What do you personally get out of the various conventions?
 

There is a wide range of people represented here and I am currious as to what all of you get from attending the various adult conventions.

Even if you have only attended one....What were you looking for there and did you find it?

This thread will probably get burried by all of the "I just watched the beheading" threads.

Last time i was looking for you :thumbsup

With any luck, this will BECOME an "I just watched the beheading video" thread.

I was looking for sex and all I got was diseases :(

Looking for new business realations and have some fun together :thumbsup

I enjoy the networking and meeting some of the really amazing people in this industry.. What an incredible cross-section of backgrounds, a fantastic knowledge base from all camps..

I am trying to meet people in the industry.. learn and get new ideas and make business deals. Main goal in Atlanta was meet some people. Aaron, too bad I couldn't have met you, I'll introduce myself at Internext though.

I get a lot of bullshit people promising me bullshit things, I get sick, and most importantly I fuck female webmasters and models...

I could do without all of the above to be honest with you these days....

You could have met me. You must have chosen not to. :glugglug

I have a chance to meet people from other companies, websites and have a chance to get to know them a little bit better. See how they handle themselves.

And it also gives you a shot to speak with people, brainstorm,
and possibly strike up a business realationship with someone you wouldn't normally think to call or do business with.

And to answer the second question , Yes I usually find that at the conventions. I have always brought something home from shows,
and Atlanta was particularly successful.

Ah...I forgot that I was going to start a thread aobut this. Thanks for the reminder. Off I go......

I get to see your sweet ass again :)

I think networking is the main thing at conventions then you come home and follow up! Atlanta though we did a little different, set up some meetings first and did some great business. Great way to do it! Good seeing you again Aaron! :winkwink:

my pleasure Aaron-

With all of the talk about people leaving conventions with "deals" made and money in their pockets I must call bullshit.

First off, I have been in this business long enough to know who made REAL money back in the day, and what "real money" is.

Second, no one that goes to the little conventions are making "real money" except for maybe three companies-

Those companies have been around for 6 years....

Making $10,000 a month is NOT "real money"
making 1 Mill a month plus is...

Now, how many of you can say you are making "real money"?

My main reasons are :

Meet old friends/clients I meet in person only couple of times a year at conventions

Meet in person people I already know "virtualy" from the boards and be able to put a face/name on the nick.

Networking and meet new one I never met before, neither in person or on boards

Get new business deals

Take some time for me out of the house (kind of vacatiion)

A lot of talk with no delivery.....basically all bullshit....

My experience is when I follow up a couple of days later, the response is "who are you and where are you from" or "sure, I'll get with you next week"

Next week never comes......The most recent shows are bullshit.

Mostly the compiling of 2 bit webmasters who basically just save their pennies so they can blow all of it getting to the shows and frothing at the mouth when a chick is in the vicinity of their presence.

In the seven years I have been in this industry, one person came through and that was Ron Levi.

When I first saw you, I was definetly near drunk. So I decided to talk to you later when I sobered up a lil.... that didnt happend.. just got more drunk :Graucho

Sorry but I disagree with this point. I like your posts, you talk sense but this one is harsh. $10,000 per month is a lot of money. Not enough to retire on as you won't make it forever. But it does open up a lot of opportunities for the person earning it.

$10K is real money, very much real. $1,000,000 is not real. Its so unreal its crazy.

The reason its unreal is coz not a lot of people do it. $10K is achievable making it a lot more "real" than 1 million.

My favortie thing to do in Vegas is watch all the "broke assed" webmasters have to be put in a position to buy someone a drink or playing Blackjack with others-

It's fun to see someone who would normally play the dollar tables at the Tropicana sit next to a Brad Shaw and have to cough up $25 a hand when you know that may be their last $25 in their pocket.

I am really sick of watching people fake it til they make it.

I go to maintain business relationships, to meet new contacts and for the most part try to get new business.

And yes, I always get what I came for. The conventions are what you make of them, you get out as much as you put in and hopefully more.

Oh and of course to see you Aaron. ;)

I respect that you disagree, however in my realm over here where I live $10,000 a month is barely living...

Now I reside in Southern California where rent is high and gas prices even higher- I am not saying that $10,000 a month isn't a lot to live on ...

But I remember the days where CEN , CE and Kara's all were doing $ 5- 20 million a month in revenue

THAT"S REAL MONEY- That's also known as " Fuck You " money.

:-))

I do more business with people on gfy than people i meet on conventions...by far. If i need to do business with someone i use icq, email him or phone him. I dont need a convention for that. Gfy made me 1000's, conventions didnt. After 3 days in Vegas i have 100 business cards, talked to 50 drunk people and saw 500 faces and wrote down 50 icq numbers and emails. Doesnt make much sense does it.

So in other words, i dont need conventions to do business.

Only one?

Ouch. CE is one that came through after a show for me as well but I gotta say that I have had better luck than you.

When I go to a show, I look to gain one contact or one strong business deal. Give me one and I will go home happy.

In Atlanta, I made 2 outstanding contacts. One of which is finalizing the deal as we speak and the other is waiting on me but is ready to move forward whenever I am. Both of these contacts could easily turn into long term business relationships.

I also took some time to check out Rick's demo of Dollars.com and I fully intend on getting a more in depth view of it in the next couple of days. The difference being that I did not tell Rick I would use the service, I told him it was interesting and that I would take some time to review it better and see if it was a good fit for me. Rick has never blown smoke up my ass and he deserves the same respect from me.

I guess if you can offer something big and make 20k plus deals its nice to do it in person but i would arrange a meeting with this person anyway, i dont need a convention for that.

I go to shows to lick yours and scotts nippples

Las Vegas is not a convention...It's an excuse to party.

Aaron, no offense but what do you do on a convention what you cant do at home with the use of internet and a telephone?
I know you have a bigger business than me but still, i feel like im missing something, what is it.

You only licked mine once this time. Then you did not even invite me to dinner afterwards.

I feel cheapened. :(

Ok, Montreal then.

Meet some people who I have been talking to for years, but never heard the sound of their voice.

I'm glad we met, even though it was short.

I was looking to listen. Listen to deals, listen to advice, and listen to how business is done. I learn by listening, asking, probing for the answers I need.

ATL was very successful for me. I talked to a great many people, learned some new things and found a nifty job. :) Gotta love that.

Talking to people face to face makes a difference, I think. It's one thing to talk on a message board, Q, email, what have you, but it's another to get together face to face and talk. You learn about the other person in that manner.

Good to meet you Aaron. :thumbsup

Thats true and thats something i like about conventions.

I am a firm believer in developing strong relationships with my clients. I keep a fairly small client base so that I can focus on keeping those clients happy. I have found that dealing face to face with them is the best way to do this.

I am not talking about one time bulk purchase clients or non-exclusive deals here. I am referring to long term exclusive production clients. These people are usually pretty busy but since they are at the shows, it's a lot more convenient for both parties involved.

Another reason.... A lot of people read these boards and assume that since I am a dick here that I am a dick in person. In reality...I am only a dick to those who I feel deserve it. The average show has a lower idiot quotient than GFY does so people are more likely to see my nice side come out. When they see that I can be a serious businessman, they are more likely to do business with me.

After sitting in my office and working by myself for long periods of time, it's nice to meet with people and put faces to names.

For me it's good just to get out of the fucking house.

Montreal has been the most profitable show for me in each of the past 2 years.

I've had a lot of good shows. Ron Levi came through for me too. :thumbsup

Sorry about that. I had another responsibility that night. Next time we will sit and have a few drinks on me.

Np problem at all, I'm very easy.

I get to hang out with hot sexy young men who talk, laugh and buy me drinks (usually in that order...). For an short old pudgy babe, those opportunities aren't that common in the non-business world. :)

I was my first one, and I was looking for YOU! I found you.

Don't think for one minute that I don't watch these threads - and pay attention....

Easy networking opportunities have always been our forte - but I am disappointed that nothing has been discussed about education. It is our second priority. Any field I have been is has always required continuing education, to be successful. We try to provide these opportunities. I know that it is hard to get people to share much anymore - BUT, we work hard to accomplish that. To entice you to attend some of these sessions, we have added sponsors & some great door prizes at most of the sessions. There is always something new to be learned.

See you soon....

Aside from getting so much smoke blown up my ass that my kidneys are preserved.

I sometimes get to put a face and a voice to some people I deal with on a regular basis.
I get a tax deductable quasi vacation.
If I am lucky I may leave with one or possibly two reliable contacts that follow through.

I find it very hard to get alot of networking done. I am not one to jump from party to party as mobility is an issue for me. It's almost required that I pre-arrange meetings via the boards or ICQ well before hand and hope they show or remember than it is to track people down and meet with them.

Hello Faye.

Here's my take on that.

I am all for education but when I step into the seminars and so forth...Most of them put me to sleep, even if it is something that I am truly interested in.

School bored the shit out of me most of the time as well. There are some teachers who can command your attention and maintain it but most can not.

Example:

J.D. Obenberger is as entertaining and in your face as he is informative. But if J.D. is sitting on a panel of 4 attorneys, I am asleep by the time his turn comes up.

The other thing is that the very same topics are discussed at a lot of these shows and for those of us who attend every one of them, it gets old.

The one thing that I love about the Cybernet shows is that after the panel discussions, you send people to the round table forum. There are a lot of shy people in the audience who may have questions but do not want the spotlight on them by standing up in a crowded room and whispering their question only to be embarrassed by the mod telling them to speak up.

Education is the key in every form of life. What really sucks is that people like you take the time to put the right people on panels and then the masses do not listen to what they have to say.

2257 is discussed on damn near every convention panel but the majority of the Adult Internet population is still clueless about it and non-compliant.

I get a vacation that I call a "business expense" there is nothing better :1orglaugh

I go to meet the people that I do business with and possible meet the next person I do business with. Board posts, ICQ, and email are nice but nothing can compare to sitting down and talking to people in my opinion.

It's also it's a good way for me to get out and show people that I am real and do business and am not just a board whore.


The free drinks are a nice bouns too.

I go to play dollar blackjack.

:thumbsup

The #1 thing I get from a convention is being able to meet business associates by face.

I'm very good at reading people and will base how I do business with someone judging on what I think of them.

Plus it's "harder" to screw someone over after you've met them. So I figure I'm less likely to get screwed over after people meet me since I'd like to "think" I'm pretty likeable too :-)

Plus it's just fun to party and hang out with people in the same industry, be able to actually talk shop and have someone understand what u say.

Ah...The secret of a true pro.

50 No names wishing for fame and recognition.

http://www.ialien.com/aprillaunch.jpg

:glugglug