LONDON -- XBIZ EU's second day offered another lineup of speed networking, seminars -- including the State of Union panel and Special Guest Keynote -- as well as the first English Pub Crawl.
XBIZ's Speed Networking session, like yesterday's session sponsored by NETbilling, involved more than 100 seasoned veterans and first-time attendees the chance to make new contacts, followed by a session on content piracy presented by the Free Speech Coalition's Diane Duke.
That presentation took a fine-comb look at the FSC's Anti-Piracy Action Program, which protects digital content from pirates and ultimately allows the legal pursual of infringing websites. Duke showed how the program's software, Vobile, works.
"The goal is to provide this as a service to the industry we badly need," said Duke, who noted that the incriminating information that is ultimately obtained helps in deciding whether to filed copyright infringement suits.
Peter Phinney of Porn Guardian and Kristin Winters of Pink Visual joined Duke to offer insight on the scourge of piracy and what can be done to help stomp some of it out.
At noon, a lavish buffet lunch, sponsored by private label solution Dating Factory, offered attendees to munch and mingle.
Later in the day, the State of the Union panel -- Yuval Kijel of PussyCash, Bjorn Skarlen of CommerceGate, Ines Peterson of Webbilling, Jerry Barnett of Strictly Broadband and Alex Noirot-Cosson of MobJizz -- took a look at what works and doesn't in the ever-changing adult industry.
The panel looked at ongoing advances in technology and explored today’s most pressing issues, as well as the differences in doing business in certain EU countries.
"The European market is very different," Peterson said. "Take for instance how Germans buy porn -- if they go to a U.S. adult site they don't know how to pay for it. Debit cards work their but credit cards don't. It's a different payment system."
The State of the Union panel was hosted by Hustler's Michael Klein.
Later in the day, XBIZ EU offered the special keynote -- Private Media Group board director Ilan Bunimovitz -- in a one-on-one with with XBIZ's Don Parret. Bunimovitz was a last-minute replacement for Private's Berth Milton, who was unable to attend XBIZ EU.
Following the keynote address, two other events rounded out the daylong set of seminars: Mobile Masterclass, which covered case studies and analysis of issues facing the sector, and the Mix & Meet Market, where scores of the online adult biz's leading companies took over the main seminar hall horseshoe-like to showcase products and services.
While some invited guests attended Sex Entertain's Elite Traffic Dinner, sponsored by CommerceGate, Private Media Group and Pink Visual, others journeyed past the Covent Garden district for the English Pub Crawl, where XBIZ EU attendees visited Hercules Pillars, later moving on to the Rising Sun and the Mason Arms. The Pub Crawl was sponsored by NETbilling.
Sunday marks the final day at XBIZ EU's inaugural event in London at the Radisson Bloomsbury Hotel. On tap is a double-decker bus tour of London, sponsored by 3WaysCash.