Originally Posted by Greg Jacobson

I guess they have not thought about this crucial ingredient because they still have not responded.

Originally Posted by poppy

Thanks for the update Aly!

Originally Posted by JFK

All the ranting and raving will not change the basic principles of the show. They are there to make $$$$$$$$$$$ There is nothing wrong with that. Lets face it Internext brings the people in and anyone who is there is able to do business because of it.No one is forcing anyone to get big fancy booths, that is the choice of the exhibitors. For a $250 admission fee you have the potential to do as much business as those guys. So dont worry about what Intenext makes, take care of your own bottom line......... :2 cents:

Originally Posted by Juicy D. Links

:1orglaugh :1orglaugh :1orglaugh

Originally Posted by JFK

All the ranting and raving will not change the basic principles of the show. They are there to make $$$$$$$$$$$ There is nothing wrong with that. Lets face it Internext brings the people in and anyone who is there is able to do business because of it.No one is forcing anyone to get big fancy booths, that is the choice of the exhibitors. For a $250 admission fee you have the potential to do as much business as those guys. So dont worry about what Intenext makes, take care of your own bottom line......... :2 cents:

Originally Posted by Big E

Something that should also be figured in all this money is the kickback AVN probably receives on each room from the hotel. Why on earth would you hold a convention in Florida in the summer? Same reason for Vegas in January. (both off-season).

I don't knock them for trying to extract every possible dollar, but I'd rather they put more back into the show (never happen though). :-/

Originally Posted by XPays

Hi Aly,

First, a completely random pic from when we used to do the show:

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Now a suggestion for all tradeshow providers. I registered for adtech free. Once it is a month before the big week, they jack the price up rediculously. It is a good combo and they pre-registered approx 40k attendees. Now they will bang the shit out of all of the people who decide last minute to go to adtech to meet up with one of those 40k pre-reg'd people....

Anyway, a hybrid of free and paid in the last month is the way to think outside the box and still the bang the shit our of everyone like you should since it is a for-profit enterprise in the first place. Begrudging tradeshows for making money is retarded. That is like being critical of american idol for guerilla marketing.

And now another completely random pic from an avn show:

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And now for a head's up that we have a pretty surprising model site coming out shortly. She is a crossover....

Peas Out!

Originally Posted by tony404

Youre a cool dude and a real nice guy but low on credibility in this considering you make your living from going to the shows and taking pictures lol

Originally Posted by Aly_AVN

LOL... 'They' had a meeting with the Internext managers to address this crucial issue!

I'm of course your strongest advocate, Juicy, but so far I haven't managed to sway them on the 'no-badge, no-entrance' thing. I wonder if we could convince a sponsor to rent a big limo for such things and park it right outside the hotel... 'Juicy's Brothel on Wheels' perhaps?! Good times! :thumbsup

Originally Posted by Big Ray

Aly,

What is the expected attendance figures for Summer Internext?

What were last years?

What are you doing to improve attendance that you haven't done in the past?

Originally Posted by Aly_AVN

There has been quite a lot of response to the new format and pricing of Summer Internext in Florida this year.

The primary concern people have is that the event now charges a flat admission fee to all attendees, as opposed to those just going to the convention floor or seminars.

It's understandable that such a change is going to cause a strong response from all sides. Some love it, some hate it...

So, I'm here to outline a few of the key benefits to the new format.

Feel free to email me - [email protected] if you want to communicate personally... or look for me this week at the Phoenix Forum. :thumbsup

**
Here are some of the key features and benefits the Summer Internext Conference has added since last year:

- They've paid the hotel a lump sum for wireless Internet access to be turned on in every possible corner of the property. Meeting space, the exhibit hall, seminar rooms, the lobby, restaurants, swimming pool....etc. This allows for all attendees to do get online freely.

- They're building up the Seminar program so that it is on par with what is now done at the Vegas show. Typically the summer event has only had 6 or 7 seminars. This year there will be a full seminar program, designed to deliver the same educational value that people have come to expect from the larger Winter event.

- They will be providing complimentary Breakfast (in the Feature Pavilion/Exhibit Hall foyer) and Lunch outside the seminar room.

- They are shutting down the entire Diplomat Resort for Internext. Other than the convention center lobby (registration area), no one will set foot on hotel property without a badge. This is a tremendous benefit to all show participants. This is an exclusive Industry event. Only those individuals who are looking to do business will be there.

- As requested, they are mailing badges out prior to the event to all pre-registered show goers. This will cut down the wait time on-site.

Overall this event is about ACCESS.
Participants pay for a badge that grants them access to the market they want to reach ? the people they want to do business with, access to the seminars, access to parties, access to do business without restriction anywhere and anytime. The point is, once you get the badge - the entire resort property becomes your business forum. You are paying for access and Internext is creating the optimal atmosphere conducive to your business needs.

- There are also other networking events currently being designed to offer additional benefits to all attendees.


Changing the show is a risk, but it's one that's been built around feedback from the Industry. In my opinion, that's worth trying. :thumbsup

Originally Posted by Aly_AVN

We're anticipating 3500 or so this year. Last year was around 3000. We have to plan for an increase or there won't be enough lunch to go around... ;)

Originally Posted by Lord of the fungi

How do you estimate the lunches based on potentially 3500 let alone 3000 webmasters?

Originally Posted by Sly

Call me stupid... but I just spent a weekend in Phoenix basically for free. I paid the hotel room of course, but sponsors pretty much paid for everything else. There was food, drinks, parties, games, activities, seminars, give-aways, etc, etc, etc, etc, and I didn't pay one penny towards a registration fee. I'm not against businesses making money by any means, but what exactly are these registration fees going towards? Is there some huge hidden fee that AVN is charged by the United States Government that all the other shows get a "get out of jail free" card from?

Originally Posted by Aly_AVN

I certainly won't call you stupid! :winkwink:

I don't have a full list of Internext costs to hand but, to name a few: the show has a huge contract with the hotel that includes lower room rates but makes the show liable for all rooms whether they're sold or not... this also includes fees for shutting hotel propreties off from the general public... the bars and restaurants and so on - it's kind of like a rental fee to rent an entire hotel; there's a seperate fee to rent the convention centre; there's a large insurance fee; temps are hired to run registration; a seperate company is hired to manage the online and on-site registration process; a decorator and labour are paid to deal with exhibits and signage etc; breakfast and lunch is included each day (which may be sponsored, but only in part because it's very steep); medics are paid to be on site incase of an emergency; there's a fee for setting up wireless coverage across the property; there's a strong marketing push, which costs money; there's also the overhead involved with running a trade show business... attorneys, salaries, health benefits, office space etc.

I guarantee I'm missing a lot, but there are indeed costs to do this sort of thing.

Originally Posted by ronaldo

Holy CRAP!

That sounds like a lot of work just to get the show together Aly.

But, uh, what exactly do YOU do again?? :winkwink:

Originally Posted by APN Philip

I think you have to ask yourself, are you going for business or is this a friggin vacation for you and your family? This is a "tradeshow" after all, and I'm not sure what business a family has attending this event. Ya, $250/person is expensive considering the spouse and kids aren't even going to the seminars or trade floor...but c'mon, if you want to spend time with them, meet them AFTER the show.

And I don't have kids myself, but judging from the nakedness at last year's show, there's no way in hell I would bring a child to an Adult show unless the kid was blindfolded the entire time.

As for those business attendees bitching about the price: whether it's $2.50, $250.00, or $2500.00, remember you can write it off as a business expense. And if you are dead set on bringing the spouse, have him/her hand out flyers -- then write it off as an expense as well.

Furthermore, it's not about the quantity of attendees, it's the quality of attendees. And judging from the effort that the AVN team has been putting in, the show is going to rock! AVN is attempting to reinvent the show based on all of our feedback. I too didn't care for the Florida show and thought Internext had been on a downward spiral for years. We were so concerned, Chandie and I recently had some AVN folks down for dinner just to speak our mind about it. And you know what? They listened! They have made some big changes. AVN is going to be a big show with the feel of a small show. Fun events, great information, and the chance to do business with the leaders in our industry. $250 is a bargain IMO, and for those that disagree with me, I have 3 words for you:


Oh btw, hi Aly! Hope your allergies are better! ;-)

Originally Posted by lesbodojo

Thank you for the update, sweetie. It was great seeing you (albeit brief) in AZ. xoxo

Originally Posted by AdultX

Aly i have a question, i usually send alot of models to the convention for shoots. There are tons of producers who shoot every day in their rooms. So are you saying that if a model wants to get a shoot with a producer in the hotel she has to pay $250 for a badge to goto a shoot that could be $300?? That is not fair to all the local talent down here who usually shoot at the conventions.

Also some of them just show up and get shoots when the producers see them, i myself have brought 5 or 6 girls with me at a time.

Isn't there a way to have special access for models who have shoots or models looking for shoots?

Originally Posted by amacontent

I love you Aly but Im done with Internext after the FIASCO that was called INternext in Vegas. I spent $22,000 on my space alone and was promised a good spot, which I had no idea what the spot was gonna be like. Well it turned out I was almost in an alley in the part where not many people went.
On top of everything NO ONE could barely get into the show the 1st day because of the IDIOTIC way things were set up for admissions. The floor was empty the entire 1st day.
This along with both shows overlapping was uterrly rediculous. I may as well have just stood on top of the hotel and tossed $30,000 off the roof or at least bet it on black. The show was a disgrace and a step backwards. Im just gonna stick to AVN. Just buy my tickets for Internext.

Originally Posted by BradShaw

Shoot your content at a studio, not at a business convention you idiots.

Originally Posted by SexkeyCraig

Hey Aly,
Great seeing you at the show in Phoenix. I have something we learned at our parties this past weekend.

Instead of relying on the badge alone for security, add a heavy plastic wristband, so badges can't be traded out. You will cut down heavily on the people that bring others in.

In the 4 parties we had over the last 4 days, the only issues at the parties were people who had snuck into the hotel, and two of them had badges they either found or had "aquired"

The benefit is you can't lose a wrist band, and can't give it away.

Good luck, and can't wait!

Originally Posted by BradShaw

Shoot your content at a studio, not at a business convention you idiots.