A staple of many past Internexts, the Silvercash bikini contest drew a sizeable throng of attendees. Emceed by Bob Rice, contestants strutted their stuff poolside to the obvious delight of the few hundred show attendees who were suspiciously quiet during the proceedings.
The biggest hit of the show was the hotel, the Westin Diplomat. Entirely reserved for Internext attendees, there were networking opportunities around every corner. Many took advantage, striking up friendly conversations in the elevator, at the bar and in the hallways.
On the downside, the show floor was painfully slow. It appears that the era of tradeshow booths for an Internet-focused show went out of style years ago; foot traffic was very low.
The cabana presence also was somewhat disappointing. Prohibitively humid temps were an impediment to be sure, and there were only a handful of sponsored cabanas without misters or comfy furniture. The Adultvest cabana, however, proved to be a popular destination because of the new IPTV service, FyreTV, conducting demos on the flat screen TV inside.
Seminar-wise, the show provided multi-track offerings in the core categories of Sales & Marketing, Technology & Innovation, Maximizing Your Content and Special Events. Utilizing small rooms and large, some with large screens for multi-media presentations, there was something for everyone. While the average attendance for the seminars was relatively low, value was often very high.
On Saturday, for instance, the Site Critique Clinic, with panelists Ken "The Best Porn" Farrell, Shannon "SHEDEVIL" Warren and Colin "Wasteland" Rowntree, had only 15 people in the room but nonetheless provided an inordinate amount of value for those who owned the sites being critiqued and also for those along for the ride.
On the business side, Moniker’s live adult domain auction proved to be an interesting event that brought in a lot of money. LatinPussy.com went for $135,000, the most expensive domain on the block. Rounding out the top five were Spicy.com ($81,000); Chubby.com ($65,000); GayBondage.com ($60,000); and SexMachine.com ($55,000).
After the auction, Mansion Productions threw a luxurious, invite-only boat party that traveled down Florida’s picturesque intercoastal waterway. The three-leveled cruiser offered massages, gambling, dancing, hors d’oeuvres and the webmaster staple — open bar. Seasonably humid temperatures kept many invitees inside the boat where the air conditioning was on full blast, but many sun worshippers stayed on the top deck or the stern admiring the multimillion dollar Miami mansions that Scarface would be envious of. Bonnie Moss and Celine of Moss Events organized the boat voyage.
The highlight of Internext (for this reporter, anyway) was the ubiquitous Players’ Ball presented by D-Money. Evan Horowitz of XPays.com and XVN.com kicked things off with an energetic DJ set of old and new hip-hop classics. Held in the Grand Ballroom of the Westin Diplomat, hundreds of attendees grooved to the beat in anticipation of the concert’s headliners, the Yin Yang Twins. Kevin “KB” Blatt and J$TYLE$ provided D-Money with some able assistance on the microphone keeping the crowd hyped until the Yin Yang Twins hit the stage.
Famous for its crunk-style tracks “Get Low” and “Salt Shaker” with Lil Jon, Yin Yang brought down the house with their barely intelligible brand of Southern hip-hop. The ladies in attendance clearly responded to the vibe in the room, shaking their moneymakers for the duration of the duo’s act.
Other events included the Get Wet Adult Rental Wet T-Shirt Contest held in the hotel’s Grand Ballroom, which awarded $3,500 in prize money and the ever-present Porn Poker Tour courtesy of CamZ.com, NETbilling.com, DatingGold.com, Eroticy.com and Erevcard.com.
Gay webmasters also had a few events to choose from Saturday night, including the Maleflixxx and CCBill Cock&Tail suite party and the Cybersocket Farewell Cocktail Party presented by Epoch.
In the end, any trade show is what you make of it. Internext provided attendees with many opportunities to make new contacts, reconnect with old friends, conduct business, learn something new and have fun while doing it.
