COMPANIES Start Taking Responsibility: Thoughts on the current Era of Industry shows.
 

Now that Chris has admitted to what happened, I guess it could have been worse..

He could have been throwing chairs off the balcony or something.. Webmasters I hear have been known to do that.

What the hell is going on at these shows? Jesus Christ...
Fucking kids... Drunk Sales rep Frat boy, non-professional mentality kids.. More and more every year it seems.

Chairs flying, aggressive drunk sales reps hitting and making the women uneasy, fights, takedowns, drug overdoses, and a lot of bullshit in general. Lots of bullshit. From the way people talk, to the way they act, to the whole point of being at a lot of the shows Seems to be bullshit, or bullshitting is the common denominator . At every show it seems now. Its everywhere. Big shows, small shows.

Geez... I wonder why I havent had the desire to go to shows anymore.

Lesson learned. More importantly, damage done.

Companies, I think its time to start making policies before you send your looser reps to represent you in an industry event. I mean what's the point.
The point of sending reps like this, and the point of people like me going to the shows to be subjected to this or expose my wife to it makes no sense anylonger.. It seems as of late Ive found better things to do. And I think it is going to be a trend for more and more as we go along. I dont think im alone on this..

I know some smart ass will make a come back comment as to why I bring my wife in the first place to a porn convention when she isnt even in the industry. Ive heard it before. And before Id think nothing of it, the shows were not only biz for me, but were fun as well. Classy people, people I didnt feel were beneath me or my wife. Class acts.

But as of the past couple shows Ive started to ask myself that same question.. Why do I subject my wife to this epidemic of dumb asses at the shows.. And more importantly why do I even go anymore. The shows are different now.. And Im not picking on the littler shows.. Im talking about all shows, the big shows, especially. Internext has really changed over the years.

Maybe its all the boneprone 4-life, bp4l cult like shit Ive started and brought upon myself I dont know. But you have no idea how many fucktards it has attracted over the years for me at the shows.. Fuckin drunks... To a very very small extent I can relate to what some of the females in the industry go thorough at these shows when dealing with drunk fucktards and their attraction to go out of their way to irritate you.

I can totally relate to what some of these women like Akira go through at these shows. Not only by the way my wife has been treated by these fucktards, but by me personally attracting them with anything from the BP4L, to just fools in general romin around the shows. Before I thought I was the only one to notice or attract these kinds of people. But I have it easy compared to the women in our industry who come to these shows.. I can only imagine..

Like someone said in an earlier post, its situations like this that hurt our industry's events, and it will be the downfall of them if companies continue to send people or have no policies for thier employees to act upon when at these professional events.

We all love to have fun. People who know me, know im one of the most fun and craziest motherfuckers in this biz.. Im no stiff.. Im boneprone mother fuckers.. BP for muth fuckin L.

But when even I start to think things are out of hand and getting too crazy stupid, and avoiding shows, loosing interest, its gotta kinda open your eyes.. Open your eyes to the path we are heading down.

Worse thing you ever did was take a dump on the VoyeurDorm Bus.


Still can't clean it up.

Oh damn it that is too much to read.

Just put it this way.

You take

Alcohol
Webmasters Who spend 90% of thier time at home ( No sense of real world, only porn world where women get bangbanged and they smile)
Content walking around
Alcohol

And you take taht all and put it in one building/area/

Shit is bound to happen.

Most of these conventions just seem like a place invested with drunk and drugged people, I bet some people find it hard to do business when most people dont seem to be soober..

kids...

With that said, Aaron im sure you've heard it over and over again by now, but nice work stepping up for a friend..

Speaks miles about you..

If anyone or anything has evolved in the right direction in this biz its been Aaron over the years.. From an annoying cocky "mole" when he first came onto the seen with no game in this biz, just tons of confidence and a gifted skill, to later evolving to a respectful, fun a good guy, with great content, and networking skills, to now an established class act in our industry after hearing of things like this.

You can count on Aaron to be serious when times call for being serious, and a fun party guy when its time to be a fun party guy. But never has he crossed the line. Always professional. The way it should be. And more importantly when someone crosses the line with a friend he doesnt fear to step up to protect them..

Next time I see Aaron at a show, if I ever go to one again, Im gunna give em a cape.

Hopefully he will still proudly still wear the BP4L.. Ive personally never been prouder.

Haaa! And Ill do it again man!! Bring it on..

Hell I may just go to a show again just so I can do it!

Haaaa!

The only alternative to the industry meeting up in person and networking is to make an online forum where the industry could exchange ideas but that is gfy and there are 1000s more scumbags on here than at the shows

I'll bring it to the show in August only if you show up.

Drinking and having fun is part of the game at the shows. You can still be a professional and have fun. You can even get drunk at the show, have fun, network and still be a professional.. We all do it.. But stay in control. And if you know you are an ass when you are drunk, stay clear..

Part of the networking aspect and appeal of these shows is to have fun.. Nothing wrong with that. Like I said Im not a stiff. People know I like to have fun. The shows have always been a foundation of having fun, partying and mixing in biz and networking at the same time.. Its great!! Thats the appeal.

But it seems that people crossing the line or missing the point in realizing that they are there to network, have fun and represent..

Crossing the line to the point to where it is becoming intrusive and in some situations even dangerous for others they encounter.

There is a difference between having fun like we all go to the shows for, and the "bullshit" as I call it that crosses the line to offensiveness and to some instances an unsafe environment to be at. Especially for the women.

shows arent all about biz and exchanging ideas.. One of the great appeal of the shows is to have fun. party... be with the people and meet them face to face and chill. Or meet new people and have fun with them.. Network, meet new people, get contacts, do biz and have fun..

Its not a study group, its a show.

I dont want my post to make people think that they need to be more serious at the shows and not have fun.. Im just saying some companies should be more responsible when sending thier reps to a show, and have policies that make it clear that its not acceptable to step out of line to the extent we see so many doing as of late.

I mean we go to the shows to have fun. Party, do biz, network and meet people. It should stay that way. Its why people go.

But harassment, assult, and bothering others to make them feel uncomfortable or even unsafe is a path we must avoid going down. And companies should establish policies and become more responsible with who they send to shows and thier objectives.

This is entirely true man, but unfortunately when alcohol is in the mix with beautiful women, some guys don't realize they've crossed the line until it's too late.

Then it's too late to go back, and too late to GET back the respect you had.

I agree with you. The problem seems to be that employees of companies are acting imature.

The companies should take responsiblity for the people representing them, but I'm sure they do just as much as any other industry. It just might be the nature of this industry that allows people to think they can get away with stuff that they wouldn't do at an insurance convention. This past problem being a good example.

I have never been to an industry event and I have been considering going to see if I could make some contacts for the natural progression of my career, but I'm starting to think twice.

Do I really want to go to jail for breaking the nose of some 20-year-old kid whose liquor told him that he was a badass?

Laurie and I have been going to a lot of the smaller shows, but thus far skipping the big ones. We have seen this type of stuff first hand, maybe not to the same degree. The thing that we do and have seen other people doing, is that we stop into the bigger parties or events where the general webmaster population hang out, but we generally leave early. We have smaller get togethers with smaller groups of people, people that we do business with, or want to do business with, but we avoid the problems of the big events. We see these smaller side events happening more and more, and I think that problems like these are part of the reason why.
We get a lot of business done, and make great contacts and friends and avoid trouble for the most part.
We even party while we are there, but we always try to remember that we are there for business, and part of that is maintaining a profession image and remaining in control.

I see it like you do and have to agree with what I quoted. To me personally, your behaviour is your businesscard and in that case, I assume people see it the same a myself.

If you're there representing a company, your obligation is to represent them professionally. If you want to get pissed drunk or already know you don't handle your booze/whatever else well, then do it in the comfort of your room where it doesn't reflect on the company you work for. They have paid thousands and thousands of dollars building a professional image in a world where everyone already has a bad image of this business - they don't need someone to come shoot down the blocks of professionalism they've built within the industry.

That's my :2 cents:

Couldn't have said it better myself. You are a class act and part of me is glad I missed Cybernet... Part of me wishes I went. But all of me thinks that companies need to do a better job of not only allowing class act employees only but also why hire the fucktards in the first place? I assume they suck ass in your shop too and couldn't possibly be worth a paycheck.

The problem is professional in this business does not meet the standards of professional in mainstream businesses. Where do you cross the line. Yeah, harassing models is unprofessional, getting drunk and tossing chairs off balconies is unprofessional. But so is excessive use of the f word. Its hard to take a post seriously bemoaning the state of professionalism in the industry when they cant keep the swear words under 10. Hell, we post on a forum called "Go Fuck Yourself". I dont think the Insurance industry has a internet board like this. I dont think you could go to a mortgage brokers convention and take pics and then every other one has someone giving you the finger on it.

When companies, affiliates, and forums encourage frat boy behavior, what do you expect from the shows?

I'm the first to admit that at my very first show I wasn't professional to the standard that I am today. I've learned a lot over the years and the main thing I've learned is that webmasters have no social responsibility.

I've stopped attending shows other than Internext (Vegas) and Phoenix Forum and I'm rather picky at these shows as to whom I hang out with and what parties I attend. I'm not gonna go get plastered only to not remember what happened the next day and to be ridiculed on the boards later about it. What is worse is the amount people are praised for their behavior. People find it funny ... I'm not sure what's funny about a 30 year old webmaster getting hammered and throwing crap off buildings.

I'm still all about the alcohol/drug free convention. I mean, yes cocktail hour before a nice dinner and show would be different, but I mean no outrageous, drink all you can parties.

And one more thing I've never understood, why do webmasters get so crazy over a photo shoot or a hot model?!? YOU LOOK AT PORN ALL DAY LONG!!!

Part of the problem is people confusing GFY with reality.
GFY is not the real world. For the most part if people acted in the real world the way they do on GFY they would end up in jail, or getting their asses kicked repeatedly.

I'm glad this is being discussed.

This industry - and the shows - have come a long way and grown up. Some of the things I have seen has surprised and shocked me, and yet with others I expect a certain kind of (someone unprofessional) conduct at a show.

Notice that our industry tends to police itself. I can think of a handful of events in the past where someone was out line and has been drop kicked to the curb and can no longer show their face at conventions and have lost all respect of everyone else in the industry while others are banging down the door hoping to get into the industry.

Some people seem to think industry models are sluts because they take off their clothes and sometimes fuck on camera. The truth is at the end of the day they are getting a paycheck, just like anyone else. And they deserve the same respect everyone else does.

LOL..

Ya think?

I can name several known GFYERS who are exactly like they are on this board..

Some people take themselves way to serious thats for sure..

But hell thats thier own problem.

So true in so many ways :2 cents:

great post bro!