BARCELONA - The Barcelona Summit will take place June 15-17 at the ME Barcelona Hotel, combining a B2B show with a webmaster gathering.
Scheduled seminars and events will include two days of country-focused panels to supplement normal networking events that are also part of the program. The country panels will address country-specific topics and offer participants insight into opening new markets in the European Union.
Concurrently, the summit will hold specialized webmaster events, panels and seminars with topics that include: coding, scripts (gallery, tube, trading, arrow and so on), Web designers, graphics, logos, banners, SEO concerns, expert-to-expert webmaster rendezvous, banner-and-click networks, streaming services, payment providers, rendering services for content and programmer company introductions.
"The Barcelona Summit will not be like the conventional B2B shows that you are used to," said Barcelona Summit CEO Andreas Bischoff. "First of all, it will be a truly international show with participants from all over Europe. And secondly, we are integrating the B2B event with a webmaster conference.
"I have to confess, this idea was not born overnight. More than 90 percent of the people we interviewed begged us to move forward as quickly as possible," he said. "I think it is just a simple business motivation. The industry wants shows that boost their business. In the EU, we have 27 unique countries and 450 million people. As companies are peaking with their revenues in their own homeland they are naturally looking to expand their cross-border reach. For the industry to boost its revenues you need to meet all the components that comprise the industry. At the Barcelona Summit, we are giving the B2B market real webmaster access and for the webmasters, we are presenting them with new revenue opportunities."
Bischoff, who's spent some eight years in the adult industry, has worked as an entrepreneur in billing and as a sales executive for affiliates in Europe, and has also overseen content as a company vice president. He's confident about a large webmaster presence at the event.
"We are organizing the Barcelona Summit as an independent event organizer. This already sets a different tone for the summit, he said. "We don't have a parent company supporting this initiative. Being independent also gives us easier access to the leading players in the industry, and we can approach webmasters in a totally different manner.
He also added that reaching out to webmasters isn't difficult at all.
"Not if you listen to them," Bischoff told AVN Online. "We are also fully focused on providing them with an event that deals with their needs and wishes. In the coming months, we will be actively engaging the webmasters on over 40 boards all over the world. This is where the Barcelona Summit will really differentiate."
"Look, to be honest, everyone goes to a show for the money and the parties," he added. "We want to bring the industry together in a format that encourages business contacts and generates cash for our attendees. From the outset, we've had a detailed plan on how to attract the significant players from all over Europe, engage with them concerning their traffic wishes, and we are now launching a highly ambitious "Webmaster Targeting Program.'"
The summit team is actively involved with its B2B sponsors with regard to where they want traffic to come from, even segmented by niches.
"Now the fun starts; we will bring them the webmasters they are looking for," Bischoff said.
The choice of Barcelona is two-fold. Certainly, its party atmosphere is inviting, but it's also a hub for reasonably priced flights from around the globe, and offers an array of hotel, hostel and apartment options in a wide price range, Bischoff explained.
"For basically every budget we have something, starting as low as 40 euros a night for a hostel to whatever price level you may want," he said. "Flights are also cheap if you book them early, but we will have all the info on our website for everyone to see."
"Big European webmasters do have the money to fly out to North America to take care of their international business there. But the largest group of European webmasters, the medium-sized ones, those that are still hungry and want to grow and learn about the industry -- they cannot afford such trips to North America yet," he added. "For those hungry medium-size webmasters I am currently building their first European platform to monetize their international traffic."
Of course it doesn't hurt to hold the event in one of Europe's best party hot-spots to reel in attendees.
"It's easy to access, light on the wallet, and once we get the business out of the way I will make sure that every last participant has a great time," Bischoff told AVN Online. "We are also next to the beach and the average temperature in June is 25 degrees [Celsius]. Bring a swimsuit!"
Participating sponsors, with more expected to come on board, include: Regazze in Vendita (Italy), RIV Cash (Italy), Epoch EU (UK), InterMaxGroup (Czech Republic), Momo-Net (Switzerland), Campoint (Germany), Private (Spain), EPG Bill (Germany),
Payment Network (Germany) and DMK Internet (Germany).
Among the media sponsors are: AVN Europe, AVN Online, AVN.com, BradMag Webeline, Erotikpress, AWM Open Magazine AWB, YNOT, FUBAR Webmasters, Cybersocket, Sin2.0 and Adult Who´s Who.
Networking Partners include The Adult Broker, Lobby X and BizFaktor.
For additional information, visit the Barcelona Summit website.
