AMSTERDAM, Netherlands—One of the main attractions of the first full day of Webmaster Access did not disappoint as the Meet Market packed in an overflow crowd.
To accommodate the increased attendance at the 12th annual conference, organizers moved the Meet Market to the first-floor Eastwood Restaurant at the DoubleTree by Hilton Centraal Station.
What resulted was power networking meets Happy Hour with sun-drenched waterfront views. The mood was light while the energy stayed high as several hundred of the show’s 1500-plus attendees worked their way through an impressive lineup of 60 of the top companies at this year’s show.
Industry-leading firms took over the Meet Market, presented by Etology, with previews of their latest products, innovations and services in what no doubt was one of the highlights so far of the industry's original webmaster show. Presented by BitterStrawberry for the third straight year, Webmaster Access once again brought out a mixture of rookies and seasoned vets.
“This is my second year here and I love the show, it’s one of my favorites,” said Jeffrey Rosenzweig, VP of operations for SegPay, which is based in Coral Springs, Fla.
SegPay unveiled the soft launch of its new gateway product in Amsterdam for merchants who are just looking for gateway services.
“It just seems like the next logical step for us as a payment service provider,” Rosenzweig said. “As more and more merchants are able to get their own payout it makes sense for us to just be able to offer them gateway services.”
He said the gateway offering took about six months to implement and SegPay has set its sights on expanding its mainstream presence with it.
Speaking of launches, ModelCentro was at the Meet Market promoting its MC Profits affiliate program that went live three days ago.
“We have 70-plus models but we are adding new models every week,” said Andrea Fioriniello of ModelCentro. “These are the most converting websites that we have. They are unique websites. They are unsaturated and that is most important for affiliates. And we make 50 percent of rev-share for joins and re-bills. So we are looking for all affiliates that want to monetize their traffic with our website. And we have almost every niche. We have porn stars, we have cam girls. We have erotica solo, Playmates, you name it, we have it.”
Local entrepreneur Leander Kolen came to the Meet Market to discuss KinkyLife.com, which he says “feels and looks like Facebook.”
“It’s an erotic community that’s going to be really something special,” Kolen told AVN. “We started this a couple months ago and we already have 33,000 people on it. So it’s growing. We are buying traffic here so we can expand more quickly. That’s what I’m trying to find here. What we found out is people aren’t coming to the site to do their thing and leave. They’re just hanging around. I wouldn’t expect that.
“I never thought that would happen because we are in hardcore adult entertainment. But this is more relaxed. It’s not about sex right away and that’s what surprised us.”
Webmaster Access Amsterdam is known for its diversity and this year is no exception as enterprising digital professionals from more than 50 countries lit up the attendee list. That was evident at the Meet Market with international execs such as Igor Komarenko, the chief marketing officer for the Ukraine-based Aurora Global, holding court.
A heavyweight in Eastern Europe, Aurora Global specializes in dating and webcam offers with 15 years in the space. Komarenko said his company is building a product that will “help us to better monetize customers from dating offers on the webcams.”
“We are doing full integration of these companies. We don’t just give a white-label solution. We make full integration in the member’s area, full billing integration with one click, everything,” Komarenko said.
“This is my third time at the show. It’s crazy. A lot of people, it’s growing. I really enjoy it because it’s one of the best adult shows.”
Just down the aisle Kateryna Vervyka, head of direct deals for Together Networks, and Andrew Barabash, media buyer for UpForIt Networks, told AVN they were in town to promote their dating sites that boast 15 years in the market.
“We are looking to buy traffic, to have more affiliates join our affiliate network,” Veruyka said. “We’re working with all different geos all over Europe, U.S. and Canada.
“This is my third time to Amsterdam. I have colleagues here who have been here four times. It’s good. I like it. This show is always busy and always interesting.”
The range of companies exhibiting at the Meet Market represented every aspect of the online ecosystem. Elisa Messidoro, account manager for mobile affiliate network, Mobidea, said she traveled to The Dam from Lisbon, Portugal. Mobidea, whose sales manager Nelson Nascimento will speak on Sunday’s Traffic panel, also has offices in Luxembourg, Romania and Israel and is planning to open one in Mexico.
“Our offers are both mainstream and adult,” Messidoro said. “We started in 2013. With CPI we just started this year. This year we’re working to improve, get better offers, more geos, better payouts. It’s very nice.”
Andrew Kelly, senior manager for Germany-based call center Zwei Lowen, came to the show for the first time and circulated the Meet Market after playing in Epoch's Annual Soccer Tour earlier in the afternoon.
“We’re looking to get into this segment of the business,” said Kelly, who is originally from Scotland.
“We provide a lot of moderators for dating chats, but mainly we’re a normal customer service call center. We offer telephone support, email support. … Everyone is so friendly here I must say. I’m really surprised.”
Ivo Delli Colli, sales manager-pay sites for the Montreal-based Adult Force, compared his platform to an adult Netflix.
“If you’re looking to enjoy good, quality premium videos, we have it all,” said Delli Colli, whose blue-chip brands under the Adult Force umbrella include Brazzers, Reality Kings, Mofos, Digital Playground, Twistys, Playboy Plus, Wicked Pictures and Pornhub Premium. “Basically we run some of the biggest offers in the world for adult paysites.”
The Netherlands-based team from Kiiroo enjoyed a big presence at Webmaster Access—among those in attendance are Director of Sales Frank Kok, Communications Manager Ashton Egner and Customer Relationship Manager Maki Sugimura.
Kiiroo, which specializes in interactive sex toys, stands on the cutting edge of teledildonics, which is widely considered the future of the live-cam market.
“We just want to bring everyone together with our devices,” Sugimura said.
Egner meanwhile pointed to Kiiroo’s Virtual Sexology, a sex therapy program from Badoink VR that integrates with Kiiroo’s Onyx for haptic feedback, as their newest product.
“What’s going to come next we can’t say yet,” Egner said with a smile.
One of the most popular booths at the Meet Market without question was occupied by the SexGoesMobile crew, where CEO Andy Wullmer & Co. handed out and encouraged attendees to gulp down miniature bottles of spiked "Pussyjuice." Suffice it to say several people found their way back to the booth more than once.
The day started with Epoch's Soccer Madness, the latest stop on its worldwide Soccer Tour which this year was contested at the TOG Amsterdam Voetbalvereniging Tot Ons Genoegen Soccer Club about 20 minutes from the hotel. The soccer gods blessed the game with partly cloudy conditions in the mid-70s as an enthusiastic group of Webmaster Access attendees took the pitch just after high noon. Orchestrated by Epoch's VP of Sales of Marketing Harmik Gharapetian, the game featured two squads of eight players—the green team vs. the orange team—all decked out in Epoch-branded soccer kits.
In a spirited match, the green team prevailed behind a stubborn defense and some precision striking led by sharpshooting Benjamin Joyeux. A native of Brussels, Belgium, Joyeux brought serious skills to the field en route to a highlight-reel hat-trick—in the first five minutes of action. Joyeux, who is the international business development manager for Worldline e-payment services, said his last name means "happy" in French.
Epoch's fleet-footed Andy Davis and the crafty Gharapetian himself were standouts on the orange side, keeping the game competitive until the final whistle.
The festivities continued Friday night as Epoch left nothing to chance in celebrating its 20th anniversary with an amazing gala at the nearby Sea Palace. More than 600 Webmaster Access revelers packed the three-floor, Cantonese-style eatery, which is an Amsterdam landmark as the first floating restaurant. Speaking of winning teams, a parade of gorgeous models wore orange soccer-inspired shirts with the No. 20 on the back and black tutus as they greeted guests and danced the night away. The bash went well past midnight and party-goers received a parting gift, a black soccer-inspired Epoch shirt with the No. 20 on the back. Nice touch, guys.
And Webmaster Access has only just begun as Saturday signals the beginning of the robust seminar program featuring an array of industry experts from more than two dozen countries.
For the full schedule, click here.
Photos above by JFK/FUBARWebmasters.com
