After the end of the 2007 GAYVN Expo on Saturday, many show attendees headed down the Strip to Mandalay Bay for Internext 2.0 to share the latest advances in online technology and programs as the industry heads into a new phase.
“We’re excited to be here,” said Brent Meredith, Director of Account Management for Toronto-based Maleflixxx. “It turns out we’re the only gay-owned and gay-operated company on the show floor this year. And that’s exciting because anyone who’s been walking around the show floor gravitates toward us, and so far we’ve had a lot of traffic come to our booth interested in all the different affiliate programs and the type of content we provide.”
Maleflixx had a full staff in attendance and also enlisted the aid of superstars Benjamin Bradley from Rascal Video and Francesco D’Macho from Hot House to work their booth. Many fans gravitated to the far corner of the floor to snap shots with the duo. And while gay traffic was harder to come by than at the GAYVN Expo, plenty of models and studios were in attendance.
“I’ve never been to one of these, but I’ve never been an owner of something, so it’s the first time for that,” noted model Markie, who is about to launch MarkiesBigDickClub.com. “I’m just trying to make as many connections as possible. I’m surprised there’s not more gay stuff here. I snuck into the C.E.S. show and the whole place was just nothing but everything for your iPod, your GPS, that sort of thing. So obviously, after seeing that and seeing how video is going by the wayside, the Internet is the way it’s going to happen.”
Owen Hawk and Matthias von Fistenberg of Dark Alley Media stayed an extra day to explore the show. With a year-and-a-half under the company’s belt, it was still doing all its streaming business through other sites.
“I think you will see a larger and larger percentage of sales being done through VOD,” Hawk said. “Our philosophy was pretty much to get on every possible network rather than commit exclusively to one network, so being a new company we could build our brand. Our biggest goal is getting as many people as possible to see Dark Alley Media movies, to see the quality and like them and come back and be our customers, so we’ve tried to get on every possible VOD network that seemed like it had any bit of legitimacy, and just get the brand out there.”
Hot House Entertainment founder Steven Scarborough said he stayed to make some business connections
“We’re here to see what’s going on. I don’t want to get isolated in my own little bubble,” he said. “We think we’re doing good, but sometimes its relative, and you have to get out there and check out the competition. The good news is that we come here to confirm what we already know, that everything is going to VOD. We also came here to talk to some alternate billing companies, and we’re getting ready to sign a contract for mobile.”
The show’s opening keynote address, “Beyond Web 2.0 — How It Will Affect Our Business,” was presented by Joe Lackey, the executive vice president of Playboy Entertainment, Inc. Paul Fishbein, president of AVN Media Network, also moderated a State of the Industry special session, “Industry Legends Address the Future of Adult Entertainment.”
After the first day of Internext, attendees gathered at the Maleflixxx suite for four hours of escape from the business, with a large crowd of studio reps, models and webmasters in attendance. The crowd eventually made its way to nightclubs Piranha and 8 1/2 for a cocktail party sponsored by Cybersocket, where dancers helped lead the fun into the early morning hours.
