Held in the Hollywood Ballroom of the Renaissance Hotel, the four panels covered a variety of topics and had a little something for everyone. In between seminars, Retreat attendees enjoyed open booze or coffee bars, networked in the hotel mezzanine area or stepped outside for a quick cigarette in the Hollywood/Highland Complex.
The first seminar of the day was entitled “The Newbie Panel: The First Step on the Yellow Brick Road,” and was designed for webmasters who are new to the gay adult entertainment industry. Moderating was Patrick Curran, the chief administration officer for Epoch. On its panel were Albert Lazarito (SilverCash), Amy Kehoe (Playgirl), Angel Benton (JustUsBoys Magazine), Don Mike (Max Pixels), Rainey Stricklin (Epoch) and Scott Rabinowitz (Traffic Dude).
The informative panel explained what it takes to get started in cyberspace, how to market to consumers, where to aim your advertising dollars - they even answered the question “Is it necessary to have a gay male representative mingling and schmoozing, or can women and straight men fairly represent the gay industry?” (Answer: They can.)
“One of the key factors in getting to know people,” Lazarito said, “is you have to come out of your comfort zone and be open to meeting new people. Shake some hands, kiss some babies.”
The panel also discussed legal issues and how they pertained to starting up a website.
“Do your research,” Kehoe said. “Take your time. Get it right.”
The second seminar was entitled “Shooting Content: The Producers.” Curran again moderated and the panel included Andy Fair (Dirty Boy Video), Brian Randall (GunzBlazing), Karl Edwards (YouLoveJack) and Harlan Yaffe (Pride Bucks).
The panel members knew their stuff. From recruiting models to making sure said models had proper identification on shoots, they focused on how important it is to shoot content for the consumer and not for producers’ own fantasies. They also discussed how to find great locations and what kinds of cameras are best to shoot with.
“We shoot in hi-def,” Randall said. “It’s not necessary to use if you’re shooting primarily for web, but if you’re shooting with the future goal of starting up a production company, you’ve already got your high-quality product.”
“Make sure that you not only market to your members, but your affiliates,” Edwards said.
It was Yaffe who had the final word: “If you use production stills, take five minutes during filming to take them. There’s nothing more annoying than flashbulbs and shutter-clicks while two hot guys are having sex!”
Things turned a bit more serious with the third seminar, entitled “Online Piracy: The Plagiarism of Pornography.” BananaGuide’s Trevor Hennig was the moderator and its experienced panel was comprised of Caryn Goldberg (Global Anti-Piracy Agency), Greg Piccionelli (Piccionelli and Sarno), Jason Tucker (Falcon Enterprises), Jasun Mark (Fratmen) and Mark Kliem (Lavender Lounge).
The panel had much to say on Digital Rights Management (DRM) - some were fans, some were not; Jasun Mark was not a fan. “DRM is not user-friendly,” he said.
They were all in agreement, however, when it came to going after online pirates.
“You must let them know that you will fight them,” Piccionelli said. “The industry is not proactive in policing the piracy issue and that needs to change.”
“We’re all in this together,” Tucker said. “You have to keep the pressure on. The process is not fast, but it is efficient. Make sure you register your content with the copyright office. Document each site you find your content on or create software to scour websites for it.”
“I was at an antipiracy meeting last year,” Goldberg said, “and every facet of the creative medium world was there - the music industry, the film industry, every other sort of industry. But the adult industry had no voice. In order to educate them, GAPA was created.”
Incorporated in June, Global AntiPiracy Agency (GAPA is an independent, nonprofit trade organization with the singular mission of working on behalf of the adult entertainment industry to fight piracy of intellectual property.
The topics of the panel then ranged from the 2257 laws to file-sharing programs to what smaller companies could do if they didn’t have the cash flow to fight.
The panel did find an upside to piracy.
“Watermark your content,” Tucker said. “Break up your video with commercials. Fight the battles you can fight.”
“State of the Industry: Where We Are Now” was the topic of the final seminar of the day. Cybersocket’s Morgan Sommer moderated and its panel included Jeff Thayer (Epoch), Mitch Farber (Netbilling), Ron Cadwell (CCBill), Scott Rabinowitz (Traffic Dude) and Tim Valenti (NakedSword).
The esteemed panel members gave their opinions of the state of the gay adult industry today.
“The demand has not gone away, and it’s doubtful it will any time soon,” Rabinowitz said.
Agreeing, Valenti added, “The industry is in a healthy state.”
“Quality sites have gotten so much better,” Farber said. “It’s driving webmasters to work harder.”
The panel then went on to discuss a variety of topics. Cadwell talked about some new technology and how it will impact the consumer’s adult viewing experience. Sommer introduced the topic of creating a niche market, cautioning the audience not to make the target niche so narrow that “you can’t get enough people to it.”
Thayer closed the session by addressing how the gay adult industry can help prevent children from accessing their content.
“We can protect children by teaching their parents how to use filters,” he said. “We just have to give them the tools.”
Typical of all adult events, the earlier seminars were less attended, while the latter ones surged to more than 100 attendees. All-in-all, thanks to the expertise of the panels, the first day of the Retreat was a great success.
The Retreat continues today with more seminars and parties.