Robbie - time for CR Bash revisited - perhaps we should put our heads together and see about getting it back rolling - you interested?

My "lifestyle" is I have two kids. A yard I mow. Two german shepards I play with. I get up every morning, eat a bowl of oatmeal. Go to the gym. Come home. Come out here to my office casita by my pool and eat lunch in front of my computer. I work all day. At night I go in and eat dinner with wife and kids. I watch some t.v., I take a bath, I fuck the hell out of Claudia-Marie. I go to sleep around 2 a.m. watching CNN on television.

Rinse and repeat the whole week.

It sounds boring. But I love to work.

On the weekends I like to go out. On Friday I went and saw NightRanger at the Santa Fe Station and then went to The Hilton at 10 p.m. to make fun of the trekkies at the Star Trek convention. Then I stopped at Feelgoods bar and watched metal band play.

I was home by 1 a.m.

I didn't go out on Saturday night. I took CM to the movies and watched "The Other Guys" Then we came home and spent the evening with the kids.

Today I mowed the yard. Then I did the latest update for Claudia-Marie.Com which I'm uploading right now and will be LIVE in the next 30 minutes.

And then I'm going in to eat dinner and watch True Blood.

Yes, that's my "crazy" lifestyle.

But when I go to a porn convention...I'd LIKE to be able to have some damn crazy fun for a couple of days. heh-heh

That's the kind of things that should be happening. Last Miami show I spent around 6 grand flying in, room, badges, the overpriced food, the overpriced drinks, taxis, etc.

Being in Cancun or Costa Rica for the price of a plane ticket is one helluva much better deal.

dude your missing my point for the last 4 pages.

not EVERYONE wants to go to a show to PARTY no matter the price. If i want to go on vacation why the FUCK would i want to spend it with the avg GFY'er? The LAST people i want to spend it with is Industry people. 99% of people in this business are fucking IDIOTS. If it were not for porn they would be flipping burgers at BK. just look at 99% of the threads on this board "barfootsie this" and "Mr frisky that" Jesus why would i want to spend 4 days anywhere with the cry babies in this biz. In the OLD days MEN were fucking MEN. we didnt cry to MODS when someone pissed on us. we didnt start this frivolous BS crap. we PISSED to PISS and made money doing it. THATS why i enjoyed shows then and DONT enjoy shows now.

THAT is my point. for ME shows are about BUSINESS NOT FUN. this industry is about MONEY PERIOD. its a shame. i had a lot of fun back then but i enjoy my life way more now.

so PLEASE except the fact and understand NOT EVERYONE IS LIKE YOU.

thank you

Keith almost put it back together earlier this year. Matter of fact, my passport had expired in Nov. and I went and had one expedited because I was going to Costa Rica.

Then at the last moment they had a sponsor fall through and canceled it. But Keith knows more about that than I do. And who knows? Maybe he has it in his mind to do it in 2011?

i never attended that show but i would assume it was cheap because sponsors ponied up most of the money for the show for the attendees

if that is true you will be hard press to find sponsors willing to drop that kind of coin today. The ROI is simply not there

:2 cents:

So you'd RATHER over pay to go to a convention than go to an all inclusive convention that doesn't cost as much?

Okay. Good luck to you in your business. I'll stick to keeping costs down while increasing revenues.

Forest, it's dirt cheap to do things in places like Costa Rica. That's why they did it there. Even if you just moved the AVN show there without sponsors footing the bill....it would be a lot more pleasant (gorgeous scenery) and MUCH cheaper for the attendees.

this is too funny

how the fuck do you know WHAT i spend at a convention

do you always assume so much and make such general statements?

I'll talk with him mañana.

Dam Robbie you can be frustrating.

Forest just tried to explain it ALL to you and you single out ONE thing.
Did you even read ALL of his post?

Forest calm the fuck down. :)

I don't have to "assume" anything. I KNOW that flying to Miami, paying for a room at the diplomat, paying for taxis, paying the jacked up for the convention prices for sodas, drinks, and food at the diplomat and other assorted expenses is MORE EXPENSIVE THAN ME FLYING TO CANCUN AND STAYING 4 DAYS AT AN ALL INCLUSIVE RESORT.

I'm not saying you are spending money like a madman. You don't have to. I'm also not saying that the AVN show is crazy expensive. But it IS overpriced for the show. Just like The Palms and The Hard Rock here in Vegas.

That's not a "general statement" man. That's just going online and looking at freakin' room rates and flights. :)

THANK YOU datatank

i thought maybe i was typing Greek

I must not be seeing this "ALL" part of it. He simply said he doesn't care for naked women and partying that much.

Okay.

But lots of other people do like that at the end of the day at a convention. And I merely said...why not move the show somewhere that is all inclusive in South America, Mexico, or the Caribbean? It would be cheaper.

Hell, forget the topless beaches and pools. Do it a fucking religious resort for all I care. I'm just saying it would be much better value for an affiliate to not get ass raped and to enjoy the company of his peers and get some business done. :)

No.

He said he doesn't care for partying with people in this biz, and I completely understand why.

once again you make the ASSUMPTION.

Look to the LEFT of this post and SEE where i live. 5 miles from the Hotel.

Gas to the Hotel $1.00 round trip
Parking $12.00
Show Pass $100.00
Lunch $90.00 (bought 3 friends and myself lunch)

Money I have made since my day at the show friday $700.00. and today is not over yet.

Vegas Show last january

Airfare $150.00 (i flew from my house in Utah to Vegas then Home)
1 night at the Hotel $89.00
Show Pass FREE (one of my sponsors provided it)
Taxi to and from Airport 70.00

Money I made from that one day at the show $xx.xxx

I Know how to work a show in 1 day. Thats all i need

maybe that will help you to understand should you bother to read it all

and Im sorry if i see frustrated but you can't seem to understand anyone else point but your own.

if thats thew only thing you got from all my posts then you have a comprehension issue and i dont mean to insult you either

shelly

lost your icq. can you hit me up this week so we can formalize what we talked about a month ago

thanks

CLASSIC example of what this industry has become

http://gofuckyourself.com/showthread.php?t=981532

and you want to hang out in a tropical paradise with people like this?

more power to you man

:helpme

Cool, you have an advantage over thousands of webmasters in attending the show. I thought we were talking about all the webmasters and the costs of the shows versus what is actually at the shows.

I was never speaking of you personally. I was talking about the cost of going to the show for the average webmaster.

And if you just don't like to "party" with anybody in the business...I don't see anything wrong with that either. Sounds like the Miami show suits your needs perfectly to meet people and broker joins.

For the rest of us who are actively in the adult business...hands on if you will...we might require a little something more.

There are too many shows... which spreads out the remaining sponsors too thin, which makes for an uneventful show, which makes for a poor turnout.

I do believe that IF there was a show with a bit more "oomph" to it. And things that were fun and exciting to do. And wasn't held at places that deliberately raised their pricing on the "porn people".

I think you would see more real affiliates attending. I could be wrong. But they sure are NOT attending now.

Well, just finished the newest update at http://claudia-marie.com/tour/

So I don't have anymore time for this tonight.

It was an interesting discussion. Sorry if it got you upset for some reason Forest. I wasn't trying for that. I guess you and I won't be having a drink or doing any business anytime soon. :(

Y'all have a good night.

I went to my first show as an extremely lower middle class affiliate (hell I moved to Costa Rica just to lower my living expenses so I could reinvest my earnings). Most my friends are self employed affiliates... My old dayjob friends and I just don't relate anymore. Going to a show is a way to meet like minded people. I like talking about the industry, throwing ideas around, getting to know other people just like me, and putting GFY nicks to faces.

You don't need to be a 7 figure affiliate to afford to attend a show or two. :2 cents:

shows have become obsolete to the affiliate for several reasons and expense is only one of them.

Affiliates are making less and less every month. Programs are going out of business taking the affiliate's hard earned money with them.

the avg affiliate makes less than 40k a year in my estimation. i may be wrong but i doubt it. so even a 2k trip for an affiliate with a family is a lot of money even if it is all inclusive. and where is his ROI for that? why does he need to go to a show? he doesnt. if he is worried about his next check do you really think he would lay out 2k for a show?

there is also a purging of affiliates going on due to economic factors. less affiliates means less roi for sponsors to spend money at shows.

if i were an avg aff my last thought would be to attend any show when i can do what i need to do via email phone or icq.

you are correct there are too many shows. but that wont last for long as the natural progression of things and fewer sponsors willing to spend money will reduce the number of shows.

Damn it would be cool if it went back to one show a year. Everyone would go, the schedule would be loaded and the events would matter.

you didnt get me upset. just a little frustrated. :winkwink:

you can buy me a drink next show we are at together ;) and we can have a Meeting about Business LOL =)

3 shows would work

winter show, summer show and fall show

To be honest, I have found that the seminars I have attended at the last few shows were not nearly as spammy as in the past. Virtually non-existent, in fact.

I go to many mainstream shows. For the most part, their parties suck, although they are well organized. Yes, I am sure some people that come to shows in Vegas got to strip clubs, but I have yet to see an online marketer trade show that had a sponsored party like that.


There is a reason why things are dirt cheap in CR. I highly doubt you are going to get even hundreds of people down there, much less thousands. Although, I would have liked to have attended the CR Bash, just had issues get in the way.

I'd be down with that so long as the winter show was someplace warm and the summer show was someplace cooler (not fucking south FL in Aug.)

Agreed.

When I go to conferences, I really go to meet with industry people for the sake of doing business or exploring opportunities. I do not drink anymore. Never smoked or had done drugs (not judging those who do, simply saying partying is more a less over for me). So when I am there, I am looking for a R.O.I. of both money and time. Typically being out of the office costs me money.

When I go someplace for fun, the last thing I would want to be around is industry people.
:2 cents:

Agree with you again. Plus they need to spread them out.

Right now there is ONE show on the east coast, and it is typically the most expensive. (I am mainly talking about the U.S. based shows where most go) There rest are all west coast or international. This is not including the consumer trades either.

If they did less shows, more people would come. In this state of the industry, and the way shows have been on the decline. Few want to waste the time and money going to them anymore I am noticing. There are still some, and good business to be gotten from them. But most companies are not going to keep going to 1-2 shows every 30 days.

Interesting. I did not know that.

You've always struck me as the kind of guy that likes to live it up every once in awhile but by no means frequently. I have no idea why people give you so much shit for it.

They probably live in glass houses and like to throw stones.

Robbie makes me Hardddddddddd

I'll skip the five pages of responses in this thread and the no doubt repeated pissing and moaning whether the motivation is misery loving company, jealousy, poor financials, hatred of AVN or whatever... and just say this:

1. If you have nothing good to say about shows whether you go or not, do yourself and everyone a favor and just stop going.

2. Its unfortunate because the sheep out there will read into all this negativity which I'm sure there is plenty and possibly formulate their business decisions on the rantings of the haters who can't find business opportunities or are just not looking.

If you aren't making the money you used to, why ruin it for others? Focus on your own problems.

I got plenty of biz opps at the Summer AVN show. I couldn't give a rats ass how big or small it is. Shows are a very important part of biz for me... socially and professionally. This industry needs them.

Perhaps the day will come when the only attendees who go to shows are there to really do business or perhaps are the only ones still in business?

Here is the scoop on the CR Bash:

We never did it to try and make a profit. We originally planned it for two reasons.

First (and foremost) we wanted it to be an inexpensive way to give ourselves additional branding and affiliates for IwantU. That worked out extremely well for us.

Second, we are a fun-loving bunch and having our own show and people down to visit and hang out with, without us having to travel out of our own backyard, was something we felt like doing.

The first Bash attracted quite a few business owners, of some of the larger companies around. It also attracted a lot of affiliates with a lot of traffic. This may be due to the nature of the event, owners saw it as a vacation and didn't send reps, but came themselves. The attendee quality was very high IMO, full of decision-makers and affiliate with traffic.

As we were not out to make money, we wanted to make it as affordable as possible to our guests, due to them having to fly internationally. That said, many paid $200-$400 for their flight and nothing else. Transportation, all meals, all alcohol, all activities and parties, were sponsored. We tried to give the sponsors the lowest cost and most exposure as we could.

The second Bash, we saw slightly less attendees but still broke even and seemed to put together a very enjoyable show for all involved.

The third Bash, is when we sold IwantU. We lost our primary reason for putting on the show and didn't put much into it (previous events, we advertised in AVN/XBiz, on GFY, at the shows at our booths, etc...). With the growing number of shows and probably our own lack of effort, the show was a failure and lost money. It didn't help that the guys who throw the Panama Summit held it on the same dates and talked trash about our show. That's pretty sad if you ask me, but hey I guess when you are desperate, you sink to low levels :)

Last year, we attempted to revive the Bash simply for fun and changed the format to "package deals". This way, if we couldn't get any sponsors (as expected), we could cover the costs and whoever wanted to come down could come down and hang out. It mostly ended up being local industry folk from down here, but a few people made the trip down and it was a fun time.

What does the future hold? Perhaps a new hybrid, adult-gaming show? Perhaps another go at the CR Bash when we have new adult products to promote? Time will tell :)

Thanks to everyone who did attend one or more of our shows in the past though and feel free to share your own experiences/comments - I know Robbie loved it.

Why? I think people/potential attendees (or sheep, as you call them, which I'm sure they appreciate) are interested to see others thoughts about the shows.

It's like a product review. If you are worried about your product having bad reviews that scare off potential customers, maybe you better start offering a better product instead of asking the reviewers to please stop commenting on your product.

To use an example, The Phoenix Forum almost always gets a positive review, versus AVN who for the past few years has gotten more and more negative ones. You don't think people want to hear that their money may be better spent in Phoenix by people who attend both?

For the record, I have never been to Cybernet so have no personal opinion of it myself and most of what I read on here about it is also positive. So, my comments above are directed at your comments and not your particular show :)

Daymmm - you guys need a titty break :winkwink:

Carli to the rescue : )

http://deancapture.com/carli/001.jpg

http://deancapture.com/carli/002.jpg

http://deancapture.com/carli/004.jpg

I've been. And it was great. The locale was neat, good business was done, and we partied our asses off at night too. The final night party at The Kink Castle is a must.

I kinda wish that they would "take it on the road" every once in a while like the old days...another jaunt in New Orleans would be awesome.

But the Cybernet show is a good one. I would recommend it when you are ready to push your next project.

Well, I appreciate that Dean! Though there are some guys in this thread who don't care for naked girls and titties and such. They are focused on meetings and business! :pimp

(just fucking with you Forest, I couldn't resist :1orglaugh )

Robby

You are dead on, affiliates want a fun show. Forest is a program owner/partner that cares more about b2b then getting new affiliates. Otherwise he wouldn't have posted that he doesn't want to party with people from gfy. (What a dumb ass thing to admit to).

For the past few years the shows have been about Xsales & Billing. Nothing about them really has a affiliate want to go. We already know who converts well, and who will pay us what we want. So the shows need to be fun. Tits and Ass is a major plus for 99% of all affiliates (Forest btw I *think* is Gay, so that might explain why he doesnt like Tits)...

Ill buy you lunch at Terks.

Sorry Ive missed ya the past 2 years my friend.

For a gay guy he sure did make that little blonde spinner squeel in Backseat Bangers.

bingo

last show i went to there was like MAYBE a handful of actual affiliate webmasters there.

what do they expect when the show is held at a hotel that charges like $250/night. badges are like $300. flights usually run you $250-350 round trip. so you're like well over a grand before you even hit the show floor. were not even talking food and drinks or anything either.

all the shows i've been to have been like that.

Bingo! I guess TPF will be it.

One of the biggest parts of the porn industry was magazines. They dominated the porn industry for decades, produced a few billionaires, lots of multi millionaires and never had a show ever. To my knowledge.

If you have something worth selling you don't need to go to a show to do it.

and now make the flight $1k to $1.5k when you come from europe

To talk to some guy who wants you to shoot content for the price some guy in Russia will shoot for. :1orglaugh :1orglaugh :1orglaugh

lol, yeah, after a night at the strip club with bottles of champagne and some blow on the toilet you get told the next day that you should be able to shoot a boy/girl for $800 a scene :1orglaugh

Looks like there was a record turnout of beach balls this year.

http://img.avn.com/ip/thumb/560/560/...674/406855.jpg

problem with that for the show organizers is cost

one of the reasons i think avn does the show here in fl is they make more money off season then they would trying to get the hotel in say feb.

You only say that because your gay.