Let’s just get this out of the way up front: Yes, the winter incarnation of Internext is smaller this year.
There. We said it, and we’re not embarrassed by it.
There are several reasons for the decrease in both exhibitors and attendees, according to Senior Show Manager Renee Johnson. “It’s a trend in the industry” for companies to seek out new opportunities in other areas, she says. Some traditional Internext exhibitors decided to try their luck in the larger, more consumer-oriented Adult Entertainment Expo this year. For the first time, that show is carrying on concurrently in two nearby exhibit halls at the Sands Expo adjacent to The Venetian Hotel and Casino. The “crossover” exhibitors have expanded their product offerings from simply electronic content to physical product (like DVDs), and they feel a need to interact directly with consumers in order to effectively market their wares.
That’s what makes the Super Pass such a great deal, Johnson notes. A Super Pass allows attendees access to both show floors, all seminars (for the first time, AEE offers a full slate of seminars), and every party at both conventions.
“It’s been a popular offering,” Johnson notes.
Although Internext is smaller, it’s not less active. Seminars on the first day were well attended. In fact, despite a less-than-optimal space made necessary by the increased presence of the concurrent Consumer Electronics Show that swallowed up most of the Sands Expo, several seminars played to capacity crowds (and the capacity wasn’t reduced over previous years). In addition, the Internext show floor is lively, and the deal making is non-stop. The party scene, too, is as vibrant as ever. With the opportunity to attend parties associated with the brick-and-mortar-focused AEE, webmasters are partying as heartily as ever.
What is not quite as obvious on the surface is that Internext is in a period of tremendous growth and change, according to Johnson. Based on feedback from exhibitors and attendees, Internext Las Vegas 2007 will be an entirely new animal, she says.
“We’re working to make the show more intimate and more in line with the changing needs of the industry,” Johnson says, revealing that Internext will occur March 1-3 next year at Mandalay Bay. “Instead of cavernous exhibit halls, we’ll have a more intimate setting for exhibits, and everything will be on one level,” which will release attendees from the need to scurry between multiple floors at Mandalay Bay’s plush convention facility. “It will be the adult Internet’s own space. They won’t have to share it with AEE or CES or anyone else,” which not only will reduce the confusion and crowding, but also some of the incumbent expense. “In addition, we’re pulling it away from the holidays, which industry members have requested.”
Winter Internext 2006 also will adopt a new format, Johnson reveals. “We’re reinventing the winter show,” she says. “We’re keeping it in Las Vegas because it’s a fun place that everyone really enjoys, but it’s going to be much more like the summer show, which offers a more relaxed atmosphere and different amenities.”
As of now, plans are not finalized, so Johnson declines to discuss them in depth, but she says webmasters who’ve attended Internext in August at the Westin Diplomat in Hollywood, Fla., will feel right at home. Adult industry members who haven’t attended that show will be pleasantly surprised, she says, beaming.
“We’ve listened to the industry, and we’re responding,” she says. “It’s going to be all about them.”
