MIAMI — Summertime started early on Wednesday at the Mayfair Hotel & Spa, where the top digital media professionals in the adult industry gathered for the first full day of events at the XBIZ Summit, presented by AWE.
For photo coverage of XBIZ Summit 2013, click here.
Several dozen attendees at the sold-out conference kicked off their business getaway by participating in the latest edition of XBIZ Speed Networking, which unfolded in the tropical atrium known as the Palm Terrace of the Mayfair Hotel.
An assortment of executives from the U.S. and abroad sat down for the targeted meet-and-greet that was hosted by XBIZ Events Manager Moe Helmy and worth 100 points in the “gamified” show format, which allows attendees the chance to win more than $10,000 in high-tech prizes this Friday.
The energetic, 90-minute session set the tone for the day that would later include networking opportunities at the poolside cabanas, a range of business seminars and an evening packed with XBIZ Summit-themed cocktail parties.
Arvan Reese, the VP of strategic market solutions for MojoHost, used his Speed Networking session to get the word out about the free tours of his company’s local data center during the XBIZ Summit. He also said MojoHost is planning to open a new data center in Amsterdam.
“We’re about customer service at MojoHost,” Reese said. “We’re a relationship-driven service provider.”
This week in Miami marked the first adult industry show for Kimberley Klevstad, who recently joined Reporo as the ad sales manager for North America. She said Reporo last month launched two new ad formats — spinning banners and adhesion banners, designed to help mobile site owners “increase performance for advertising.”
Another newcomer with a presence at the Summit was Kyle Karamanoogian, senior account representative for Dyn, a domain name and email service provider based in Manchester, New Hampshire. He said the bulk of Dyn’s market penetration has been with high-profile mainstream clients such as Twitter and Netflix, however “we started to dive into the adult industry one-and-a-half months ago.”
“We just closed Naughty America, and we also work with Adam & Eve,” Karamanoogian said.
The South Florida-based, two-time winner of XBIZ Web Star of the Year, Vicky Vette, attended the Summit for the second straight year. The busty blonde performer, who runs the Vette Nation Army network of porn star sites, said that VetteNationLive.com now features a “Cam Ring” with 40 different girls. Each performer in the Ring donates one hour of cam time, and then each shares the 39 other hours of time with their site members.
“It’s a great big content share between girls,” Vette said. “I’m looking to lease feeds and get more eyeballs on these. Soon I’ll have 50 to 100 girls in the Ring. It’ll be like a giant cam room where you can log on at any time during the day or night and someone will be online.”
Scott Delatush, the COO of SexKey.com, traveled to the Summit to find ways to build out his company’s portfolio of domains that includes Tits.com, Blowjobs.com and Fetishes.com, all three of which SexKey intends to further develop in the coming months.
The Summit once again featured international flavor that included a strong German contingent. Andree Schnebel from Germany’s Visit-X.tv told XBIZ he traveled to Miami to spread the word about his satellite TV channel that includes both explicit and non-explicit programming.
“All the content on our TV channel is with our own cam girls,” Schnebel said.
Speaking of cams, Summit attendee Anthony Rivera, vice president of AJ Studios, said his company is “the largest live cam provider in South America.”
Based in Cali, Colombia, with offices in five cities throughout the country, AJ Studios plans to launch its own cam site featuring Latin girls in the next two months, Rivera said.
“And we’re going to integrate a real-life component with a social network and host different parties,” according to Rivera.
Just 30 minutes after Speed Networking concluded, the action began to sizzle by the rooftop pool as the temperature climbed to 85 degrees under mostly sunny skies. CoolMobile, which sponsored the Poolside Networking, commissioned a pair of topless, body-painted girls to circulate the deck handing out free sunglasses.
Carlos Navares, affiliate manager for CoolMobile, said his company was utilizing the Summit to roll out its U.S. presence after building a strong base in Europe and Latin America. Launched three years ago, CoolMobile is an affiliate program featuring exclusive Android porn apps, mobile and web-to-mobile sites.
Meanwhile, Adult AdWorld, which specializes in publisher and advertising solutions, scored a corner cabana at the pool, where CEO Daniel Rand told XBIZ his company recently unveiled a self-service platform.
“We’ve never had one before,” Rand explained. “We used to have a $1000 minimum buy, and now we have a $50 minimum. And we’re re-launching our mobile optimized platform next week.”
And the XBIZ Summit rolled on Wednesday as attendees enjoyed the convenience of the complete hotel takeover of the Mayfair, situated in Coconut Grove, Fla., secluded from the bustle of South Beach but still just minutes from the famed destination.
After the CCBill-sponsored, Mojito-fueled Happy Hour in the Mayfair’s Asian Garden, the second Mix & Meet Marketplace of the week was set to go off on the Palm Terrace. Then on Wednesday evening, the Baller Blitz, featuring the guitar sounds of George Lynch and the first XBIZ Summit Bikini Contest, was scheduled for a sunset start on the pool deck.
