An Open Thread To AVN & Internext...

[furrygirl]

Originally Posted by Linkster

there are two points that I always have stinging in the back of my mind though - the first being the "deals" that you are able to make for your amateurs - which although I fully respect you for being able to do so - kind of grates on quite a few amateur site owners that read this - I'm pretty sure they aren't going to post their thoughts, but it kind of stinks for them as they don't have the recognition or background to be able to negotiate anything with AVN. Again this is not to take anything away from you - it's just one symptom of a system that is broken.

As an amateur site webmaster, I thought I'd reply.

I actually take no offense to AVN not trying to work around me. I don't expect to have the clout of a top adult company, that's silly.

It's my decision to spend the $2500 or so for the experience, or stay at home and read webmaster board archives for a week, for free, in my pajamas. Or it could be my decision to be pro-active and positive and organize a local adult webmaster gathering in my own city that best suits the needs of that group.

I just don't feel conned or ignored, although OF COURSE I'd like it to cost me less. And OF COURSE I'd like it if more people attended, but you can't put on a large-scale business event that is cheap enough for *anyone*.

Seriously, how inexpensive does it have to be to be inclusive of the tiniest "webmasters in the trenches"? $1000 for the whole trip? $500? That's where regional conventions and local webmaster hangouts come in handy, in my mind.

If I wanted to bitch about other businesses not listening to my needs, I'm more inclined to be pissed off that credit card companies charge us exorbitant fees for processing because they encourage customers commit fraud against adult sites.