Ok...yea...I called myself a nobody. But, in this industry, I definitely am. I've been to other conferences (as part of my 'mainstream' carreer) where I've been one of the conference 'celebrities,' but since Xbiz Hollywood has nothing to do with Voice Over IP, this was not the case.
We showed up to our first industry conference looking for affiliates for our site (shameless plug) Party Girl Poker dot com, leads for DVD distribution for our first 2 DVD's, and potential investors. And while we did make some good contacts and had a good time overall, it was definitely not what I expected. How was it then? In a word...overwhelming.
The first night, we came to play poker and were hoping to win, or at least make it to the final table (we are a poker related website after all). That didn't happen, but we had a good time and were able to familiarize ourselves with the layout of the place. Rule of thumb...don't get drunk to play poker...it's an easy way to lose.
The seminars on Wednesday and Thursday were pretty good. Some decent information, but nothing surprising or shocking. Sometime during the first day's worth of seminars, I realized that the real reason people go to these is not for the seminars, but rather to network with the people out in the hallway. Everytime the door would open to let someone in or out of any seminar, the noise level outside sounded like a party compared to the relative serenity of the panels.
The Xbiz Awards show was also good, but having learned the above lesson, I opted to sit outside and talk to people rather than watch the awards show. You couldn't hear what was happening over the noise anyway. We got to meet and talk to Evan Stone for a while which was a highlight for us...still starstruck by the industry we now consider ourselves a part of. We also ran into some of the girls from our shoots which is always nice as well.
So what did I learn? What did I get for my $200.00 admission price besides 4 free drink tickets?
1. The real action happens in the hallways. Being our first conference, and not knowing anyone in the industry definitely hampered our efforts, but now I know...screw the seminars and work the hallway.
2. This business is about who you know. Looking around, it appeared that everyone knew everyone else. But now I have made some contacts, and perhaps next time, I won't feel like the red-headed stepchild sitting alone in the corner at a family reunion.
3. A lot less ponytails than expected. 95% of the people I met were cool, down to earth regular guys and gals that just happened to work in the adult industry. I was expecting a lot more douchebags...but that was not the case. Although I did get the blow-off from my lawyer (name omitted)...I guess when I'm not spending $450/hour I'm a pain in the ass.
All in all, great conference, and I'll take what I learned to the next one...ready to build contacts and kick some ass.
Oh...one side note...probably the best part of the conference for me was the speed networking. I highly recommend it to everyone...ESPECIALLY if you're a nobody.
We showed up to our first industry conference looking for affiliates for our site (shameless plug) Party Girl Poker dot com, leads for DVD distribution for our first 2 DVD's, and potential investors. And while we did make some good contacts and had a good time overall, it was definitely not what I expected. How was it then? In a word...overwhelming.
The first night, we came to play poker and were hoping to win, or at least make it to the final table (we are a poker related website after all). That didn't happen, but we had a good time and were able to familiarize ourselves with the layout of the place. Rule of thumb...don't get drunk to play poker...it's an easy way to lose.
The seminars on Wednesday and Thursday were pretty good. Some decent information, but nothing surprising or shocking. Sometime during the first day's worth of seminars, I realized that the real reason people go to these is not for the seminars, but rather to network with the people out in the hallway. Everytime the door would open to let someone in or out of any seminar, the noise level outside sounded like a party compared to the relative serenity of the panels.
The Xbiz Awards show was also good, but having learned the above lesson, I opted to sit outside and talk to people rather than watch the awards show. You couldn't hear what was happening over the noise anyway. We got to meet and talk to Evan Stone for a while which was a highlight for us...still starstruck by the industry we now consider ourselves a part of. We also ran into some of the girls from our shoots which is always nice as well.
So what did I learn? What did I get for my $200.00 admission price besides 4 free drink tickets?
1. The real action happens in the hallways. Being our first conference, and not knowing anyone in the industry definitely hampered our efforts, but now I know...screw the seminars and work the hallway.
2. This business is about who you know. Looking around, it appeared that everyone knew everyone else. But now I have made some contacts, and perhaps next time, I won't feel like the red-headed stepchild sitting alone in the corner at a family reunion.
3. A lot less ponytails than expected. 95% of the people I met were cool, down to earth regular guys and gals that just happened to work in the adult industry. I was expecting a lot more douchebags...but that was not the case. Although I did get the blow-off from my lawyer (name omitted)...I guess when I'm not spending $450/hour I'm a pain in the ass.
All in all, great conference, and I'll take what I learned to the next one...ready to build contacts and kick some ass.
Oh...one side note...probably the best part of the conference for me was the speed networking. I highly recommend it to everyone...ESPECIALLY if you're a nobody.
See you in Phx 
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