TEMPE, Ariz. — The Phoenix Forum provided another full day of networking and educational seminars for attendees, who also were able to meet and chat it up with reps at Friday’s Meet Market.
It was the middle day of the three-day convention, and attendees were treated to a noon-hour buffet at the Tempe Mission Palms Hotel’s center courtyard and opportunities to make connections at the Meet Market.
Phoenix Forum organizers told XBIZ that this year the convention is seeing a substantial increase in attendance, particularly with pre-registrations, and that was visibly seen at the Meet Market.
Diane Duke, the Free Speech Coalition’s CEO, moderated the first of the two morning seminars.
Duke’s panel discussed aspects of the business that sometimes get thorny. “Protecting Your ASSets” brought to the forefront the risks that the online biz faces, particularly from piracy to hackers, as well as federal, state and global polices, as well as banking regulations. It also offered ways to doubly protect adult content from piracy by adding copyrighted musical tracks to videos.
Panelists to the “Protecting Your ASSets” included Peter Phinney (Porn Guardian), Tony Gallippi (BitPay), Melody Lashmar (L3 Payments), Sam Fein (First Amendment Music) and Douglas Richter, who just joined XCams.com.
Another morning seminar, “From Every Angle — Traffic Strategies Today,” took a look at ways to improve online traffic. Jay Kopita (YNOT) moderated the panel, which consisted of Alex Lecomte (StarEdition), Brian Elkin (Affil4You) and Chris Rodger (Payze).
The “Real vs. Hype” panel, always a tradition at The Phoenix Forum, brought out opinion of some hot products that may or may not affect business for those in the online adult trade.
Kristen Kaye of XBIZ moderated a panel that comprised of Ron Cadwell (CCBill), Tim Valenti (NakedSword), Allison Vivas (Pink Visual), Brad Mitchell (MojoHost and SendFaster), Michael Klein (Hustler) and Stephan Sirard (Next Door and Buddy Profits).
Each of the panelists weighed in on impacts in porn in relation to Google Glass, smart TVs, 4K Ultra HD TVs, 3D TVs, bitcoin and .xxx, among others.
Two other seminars on expanding revenue streams and diversification and working with models rounded out the day’s seminars.
There’s more going on tonight. The Reporo Gay Cocktail Party is planned, along with the Late Night Poker Suites party and a male striptease show — all at the Tempe Mission Palms.
The three-day Phoenix Forum concludes tomorrow, Saturday.