LAS VEGAS—It’s not every awards show where the master of ceremonies tells people to “put your fucking hands together for the winners.” But this is the GFY Awards, and as is the case with the unruly GFY.com webmaster forum they’re named after, “zookeeper” Eric Matis is in charge.
The annual event, which announces the results of voting by GFY.com members in various categories, took place January 16, the last night of the Internext Expo, in Vinyl nightclub at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Las Vegas.
The band Misty Dawn took the stage first: all girl, and all hot—in terms of both looks and licks. Sexy outfits and stiletto heels aside, these women won over the crowd in a series of sets that ran a wide musical gamut, from the Beastie Boys’ “(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (to Party!)” to Lorde’s “Royals.”
After their first set Matis addressed the audience of typically inattentive GFYers, flying into a mock rage when they failed to clap enthusiastically enough for the winners. Noting the GFY’s are a “popularity contest,” he said, “We could just give the awards to the people who pay the most money but we don't do it that way. So put your fucking hands together for [joint sponsors] PussyCash and Bitter Strawberry, who paid for this and put those fucking drinks in your hands.”
Most of the winners gleefully accepted their awards in the same spirit. “Thank you for all the love and the hate you send our way,” said Gary Jackson of CCBill, picking up the trophy for Best IPSP.
The acceptance speech by first-time winner Quantox was quick and cordial: “Thanks, everyone. Great start of the year. Cheers.”
Wearing his trademark orange fedora, Juicy Ads founder Juicy Jay came up to accept the award for Best Advertising Network. He told the crowd that impending fatherhood dictated the 2017 show would be his last Internext for a while.
Stefan G. came up to accept honors for colleague MaDalton of Amazing Content for Best Content Producer. “I’m just the guy who sells the stuff my partners make. I'm the guy on GFY who annoys people.
Yelling out, “Where’s that crazy German?” Matis announced Business Person of the Year
winner Andy Wullmer, who said, “Again and again Vegas fucks me up,” then threw back his head and bellowed, "Make some noise."
That phrase became the evening’s catch phrase. Affil4You’s Joey Gabra went up with his whole group to nab the Best Mobile Company, saying the win was a “team effort” and welcoming new members Ines and Chi. “I have one more thing,” he said in a deadpan voice. “Make some noise.”
Shirley Lara of Chaturbate was there to claim victory as Best Live Cam Company. After Matis teased her about her shoes, she said. “Guys, if you have a wife of some sort, or girlfriend: JImmy Choos. Lara got into the spirit, yelling, "Can everybody just shut the fuck up?"
Sales person CourtneyR_FFN of FriendFinderNetworks was in the house to win Best Company Rep on GFY. “I don't want to give this to her,” Matis muttered. “I don't ever like her.”
After another break during which they could enjoy the band, the event was in its home stretch. Dubbed Webmaster of the Year, the Hun came up to accept. “I've been running this website for half my life. Thank you—and go fuck yourself.”
Also there to embrace their trophies were Chris of Paxum, winning for Best Payment Service; Best Cam Studio winner AJ Studios; Best Mobile Ad Network winner Bitter Strawberry; and Innovative Company of the Year CrakRevenue, accepted by the whole team.
For the final award, the year’s Hall of Fame entrant, Matis noted that GFY started in 2000, and it is “a living entity. It's there to help you with your business. People in the Hall of Fame helped build the business.
“So put your fucking hands together for AaronM.”
Alas, the 2017 inductee was not present. But the band played on … and the drinks continued to flow, courtesy of ImLIve and Bitter Strawberry.
The full list of winners is as follows:
Best IPSP—CCBill
Hall of Fame—AaronM
Best Webmaster Tool—Quantox
Best Content Producer—MaDalton of Amazing Content
Best Content Provider—AdultCentro
Business Person of the Year—Andy Wullmer
Best Company of the Year—CrakMedia
Best Affiliate Program—Flirt4Free
Best Advertising Network—JuicyAds
Best Mobile Company—Affil4You
Best Hosting Company—MojoHost
Best Adult CPA Network—Mobsuite
Best Company Rep on GFY—CourtneyR_FFN of FriendFinderNetworks
Best Live Cam Company—Chaturbate
Best Merchant Services—Netbilling
Best Payment Service—Paxum
Best Cam Studio—AJ Studios, AJEStudios.com
Newbie of the Year—Adnium_Ivana
Webmaster of the Year—The Hun
Best Dating Company—Datetronix
Best Mobile Ad Network—BitterStrawberry
Best Affiliate Manager—Ruben Rodriguez of FriendFinderNetworks
Troll of the Year—brassmonkey
Best Content Partnership—YourPaysitePartner.com
Best Designer—ZuzanaDesigns.com
Best New Paysite—GoGoBarAuditions.com
Most Popular Member—JFK
Business Thread of the Year—PaySites Have To Change Before It's Too Late. Here Are Some Ideas... (by Shap)
Pictured above: the CrakRevenue team; photo by JFK/FUBARWebmasters.com
