Yes. We have naked women at our parties. Sometimes there's live fucking and often excessive drunkenness. Adult webmaster conventions contain moments of obscene debauchery. At times, the atmosphere around Internet pornographers could be easily compared to something out of a Roman orgy. Sodom and Gomorrah ain't got nothing on us.
|
"Very few people in this world can wing it and win. There is nothing wrong with planning what you'll say, whom you will meet and when you should enjoy yourself." |
When you attend an adult webmaster convention or gathering, it's only natural to expect adventure. You are a part of an unconventional industry. Unlike accounting seminars or IT conferences, strippers are mandatory at adult webmaster events. Drinking is encouraged and everybody's a pimp. We party and we party hard.
We may give license to lasciviousness at webmaster shows but business is done. Don't let the party schedule be the only schedule you memorize before you go. Porn shows have much more to offer you than a few thrills. You're going to be in actual physical proximity to seminars, company presidents, your friends and your peers. You will have the opportunity to brand yourself and your projects. Do you really want them to remember you as the guy that threw up on your sponsor's date?
Here's a wacky concept: Make a schedule for your trip.
Map out more than what you'll pack and remember to buy the tickets. Create a complete schedule of exactly what you want to do and when you would like to do it. Is there going to be a presentation on Internet porn law? Put that on the schedule. Will the owner of that paysite be on the show floor during certain hours? Want to meet him or her, maybe pitch an idea? Better add it to the itinerary. Do you have to talk to a particular person in order to receive your free pass to a much-ballyhooed blowout? Email the person before you go and try to book some time.
Why make a schedule of your impending journey to the land of the pornographers and babes?
The answer is sense. Many of you are attending these functions for the very first time. A good number of you are young or inexperienced in the ways of high-powered business. You're probably going to be nervous because crowds of strange people make everyone nervous. If you plan your course then, maybe you won't go chasing your sponsor's trail all over Vegas, drinking, schmoozing until you finally catch up to him when he's not interested, you're blotto and his girlfriend has your puke splashed across her Gucci bag.
Untitled Page
You want to have fun. We all want to have fun. What you have to figure out is when you need to party and when you need to be straight.
So many of these industry events take place in a course of two or three days. Whether you come early or arrive late, there will be time for business and time for play. If you checked into your hotel a day before a convention and got blasted the night before, the wait to buy tickets for the show will be miserable, even if you sleep late.
If you are determined to get stoopid at a pre-party, at least reserve your show passes before your trip. If you simply must meet the CEO of a successful company, schedule to do so during the day, when the vendors and the seminar speakers are out. If you haven't practiced what you plan to say to your idol or potential partner, practice. Professionalism requires that you do more than stay relatively sober. You have a chance to make a valuable, lasting impression on the shakers within your profession. Why mess it up by acting like a newb?
Very few people in this world can wing it and win. There is nothing wrong with planning what you'll say, whom you will meet and when you should enjoy yourself. Going wild isn't wrong but going wild in the middle of a seminar on website security makes you look like a fool. It's one thing to be brilliant, it's another to act brilliantly. To steal a line from a PIXAR movie: "Luck favors the prepared."
This is your first adult webmaster show. There will be lesbian orgies and pictures will be taken. Hot men and women will walk around in skimpy outfits and smile at you. Sex will be mentioned and prominently displayed. This is heady stuff and it's easy to get carried away.
Make the journey worth the effort. Don't wing it. Write out a schedule. Practice your pitch. Plan to have fun in moderation and to do business with confidence. Regardless of who you are, it's all about sense. Act like you have some.