Internext Las Vegas 2007 - Give me some feedback! (Part 2)

[Dr Bizzaro]

Originally Posted by oldbrad

i've never attended. Prolly won't. The closest i have come was looking at all the pics gg posted in like 2000 or so. It looked like an awesome time back then. Looks like the good ol days may be gone for good..

Not true.
I think if I posted a "Do you have fun going to the convention?" you'd see that usually a great time is had by all.
I think 99.9% of the negative feedback is about the floor show itself.

I think going to Vegas, seeing friends and business associates, going to parties, meeting for drinks, going out for dinners, etc, is always a good time no matter how the actual floor show turns out.

I have seen tons of pictures and have had a great time every single year I have gone.

The floor of the show has been getting worse and worse and last year it was by far the biggest disappointment yet.

I'm not sure what to expect over all this year. With the down slide of the convention itself (culminating with last years show) and based on comments from webmasters about not buying a badge this year (and other webmasters jumping on that band wagon) I'm guessing that this year's show will not be a success at all.

Even if the changes to the show turned out to be good ones, I think the lack of webmaster turnout going to sink it anyway.

I'm hoping that I am wrong but I just have not heard of a lot of webmaster getting badges.

The convention on a whole is what you make of it. 90% of the business I've done there, has been off the floor anyway.

[Jim]

I used to have a friend that said, if I want to go someplace to hang out with friends, I will just invite them to meet me someplace and take advantage of non-show prices for everything.

The problem isn't just the show floor, it's the fact that AVN has become niggardly when it comes to all portions of the show. They should take some of the money they made in the past just to give breaks and try to make up for past years of price gouging.

[Ramster]

What Dr Bizzaro says is so true.

People who have not/do not attend shows might be getting the wrong idea. I have had a good time EVERY year I have gone. I go and meet up with a couple of different groups of friends. We drink, chat, have dinners, play cards sometimes, and basically have a real good time overall. And in the end get some business done too.

The complaint is we used to do all that for a badge cost of about $125 and also got to see a show floor that was EXCITING and much much bigger than it is/will be now. The complaint is they have raised the costs to attend and the show floor itself has gotten smaller and smaller.

[Jim]

I just got a call from Greenie. He left a message calling me Kramer I think it stems from my use of "niggardly". If you don't know what it means or if you think it's something it's not...here is a link.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/niggardly

[Simon]

Originally Posted by Jim

I just got a call from Greenie. He left a message calling me Kramer I think it stems from my use of "niggardly". If you don't know what it means or if you think it's something it's not...

I don't know if we have any NLP fans here (among the copysmiths perhaps), but this is clearly an example of what I find is an interesting concept:

"The meaning of your communication is the response you get."

No matter what the dictionary clarifies, I would strongly advise against telling a crowd of African-Americans that they're acting niggardly, even if at the time they're all standing around a Salvation Army bell ringer and refusing to toss so much as a penny in her bucket.




--
Disclaimer: I was into NLP in the 70s, before it was really called that, and way before it became all about life coaching. But the underlying principle of "the map is not the territory" applies equally well today.

[Greenguy]

I see someone got the the Word Of The Day Christmas present I sent last week

[Jim]

“Niggard” is a very old word in English meaning “miser” or “stingy person.” Americans often mistakenly assume it is a variant on the most common insulting term for “African-American.” You may embarrass yourself by attacking a writer for racism when you see it in print; but since so many people are confused about this it might be better to use “miser” and “stingy” instead of “niggard” and “niggardly.”

You are probably right Simon From now on, I will dumb it down. Just teasing....

[Simon]

Originally Posted by Jim

“Niggard” is a very old word...

I definitely was laughing with you, my friend. I don't know if you saw John Stewart and his Senior African-American Correspondent talking about Kramer last week, but that skit, with the 'SAAC' using niggardly in almost every sentence and John trying to find a substitute word each time he replied, was the first thing I thought of when I saw your word choice.

[Jim]

Simon
I knew I saw it someplace last week but couldn't remember where. I do remember the first time I heard it and had to look it up. When I talked to Greenie, he said, "it must have come from the bad word". I told him nope, it has been around a lot longer and it's not even in the same family of words.

I had to laugh in our old family dictionary where is says, "Scrooge might be described as a niggard"

[chadknowslaw]

What does a badge really get? Access to the show floor. In Las Vegas, that is it. I go to meet with people in person which is done off the show floor.

AVN's solution to increased competition seems to be raising prices to attend. Internext is $250. The GAYVN Summit is $300, $400 if you register late. The Phoenix Forum is a month later and costs nothing to register. The Forum seems to handle a zero fee without getting in all the "riff raff". X Biz had a great show at the Hard Rock last summer for a lot less than $250 [or $400 -- THAT is insane].
I have been to Internext every time since August 2004. I keep going but keep getting less out of it; it almost seems like those that go to Internext are going because of the reputation it once had as "thee" show to attend, back when there was little or no competition. Today, there is at least one show a month, somewhere. If it doesn't evolve, it is just a time on the calendar when we all decide to go to Las Vegas.