girlie,
I just checked out the site. To be honest, I like sites that have a light colored background as opposed to the dark blackground, so I'm kinda partial to your previous design. When I see dark blackgrounds I kinda feel a preconception of a site being less open and honest so to speak. Light has always connotated "good" so it makes sense to me that light colored backgrounds would make surfers more willing to bust out with the plastic and share the wealth so to speak.
I dont have any evidence of whether or not dark vs light background converts better or not, but I just have a hunch
Ever consider doing a convention tour?
(tour1.html, tour2.html, etc.)
Overall looks great though,
Kush