Turnout included Max Hardcore, Jenna Jameson, Tera Patrick, Ron Jeremy, ePassporte's Chris Mallick, Paycom, CCBill, Playboy, Hustler, Vivid, and an enviable list of webmasters and adult professionals.
As in past years, the show took place at the oceanfront Westin Diplomat Hotel & Spa, which this year was taken over entirely by adult webmasters and offered increased opportunities for companies to showcase and advertise their products and services by either purchasing booth space on the showroom floor, or renting poolside cabanas to maximize sun, fun and foot traffic from the showroom floor. Tradeshow hours were even cut to increase focus on those companies that opted for the cabanas as their primary location for show exposure.
While some show attendees complained about heavy security at the event that kept many people from coming and going with the freedom they were used to in past years, Drummond said she was on hand to meet and greet webmasters and clear up any confusion over the registration and hotel check-in process.
In an effort to maintain a feeling of adult exclusivity, hotel guests and event attendees were only allowed to enter the building if they had a show badge in their possession.
Webmaster veteran Sleazy Dream told XBiz that while he wasn't sure attendance was what it had been in past years, the webmasters he had encountered on the showroom floor and at networking gatherings, seemed far more informed and Internet savvy than in past years.
Other revamps to this year's Internext show included a new lineup of seminar topics focusing on industry topics such as mobile technology, 2257 record-keeping requirements, protecting content from obscenity prosecution and a poorly attended seminar on the controversial sponsored top-level .XXX domain name, which was hotly debated by ICM Registry's Jason Hendeles, Stuart Lawley – backers of the sTLD – with opposing viewpoints expressed by YNOT Master's Connor Young and Tom Hymes of the Free Speech Coalition. Other panelists included industry attorney Greg Piccionelli and Monte Cahn of Moniker.com.
Other informative industry gatherings included a sponsor meeting for ASACP and an early morning FSC update on the recent preliminary injunction hearing in Denver, Colo., at which several top-notch free speech attorneys such as Paul Cambria and Louis Sirkin posed a formidable legal argument against the U.S. Department of Justice's amendments to 2257 law.
“It couldn't have gone better,” Hymes said to the crowd of FSC supporters and members, referring to the hearing that took place on Aug. 2. Hymes added that at the conclusion of the hearing, the judge said he would issue a ruling within the next three weeks.
Hymes and the FSC feel confident at this point that the secondary provision in 2257 amended law will be enjoined and possibly even the amended regulations altogether.
Drummond predicted that next year's show will have even more additions, including water sports, more controversial seminar topics and more parties.
Party highlights included a GFY warm-up party in the Grand Ballroom East with GFY's Eric Matis on hand as the event's host; TopBucks' Big Fat Greek Dinner; an AVN-sponsored Smoke & Mirrors party at Nikki Marina; Netbilling's Porn Poker Tour Main Event; a Pajama Party thrown by Mac Daddy Bucks and Crazy Club Chick; a Cybersocket webmaster gathering; Maleflixxx Cock & Tail Hour; a PinkTV Party at a 25,000 square foot warehouse in Miami; and of course, the annual SilverCash Bikini Contest.
This year's traditional scotch and cigar party was thrown by NoCreditCard.com and ChargeMe Later, drawing a large crowd of cigar smokers and non smokers to enjoy the sunset ocean views, hors d'oeuvres and a full bar.
Women in Adult also held its yearly courtyard gathering that doubled as both an Internext send-off and a gathering of people interested in nurturing and supporting women adult professionals.
Earlier this month, WIA's Holly Moss disbanded the organization's board of directors due to lack of time to devote to the organization she founded two years ago.
The next Internext event will combine AVN's Adult Expo for the first time in Las Vegas, Nev., Jan. 5-8, 2006. In previous years, the two events ran back-to-back, one catering to the business-to-business community, and the other to a more consumer-based audience of attendees.
