PHOENIX — One of the longest-running trade shows in the online adult industry, The Phoenix Forum (TPF), wrapped up its annual event at the Tempe Mission Palms Hotel this past weekend with regulars already anticipating its return in 2020.
Although the trade show was much less boisterous than in years past, it was the quality of those in attendance that overrode any notion of quantity — with many reporting some of the most productive meetings they’ve ever had due to the enhanced opportunities for longer face time with prospects and partners alike — and with everyone enjoying the fabulous weather at this year’s Forum.
For example, Steve Winyard from AVSecure told XBIZ he likes TPF “because the sun shines,” a simple sentiment that other European players echoed, with TrafficPartner’s Michael Reul saying it’s the No. 1 reason he likes to attend the event.
“I’m from Germany, so I really love to be in the sun — and that’s true for Miami as well!” Reul remarked. “I think it’s a great show because there’s a lot of new faces as well as veterans at the show. The setup is amazing with the courtyard since you are outside and talk to everyone — just sit at one spot and everyone will approach you. It’s great!”
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27
The opening day of TPF greeted early arrivals with a shuttle to a noon tee-off for the 15th Annual Charity Golf Tournament to benefit the Association of Sites Advocating Child Protection (ASACP). Presented by X2K and sponsored by NETbilling and CCBill, this sociable sporting tradition offers networking and relaxation in an event supporting a noble cause.
Stephen Bugbee of X2K thanked attendees for participating in the golf tournament, noting that “everyone had a great time, as usual.”
The evening kicked off with a Happy Hour Meetup at Harry’s Place, a centrally-located bar and gathering hub at the Mission Palms, before leading to casual conversations over fireside cocktails in the courtyard and discreet discussions in various corners of the venue. The value of this scenic courtyard as a central networking hub should not be underestimated, due to its strategic location at the crossroads of everything TPF.
“I love TPF because we’re all combined together in the same place,” said OrbitalPay’s Karen Campbell. “The weather is beautiful and the food is great!”
Alastair Graham, representing age verification service AgeChecked, agreed, telling XBIZ he loves Phoenix because unlike some events, “it’s a fantastic venue where everybody stays together and talks work and doesn’t bugger off to town.”
For his part, Dominic Ford of JustFor.fans believes TPF is among the most productive events he attends every year, explaining that “People are here to do business, and by having a closed environment where everybody is in the same hotel and doesn’t leave, you get a lot of work done very quickly.”
That work kicked into high gear the following day after the evening’s fun went on late into the night.
THURSDAY, MARCH 28
TPF got underway in earnest Thursday, with the opening of several special centers for attendees to gather at for targeted educational and networking opportunities. Available throughout the duration of the event, these resources included the Glimpse.me Model Lounge that welcomed talent to meet and greet other performers, fostering connections while opening the doors to new opportunities.
“I am loving The Phoenix Forum because it’s the only expo that’s five minutes away from my house,” laughed Ginger Banks who welcomed the show’s casual and intimate atmosphere. “You know if people come to The Phoenix Forum that they’re serious about their business — if you know about it you know you’re in the loop.”
Other rooms were devoted to meetings with AgeID regarding its online age verification system and what site operators and their affiliates need to know to remain in compliance with evolving legislation, while CCBill’s Merchant Support Center was on hand to answer any CCBill account questions and to introduce the company’s growing menu of payment services for merchants. Highlights of this outreach included a look at how to upgrade to CCBill’s FlexForms dynamic payment flow system featuring CCBill Pay, which is described as a “log in and pay” stored payment service that enables multi-purchases from any device. In addition, the newest Merchant Connect partner options were revealed by Integration Partners along with various insights to help attendees grow their business.
Other perennially popular TPF features included the famous Snack Shacks, easily accessible on both sides of the central courtyard, offering plenty of liquids to keep attendees hydrated, a variety of snacks and other tasty refreshments to enjoy in between activities and seminars while providing a hidden gem for casual networkers.
One such networker is Kink.com director/producer Fivestar, who loves TPF “because it’s a relaxed setting where you can have a lot of behind-the-scenes discussions with professionals in the industry and get a lot done.”
PhoenixNAP’s Ian McClarty agreed, adding, “I love TPF because it’s a great opportunity to network, to really talk shop and business.”
In addition to its other staple events, the nightly poker tournament offered players high-stakes action with sexy dealers, cash prizes, sponsored swag and more, with the Late Night Suites providing entertainment and networking opportunities, while CCBill Pay’s Take-Out suite offered complimentary munchies and snacks-to-go.
Another anchor point is the Gay Forum, which has long run concurrently with TPF, and also had its share of daily activities. These included the Gay Spot, known as the best place for gay execs to find a combination of fun, family and business. Attendees could meet in the Cloister to network, visit the Pride Sponsor booths and enjoy the hospitality of gay adult companies such as Cybersocket, Pinstripe Media and zBUCKz, while refreshing themselves at The Gay Spot Bar, courtesy of JustFor.fans.
Pinstripe Media also sponsored the night’s Pinstripe Party, where — joined by MenAtPlay — attendees were “invited to unbutton their collars and unknot their tasteful silk ties with a perfect Manhattan mixed with some business casual time with your industry family.”
The party was a great snapshot of the fun that accompanied the work that attendees did in Tempe, with entrepreneurs easing their workload with tips gleaned through the Forum’s “Business 101” series, which included targeted sessions for both gay and straight companies, each discussing market-relevant topics.
On the gay side, topics such as reaching the new consumer, aging consumers, new traffic strategies, legal protections, being “globally gay,” managing business basics and billing the gay market were covered. On the straight side, concerns over what it takes to own, operate and optimize an adult online business in today’s diverse environment were covered, including legal issues, mobile strategies, effective marketing, emerging technology choices and payment services.
While the “Business 101” series took care of the basics of running your business, the special session hosted by Pineapple Support took care of the basics of taking care of yourself — an especially vital task for performers and others in the industry who grapple with the emotional strains that often accompany sex work, cam life and beyond. In this session, organization founder and President Leya Tanit shared an overview of Pineapple Support and its four pillars of Support, Therapy, Safety and Community, and how this drives its 24/7 online emotional support and subsidized professional therapy services for performers and producers in the adult industry.
Like other attendees, Tanit was enthusiastic about the weather and noted, “The networking is wonderful, and it’s great to be able to connect with so many performers and organizations at the same time,” while Lane Farinacci, assisting Pineapple Support’s expansion, said she got involved to ensure everyone gets on board this initiative that’s so needed in our industry.
“I encourage everyone to lend their support, whether financial or as an ambassador,” Farinacci said, “and spread the good news to try to improve health care and mental health care for the industry.”
Eric Paul Leue from the Free Speech Coalition agreed, enthusiastically encouraging folks to “Go and support [Pineapple], support your community, support your industry organizations. We love you all!”
In addition to Pineapple Support and FSC, one of the industry’s most respected nonprofit organizations, ASACP, was on hand to discuss the importance of having community support in furtherance of shared objectives and business stability.
“For 23 years, ASACP has led the way in online child protection, through a mix of advanced technology, best practices, community education, outreach and services,” Executive Director Tim Henning told XBIZ. “Efforts such as our CP Tipline that has processed more than 1 million reports and our groundbreaking Restricted To Adults (RTA) meta-labeling system are two good examples of what the association does with the support it receives from global stakeholders, such as those we engage with at one of the adult industry’s most important annual events, The Phoenix Forum.”
One of the big benefits of the educational aspects of industry events is that they keep you in touch with the newest tools of the trade. At TPF, MojoHost made it easy by presenting a session on "The State of Adult Industry Technology." Moderated by attorney Corey Silverstein, the expert panel brought together a century’s worth of industry experience across advertising, age verification, cams and hosting verticals for a look at adult tech’s current trends.
Shay Efron noted that ImLive is now hosted on the cloud and that in addition to its in-house WhatsApp-style private communication app called ChatMaker, the company is diligently working on its PumaPay cryptocurrency ecosystem while focusing on cleaning up any rough edges left over from rapid deep-development cycles. Another focus was the infrastructure requirements to support mobile broadcasting and other technology.
“We want to see our models look great wherever they are,” he explained, “on any device.”
The comment underscored the basic competitive advantage that focusing on technology can provide.
AVSecure’s Steve Winyard told the audience he likes having competition because it keeps him smarter and sharper — keys to innovating in emerging markets such as online age verification where his team is pushing the frontiers of blockchain technology for its AV solution. Paxum’s Chris Youngs also sees a big opportunity in the blockchain for payment tech and noted that artificial intelligence is a huge boon for online identity verification.
MojoHost’s Brad Mitchell pointed to a seismic shift in content delivery, saying, “In the old days, you always had to overbuy servers, but now you can pay for just what you’re using.”
For his part, PhoenixNAP’s Ian McClarty couldn’t overstate the importance of 5G technology as a game changer and notes that rollouts will accelerate in 2020, but he also cautions against the pursuit of tech for tech’s sake. Instead he advised attendees to ask themselves such questions as “Am I in a good position to take advantage of cloud computing?” before making infrastructure changes.
Jay from JuicyAds said that the battle over ad blockers is a difficult arms race and warns of problems for publishers that face steep revenue drops as a result. He also explained that 68 percent of the traffic his network sees is via mobile devices, so publishers need to up their game to serve new ad types for today’s audience.
“Ads are how people find something new,” Jay said, underscoring the importance of their presence.
Drilling down into more targeted details, TrafficPartner.com hosted a special workshop on ads and traffic, revealing secrets of how to reap the strongest returns from a members area with a look at the best ways to funnel, test and evaluate the value of traffic using everything from split testing to KPI’s, new stats tools and more.
For many industry stakeholders, staying abreast of the evolving regulatory landscape is a major draw for attending events such as TPF. Serving this audience was a session on “Legal Climate Change: How 2018 Broke the Record Books,” presented by the Law Office of D. Gill Sperlein, along with adult industry attorneys Corey Silverstein and Andy Contiguglia.
The three attorneys explored last year’s fury of legal activity, including legislation such as FOSTA/ SESTA, the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), and recent court decisions affecting 2257 and copyright enforcement.
Among the revelations at this session, Sperlein said there have been changes in copyright registrations that rights holders should discuss with their attorneys, as well as changes regarding questionable terms on trademark registration and renewal applications.
Contiguglia told the audience that the GDPR poses a huge range of potential problems and is difficult to comply with, and that California’s privacy law is also problematic.
“Do not log more data than necessary. For example, an email address is all that’s really needed for newsletter signup,” Contiguglia explained. “Know what data you collect and where you are collecting it.”
Silverstein said the EU’s Article 13 will require each member nation to craft an applicable law governing user-uploaded content and will have profound implications for cam and tube sites among others.
Although the legal panel was not a “The sky is falling!” session, many site owners clearly have work to do when it comes to protecting their interests.
Rounding out the afternoon, the Sponsor Marketplace expanded TPF’s original Sponsor Meet & Greet into a two-day networking expo in the Palm Ballroom. There, show sponsors showcased their wares with hourly presentations from different sponsors, before attendees segued into the Sponsor Marketplace Kickoff Happy Hour and TPF edition of XBIZ Speed Networking, with its rapid-fire introductions and easy access to new contacts.
One of the evening’s highlights was the “Cowboy Cookout” Opening Party, which brought a taste of Arizona to TPF’s global audience. This ranch-style barbecue experience offered communal seating and a hearty country buffet featuring plenty of meat, homemade cornbread, corn on the cob and more, with soulful strains of southwestern cowboy music playing in the background and a special horseback interlude.
Attendees mingled throughout the evening, gathering fireside in the courtyard, enjoying the nightly activities and venturing out into the active Tempe downtown beyond, building new relationships and strengthening existing ties.
FRIDAY, MARCH 29
Friday’s full-day schedule kicked off with the Sponsor Marketplace and rewarded attendees with a midday networking buffet that fueled casual conversations in the courtyard and surrounding scene. Meanwhile, Segpay started the day’s educational lineup with a workshop on “Revving Up Retention,” detailing key ways to keep customers in today’s competitive marketplace, such as analyzing churn rates as a way of gauging the health of your business.
AVSecure presented a workshop on the current state of age verification, with a look at the Voluntary Certification Scheme, plus BBFC content guidelines, solutions for publishers and U.K. rollout details, along with the role that ASACP and its RTA label play in the equation. And zBUCKz hosted a discussion of the unique challenges and opportunities faced by the LGBT segment of the adult industry in the context of the broader adult community.
Reaching out to cam models and promoters was a quartet of cam-centric sessions, including “Cam Modeling is a Business,” “Make Your Cam Shows and Clips Amazing,” “The Evolution of Live Cam Platforms” and “Attracting More Fans and Building Your Brand,” for a rounded view of the marketplace.
“Reaching out” is what going to TPF is all about, with Tao from TrafficHaus saying that the company was in attendance “to earn folks’ business buying and selling traffic,” while Mark Bauman told XBIZ that at TPF, he is “loving life, having fun and making great connections.”
“DigiRegs is in full effect here, pushing our APIs for Title 13,” Bauman said. “If you’re going to be posting content online, you need to comply with Title 13 and you need our APIs for copyright protection.”
Always highly anticipated, the “State of the Industry” panel united industry leaders for a comprehensive overview of several key market segments, providing attendees with a good dose of business intelligence.
The foundation of e-commerce is a profitable visitor stream, but Michael Reul from TrafficPartner.com noted a significant problem for marketers: bots account for more than half of today’s traffic.
“We buy traffic on a large basis and had to incorporate strong anti-fraud measures,” Reul said. “We put a lot of effort into minimizing fraud: Did someone join but never return? Did they use a language that doesn’t match the country they signed up from?”
For this reason, NETbilling’s Mitch Farber recommended performance-based testing before any ad buy.
“A/B split testing will show if the traffic flows right,” CCBill’s Ron Cadwell also advised. “Small tweaks can make huge differences.”
Taking a look at the differences between the U.S. and EU markets, Segpay’s Cathy Beardsley revealed that while the U.S. market has been slowly consolidating, new sites are coming from the EU.
“It’s not that one is better or worse, it’s just that there are different payment mechanisms, languages and cultures,” Reul added. “The EU market is much more split up than the U.S. market.”
Emphasizing the complexity of the region, XBIZ’s Alec Helmy called the EU “a fragmented market” that makes it tough to connect with everyone, but noted that the outreach is worth the effort.
Beardsley told the audience that the company’s biggest 2019 opportunities are in forming unique partnerships, saying, “Sometimes an unlikely pairing will help you stand out.”
Reul said his company cut out some projects that weren’t really profitable to focus on its “cash cows,” illustrating how the industry is tightening up — and delivering increased excellence as a result.
Cadwell underscored the changing nature of adult, telling the audience that “what used to be ‘solo girls’ are now producers with social media that are camming and big on social interaction.”
“We’re seeing a profound shift in the landscape away from the old studio system,” Helmy said. “Models are taking control over their own destiny and this is having a major impact on how cash flows in adult.”
Commenting on the sophistication of these models’ approaches, Farber noted that cammers are selling their own products through easy one-click sales and affiliate marketing.
As for challenges facing the industry in 2019, Farber pointed to the need to better monetize members and to offer fresh content, perhaps through content trades. He acknowledged the importance of interacting face-to-face at trade shows, but noted it can be difficult to keep them going in today’s market.
“I come across people entering the business these days that have interesting ideas,” Helmy explained. “But it’s challenging to create something that remains compelling over the long term.”
“The new porn buyer is different,” Cadwell added. “Focusing on ‘what you’ve always done’ isn’t working — you have to evolve.”
Beardsley pointed to a tightening of processing rules as a significant challenge and advised the audience to remain as flexible as possible.
“You really have to understand numbers,” Reul concluded. “Business intelligence is a lot of effort, but so worth it.”
Wrapping up TPF’s well-attended seminar lineup, CCBill presented “The State of Cams 2019.”
“With no signs of slowing, we continue to see hockey stick growth in the live cams and broadcast markets,” teased the event’s promoters. The session convened a group of top cam executives to discuss the current state of this vibrant industry segment — and reveal their strategic visions for maintaining this aggressive cycle well into the future, while driving additional success for their models, promoters and their companies.
The panelists included CCBill’s Gary Jackson, Chaturbate’s Shirley Lara, ImLive’s Shay Efron, Flirt4Free’s Jeff Wilson and Streamate’s Yuval Kijel, with XBIZ’s Stephen Yagielowicz serving as moderator. Everyone in attendance from the cam and clip verticals benefited from this discussion of market mastery.
One model on the Chaturbate, MyFreeCams and Nood.tv platforms, in attendance in hopes of furthering her career through the forum’s educational and networking opportunities, was Fiona Sage.
“As part of the local camming community here in Phoenix, the Forum is a perfect opportunity for me to make new contacts and explore new opportunities,” Fiona told XBIZ. “I learned a lot about the bigger picture of the cam industry at this session and received a lot of support from some other attendees that really encouraged me to pursue my musical-based live shows where I play and sing while you watch.”
The day after TPF's conclusion, Fiona reported that she had begun reconfiguring her studio in response to some of the input she received at the event, prepping herself for the next stage of her career.
Focusing on the future, TPF’s HUB HOOKUP for New Business provided a Meet Market experience in the courtyard. The gathering focused on new businesses, ideas and tech from companies or projects less than five years in the works, providing attendees with a look at the latest innovations from the industry.
Standing front and center in one of the event’s prime spots, Kora Peters repped her “Head Bitch in Charge” brand and was the focus of attention for passersby and photographers alike as she played and posed in front of her first trade show banner. Proudly promoting her brand, her webcam sites and upcoming affiliate program — while giving away 750 condoms in the process — she demonstrated her tremendous work ethic by staying late as one of the last exhibitors to greet prospects at her booth.
“It was an honor and a privilege to be invited to The Phoenix Forum this year to promote my brand. CCBill did an excellent job in choosing the venue and provided a wonderful opportunity for B2B networking and growing my business on many levels,” Peters told XBIZ. “I found this event to be not only very lucrative for my brand and business but also very fun and memorable as well. The old adage ‘Work hard, play hard’ definitely applies to TPH 2019 and I hope to be a part of TPH 2020! Thanks for the wonderful memories, everyone, and thank you CCBill for inviting me to showcase my brand at the event!”
Peters was a perfect snapshot of the energy and enthusiasm today’s new players bring to the business.
The evening eased in as attendees drifted off to dinner and returned for the Fireside Chill — relaxing poolside by the fireplace, enjoying complimentary cocktails in a casual atmosphere.
“I love The Phoenix Forum because it’s the perfect blend of business and pleasure,” Vinny from WTS commented, underscoring the mix of fun and work, which Chris from MojoHost described as “the best place to wear flip-flops and do business at the same time.”
SATURDAY, MARCH 30
TPF’s final day began on a positive note for early risers attending the poolside yoga session sponsored by Studio 20 and LiveJasmin, where seeking a balanced and healthy lifestyle was the name of the game. As “pool day” got underway in the Arizona sunshine with poolside networking, bars, cabanas, games and plenty of eye candy, a luncheon buffet with good food combined with an ensemble of business peers made for pleasant conversations.
Adding to the poolside fun was the annual Beer Pong Tournament, offering a head-to-head matchup with free beer, a DJ and good times — a perfect prologue for the DigiRegs- and DMCA Force-sponsored Wet T-shirt Contest for Women and Wet Speedo Contest for Men with an esteemed panel of judges.
One major highlight of TPF was the Phoenix Roundtable presented by Executives International, which gathered an exclusive ensemble of two dozen owners and top executives of industry-leading businesses for a leadership meeting discussing common challenges and opportunities.
Capping off the final evening was the inaugural VOYEUR Community Awards presented by Chaturbate — offering industrywide recognition of the leading individuals from each of adult’s communities with a red-carpet event. More information and the inaugural VOYEUR Community Awards full list of winners can be found here.
Reflecting on this year’s Phoenix Forum, many of the folks this writer spoke with commented on the attendance being lower than in past years, but it was simply seen as a sign of the times, and no one complained that business wasn’t getting done. Indeed, most felt they did more productive business this time around than ever before — a bold statement, given the “prime productivity” reputation of this veteran event.
Michael Plante from QWEBEC Expo confided that he made one of his best deals ever at this year’s event.
“I adore TPF because it’s one of the nicest events in the industry, where you can meet a very nice group of people that you can actually do business with,” Michael said. “And with me coming from up north, the weather is fantastic!”
“TPF is one of my favorite shows — this is my 16th in a row,” Fubar’s JFK said. “My first one was at the La Posada Resort in 2003 and the trend continues. I love it!”
Dr. Douglas Wicks of Payze.com, one of the driving forces behind TPF’s long run at the Mission Palms, told XBIZ that the Forum holds a unique place in the industry’s quest for networking quality and that it is an event that deserves to continue into the future.
“It is a great venue, it is a great time of year, great weather to be doing business, and the courtyard works really well,” Wicks said. “It’s one of these really good shows that forces people to get together. That forces you to run into many, many different groups that you might not otherwise, in a very casual atmosphere.”
That is surely the best summary of what The Phoenix Forum is all about.
I hope to see you all there next year!
