Go West to Cybernet Expo!
by LAJ, www.ynotmasters.com
 In this industry,
first impressions are always important, but not nearly as important
as lasting impressions. Successes and failures happen quicker in the
adult space it seems as compared to mainstream, and over the years,
projects, events and companies are often measured solely (and sometimes
unfairly) by the lone success or failure of their most recent endeavor.
Positive public perception, substantial hype, and most importantly
- the quality of the product itself are critical factors to its survival
in the future. Now in its seventh year, the Cybernet Expo Webmaster
(www.cybernetexpo.com)
event has stood the test of time, and proven itself as a mainstay
in this fickle industry of ours. If you go by my theory, and attended
the event in Montreal Spring 2003, then you know exactly what I'm
talking about.
This year's "Go West" theme is simple and to the point. Cybernet Expo
has traditionally been an eastern seaboard show most recently held
in Montreal and Miami (with the exception of New Orleans several years
back and a few showings in Vegas which have been discontinued since
2002). Late last year Fay Sharp and Tradeshow Productions, Inc. partnered
up with YNOTMasters to help produce and market this year's Cybernet
Expo. It was determined that San Diego, June 9-12 would be the perfect
venue and time of year for everyone to "head west." It's time to start
getting excited for a total change of pace since many in our industry
have never visited this awesome city before.
 To
my knowledge, this is the first ever major adult Webmaster show to
happen in San Diego. A conservative city by California standards,
but quite liberal by American standards, San Diego is literally a
hot bed of adult Internet and adult performer activity. Only two hours
south of Los Angeles (when traffic is forgiving) there are literally
thousands upon thousands of people in this beautiful city of nearly
1.3 million residents (metropolitan area population is over 2.5 million)
in the furthest southwestern reaches of the continental U.S. that
do some form of business in adult. It was certainly high time that
Cybernet Expo came to town, and it is nice to see local and nearby
San Diego companies like YanksCash and SilverCash taking the lead
in being major sponsors of the show. I'm hoping that other local companies
follow suit given that in years past, Montreal companies like Gamma
and Wild Rose rolled out the proverbial red carpet to all attendees
in grandiose style.
If you have in fact attended any of the Cybernet Expo events in recent
years, you probably know that the seminars and information one can
cull by attending is one of the cornerstones of what makes this show
so valuable. Not just for newbies, the current line up of seminars,
discussion groups, educational clinics and crossfire style panels
will inform AND entertain Webmasters of all levels. No more of the
"same old, same old." With over 15 seminars planned (and announced
as early as February) and filling up quickly with qualified speakers,
this year's show is truly shaping up to be one for the books. We even
have a prominent attorney and major sponsor (Eric M. Bernstein) offering
up a one hour legal Q&A session, which I believe is an industry first
for a legal firm. In my opinion, the seminars alone are worth the
three-day price of $149 before you even figure in all of the alcohol
you plan to drink on Silvercash's dime during the day.
In addition to the legal Q&A seminar, the current three-day line up
includes: Orientation, Search Engine Submission and Optimization,
Newbie Discussion, Political Crossfire, Traffic Clinic, Gay Webmaster
Crossfire, Doing Business in Adult, Technical Issues, The Current
State of Billing, The Hot issues of 2004, Women In Adult, Design and
Promotion Clinic, Running a Profitable Paysite, The Great Spam Debate
and an Amateur panel. Scheduling is tight, so it is highly advisable
to have a game plan in advance and get your scheduling in order for
meetings, seminars, dinners and parties. For that matter, it's highly
advisable to have a game plan anyway.
Growing daily, the current sponsor list (as of late March) includes
Netbilling, Lightspeed Cash, attorney Eric M. Bernstein, Silvercash,
TopBucks, Adult.com, WebCamCash, YanksCash, Webair, VSCash, XXXCash,
Nocreditcard.com, Shane's World, Homegrown Video, AVN, Klixxx, FlickCentral
DVD Rental, SEXMoney, Adult Lounge, Women In Adult, Sexentertain,
CCBill, Amateur Hosting and Camz. In addition, several resource sites
and industry chat boards including JustBlowMe, AmateurMasters, Rated
Hot, Cozy Frog, X Nations, Pimp Board, Adult Netsurprise, FUBAR, Rochard's
Bunny Ranch, All Of 'Em, Boardtracker, YNOT and The Adult Webmaster
have been phenominal in helping to get the word out this year. Without
all of the sponsorship support, this show wouldn't be possible. And
since we are anticipating up to 1,000 in attendance, the balance of
sponsorships and attendees will be perfect.
If you have been to the Cybernet Expo website at www.cybernetexpo.com
or have gotten involved in any of the several industry chat board
discussions, you may note that this year we are trying several different
things to give Cybernet Expo an exciting new twist and give the show
added value. In addition to some party ideas in the works, topping
the list are new sponsorship packages offering a unique style of promotion.
Keep in mind that this show is not primarily about booths, distribution
and glitz. We are limited the booth count in the prime networking
area to about 13 or 14 exhibiting areas and putting the networking
bar right in with all the action. The layout of the convention and
pool areas of the hotel is highly conducive to great networking. There
should really be no reason why you might miss someone during the three
days of the show unless you are hiding out in your room the whole
time.
This year we are introducing the "Corridor Cruisin'" and "Conference
Prize Sponsorship" packages which offer special value for very reasonable
prices. The Corridor Cruisin' sponsorship includes your hotel room
for three days in a designated section of the Hyatt Islandia hotel
as well as the opportunity to be an exhibitor for an evening on June
10th outside your room during a party. The layout of the "corridor"
allows for up to 20 companies to set up shop for a few hours amidst
a cocktail party atmosphere.
The Prize sponsorship allows you to have your company featured at
the seminar of your choosing with your banner on a side wall of the
room for the day and a raffle where your company supplies the prize
to one lucky seminar attendee. Since we anticipate an excellent turnout
at all of the TopBucks sponsored seminars, you really can't go wrong
with this sponsorship, especially if you are looking to target a very
specific audience. Information on both of these sponsorships and all
of the others available can be found at www.cybernetexpo.com/sponsors.html.
In closing, this year's show is gearing up to be legendary, and if
you are thinking of passing on Cybernet Expo because there are just
"too many shows" out there, then you would be doing so at your own
loss. I will be the first to agree that there are too many shows out
there. Of course I'm biased with this particular event, but that excuse
just doesn't fly with Cybernet Expo. This is by no means an over-commercialized
event dictated by politics. Cybernet Expo cares first and foremost
about its sponsors and attendees and wouldn't have it any other way.
However, if none of that matters to you, and you are not interested
in an event that has a proven "good for business" track record and
are really only looking for a three-day party, then Cybernet Expo
is not for you.
For all the rest, I'll see you in San Diego in June! Please visit
www.cybernetexpo.com
today and GO WEST!
Jay "LAJ" Kopita is VP of Marketing & Communications and VP
of Project Development for YNOT Network, LP. Jay can be reached
by email at jay@ynotmasters.com.
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