Why do you go to conventions?
 

Possible answers (and my reply to them):

A. I'm a sponsor, I feel I must go because the other sponsors do and I gotta keep up.

My reply: Okay, fair enough. I disagree, but don't dispute.

B. To "network" with other industry people and drum up new business.

My reply: That's bullshit. How much "business" has ever actually been done at these things. The usual end to a typical conversation there is "hit me up when we all get back from this". So why couldn't you do your business in the first place without going? Has anyone ever signed a contract at a convention?

C: To party man!

My reply: This is the dumbest fucking reason of all. You can't party where you are? Or do you honestly just love being around porn industry people. Pathetic.

D. Something to do.

My reply: Get a fucking life.


any other input on this? Just like to get a better picture of it all. Personally, I find these conventions a complete waste of time, energy, & money.

Just because you get nothing out of it, doesn't mean no one else does.

I can't get a great design out of photoshop, I don't go around expecting that no one else does.

Okay fine.... but what is it that you're getting out of it? That's the whole point of this thread.

Face to face interaction. How much can you trust someone that you've only ever talked to on icq? Or the phone for that matter?
Sure you can't necessarily trust someone that you meet face to face but it sure does make things more real when you can look someone in the eye.

I like to be able to shake the hand of people that I like, talk to, become friends with and do business with.

Without conventions, I may never get that chance.

B: Not all business is done right then and there. A lot of it is meeting new faces, meeting and getting to know old faces better, and spending time with people you already do business with... essentially building stronger bonds. NETWORKING. Whether it be meeting every person in sight or just meeting a few select people, its all networking in its own form.

At every show I've met somebody that traffic that I didn't have a need for right then and there, but I knew that eventually I would want it. It always works out. Now I have a bunch of partner accounts, better listings, link trades, etc. Those easily pay for the convention cost, which really isn't much to begin with.

I certainly agree with you on C and D, but on B, a LOT of people are more comfortable doing business with people who they've met.

Does that take away any chance of being scammed in the future? Of course not. That's the preference of some people though.

How many deals are actually signed AT the show? You're probably right on that too. Very few compared to the number that are signed the days following the show, BECAUSE of the face to face meeting at the shows.

YARGH! I'll be in Miami. I'll just throw shit at people, and yell YARGH! a lot.
Theo will be on sabatical.

http://www.xsitespinner.com/chiodance.gif

dude.. shut up.

just because you hate life doesnt mean we all have to.

Probably sometimes to get a better feel and impression of somebody or persons that you've been in talks with on things like ICQ and email. It's a time when you can finally meet face to face and chat informally or formally depending on the venue, about your previous discussions and move forward on a more personal basis.

who said I hate life? I love life. Especially my life.
I do hate conventions however.

I personally go to the shows to relax. I am on the comp 10-15 hours a day 7 days a week. The shows are the only vacation i get. Plus i get to see people I have been doing biz with online for the last couple of years now. Basically go relax get drunk and see people I do biz with on icq and email on a daily basis.

to look cool

A: I don't.

I agree with you Amp, on point C and D that is. :pimp

The places where they have conventions don't have 3.2 beer :upsidedow

I come for the party but I stay for the boobies...

Long story short of why I go to conventions.
Met people two years ago that were sharp but not in great positions.
Two years later still sharp in great positions doing good bizz now with them.
Would have never met them on a board or by luck.

The better question is who signs contracts anyway in this industry. When I visit this site it seems a lot of people negate this whole process.. which is too bad. -g

To lay a pornstar.

I go for the free anal sex.

when do you arrive?

if you do business with me, you sign. Period.

and for the record, i have absolutely no use for conventions. i went to internext in 2001, and have never gone to one since. business-wise, i never saw a point. however, i do believe they are a good idea to use as a vacation you can also write off. i wish i'd utilized that angle more often.

That's probably the best part. :)

Mini-vacation you can write off.

Meet people face to face and vacation I can write off.

Oh and to load up on the next years around the house t-shirts.

yeah, I used to think that too.... but it's not much of a vacation when you work the whole time and spend more on work related gear in order to do that than you would in your office.

plus, I suppose you gotta actually LIKE the place your going in the first place before you can think of it as a "vacation".


none of the above worked for me.

To get away from it all and shit tbh. Kinda like a mini vacation for me. I didnt go to that many conventions early on but lately have been to see friends and getaway from the stress in NY

for the most part i agree. but that Curacao one sounds pretty sweet, as does the Jamaican one...

Popularity... I have seen small programs or nobodies become, in the eyes of some, "industry players" ... They really arent.. but the fact that some people see them as that, or close to that.. will undoubtly help them in their business..

As for bigger programs.. it just reinforce their popularity...

Tax write off.

I've been in this game since '96, and I've been to one convention - Las Vegas this past January. Only because I live in Vegas and only because I had a free pass. And all it did was confirm what I had suspected all along... nothing for me at the conventions. I didnt get a single bit of new business out of it.

I don't. I went to one a few years back and was not very impressed. I came home with a shit load of t-shirts and flyers for shit I never used, called or ever thought about again.

I think about going from time to time but as it ends up, I'm always out of the country shooting when they go down so... I guess it all works out.

Alright I figured out what it boils down to. You have no say in this matter because you have enough business to last you for ages so there's no need to bother yourself with going to conventions. Obviously you have a nice life in Hawaii with whatever you do there and so you don't feel the need to go and chill with the industry people.

I find conventions are pretty important to my business. We have a product to sell and we want to meet more customers and get to nurture our relationships with our current customers.

I personally enjoy travelling and going to see new places, plus meeting interesting people. Generally I travel with Magnus and we always seem to have a good time no matter where we are or what we are doing (I hope that doesn't sound gay LOL!)

Alot of the time we are going to fun places like Las Vegas, Miami, LA etc.. It's not like we are going to cold ass Michigan in the middle of the winter or something ;)

DH

P.S. The tax writeoffs don't hurt either ;)

business reasons.

ok, i fall into more ideas and business at conventions than most can dream of - stuff i would have NEVER gotten if I hadn't gone.

personal reasons

i travel to all kinds of new places and I'm able to see them with people on the same wave length as I am , and many are locals that show the proper flavor of the places i visit. it's one of the BEST ways to travel cause in this biz you hang woth FUN people that have lots of money

prague,phoenix, cancun and hawaii this year didn't hurt