There are those shows during the year where you know you can go and relax, see some people, have a few cocktails, come home, and that’s that. Then there are those shows during the year where you know the moment you walk through the hotel doors you’re going to be bombarded by people you know, things to do, and more drinks then you want to think about. At times you’re going to have to hurry. At times you’re going to have a lot less sleep than you want. At times you’re going to be sitting in a meeting with a Bloody Mary in your hand dreaming about the comfort of your bed.
Like Internext, the CyberNet Expo, and Webmaster Access East and West, the Phoenix Forum has become that show, and that certainly isn’t a bad thing.
In its sixth year, the Forum (March 31 to April 1 at the Tempe Mission Palms) has grown to more than 1,200 attendees, up from 650 just a year ago. CCBill’s all-inclusive event was great for business. There was never a shortage of people to see. The only problem was you just couldn’t seem to see them all.
This is no longer the intimate networking show it started out to be. It’s now a serious event that produced serious results. In an industry notorious for playing hard, the forum proved that maybe we’ve all grown up a bit. As a whole, those who decided to stop by clearly were there to get things done.
Also notable was the small but certainly not unrecognizable mainstream presence. Looks like somebody finally has realized there’s money to be made by partnering with the adult industry and isn’t afraid to join industry members in their own den. Let’s not forget to mention those in adult who are moving toward mainstream ventures. Makes one wonder what happened to slinging spam and trading lists.
Of course, if you just wanted to fuck off, well, there was that, too.
The Phoenix Forum came with no shortage of activities or after-hours suites. There were dinners by SmashBucks, TopBucks, Platinum Bucks, and DeeCash. There were parties hosted by PussyCash, Epoch and WEGCash, and JBM, just to name a few. After-hours action was provided by Lightspeed, DeeCash, SexKey, MetMasters, and many others I undoubtedly can’t remember. SapphicCash served up Bloody Marys in the morning (cue applause). Lightspeed brought back the second version of Lightspeed Dodgeball, where several of the Lightspeed Girls played in the buff, attracting just about every male with a camera. The Porn Poker Tour came equipped with both a larger-than-expected turnout and karaoke, at times regrettably so. And how could I forget about the myriad of local strip clubs?
Note for future travelers: go to strip club with Aimee Sweet, feed her drinks, and then watch her get on stage and dance.
Had enough yet?
I certainly have.
Where some people measure how successful their show was by how many business cards they come home with, I measure success by how many days before elapse before I recuperate fully.
Phoenix has made it to the two-day recuperation level, formerly only occupied by the Internext shows.
That is to say, while enjoying oneself certainly was part of the Phoenix Forum, so were strings of meetings, deal-making, getting up well before noon, and going to bed well after midnight. It was quite exhausting, but in a good way.
When it’s all said and done, you’re bigger, stronger, faster, smarter, more agile. You can wear your experience like a badge of honor. Honor among pornographers. Who would have thunk it?
See you all in Miami. I’ll be the insane one.
