To put it simply, most of them. At the same time, a lot of people saw the value in being able to do business at the AEE show. CES was one of the big wrenches in the gears though.

To be honest, we made some major missteps with that show. It wasn't because we were trying to screw anybody or ram anything down anyone's throat though. Obviously, there is value to facilitating business between the video and online industries and I would humbly suggest that no one is in a better position to do that than AVN. There were a lot of problems that occurred that we simply didn't forsee.

I've heard a lot of complaints. A lot of those complaints were from people who didn't even go to the show or were pre-disposed to think, this sucks. I've seen other outlets write that no one got any business done. I'd be happy to line up a number of people from our industry who made major deals in Vegas. Obviously, those other outlets have reason to write what they do. If I can ask anyone to do anything at this point, I'd say make sure you're thinking for yourself and asking questions. Don't believe everything you hear or read.

Anyway, I could go on and on about Internext, but the fact is this - we tried something and it didn't work. As it is one of our goals to try and help this industry grow we're going to try new things from time to time. They may not work. People may hate them. People may get on the wagon to bash us for it because that's the popular thing to do. But instead of sitting on our hands and giving you the same thing over and over and over, we're trying to be proactive.

Why are we moving it? We've solicited a lot of feedback and the majority of people have echoed the same words. We're trying to give the industry what it wants. So if next year's Vegas show sucks, you have no one to blame but your peers :1orglaugh
Just kidding. Next year's Internext will be much different than this year's event. Hopefully, you'll give us another chance and stop in.

In the meantime, the best show of the summer is coming up - Internext Miami. It's not at the same time as CES or any video show and it's not in Vegas. Hope to see you there.

Monty , get off the phone and answer the questions:1orglaugh

http://www.fubarwebmasters.com/curre...och/z03887.jpg

Yeah, more or less. Just think, if I would have finished, I could be directing porn now, instead of writing about it! :1orglaugh

No, I just made a decision and that was that my being a filmmaker wasn't a practical career choice. I was minoring in journalism and I found I was both good at it and I enjoyed it. The job market was a little more defined as well. I didn't particularly want to be a struggling filmmaker.

I was three credits shy, one class, of finishing my film degree, but I didn't want to go to school anymore to get that piece of paper. It's essentially useless. If I want to work in that industry, I could go PA for somone and work my way up, which is how everyone starts unless you go to USC Film School. I went to UWO Film School, not quite the same.

awesome interview Monty!!!! :)

It's the place to be. The weather, the beaches, the culture, the nightlife...
It's the first place I've lived in my life that felt like home.

Growing up in a small town just didn't fit me. My step-mother is from Milwaukee, which was always much more my style than Suring. I'm not a small town person. The country is nice to visit, but give me the city to live in. When I was a kid we had to drive 30 miles to find a department store. That always bothered me for some reason. Guess I felt isolated.

So complain about the traffic and the smog all you want, but I think L.A. is the best city on earth.

Odie!!! Those pics on the first page at the top are from the first night of the CRBash... after you got me drunk on all that wine :1orglaugh

Monty, fantastic interview so far... can't wait to read the rest!

xoxo

Edwards has been waiting for the answer for this one, so let me be succinct - because Jason Edwards lives there. :1orglaugh
Kidding.

I lived there for two years and while I dug the weather for the most part and lived in a great area (McDowell Mountain Ranch over by West World if you're in Phoenix) I found that there was something missing from Scottsdale. Namely, a soul.

When I think of North Scottsdale and I think of the places I would go when I lived there like Barcelona, the Fox Sports Grill, Goldies, etc., I would always run into the kind of person who thought they were better than everyone else. A lot of plastic surgery, a lot of dye-jobs, a lot of "what do you do for a living," a lot of pretention. I didn't dig it. Especially Barcelona, that fucking place makes me shudder in disgust to this day. If you ever go there, don't bother being yourself, just lie a lot and pretend to be a doctor.

Not to say that that area is all bad. Tempe is alright and I know some good people who live in Scottsdale. All of them moved there from somewhere else though, they have families and big homes.

And a word for Goldies - they have some fantastic calzones and mugs of beer as big as your skull.

Not sure I'll ever know the answer to that. Not sure I want to.
I hit what you could call a rough patch for a while. I fell in with a group that I soon discovered were junkies. Meth was their choice - no sleep for days at a time, scabs on their skin, using dull needles to get a fix, one dude I knew slept in this other dude's closet. It was all pretty fucked.

I saw some stuff I never want to be a part of again. The dude who slept in the closet, his girlfriend left him, took all his possessions, and disappeared. She was pregnant with his kid.
I saw two supposed best friends get in a fight and resort to swiping razor blades at each other. One of them got cut pretty bad.
Their dealer would have his glock sitting on the table pointed at you while he sat and counted his money.

Anyway, I was going through the country music song - lost my girl, lost my job, got a DUI, became depressed. Self medication seemed like the right answer as this was all going down, but then at some point you a hit a point lower than you've ever been and put on the brakes. It was kind of like a bolt of lightning hit. I asked myself what the hell I was doing, stopped feeling sorry for myself, gave up the medicine and decided I better get my shit together before I didn't have any shit to get together anymore.

With nothing to lose, I packed up and moved to L.A. It hasn't been all smooth, but I've been able to get back where I belong and headed in the right direction. I'm also much less of a moron these days :1orglaugh
Live and learn. It was one hell of a lesson, but it's stuff like this that makes you stronger. I'm glad I have it. It's motivation to kick ass everyday.

HAHAHA.. It's all true.

But I love it here.. i'm married and we have great friends that we hang with (outside the industry) at the spots in town.. especially Barcelona.

I love Barcelona.

If you are single in this town and don't have the $$$$, I heard the women are bitches and you'll get no action.

It's all about how you look really... Every local mag is filled with dentists,
surgeons, and personal trainers.. No one shops at the mall.. Its all boutiques.

Ironic thing about this place... Best place in town to eat (my opinion) is called "Ocean Club"

haha :1orglaugh


For the guys.. I dont know to much.. Tommy Bahamas for the older gents.

I spend most of my time at home.. It's like a nice hotel and resort. :upsidedow

Corvette can tell you about the women.

haha

I bet he hangs out at Barcelona :1orglaugh

keep going...

pretty girls in scottsdale are only for show ;)

ill have to check out Goldies

good interview

I gotta cut out for the day. My lady friend is one of the chosen people and today is Passover, so it's time for some eatin'

What's this doing on the second page?

*Bump* :winkwink:

Okay, first off, good interview.

Secondly, I'm not meaning to jack your thread, but there's a few things I just can't let go here.

Sorry man, I have to break this down so the point doesn't get lost.

How many people said CES was going to fuck things up? A TON of people. It wasn't a surprise to anyone that saw the one day overlap a year earlier. It shouldn't have been a wrench in the gears.

I'm not trying to bash AVN here, but people that say that AVN doesn't listen to the adult webmaster community may look at the last line here. You were TOLD by many people that running the three shows simultaneously wasn't going to work. If I'm not mistaken, SOME alternatives were suggested to bring the two industries together and keep the public out...during selected times. None of this advice was taken.

Assuming you're speaking of your competition here, I won't argue. They're in it for money, the same as AVN...which I, unlike many, don't have a problem with. We're all here to make money.

HOWEVER, if you're referring to anyone that went there knowing the show was going to be a clusterfuck, I disagree vehemently. I was pre-disposed to think the show was going to suck. Not because I was HOPING it would just so AVN would fail, but as I said, anyone that's been there before, knew it wasn't going to be pretty. I was also hoping I was going to be wrong. Oh, and when my wife isn't around, I do have to fend for myself in regards to that reading and thinking thing.

Certainly some deals were made as well, but I'm guessing in most cases this was done is spite of the way it was setup, not because of it.

This I don't have a problem with. Everyone makes mistakes, it's how you learn from them that defines your character or your company. AVN fucked up. So be it. I made a mistake once, and I probably will again someday.

But please don't assume that everyone that's bitching about something you ARE trying to do is a hater, or someone that has jumped on the bandwagon. I speak the truth and like to think that people respect me for that. If you do something good, I'll be the first to say so. If you fuck up, I'll mention it as well...usually in private. If you're about to make a big mistake, I'll point that out too and hope that you listen, or hope that I'm wrong.

Give me friends and associates anyday that will tell me the truth, no matter how hard it may be. That as opposed to the ones that just tell me how great I am out of fear of hurting my feelings, even when I'm setting myself up for failure. Not only will the first group of people have my respect, but they'll also be friends or associates of mine much longer than the second group ever would be.

I had little doubt that I would go back to Internext Vegas. Admittedly though, the attitude that AVN took in the following months was going to be the deciding factor.

AVN has stepped up prior to this thread and admitted to making a mistake and asking for feedback.

This thread being one... http://www.gofuckyourself.com/showthread.php?t=563149 and Farley asking for similiar feedback on Ynot radio being another.

Those are both steps in the right direction, and a big reason why I'm ready to book Vegas AS SOON AS THE DATES ARE FINALIZED. :winkwink: All most of us ask is that you listen when the majority of us are saying the same thing. It is our hard earned money going to attend your shows, and AVN trying to tell everyone "It's not going to be as bad as you think" isn't going to cut it next time.

That attitude will lead people to agree with those that say AVN doesn't listen and is only in this to make money.

I've said for a long time that Florida Internext is one of the best shows to attend so I'll surely be there. If we can't smoke there NEXT year, it might be a different story. :winkwink:

No doubt, one to read and follow up with too. Big pimpin with my LA homies!!

monty rocks

Alright, a couple more while I prepare for today's AVN Afternoons, which you should really check out - 1 PT on www.ynotradio.com
Aimee is going to take all her clothes off today. Unfortunately for you, I'll be the only one to see it. :1orglaugh

That sounds kind of arrogant. What kind of tool would make a statement like that? :1orglaugh

Here's what I was getting at. I was already working for one of the best newspapers in the state. They offered me a job when I graduated, but I told them straight out, I'm moving west. Thanks, but no thanks. I was fairly well connected in the journalism industry in Wisconsin, especially considering I was only 24. I knew some fairly powerful people, at least on a state level. Had I stayed there, I suspect I'd be editing a newspaper by now. The problem was, I'd wake up in January, it would still be dark outside, the wind would be blowing and it was 20-below. That depressed me. Made me want to sit in my warm house all day. I didn't want to feel like it was a chore to go outside and go to work.

So when you come to L.A., you realize something real quick - you're nobody. Everyone has a story. Everyone is striving to succeed. It's a cutthroat environment at times. There are 20 people fighting for the same piece of pie you're trying to get. Needless to say, life and work is much, much easier in Wisconsin. It's also much less challenging.

So give me the weather, give me the challenge and give me the rat race. I don't need to be well known. I only need to feel like I want to get out of bed in the morning, and that I do.

You mean Led Zeppelin?
Well, religion has let me down, friends have let me down, women have let me down, even my family has let me down from time to time, but Bobby, Jimmy, John and John have never let me down.

Seriously... Greatest. Band. Ever.

Their combination of the blues with hard rock, Jimmy's shredding, Bobby's wailing, Johnny's pounding, is just gorgeous.
I'm still unable to comprehend what people were thinking when the Zep dropped Led Zeppelin I in 1969. Put yourself in 1969 and listen to that album start to finish - you either wouldn't be able to comprehend what you just heard, or you'd be sitting there with your mouth agape and crap running down your drawers because you'd never envisioned anything like it before. That album changed the face of music forever.

Anyway, I could go on and on, but simply, for anytime and any mood, there's a Zeppelin song that goes with it. I think I'm feeling a little "Livin' Lovin' Maid" right now.

Rock!

nice interview

Every Wisconsinite is born with two duties:
1. Consume mass quantities of Wisconsin-made beer to support the local economy.
2. Live and die with the Green Bay Packers.

Fortunately, these two duties go very well together.
I love football. I love the Packers. If you know any Boston Red Sox fans, Packers fans are quite similar - just as adamant in their support, but not as foolish in their beliefs.
For instance, while every year is going to be a World Series year for the Red Sox, we're a little more realistic. Right now, we're down. I don't like it one bit, particularly when we lose to the Queens and those scabs from Chicago. This isn't how things are supposed to be.
However, I'll still show up every Sunday and stand behind my boys even if we're, say, 4-12. Along the way I'll probably hurl a few choice epithets at the television. For instance, "Favre you fucking dick, if you throw another pick I'm going to kill you!"
Packers fans stick together as well. Here I am in L.A. and I can go to just about any bar on Sunday and sit with 20 Packers fans. We travel well, as they say. I went to a game in San Diego a few years ago. I was in the fifth row, turned around and looked at the stands and I only saw two people sporting Chargers shirts. The rest was all green and gold. I was a little dumbfounded. Cameraderie is a big part of it.

So let me break down the 2006 version of the team as it stands right now:

Our offensive line has holes at the guard positions, which doesn't bode well for our running game. We haven't replaced Mike Wahle and Marco Rivera yet.

Javon Walker wants to hold out again for more money. If we end up trading that pussy, then we don't have a #1 receiver anymore, unless we get one in return.

Our defense improved immediately the moment we signed Ryan Pickett, but we still need another playmaker at linebacker other than Nick Barnett.

If we could sign Charles Woodson, Lavar Arrington and somehow draft D'Brickshaw Ferguson, and Favre decided to play another year, I like our chances in the NFC North. That's a lot of ifs.

But we have a saying -

Win or lose, we'll still booze! Go Pack Go!

Here's a funny, and also depressing, fact I was going to mention with that last one.
On days when the Packers lose, domestic abuse calls go up something like 50% in Wisconsin.

I may be off on the number, but you get the point.

Maybe that was a joke in the general sense.
As far as this industry goes though, I like to have a good time as much as the next guy, but being respectful towards others and keeping my main focus on this business are at the top of my priority list. I hope that translates.

A Jeep Cherokee. It's forest green. I call it tank, mostly because it drives like one.
I don't have any pics because it's 1. not terribly impressive and 2. I don't need my car to say anything about me.

You know what they say about guys who drive Mustangs, don't you ladies? :1orglaugh

Hollywood. I have a swell apartment in the La Brea/Melrose area. Mostly families live in my neighborhood. They probably don't like us much.

I have a roommate who I've known since college. When I first moved out here, we were both pretty poor and we shared a studio apartment in the dumpy part of Hollywood. Those are non-affectionately referred to as "The Dark Days."

The only problem I have with living in Hollywood is commuting everyday to Chatsworth. Although, it gives me time to listen to music and smoke cigarettes.

iron maiden - wow that takes me back. hard core shit. i grew up in a small, blue collar town in ontario. lots of fans of iron maiden. ozzy's and metallica that's the good stuff imho. have you checked out their site?
http://www.ironmaiden.com/

:winkwink:

ROFL! I like those places. :/

Hahahahahahaha! Because that's really hard work.
I did it for five years during high school and college. Manual labor isn't any fun. It's one reason why guys go directly to the bar after they punch out. It beats you down physically and isn't very stimulating mentally.
Props to my dad for stepping up and running his own business - his parents were farmers - but I much prefer an office and a desk.

Although I wasn't too fond of working construction, it taught me two things. First, that I really needed to go to college so I could get a job using my head rather than my hands. Second, how to wield the tools. Need someone to rewire your house, let's talk. :1orglaugh

Iron Maiden appears to be on the road.
Is Bruce Dickinson still with them? I know he did some solo stuff for a while. That can guy can wail.

150...........

okay, I have read it all . . . don't leave us hangin'

I'm gonna finish this today if it kills me. Is there an award for taking the longest time to do your ambush? I suspect I could drag it out a few more days if necessary...

This was my first year in Phoenix, which was pretty dope. However, my favorite show to date, other than Miami, which is my favorite show overall, is Webmaster Access LA.
Last year's event was hot, in a great location, a lot of fun and had good business opps. There's something to be said for having a show in your own backyard. I didn't have to stay in a hotel, which was nice, since I'm staying a hotel somewhere every month right now. Granted, there was a lot of chauffering and entertaining involved, but I don't mind those things.

Big ups to Eric and Joe for putting on great shows. I'm already looking forward to this year's LA event. :thumbsup

Loaded question.

Who I look up to is easy, but it's a long list.

First, Paul Fishbein. A lot of people don't want to give him credit for what he's done for the adult industry. The guy's been busting his ass for over 20 years. He's always professional and frankly, has one of the smartest business minds I know of. Plus, he lets me do what I do. Nothing but respect.

Steven Hirsch is brilliant and can seemingly see years down the road. I think that's amazing.

Steve Lightspeed - when I came into this industry, he wasn't too fond of AVN. Thankfully, that's changed, but he was always nothing but gracious and helpful. I owe a lot to Steve for his insight, his advice and especially for giving me a chance when he had no reason to. Oh, and for letting me hang out with Taylor :1orglaugh

Joe and Eric. They've set the business standard in the online world. The Playboy deal confirms that.

Platinum Dave, what can I say? He does it right. Again, one of most gracious people I know. Success hasn't spoiled him, other than perhaps his wine snobbishness :1orglaugh

Lori Z and Leslie Sharp. Not to lump these two together, but they've both given me a lot of knowledge and help along the way. I wouldn't be where I am without them. Two brilliant women. They've both gone through some ups and downs, but always rise to the top.

Mike Hawk, who despite his crazy board posts, is a gentleman and, more impressively, a survivor. I appreciate his support.

The guys who will never let me take them to lunch because they're always working - Arthur at Meatcash and Jax at SugarDVD. There's something to be said for working as hard as these guys do.

The entire team at Epoch - I don't know if there's a better run operation out there.

Greg Clayman who is an innovator and a great businessman. He was also the first big company owner to talk to me when I came to AVN. I think that says something about him as a person.

Lars, who I could say the same things as I say about Greg. Just a great guy, and there's something to be said for individuality.

As for who I look down on, that's not really something I dwell upon, but any individual or business that tries to build their name by taking shots at another, well, I can't say I have much respect for that.

great answers so far Monty!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No. No. No.
Certain people, not necessarily performers, do pretend to be your friend because of what you can do for them. Luckily, I can smell bullshit from a mile away.

Very cool interview.

Well, I love a challenge :1orglaugh
That would explain a lot of the women I date.

As far as looks go, I like something a little different. Sexy is more important than beautiful or hot. Sex appeal goes a long way in my book.
I don't like cookie-cutter women. If you shop at Abercrombie, you probably shouldn't bother applying.

Intelligence is sexy. Individuality is sexy. Style is sexy. Strength is sexy.

And for the record, I am a leg man.

As for the rest, I'll leave that to speculation.

Come on baby you are almost there!