AVN Media Network CEO Darren Roberts will participate in a panel discussion with Vivid Entertainment founder and co-chairman Steven Hirsch and AEBN President Scott Coffman at this year’s nextMEDIA conference during the World Television Festival in Banff, Alberta, Canada, on June 14, 2010.
The three entertainment industry experts will be speaking about the adult sector and its future in the online marketplace. They will also address current market trends and provide insight for mainstream companies seeking to learn from both the triumphs and trials that adult companies have faced in the online business world.
Since 1982, AVN has been the leading B2B media powerhouse covering the adult entertainment industry. Through its publications and websites, AVN follows business trends, reports on news and legal issues, reviews products, and publishes sales charts and figures. From the glory days of mammoth profits in the 1990s to the nightmare era of rampant piracy in the past decade, AVN has been the leading expert in the adult industry. Its corporate principals and reporters are often contacted as authoritative sources when the mainstream media covers adult business issues.
AVN also has been the first stop for many technology companies exploring the adult entertainment market sector. Through both its journalistic coverage and its own corporate projects, AVN has been intimately engaged with all of the major technological advances that have flourished first in the adult marketplace.
Roberts joined AVN in 1997 and, under his leadership, has more than tripled the company’s annual revenues. Roberts expanded the business offerings to include web products, trade shows and consumer events. The newest AVN product is The AVN Show, taking place this August in Florida, which offers something completely different in the trade show arena: a chance for all entrepreneurs in sex-positive businesses—from pleasure product manufacturers to webmasters to adult studios—to come together and learn about new technologies that will help their businesses grow.
“In my years at AVN, I’ve seen a lot of changes in the industry, and our products have also morphed and changed to meet the current market needs,” Roberts said. “Change is good, and with it comes new advancements and opportunities.”
