Headquartered at the Sheraton Universal Hotel in Universal City, Calif., Webmaster Access West offered something for everyone and was the latest installment of the ever-growing and increasingly popular industry event put on by Lensman and the folks from adult.com/GFY.
The mix of personalities in attendance included many show circuit regulars; with only a small contingent of self-described newbies doing their best to play "catch up" as they enter our already mature industry – a maturity that was reflected in the quiet business being done at the lobby bar which served as a central gathering point, as well as at the fabulous lunch buffets and elsewhere around the seminar rooms.
And speaking of seminars, Webmaster Access has fast built a reputation for offering informative and thought-provoking seminars and this time around was no exception; with the variety of topics being presented covering a range of audiences from newbies to seasoned pros. It wasn't the topics that impressed me, however, but the participants: whereas industry seminars are usually attended by newbies, many successful adult veterans participated in both the panel presentations and the free form "breakout sessions" that followed, where "discussions among peers," rather than "lectures by experts," made for a positive learning environment.
Seminar topics ranged from "Newbies: Keys to Success" to "Where's the Traffic?" to "Newest Legal Issues" and "State of the Industry." I was able to attend two seminars that I really enjoyed, "Content is King" and "Processing Updated."
Highlights of the content seminar included Dan from CamZ.com discussing his company's ability to completely integrate its live webcam feeds and pre-recorded content into a customer's website via XML, making for a seamless presentation that "doesn't leave surfers thinking that all you have is a bunch of plugins" and Oystein of Mansion Productions discussing how webmasters can use the company's MAS software to "integrate all of your own content, as well as leased feeds and 2257 documents." Raffi from World Wide Content (who moderated the panel) also discussed the importance of matching the photo content on your tour and promo materials to the videos in your members area; "When you license content, always get high-rez photos to go along with it.
The Free Speech Coalition also held its November general meeting at Webmaster Access, where issues such as the Pence Amendment, the Utah registry, the state of 2257 and beyond were discussed by a group of attorneys for the enlightenment of the 50 or so attendees. "This is Hurricane season," Attorney Reed Lee said. "With many nasty storms headed our way, all at the same time." The overall message was one of cautious optimism, with a focus on the need for an organized and coordinated industry response to an increasing climate of governmental challenges. The finger foods and fresh coffee were also a welcome addition to the dinner-time meeting.
With only about 50 in attendance, the processing seminar was moved straight to the breakout room, allowing for a more informal and interactive presentation with representatives of Epoch, CCBill, NetBilling and Local Billing on hand to discuss issues and answer questions. One topic that received a fair degree of attention was the theory and practice of "scrubbing," which CCBill's Doug Wickes made simple by saying "We knock all the bad transactions out for you before hand." The rest of the discussion surrounded specific advice about the choice between having a merchant account and using an IPSP for payment processing, as well as the value of cascading billing.
Party highlights included the Porn Poker Tour and Welcome Party hosted by CamZ, SammySmack, Dating Gold, Realitycash, Pluginfeeds, Eroticy, Adult Insider and Netbilling, plus the Pure Debauchery Party, hosted by Built To Convert and Blazing Bucks. The VIP Playboy Mansion Party sponsored by PlayboyCash, RealityCash, Cams.com/AdultFriendFinder and GalleryTrafficService/P2PAds was much talked about, and followed by the Lucky Strike "Bowling, Booze and Boobs" party.
Women in Adult also held its Los Angeles Cocktail Party in the Outside Terrace of the Sheraton Universal Hotel, providing a relaxing end-of-show networking opportunity offering "cocktails and conversation" with both the women of the industry which WIA is charted to empower, as well as the men who support them.
The hot ticket for Webmaster Access attendees, however, was the 4th Annual XBiz Awards Show, held at Hollywood's infamous Keyclub. Sponsored by Adam & Eve, Adult Digital Media, CCBill, CyberAge, Epoch, Hot Movies, Hustler, IWantU.com, VideoSecrets and Webair, this biggest and best yet awards show was in the words of one euphoric attendee, "totally off the hook!"
You can read more about the XBiz Awards here.
The next Webmaster Access event, the Webmaster Access Getaway, is slated to once again be held in Cancun, Mexico, on March 15-18, 2006. A departure from the usual "seminars and socializing," Webmaster Access Getaway is focused on providing a fun and low-key networking environment offering scenic opportunities for content shooters and relaxation for winter-weary webmasters.