The opening seminar, entitled "What's Hot: The Changing Taste of Adult Entertainment Consumers," was moderated by noted attorney and technologist, Greg Piccionelli, and featured X-Play's Jeff Mullen; Brian Shuster of Red Light Center; Raffi Vartanian from WorldWideContent.com; Allan Henning of DatingGold and Shap, from Twistys.
Together, the panelists represented a wealth of industry knowledge, ranging from video production to distribution; virtual worlds to online dating; premium membership sites to the latest in consumer desire and technology.
"It's no secret that today's consumers are not only far savvier about online offers, they are also presented with many more options," states the show's promoters. "From traditional pre-recorded content where the hot niche du jour may be tomorrow's has-been, to the growing range of live streaming content offers, the expansion of emerging technologies including virtual communities, and the promise of in-person encounters, this session will focus on what is in most demand by today's consumers as well as the direction of tomorrow's adult entertainment landscape."
"We have one product to sell, yet we collectively give it away," Mullen offered, highlighting the panel's emphasis on overcoming the problems of free content on the Internet.
For those still willing to pay for porn, an evolving feature set and better technology seems to be driving much of the demand.
"Video content has become so saturated that people want better content like 3D and augmented reality," Vartanian said, adding, "Everybody's learning because big changes are happening."
Asked about the role that quality plays in the current content equation, Shap opined that it is its high quality content that sets Twistys apart from its competitors.
Henning added that quality is important across many market segments, including the live chat arena, which also addresses some of the issues of free content.
"Our content can't be given away for free," Henning said. "We can generate a lot of revenue from our product."
"The Internet is going to become a 3D medium," Shuster said, echoing Vartanian's sentiments. "It's much more interactive and entertaining. You are meeting people in real time — it is so much more engaging than standard porn.
"It's certainly not your father's porn," Piccionelli sagely observed.
"There are lots of new business models now that costs have dropped so much," Shuster offered. "But companies generally don't like to adapt."
Means of adapting to market challenges posed by free and user-generated content were passionately discussed by the panelists, who agreed that some form of hybrid free/paid content model was the most likely to succeed in the near term.
"We love user-generated content, because it keeps our sites fresh and active," Henning said. "Free content isn't going anywhere, so you have to learn how to deal with it."
"Paysites have not evolved," Shap stated. "Paysites today look much the same as they did five years ago."
This point was emphasized as reflecting the industry's latest evolution, having gone from audiotext to photos, then on to videos, live chat, haptics and beyond.
"The big change is that everything is going to the Internet," Vartanian said. "The cable market should be more concerned than we are."
At the end of the day, the need to improve quality, adopt advanced delivery mechanisms and boost customer service, is something that adult operators ignore at their peril.
The early buzz amongst attendees was that this session provided some much-needed insight that will revitalize and guide the development of many adult entrepreneur's business plans, as the industry seeks a more sophisticated approach to satisfying consumer demand.
Private discussions on the subject continued amongst attendees after the seminar, during the DatingGold-sponsored networking luncheon.
