Even though the Los Angeles GAYVN Webmaster Retreat is slated for a month prior to the Gay Phoenix Forum, Ron Cadwell, CEO of show organizer CCBill, believes having both shows so close together will create a conflict for companies that wish to attend both.
“As the hosting committee for the Phoenix Forum, it was our goal when we introduced the 1st Annual Gay Phoenix Forum to create an event that would bring together gay online companies and provide benefits for this business community as a whole,” Cadwell said. “It is our belief that having two gay-business-focused events within such a short time frame will ultimately be counterproductive to this goal, creating a situation which would serve to diversify rather than connect this group.”
Cadwell specifically pinpointed an alliance between payment processor Epoch and AVN of the GAYVN show as a reason his group decided to forgo this fall’s gathering.
“From our understanding of previously written contracts between AVN and Epoch, AVN has named Epoch as an exclusive billing sponsor for their upcoming GAYVN and AVN events, specifically prohibiting our participation at these same AVN hosted trade events,” Cadwell said. “However, today both companies [CCBill and AVN] recognize that the best option for all parties is to work together to ensure the success of a truly productive event for the gay community and adult online industry at large, and we are currently working with AVN management to determine how we can best support these initiatives with joint efforts moving forward.”
