And here it is the third and final day of the Phoenix Forum. I'm coming to you from the lobby by the elevators on the third floor, one of the only places I seem to be able to get wireless inside the motel. The Lightspeed Dodgeball Tournament is going on right now, and we have a prime view from my room's window, so we're sitting on the ledge smoking some pot and watching the game. Not bad for a bunch of silly-headed straight girls, but in the end, the game doesn't really hold my interest as a gay man. Go figure.

It's been a great show so far. Have really enjoyed myself. The great thing about the Phoenix Forum is that it truly brings people together in a way in which they are kind of "forced" to be together. Most of the parties are scheduled on-site, or just around the corner (except for a few of the gay ones, which took place in downtown Phoenix), so you're always running into people in the courtyard or by the pool. It's truly a great "social" show.

Yesterday's keynote speech with Keith Ferrazzi was great. He stressed the importance of authenticity, intimacy and generosity, thing I think that every one of us can afford to focus on harder. I think it came as a surprise to some of the straight dudes in the audience that the amiable, well-spoken dude on stage turned out to be gay (which he casually revealed mid-way through his very amusing, heartfelt speech), but I thought it was awesome in a subversive-but-non-subversive sort of way. He was just out there, and people--regardless of whether they were gay or straight--just totally gravitated toward him.

There have been some great seminars so far. I enjoyed yesterday's "Cover Your Ass(ets)" seminar, and today's "Traffic School" seminar (featuring Maleflixxx's Mary Gillis and Badpuppy's Lisa Turner, among others) was rather interesting. Of course, the most promising seminar was today's "State of the Industry" seminar, on which Lee served as a panelist along with Video Secret's Greg Clayman, Tony Morgan, Legendary Lars, et al. Lee was quite well-spoken (nice job, Lee), and the topics broached by moderator Johnny V (of Wildline!) were pretty good. Just wish these folks would touch on some of the stuff that I think is really important about the industry: the social aspects of it and difference of doing it for money versus love. But anyway, I digress... The cool thing was that I was inspired enough to jot down several of my own ideas for interesting seminars, so who knows... you might see a couple of them coming up at future shows.

Our "Phoenix Forum Daily" continued to be a huge hit at the show. I can't tell you how many compliments we've had on this from just about everyone I've met. Everyone loves to be able to open up the Daily and look to see if that picture of them at last night's party made it into print, but beyond that, it created a sense of importance for the show, and, I think, represented a strong commitment on AVN Online's part to foster a truly productive, strong relationship with CCBill, among the many other companies who helped sponsor the Daily.

There's been a little bit of a controversy with one gay company throwing its own private off-site, invite-only parties. Several people at last night's Gay Webmaster Mixer in the hotel bar commented that they felt it splintered the gay quotient, and they were right, of course. I reckon the other gay party wasn't that hotly attended, though, since there were fewer gay people at this year's Forum than there have been in the past. Yet I feel like we were a strong presence here just the same. There was a lot of talk about gay traffic in the "Traffic School" seminar this morning, and there have a been a lot of straight people at the gay parties. Obviously, they recognize that A) we are good business people with valuable traffic that converts and rebills, but also B) that we just throw better fucking parties!

There have been some ADORABLE boys here. I met two last night that I was particularly ga-ga for. Kudos to the folks who hired that hot little guy Richie. Can we say yum? I also met a really hot guy the other night that I was developing a great rapport with before some drunken asswipe came over and totally stole him away from me by grabbing him and planting a kiss on him asa dare. Sheesh! These fags today. No sense of courtesy or respect anymore. Right, Jasun? <wink>

All in all, the show has been great. I've met some new people, strengthened my relationships with others, reaffirmed the importance of being a stand-up, authentic guy who believes in the importance of strong values and community (and got a great idea for my next "Gaydar" column in the process), and enjoyed seeing the industry come together in such a social forum. Those of you who didn't make it this year have missed out on a solid show with a lot to offer. In other words, "Having a great time; wish you were here!"

OK, that's my daily update. Hope you had fun reading. I had a great time writing it. Tonight it's off to the last few parties, then up early in the morning to catch a morning flight back to L.A.

Catch you folks, later!

Ken