box to vote for Epoch and then just leave, never to be heard from again, just as it's ridiculous for CCBill employees at GWW (regular or otherwise) to be voting for CCBill. At the end of the day, the truth comes from the *users* of both services, and they are the only ones qualified to judge. Stuffing the ballot box is just childish and stupid, and glowing support messages from people who have a vested interest from cosponsorship deals are equally transparent and stupid.
Folks, this bickering isn't doing anyone in the industry any good. Epoch fired the initial volley when they stole Patrick from CCBill. They've fired another volley by locking CCBill out of the AVN shows, which is simply an appalling move. CCBill has long courted and supported gay business, and while Epoch has always been happy to have it, it hasn't been a priority until recently, and now they're aggressively going after it. Competition based on providing better services or better pricing is fine; using underhanded tactics like trying to shut out your competitors is not.
Honestly, Epoch and CCBill are our ONLY TWO VIABLE US-BASED PROCESSORS. (I don't count 365Billing, SegPay, Ynot Billing, or any of the others.) BOTH processors need our support. They BOTH need to be strong, healthy processors. Losing either one would be disastrous for our industry.
Ditto trade shows. AVN has a long history of putting on shows, and while they have some problems, as long as they play fairly, they deserve our support. CCBill stepped in and took the struggling Phoenix Forum and turned it into a world-class event. They, too deserve our support.
But this crap with taking sides and lining up behind Epoch/AVN or CCBill or whatever serves no one's best interest.
Scheduling a new show within two weeks of an existing one doesn't serve anyone's best interest either.
Limiting who can sponsor a show doesn't serve anyone's interest.
We need to unite, not to divide. The adult business is exceptional and probably unique in that if people look at it correctly, there really are no competitors; we can all make money from each other if we do it right.
Particularly now, with the loser Bush administration people doing all sorts of nasty things to try to disrupt our industry and .xxx looming, it's wrong for companies to be doing things that pull the industry apart.
The industry is not in a position to be able to boycott one or another of the companies involved, but if it was, I would be saying "Send your business to the people who are promoting unity and growth in our community, not people who are trying to destroy other events, limit webmasters access to information and choice, and create friction and divides within our field.
We need these companies to be role models of how we in the industry should work together, not a bunch of egos who are sniping at one another. Are you listening?
Does anyone else agree with me?
Bookmarks