Helmy, the president of XBIZ and founder of ASACP, was peppered in an hour-long Q&A session that provided an up-close and personal glimpse at his businesses, as well as his opinions on some of the hot-button issues that the adult industry faces today.
Helmy, who entered the adult entertainment industry at Internet's infancy with a number of online ventures, focuses his energies on XBIZ's suite of media products — XBIZ.com, XFANZ.com, XBIZ World and XBIZ Premiere, among others — and four annual events, XBIZ Summer Forum, XFANZ Summer Expo, XBIZ LA Conference and the XBIZ Awards.
In the candid interview, held in an "actor's studio"-style presentation, Helmy dug deep into the reasons why media company XBIZ has raced into the position as the go-to source for adult industry news.
“Our mission from Day 1 has been to disseminate business news and information through as many platforms as possible,“ Helmy said.
Helmy’s media company also has been highly successful with its industry trade shows and recently announced the launch of an all-new consumer-based show that is slated to piggyback on the XBIZ Summer Forum in June 2010.
“We’re very detailed-oriented, and we don’t take the template from last year’s show and apply it to our next event. The adult business is very dynamic,” he said. “We’re highly attune to the marketplace, and I would attribute much of our success to that.”
Helmy also said it was never his plan to compete with AVN, and that he feels the suit waged by the media organization, which claims he conspired to steal its trade secrets, is bogus.
“The accusations are all over the place, and much of [the claims] are laughable," Helmy said. "But I also understand from their perspective and perhaps the paranoia that comes with competing with another entity.
“But after speaking with a number of industry people, all saw it for what it was — an attempt to slow down XBIZ.”
Helmy also noted that it was odd to be served with such a suit after the media company has achieved much of its success.
Johnny V also questioned Helmy about his involvement with the proposed .XXX, which has gained speed in the past few weeks.
“I think some people have been led to believe that I stand to gain from it,” Helmy said. “Absolutely not; I have nothing to do with it.”
Later in the day, the second Visionary track interview featured questions and answers posed to Steven Scarborough, Hot House Entertainment's president.
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