Industry Conferences and Trade Shows

[Dzinerbear]

After visiting Internext for the first time, I see that there's a whole raft of conferences out there geared at our industry:

Internext - Vegas
Internext - Florida
Phoenix Forum
Cybernet Expo
Webmaster Access
GayAVN Awards
Venus - Berlin
AOE - Prague

And I'm sure others.

If you could only choose three to attend over the course of a year, which would they be and why?

Equally helpful: For the ones you'd opt out of, why?

Cheers
Dzinerbear

[Lee]

Originally posted by Dzinerbear
If you could only choose three to attend over the course of a year, which would they be and why?

Internext - Vegas
Internext - Florida
Phoenix Forum

As a company for the last 4 years we hav only attended the three shows mentioned above for the simple reason that we get more business done at them than any of the others we have attended.

The Vegas show, whilst probably the largest, is, im sure you will agree, limited by the amount of time you get to spend with people often because, everyone wants to see everyone else.

The Florida show, is much more relaxed than the Vegas show and you actually can get a little more business done there plus, for us, its only a 3 hour drive away so we have no excuse NOT to attend LOL

The Phoenix gathering is without a doubt our favorite event of the year, the last 2 Phoenix Forums we have attended have been extremely productive from a business standpoint and i honestly do beleive that is due to the whole atmosphere of the gathering itself.

This year, we are also considering the San Diego show for the first time whilst it has been a Cybernet show, we did San Diego events in the past when they were strictly 'gay' orientated and got to see our friends and business associates whom we hadnt seen for a while. From what i hear of the last San Diego show there wasnt a huge 'gay presence' at it but im hoping that wont be the case this time around.

I think the main thing to consider no matter how few or how many shows you attend as an individual or, as a company is that you MUST come back from everyone with at least 1 peice of business oterwise, they just arent worth going to.

Regards,

Lee

[krusher]

I have never been to any events. I was thinking about attending the florida show. I have seen people mentioning it, but I don not know where in florida it is at. Can somebody tell me what city it is in?

[Lee]

Originally posted by krusher
I have never been to any events. I was thinking about attending the florida show. I have seen people mentioning it, but I don not know where in florida it is at. Can somebody tell me what city it is in?

Krusher,

The Florida conference is in Hollywood.

You can find some more information about the conference at:

http://www.internextconference.com

Regards,

Lee

[djdez]

I would have to agree with Lee on Internext vegas, Internext Hollywood and Phoenix Forum.

We've been to other gatherings before and none of them proved as fruitful as the other three.

[Mamakity]

Internext Vegas was cool but not so much for the seminars, much of what I heard in the seminars had to be explained to me afterwards. The networking at Internext was terrific. I learned the most there. I enjoyed Cybernet Expo seminars the most. I have not attended any other's however Phoenix is looking likely.

For me though, Cybernet was just what I needed when I needd it most. I gained much of my foundation there. The seminars were conducted in a manner unlike Internext yet similar.

IMO, Cybernet was about teaching and helping people understand the business. LAJ from YNOT was moderator at many of the talks and he was so good at defining webmaster lingo and also reminding the panel to speak English. There was alot of Q & A at the end of each "class". It also seemed that there were people in place after the seminars who were there only to help out and answer any linguring questions one might have. It is a much smaller venue then Internext so maybe that's why.

I can not comment on the others as I said, but God willing I will be at Phoenix. I hear great things about it.:kitten:

P.S.
But what do I know I'm just a newb.

[EonFilms_Rocky]

Phoenix Forum is great. Much more of a relaxed atmosphere. I was able to get more business done in between seminars there than anywhere else.. even though we were stranded at Dick's Cabaret for about an hour while I tried to flag down a cab in a pretty questionable neighborhood at 2am...

Regardless, the Internext conventions are a great place to meet new people and exchange cards. The Phoenix Frum is a great place to talk to them in person, hang out with them and develop relationships in a more relaxed setting. I live in San Diego and I gladly travel to Phoenix, Vegas and Hollywood, FL each year for these events.

Rocky

[Dzinerbear]

Has anyone been to AOE in Prague?

Dzinerbear

[dirtygeek]

i would have to say Internext in vegas was the one that i loved. although, i've never been to the Florida or Phoenix show, i hear they are great and worth going.

[Dzinerbear]

I just wondering about the lack of interest in the European shows. Is it because Americans tend to only think about "the world market" as being the U.S.? (You know, like calling baseball's championship game the World Series, when it's really just the U.S. Series.) Or is it because online porn in Europe is still in its infancy and we aren't all that interested yet? Or is it because it's too far and too expensive?

Any ideas. MANcheck's trying to put together a budget for the next couple of years on what we'd like to do. We've been to Venus, which was very, very big on DVD. But we're thinking about AOE in Prague and wondering about it.

Cheers
Dzinerbear

[chadknowslaw]

I have already bought my tickets to Prague. It really is not that expensive, I got a round-trip flight for less than $850 USD. With just 2 Internext under my belt, I still feel very new but I have found that I can do very good networking and relationship building at these events. Showing up, and showing up consistently, demonstrates that I am sincerely here to be part of the business.

It doesn't take much to get into the business, but I think it takes guts, hard work and committment to stay in it.

So far, every event I have attended has somehow paid for itself in increased business.

I can even say I have made some good friends along the way!