Host sponsor CCBill, a third-party billing processor for the adult industry, estimates that over the next few days, 950 webmasters and professionals affiliated with the industry are expected to show up at the event, marking a significant increase from last year’s 600 registered attendees.
“We’ve sold out two hotels already,” CCBill representative Randall Crockett told XBiz, referring not only to the Tempe Mission Palms, but overflow hotel the Marriott Courtyard. “It just gets better every year.
Making a departure from previous years, this year the Forum is structured differently to appeal to both industry newcomers and experienced webmasters.
Calling it a three-tier approach, Crockett outlined this year’s seminar lineup as first covering the basics on how to maintain and grow an adult business, then graduating to an intermediate level the following day, and then finishing off with an advanced day, which will wrap up the event on Saturday.
“Last year we tried to bring the event to a higher level by just focusing on the really advanced material,” Crockett told XBiz. “But in doing so, many webmasters were lost. So this new three-tier structure strikes an even balance between the different levels of experience we are aiming to accommodate.”
The "basic" level of tutorials include topics on hosting technology and bandwidth usage, producing rich media, developing solo sites and managing billing solutions.
The intermediate level the following day features seminars on traffic, gay site marketing, video content distribution and a state of the industry panel, followed by the final day of advanced information classes on the legalities of running an adult business, creating video content and maximizing available technology to extend market reach.
The Phoenix Forum is also known for its elaborate late night parties and this year features a "Heaven and Hell Party, a "Gaywebmastercash Launch Party," the "XXXBash," "Gameworks," sponsored by Lightspeedcash and Realitycash, and the "Rocky Whorer Dicksure Show" sponsored by Bad Puppy, Bedfellows, Cybersocket, Mansites and Pridebucks.
Premium sponsors of the Phoenix Forum include LightspeedCash, SexKey, Silvercash, XXXCash, Traffic Cash Gold, and Platinum sponsors NationalNet, Pluginfeeds.com, Amateur Straight Guys and Epoch.