I have never been to Internext or any US conference/show.. but I have in the past run and organised large/international medical conferences.

The prices you guys were bandying around are unbelievable!

20$US a drink... thats fucking insane...

Every single gig we ever organised had DISCOUNTED rooms, food and drink... that was the whole point of the organisation.. Having a 'conference' where amenities and food and beverages are more expensive the normal rates is again insne IMO

DD

Once again we agree mate |thumb

So I guess it was the best show ever :D

1st off, let me address the technical issues - my connection to the server was getting cut off a lot before the show started & 2 or 3 times near the end. Sparky saw some packet loss on Adelphia (my ISP) between Buffalo & Chicago & then told me this on ICQ: "I pushed traffic a different way, now it doesn't go to chicago first... but, still packet loss from NYC -> buffalo -- not as much though" Sparky is a genius |thumb

As far as me being louder than everyone else, I am trying to figure out how to correct that. Have you ever picked up a 2nd phone in your house to talk with someone that's already on the line? The person in the house with you is always louder than the person on the other line & that's the problem - I'm right here & Jim (and guests) are on the phone with me. But I'll try to fuck with the setting again :)

Talking over each other - 4 people on a conference call where no one can see that the other is speaking will do that :(

Now, my take on the radio show....

My agenda was not as harsh as Jim's when I went into the show. I wanted to discuss things & Jim wanted to bash them, which is fine. I came away from it realizing that yes, they don't care about Joe Blow Webmaster, but we do have this dialogue open now & hopefully we can sway them to start caring about us.

But they did bring up a very good point & that is that there are many other shows that are in better locations, better times of the year, cheaper & more friendly to the Joe Blow's of the community. So I'm going to start looking into going to Phoenix & San Diego & whatnot instead of Miami (Vegas is fun for me regardless of the convention, so I'll probably continue to go there regardless of how this next show goes)

I'm going to go to Vegas with an open mind. I told Farley that if they had room on the Traffic Panel, I'd like to be on it. If not, no big deal - I'm gonna get the pass that includes the seminars & take advantage of them as Farley suggested, taking notes on each one that I attend. I'm gonna go on the floor & mingle & approach sponsors for the board and my personal stuff & whatnot. I'm basically gonna do what they say I should be doing at the conventions. I'm gonna carry around a notebook with me & try to keep track of anything that happens to me while I am doing what AVN has set up for me to do.

Once I get back, I'll write up a report & we'll have Farley back on the Radio Show & we'll go from there.

I'd also like to invite any board members that are going to join me in this "test", especially if you have a pass for the seminars. PM me if you're interested :)

I'm gonna try & keep an open mind about all this & I guess we'll know in 30 days or so how it works out |shake|

Don't forget the tape recorder :)

The tape recorder is especially important at any seminar you go to. As I said, I went to one for legal matters. I ended up being afraid of Janet Reno and 8 different Lawyer's cards.

And, my intention was not to bash. My intention was to find out if we were talking to a flunky or someone that could make a change. My intention was also to find out why webmasters were treated as second class people with AVN. And mostly, I just wanted them to admit it was all about the money.

You have to admit they did dance around them already having the Florida in October slot. There was no fear of them stepping on any toes since they were already there.

You went into it knowing that you were gonna bash them :D

I think Farley is somewhere between the flunky & the person that can make changes. He did have a lot of answers to questions that an ad rep would not normally have...and we got the ball rolling, so we can be happy about that if nothing else :)

And yes, I am going to be investing in a digital recorder today :D

There would have not been a need to bash if questions were answered without the spin.

Wear a wire and sunglasses :D

Hey..i just realized i'm having dinner at the cafe grande luxe on thursday at the Venetian .. i'll see how much they charge me for drinks .. the city is full as its the NFR time.. despite popular opinion, a few cowboys stay at the venetian.

then we can cost compare in january.

should be interesting.

Treasure Island this summer charged us 4.50 a pop for Chyna Sunrises at the pool.. with bar tequila..and 6.50 for Petron just as a point of reference for all you TI stayers.

Heck, screw that... I make way more than that, and I cannot justify what would likely be anywhere from 4k to 8k for a few days in Vegas... especially becasue the Vegas show is actually less useful than the Miami show (because in Vegas,people keep getting lost, going other places, and not being where you can find them).

It isn't just poor webmasters not attending.

Alex

Olympus 64MB Digital Recorder ordered :D

I assume you have the sunglasses :D

You need sunglasses with a camera :)

Actually, I don't even need the recorder.....you guys & gals can play along at home :D

Watch the Internext Expo Live for 3 days at http://www.InternextLive.com

If he doesnt I have some piss yellow ones or puke green I can loan him.

Yeah, I can't wait to see the google and yahoo badges.

I imagine he would opt for the puke green :D

Where did you get that Google & Yahoo thing from anyway? I remember him saying that adult webmasters were interested in going to the mainstream shows to discuss things with them - not the other way around.

Guess I'll have to fire up the mp3 player.....

Well today I got something |mml|
An Open Letter To AVN

Well I recently listened to the Greenguy and Jim Radio show, so here I sit with the feeling like a redheaded stepchild. Some on the comments made on the show really made me feel like I am not worth your efforts. What I am trying to say? I am like a few thousand other webmasters who work 12 to 16 hours a day making free sites, galleries or what ever we can to make a few bucks. The one thing that AVN doesn’t know it’s what a real home spun webmaster does. We are all not Pay site owners or video producers. We are but the grass roots of this biz the ones that wake up everyday and try to drive more traffic to these programs and make a few bucks. You seem to think that most of us just come to shows to get drunk well I got a big surprise for you most don’t come to the show because its cost prohibitive for them and now this coming show its way over the top as far as price goes. Yes I have been to every show in Vegas since 2001 and they have gotten smaller and more costly each year. Why I am bitching you say well it’s because you really need to get back to the basics here. Without the thousands of small webmasters doing what they do everyday to send traffic to the programs there would be no programs. Its time to wake up and smell the coffee! It’s time for AVN to put something back into the webmaster community and stop taking. My advice to AVN is get in touch with the webmaster community, the real ones that makes it all go around.

You are a regular "give 'em hell Harry" today aren't ya |thumb

I love Vegas! My goal is to get there every year. I missed the last year because of illness. |cry|

I was determined to go to Internext! Meeting and greeting board members I've interacted with and some of the sponsers who have been really good to me would not only be beneficial to me, but would also have been a great pleasure.

I mean Hell, Vegas is so close to me I can drive....yet I still cannot justify the expense!

I'm pretty bummed about not being able to make it this year. Maybe GG&J should host their own webmaster only conference in Vegas in the off season! |badidea|

Well there's my rant for the month.

-Preacher

I think that that is the best point that Farly could have made. Maybe AVN isn't as evil as we'd like to believe. Maybe it's just a matter of webmasters going to the wrong show. We keep complaining that AVN just doesn't get it; that they are out of touch with the webmaster community. But maybe we are just slow at realizing the obvious: Internext is not for webmasters. I think it's time to move on.

That's what I'm starting to think, but I will still try my plan of "doing what they think I should be doing" and I'll go from there :)