Internext - You're paying $300 now :)

$300? man thats steep.

With all the Michael Jackson news yesterday, looks like nobody cared about anything else, sadly enough...

That's more than my new McDonald's job pays per week

Haven't been to a show in 2yrs

gees that's expensive.

Damn, totally forgot about it

what a ripoff...(their arguments that it will "weed" out non-industry people don't work iether)

They will be making a killing milking all the programs paying for boths + visitors...sad actualy

urgh 300 bucks.....100 bucks would have been better
I cant go anyway's....

i guess funky bastard cant make it he would have to sell lots more domains

People are going to have to save their Mcjob money for weeks to be able to afford the ticket.

WooHoo!

Alex

$300 is a little steep but fuck it, gonna be one hell of a time

very true
5X days left

btw
view/reply ratio for this thread sucks ass lol

Ive paid over $500 in Convention fees this month, $1500 in airfare and made back close to $25-45k in signed contracts for services.

You arent going to make any money if you dont hit the road to meet people. Trying to claim otherwise is bullshit.

just walk in and dare them to stop you.

~Ray

The deadline for early registration has been bumped to midnight of June 17th.

Cheers.

nice
this thread was worth it then

and you KNOW even after that, people are going to bitch about how they missed the early registration Nice move Aly, shows someone is listening

Aly, can you please break down the justification of charging so much for attendees of the show, and then ALSO charging big fees for booths, and vice versa

im not going this year (for several reasons). but i dont like how they're trying to rip us off & ass rape us with riduculous charges. its not about having the money to go or not, its about how high the prices got.

hotel rooms are more this year, badges are more this year, you have to have an internext badge just to get into the HOTEL LOBBY (which is forcing everyone to pay the $300/badge).

fuck that bullshit. i can do biz via messengers & if i wanna go swimming, the beach is only 30 mins away.

well I can generally understand that (even though I don't like it) but what I don't understand is why the hotel room prices increased as well

I checked on their (westin) website what a normal room would cost a night a week prior to the show and that was a difference of like 30 or 40 bucks (not 100% sure).
I would have thought that if you book the whole hotel AND ask twice the money for attendence to have a "closed", badge-only convention that at least the hotel prices would be cheaper... I mean.. isn't the purpose of registering huge amounts of rooms at a hotel to get a discount price????

keep telling yourself that

Oh my fuckin god... we have a winner here folks!!!

agreed, stupid shit...i know 3-4 people in the atlanta area alone that are just skipping the show all together...not cause they don't have the money, they don't like to feel ripped off

and to those that claim you won't make money if you don't hit the road...hahahahah...what a bullshit statement..there are hundreds of ballers in this biz that have NEVER been to one convention or left their house for business for that matter

exactly

I've been in the biz since late 96, made a couple million bucks over the years and have only been to one show, the last one that was in Vegas this year. And I saw no reason to ever attend another one.

I know for a fact I wouldn't have made the money I've made if I hadn't gone to shows. Your mileage may vary - it's not a "one size fits all" situation

i think for SOME people, shows are necessary. Like girls that have their own single girl sites that want to be known & get more affiliates, or designers trying to get themselves known to other webmasters, and of course, hosting & content providers that have competition & have to keep promoting themselves.

But for the average at-home webmaster, no, you dont need to go to a show to make money. Its nice to go & meet the faces behind the board names but thats about it.

Glad to know Im not the only one thinking this is a ripoff...

maybe aly missed this question

Ouch shows getting bigger and so are the tickets

@ pheer: true
I don't need shows either
it's a good way however to meet old friends, party and have a nice lil holiday trip AND tax deduct everything

YARGH! I be registered since the day it was open. Seems sillier than a squad of dancin' clammy clams, to up the price. What be the reason?

Entirely depends on what your target market is and how you work it. I also have made quite a bit of paper and much more from roadwork as of late...

Shows are only what you make them to be. Most of the Internext's that I have been to turned into a drunken kegger of morons. I had my set appointments with people outside the event, got the deals done and then crusied the floor for possible biz.... I'd never waste my time with drunks.

I would like a break down of why it's so much I just don't like the feeling of being fucked either if there is a good reason they should just be able to tell us as the customer is always right?...or am I wrong?

[email protected]

i would like it answered publicly, in fact, it seems a lot of people have the same question, with no official answer from AVN

Send her an email to direct her to this thread. As fast as things move here, she might not have SEEN your question.

early reg extended
http://www.gofuckyourself.com/showthread.php?t=480771

yeah she has, it is her job to stay on here and monitor what is going on....if she hasn't seen it, she will...

part of her job is to be on the boards and monitor all that is about AVN and address it

I agree. The shows are nice to met the people behind the nickname/icq/mail. Also what Trax said, it's a fun and tax deductable. However, the prices are going up a lot more then inflation and also more then the "normal" hotel rates.

It's not that I can not afford it. It's just, do you WANNA spend it...

Andre

"Need"? Probably not. Is it a good idea? Actually, yeh it is. As an average at-home webmaster I have gained a lot by going to the shows. Meeting people helps more than you would believe. Makes getting partner accounts and "special privileges" SO much easier. You can also learn quite a bit at the shows, not from the seminars necessarily, but by talking to people. Ideas flow much better and much more often in person. I've had fairly large program owners sitting next to me sharing great traffic generation tips over a steak and beer. You would have to be crazy to think that isn't beneficial to your business.

If you all think its too expensive, fine, so be it. You don't need to bitch about it in every thread. I have been to shows that were more expensive and am planning a couple more as well. Shows are what you get out of them, I personally get a lot out. The best part is its a mini tax deductible vacation. Whenever I get home from a show I'm always ready to work and productivity increases.

damn $300?

Well Everyone--you can all save money on the trip from the airport by Arriving in Style with a Vod.TopBucks limo

From what I've seen from pics shows are all about guys gawking at naked boobies and lots of drinking, 2 things I am not into so there is no reason for me to ever go. That's not my idea of fun really.

Also from the pics it seems shows are now about guys getting free lap dances, blowjobs, hookers and whatnot. Doesn't seem very professional, I would much rather stay home.

Everything is geared towards "men"...

Sounds like good business to me.

in what other thread(s) have I "bitched" about it?
anyways, its not mandatory to go to the shows in order to succeed, is my point.

I wasn't specifically referring to you. I said "you all". There are certain people that are in every AVN thread.

Sounds like every convention I've been to in the business world

There are PLENTY of things to do besides what you're mentioning as I've never done any of them in 20+ shows (besides the hookers.....).

Again, it's not a "one size fits all" situation

Woah, slow down... We're in the middle of Cybernet right now! This is my first moment back online in hours.

I've personally answered this question all over the place many times. I have absolutely no problem doing so again; infact I appreciate your giving me the opportunity to do so, but please don't suggest that the such things are falling on deaf ears simply because you haven't seen the answer yet.


Regarding Internext badges now being $250 ($300 after June 17) for all attendees... This comes as a response to feedback from webmasters. This year, Summer Internext is not a Convention; it's a Conference. The difference is that it is no longer all about booths and a trade show floor; it's now about communication, education and networking throughout the resort.

In the past, all event costs and revenue were generated by the sale of booth space and attendee badges. This year, that model doesn't fit because participants have become more interested in throwing networking events and parties instead of exhibiting with a booth. As a result, the hotel has been closed to the public completely to address the concern of non-industry people coming to the event for the wrong reasons. In order for Internext to still cover it's costs, sponsorship opportunities have changed, and all attendees are charged entrance to the event. Personally, I'm not convinced that this will actually make Internext more money than in the past; the costs to do it this way are much higher than in the past.

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 properties 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 including bars, restaurants and all facilities; there's a separate fee to rent the convention centre; there's a large insurance fee; temps are hired to run registration; a separate 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; medics are paid to be on site 24/7 incase of an emergency; there's a fee for setting up wireless coverage across the entire resort property (poolside for example); 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 enormous costs to do this sort of thing.


Here are a few of the key benefits to the new format.

- 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.

- I'm building up the Seminar program so that it is as compelling, informative and timely as possible. Typically the summer event has only had 6 or 7 seminars, this year there will be 12, plus additional training sessions and roundtable discussions.

- 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 an exclusive Industry event.

- 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.

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.

Feel free to email me - [email protected] if you want to communicate personally.