Nine years ago the gay online marketplace was starting to take shape. That’s when a former geophysical technician left San Diego for Los Angeles to start a leading GLBT publication, Cybersocket.
Morgan Sommer, along with his partner in business and in life, Tim Lutz, has since become one of the most influential men in the industry. Worshipped in some circles, reviled in others, Sommer still commands respect, although some of it may come with a tinge of jealousy. Being in such a godfather-like position has given rise to whispers of a gay mafia running the business, a notion that Sommer finds amusing.
Cybersocket started as a directory in 1997 and grew into a search engine and print publication. Sommer and Lutz have since gone on to create a design firm – Bionic Pixels – several adult websites under the Crave Media banner, a webmaster board – TheGayBoard – and launch their own awards show – the Cybersocket Awards. They’ve also incorporated their fun-loving lifestyle into their business, turning their Cybersocket parties into the stuff of legend.
Never one to shy away from the spotlight, Sommer openly discusses his influence, triumphs, and feuds with AVN Online.
Is print dead?
Print is alive and well. From our point of view, it’s doing better than ever. Now, more than ever, sites are lost in the clutter of the search engines and other lists. Reaching consumers from alternate angles is the key to standing out and really being noticed.
What are your plans for Cybersocket—expand the magazine or focus on new businesses?
Well, we believe in constantly refining the systems we have in place. That is our first priority before launching anything new. And there is no way I am going to tell you about any secret plans we might have for the near future [laughs].
How did you come to have so much influence in the gay online business world?
I think a number of people who have been in this business for the last nine-plus years have influence by virtue of having survived and grown. Influence is not to be confused with power. The only thing I can control is myself—not my staff, not my partners, and certainly not anyone else in the industry. It is a mistake to think anyone is controlling this thing. I think influence is a product of positive press as much as anything else. So, if I have some measure of influence, I thank your company for helping that situation and hope I am using it appropriately [laughs].
Who do you see as the most influential people in the business?
My friends and my business partners are the most influential people in my life. I don’t really care too much about what other people are doing; we are too busy doing what we do.
What do you think of straight companies wanting to cash in on the gay market?
I think it’s fine. We are cashing in on the heterosexual market, too. You make a widget and sell it. Straight people and gay people have been making things for each other as one marketplace for thousands of years. I think the mistake that is made is thinking that you don’t need to tailor your product and pitch to the audience.
Have straight companies truly been able to pull it off?
Sure—some of the biggest and best gay sites in the business are owned or operated by partnerships or groups that are mixed. I cannot give you a list, but off the top of my head 10 of the biggest advertisers I have in the February issue of our magazine have mixed management and/or ownership already.
Do you think any sort of true convergence of gay and straight is possible?
It’s already happening. We sell straight porn on our gay search engine for the hetero-curious [laughs]. But also gay and straight people are meeting, hanging out, finding things to do with each other that transcend who you like to have sex with. This is about whom we want to do business with.
Speaking of that crossover, what’s with all the straight-guy-for-gay-audiences porn these days? Does it appeal to you?
I am Mr. Vanilla—I am so boring. Most porn is unappealing to me. All I know is that certain things sell, and people must like the stuff. I don’t judge it or really over-intellectualize the whys of the marketplace.
What’s it like working with Tim?
It’s good. He is the other half of the Cybersocket equation. We could not have done what we have without each other. Our skills are complementary. So are our personalities. We are a team and happily so, even after nine long years.
Do you ever have days when you wish you didn’t work together?
I think there are days when we need alone time, or are annoyed with quirks in each other, but we work through it then isolate when we can.
Cybersocket, among other things, is known for throwing great parties—and a lot of them. What role does that play in your business?
It has been very beneficial. I am a believer in partying with people as a way to get to know them. You really get to see inside people.
What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done?
I invoke the Fifth.
Who do you look up to in the industry?
Problem solvers—people who are striving to improve products, people who are working on innovation, people actively engaged in the process of doing something useful and of worth in the market.
Is there a gay mafia? Details, please.
No. It was a joke made by Aly [Drummond] years ago at the Phoenix Forum. It sort of snowballed thereafter. People are way too busy worrying about their own business to do anything as a connected group. I think there is a perception that there is a closed circle of people who are doing business with each other and have been for a decade. That is not a mafia, it is a group of people who have figured out ways to promote each other and profit. That is going to occur in any industry as it matures. That does not prevent a new innovator from coming into the market at any time and becoming equally or more successful than anyone who has been around longer. I think the belief in a mafia that is somehow manipulating things is a severely defeatist and irresponsible thought. It justifies not trying and seeks to blame someone outside of ourselves for lack of success.
It seems like there is a lot of bickering and ego in the gay industry. What are your thoughts?
Have you ever watched GFY for an hour on any given day? That’s bickering and ego, too. Gay people and gay business leaders are no more or less egotistical or prone to bickering than anyone else. There are a lot of people who are in our industry who waste inordinate amounts of time daily engaging in gossip rather than productive work.
You started TheGayBoard as a reaction to being banned on GayWideWebmasters. Is there still animosity there?
It was suggested to us by several of our advertisers and sponsors that we should start a board since we – as a company – along with many of our colleagues were banned from using that webmaster board. So, we followed through with the suggestion. We as a company spend time on many other boards, too. I particularly enjoy YNOT, GFY, and a few others. I have no idea if we are still banned from their board.
Why can’t we all just get along?
It’s just like high school, eh?
If you were ever on the cover of Forbes, what would the headline read?
I don’t want to think about it.
