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Gaining Ground

2006 was a great year for many in the adult entertainment industry. To learn about some of the year's highlights, XBIZ World magazine asked several operators "What were some of the professional highpoints for you or the industry in 2006?"

Here's what they had to say:

"By far, my favorite was attending the first-ever Gay Phoenix Forum. I found it to be a great opportunity to meet and network with others in the industry. Everyone was just as welcoming to the newcomers as they were to veterans in the business. And to top it off, it was all done with such class that I'm sure they'll have even more offers for sponsorship in the years to come. The forum was also a high-point for the industry because it signified a time where the gay market has gotten enough recognition to stand on its own. We are only getting bigger, and as for JustUsBoys.com, we're making sure that we're riding that wave high-tide."

— Thundercizzle, JustUsBoys.com

"2006 was the very best year for SmashBucks. We signed some joint ventures with some of the biggest studios in the world like Vivid Entertainment, Caballero, VCX and Legend to name a few. Traffic and profits were at an all-time high, and the great part is we are still laughing and having fun at what we do. The future has never looked brighter."

— Mike Hawk, President, SmashBucks

"2006 has been a tremendous year for Netbilling — our best yet. We surpassed financial goals and shattered our anticipated goal for new merchant acquisitions. More banks have provided opportunities for us to set up clients, which has made the process easier and given our customers more options and greater stability. I can't wait for 2007."

— Mitch Farber, President, Netbilling

"The highpoint of the year was working with my team to build XFANZ.com in less than 100 days. It started as a pet project, and each day we'd come in and say, "What if we did this?" or "Hey, I just saw this feature on a website, what can we do like it?" We geeked-out on all aspects of the Internet. And all the while the project became bigger and bigger and more secret. On the day of the launch, we worked from 6 a.m. until our 10 p.m. launch time. None of us even knew if anyone would pay attention. But they did. Electric does not even describe what the atmosphere is like in our office. It was a once-in-a-lifetime deal. That is my (and my team's) professional highpoint, and I am very proud of it."

— Alan Hawkins, Managing Director, XFANZ.com

"Professional highpoints for me this year would be my acquisition of Innovative Ideas/ARS. I've been working with this product since its inception and am very happy to have complete control over both the products in ARS and ARS itself. I think a highpoint for the industry would be the widespread acceptance and membership for the Free Speech Coalition, although it's a shame that it had to happen as a measure of protection for adult webmasters. But now that it's happened, I hope they continue to grow and prosper and fight for the industry."

— BeckyDe, Owner, Innovative Ideas/Adult Revenue Service

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Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission is prohibited.

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