Saturday, day three of the event: a small percentage of attendees begin the trek home, but there remained a full schedule of seminars and parties, not to mention the Lightspeed Nude Dodgeball contest, which went off without a hitch, and, by the time it was over, a stitch of clothing.
The seemingly anti-gravity athleticism of some of the all-female participants was awe-inspiring to mere mortals on the sidelines; conversely, the gravity with which the girls went about attempting to pummel one another into naked submission was something many of us will happily take to our graves. The Japanese could not have conceived of, much less staged, a more successful exhibition of erotic humiliation. Kudos to the winners, and a big thank you to the losers.
There were three seminars on Saturday — Viral Marketing, Traffic and the State of the Industry — and an ASACP Lunch and Learn, during which executive director Joan Irvine spoke about the many initiatives ASACP has put in play to spread the word about the RTA (Restricted To Adults) label created by ASACP last year.
Irvine also spoke about the hidden ways purveyors of child pornography use legitimate affiliate networks and websites to attract (and bill) paying customers, a nefarious scam that all affiliates and sponsors need to be aware of and take steps to detect and eradicate.
The Viral Marketing seminar, which focused on the ways companies can brand themselves while also creating new streams of traffic and revenue, was moderated by AVN Online Associate Publisher MJ McMahon, who oversaw a talented panel of experienced marketers that included Cory Hedgepeth (WEGCash), Derek Meklir (AdultWhosWho), Harlan Yaffe (PrideBucks), Holly Ruprecht (Naked Sword), Mark Hurson (P2PPads) and Steve Jones (Lightspeed).
The traffic seminar was moderated by Craig Tant and featured panelists Albert Lazarito (SilverCash), Ronald Holiday (12 Clicks), Lisa Turner (BadPuppy), Mary Gillis (MaleFlixxx) and Mark Hurson (P2P Pads). The hour and a half seminar covered a lot of ground on subjects such as traffic trades, getting traffic referrals, dealing with the various online communities, how to get traffic if you are new, and perhaps most important, how to successfully network with people in the industry who have valuable sources of traffic.
One interesting, but perhaps not surprising, point that all the panelists made was the fact that, of all their traffic sources, member (i.e. affiliate) traffic converted the best, by a very large margin. It underscored the point made repeatedly that interpersonal and relationship-building skills are essential qualities for a successful adult online company.
The State of the Industry panel was the last of the event. Moderated by Johnny V., it featured industry leaders Tony Morgan (National Net), Lee Windsor, Brad Mitchell (Mojo Host), (GayWideWebmasters), Legendary Lars (AFF) and Greg Clayman (VS Media). Johnny V took firm control of the proceedings from the start, determined to address issues of direct and timely relevance to members of the industry.
After opening the session with a very funny top-10 list of reasons why it’s great to work in the industry (No. 9: you actually get in trouble at work for NOT looking at porn), Johnny launched into a series of hard-hitting questions on subjects such as self-regulation, piracy, shaving and adware/spyware, the last of which drew a large reaction from the audience due to the fact that Legendary Lars was on the panel. Lars’ company, AFF, has borne the brunt over the past few months for using a controversial adware program called Zango.
Lars explained the difference between spyware, which infects computers without the owners’ knowledge, and adware, which he defined as a product or service offered to consumers in exchange for watching ads or receiving pop-ups. He conceded that AFF has used the latter, and described adware use as an “interesting business model” if used responsibly.
The debate about adware, he said, comes down to who, if anyone, owns the surfer. He also said that, unknown to many people, most of the larger programs use adware behind the scenes, and that a lot of people tend to look the other way when they find out.
The other panelists were in agreement that the correct use of adware comes down to how ethically it is used, and that, without pointing fingers, others in the business should avoid those who use it to reroute legitimate affiliate traffic.
As the sun went down Saturday evening, bringing another successful Phoenix Forum to a close, there was a last furious spate of parties and events, including the aforementioned Lightspeed Dodgeball; the Porn Poker Tournament, sponsored by CamZ, Netbilling, Sammy Smack, Eroticy, MPA3, Dating Gold and Capitol Bucks; and the PussyCash closing party. Also in full play, as they had been the days before, were breakfast with AllureCash, TopBucks Splash Bash and Mansites/PrideBucks Late Night Suite.
