It’s a clear-cut sign of significance when an emerging trend gets its own trade show that attracts international attention. So sit up and pay attention to this one: The first-ever Mobile Adult Content Congress on American soil will occur in Miami, Jan. 24-26, 2006.
Organized by St. Petersburg, Fla.-based Black Marlin Media Group Inc., the conference will focus on “the responsible delivery of [adult content],” according to Black Marlin partner Dan Garza, a former Texan who landed in the telecom space after a stint with the U.S. Army. Prior to founding Black Marlin, Garza and partner Larry Lockhart spent a decade each working in the pre-paid mobile arena. Their young events coordination company also produces the wildly successful Pre-Paid Markets Expo in New York and several Pay-As-You-Go Mobile Executive Forums around the U.S. The MACC is Black Marlin’s first foray into adult entertainment, but Garza and Lockhart believe it may turn out to be the group’s most popular and successful venture to date. Part of the reason, they say, is they have the mainstream mobile contacts to make it work.
“Mobile delivery of adult content is going to be huge,” Garza told AVN. “Adult content is going to come to the mobile phone. No one is going to be able to stop it. Right now the carriers are the biggest obstacle to it taking off, but even they realize it’s inevitable.”
Garza points to the success of similar events in Europe as an indicator of how quickly the entire mobile space in the U.S. is liable to heat up. “We watch what happens in the U.K., Korea and other more mature foreign markets for signs, and experience has shown us that the U.S. is a couple of years behind them,” he said. That means, at least in Garza’s estimation, that the time for considering the leap from brick-and-mortar or Web-based delivery of adult content into the brave new world of mobile is now — not next week or next month. Early adopters of any new technology always lead the way in reaping financial rewards, he reminded.
The target market for the MACC is content owners, distributors and resellers; carriers; webmasters; venture capitalists; equipment manufacturers; Internet service providers, and software providers and developers. The three-day event will offer a variety of educational seminars, a “technology room,” and abundant opportunities for networking, Garza said. “What we want to do is provide a platform for everybody who is involved to get together — figuratively and literally,” he noted. “Adult content will drive the technology for the mobile industry, much as it did for the Internet,” and Garza and Lockhart would like to see the mobile space avoid some of the problems the Internet space experienced, particularly in the areas of regulation and age verification.
Among the several issues to be addressed in depth at the MACC are platforms and technology, transforming adult content from Net-based formats to those more appropriate for delivery via mobile networks, and the nature of the content itself. Garza indicated he would like to see an open discourse between the adult sector and the mobile operators about how to rate and distribute content to age-appropriate audiences in order to limit any potential public backlash.
Playboy Enterprises Inc. Divisional Vice President for International Digital Victor Penev and Vodafone Director of Community and Content Standards Tina Southall are the scheduled keynote speakers. (It’s worth noting that Southall was a major force behind the Code of Practice adopted by the major European carriers in 2004. Among other things, the code established a formal framework within which carriers can be secure in delivering adult content via their networks.) Among the topics to be discussed during the conference are the role of mobile operators in the responsible delivery of adult content; business models for adult mobile content, commerce and distribution; regulatory concerns; current and projected future revenues for adult mobile content; the role of aggregators and third-party providers; rating and defining boundaries for adult content; mobile streaming video, games, TV, dating services, chat, gambling, and other niches; rights management, licensing, and revenue sharing; billing and payments, and overcoming spam and viruses. Scheduled speakers include representatives from Virgin Mobile UK, Adult Mobile Solutions, Image Habitat, Bango, More Magic Holdings Inc., Mobile Adult Network and RJ Mobile Limited (Ron Jeremy).
More information about the conference and registration forms are available at MACCongress.com. Attendees who mention AVN when they register will receive a $200 discount off the fee of $1,995.
Kathee Brewer is editor at large for AVN Online. Send your mobile news and questions to her at [email protected].
