A 2Much.net-sponsored journey down the Hollywood Beach channel was forced to turn around and head back to home base earlier than planned on Saturday afternoon.
Originally planned to be a “three-hour tour” mixer for webmasters to mingle and do business, the cruise was pre-maturely shut down after the Florida Coast Guard boarded the recreational yacht and discovered that the number of people onboard did not match the manifest, according to 2much reps who were aboard the boat.
The early retirement didn’t deter webmasters, who seemed happy just to have been part of the experience.
“For this particular show, there weren’t a lot of outside activities for people to do,” said Jonny B. of Wildline, a co-sponsor of the cruise. “This seemed like a perfect fit. I think it’s important to do thoughtful, careful gatherings. The industry spends so much time, so much energy, so much effort and money putting together these monster parties – so loud, you can’t see anybody, you can’t hear anything, you can’t talk, and then at the end of the day you can’t remember who sponsored it. So it’s a ton of energy, a ton of money—and you don’t get any business done. But not on something like this. In this situation, you sponsor, you talk to people in a quiet environment; it’s a little bit nicer. I think it’s important to party hearty with all your friends while you have an opportunity to do business.”
Jonny’s statements were echoed by BukBuddies.com co-owner Derek—also a co-sponsor—who added, “Coming to party and drink on a boat and make contacts is certainly a great way to network.” Often thought of as a smaller operation, BukBuddies seemed to be reveling in the attention. “To sponsor without putting out too many bucks—and we have never sponsored anything in the past—it was the right thing to do at the right time.”
Though many acknowledged that the turn-out for this year’s show was smaller than in the past, they maintained that Internext still serves a very vital purpose.
“Internext is always nice because of meeting people, sitting down and partying, but at the same time it’s all about business—trying to break down some good deals,” said Eric Jodyn, Braincash’s vice president of research and development. “It’s been quieter than other years; I think it’s been better [in the past]. But it’s still more time with more good people, so it’s time to make good stuff out of it. I wish I could do this at work every day.”
Meanwhile, on-air personality Wankus (also known as the program director for KSex.com), who was onboard to film the festivities for his site, added, “We love the summertime Internext much more than Vegas because people are more relaxed and are more inclined to pull out their checkbooks poolside than they are if they went there after Christmas when things are a little more tight. People are just sort of relaxing and enjoying the view and it’s always like a vacation.”
At least it was until Coast Guard officials rained on the parade. “It was a routine inspection,” said one 2much spokesperson, who added that the cruise was not turned around because it was pornography-related. “We were almost at the half-way point anyway, but we did have to turn around and come back a little bit early.”
Still, at least one company rep was a little skeptical. “Oh, yeah, it just happened to be a porn cruise, huh?” cracked Greg Jones.
