When I tell people that I work in the online porn industry, they automatically, initially, assume that I show my boobies for a living. Don’t get me wrong. I dig adult models. They’re the ones putting it all on the line while the rest of us toil safely behind the stare of the camera.
I reply, "I’m not a performer. I’m a writer." That’s when they proceed to ask:
I smile and explain, "No. I write about porn. I write articles and lessons about the business of selling porn on the Internet."
| "Mind you, when you hit a big show, you’re going to see a hell of a lot of porn and live skin but the 'aww shucks' of it all has been replaced by a serious attention to productivity." |
When I tell people this, they’re usually very nice and sometimes they’ll allow me to explain the boring details of my scandalous profession but in the end they really don’t care. They don’t want to know that the dirty bad sex business has this normal, geeky aspect to it. They’d rather hear about breasts and cocks. When I tell them that most of us are average people who run our businesses in a serious manner, pay our taxes and take care of our families, they interrupt and whisper, "Can you hook me up with some free porn?"
The first time I went to an adult webmaster convention, it was the biggest, baddest one of all - INTERNEXT. By day, I was a show floor-hopping Mowse. By night, I hit the parties. It was at those parties where I realized the difference between my peers and the rest of the world.
Before I got into this business I did some serious partying. Drugs, fist fights, fall-down drunkenness, people having sex in dark little corners - I’ve been there. At those parties, when people were engaged in sexual intercourse, witnesses would blush, point, giggle, and if photos were taken they were for the purposes of blackmail. At adult webmaster parties, the sex is staged. The partygoers don’t giggle. Instead, they whip out cameras to make content, ask who provided the models and discuss how many times they’ve seen those breasts and butts before. In other words, to the rest of the world, sex is fantasy, titillation and taboo. To adult webmasters, sex is business.
In the near 20 years that have passed since the beginning of the adult Internet, the big shows have matured from getting kicked out of Comdex to the heady early days of INTERNEXT to today’s less flashy selection of adult conventions - geared more towards seminars and face-to-face networking. Mind you, when you hit a big show, you’re going to see a hell of a lot of porn and live skin but the "aww shucks" of it all has been replaced by a serious attention to productivity.
The big shows are still a hoot but we’re not as interested in putting nicknames to faces or experiencing the euphoria of finally meeting our previously anonymous peers and heroes in real life. Don’t get me wrong. Seeing old and new friends is great but making money is vital, especially in this lousy economy. There will always be newbies but learning how a 12-year old sponsor or website has been able to survive all these years is golden.
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If you haven’t been to an adult webmaster convention or gathering I would highly advise you to hit one and you can’t do better than one of the big shows. Whether you go to Webmaster Access, XBIZ Summer Forum, INTERNEXT, The Phoenix Forum, Cybernet Expo or the Barcelona Summit, your money is well invested. No longer are these events mere trade shows with parties attached but rather, earnest, educational and business experiences.
Of course you’re going to see boobies but you’re also going to hear knowledgeable speakers and engage in productive discussions with our industry’s most prominent members. From workshopping to presentations to intimate face time, the big shows are worth your time.
When I come back from an adult webmaster show I return to the normalcy that surrounds my everyday life. I go to the grocery store. I sit and sip coffee at the bookshop. Nobody realizes that the rather nondescript lady wit the laptop was recently in the middle of pornographers, live sex acts and enough debauchery to shame Caligula. They would never believe me if I told them the best part of my trip wasn’t the nipples and dicks but rather, the friendships and solid info I picked while there. Sometimes I giggle to myself and no one knows why and that’s okay with me.
If you want to attend an upcoming adult webmaster event then you need to know where and when they happen so you can be on time for early registration discounts. If you want to be on top of the schedule then visit our adult industry events calendar.