Gay Phoenix Forum Pictures

About Dick Hunter Dick Hunter has been webmaster of popular gay sites such as RateARod and QueerFetish.com since 1999. In 2004 he began directing hardcore videos, such as his latest release "An Army Of Fun". In 2006 he launched this website, GayWebmasters.com.

Pictures from The Gay Phoenix Forum 2006 are now available in the new Gallery section of GayWebmasters.com.

Considering this was the first time the event was held, most people aggree that it was a complete success. The conference, an offshoot of the popular Phoenix Forum, which is held in the spring, was hosted by CCBill/Cavecreek and held at The Central Phoenix Inn & Suites.

The Phoenix Forums are known for being more casual then other industry events, with a focus on networking and education.

In order to bring The Forum to everyone who could not attend, and to those who want to refresh themselves on the valuable information that the seminar series offered, they will be making the archived web casts available through the following URL:

http://www.gayphoenixforum.com/webcast.htm

 Let’s All Step Up To Fight 2257 By Opening Our Wallets

Many are called, but few are chosen, its time for Gay Professionals to pull together.

When I speak with our Straight Colleagues in Distribution and Retailing there is always the issue of Regional hostility.  No one seems to get along or value each others opinions and in particular recognize competitor’s successes.  I often talk about my two favorite men in distribution and retailing who both have impeccable reputations, but hate each other over something that happened in the 70s.  I equate this to a bunch of dysfunctional relatives all living on the same cul-de-sac.

In the gay market we embraced the Internet (with the exception of myself) very early so the distrust of Brick and Mortar and Internet and the (you’re going out of business) attitude did not really prevail in our market.  There of course are hostilities and baggage like everyone else but I believe even the most successful competitive leaders in both MFG. and Internet have some semblance of respect for one another.

The appointment of Tim Valenti from Naked Sword to the FSC Board brought in one of the top All Male Market Techno professionals. There are now two representatives of the gay industry on the board.  You all have an opportunity to participate with Free Speech, and any time you can attend a quarterly in Woodland Hills or at a trade show please do so.  Members can run for the Board of Directors. If you’re not a member, become one.  The nominal fee places you on an e-mail and publications list with a wealth of information, just the 2257 compliance information will save you thousands of dollars in legal fees.  If you are a “secondary” producer, current membership includes coverage of an injunction from 2257 inspections.

You should be aware that champions of Free speech, your fellow adult professionals, have joined FSC in our action in the 10th circuit in the case of FREE SPEECH V GONZALEZ.  These colleagues are Lenny Friedllander of New Beginnings, Dave Cummings, and others who have stepped forward to testify as witnesses.  This litigation does not come cheap.  The Attorneys are willing to work at a reduced rate, and to be paid at a not so rapid rate.  We need to support this very important litigation that affects all of us.

I would ask that you not only support this litigation personally by having everyone in the office donate to this very important cause, but that the owners of your companies also donate contributions earmarked for litigation .  This can be done by fax or mail. Simply go to http://www.freespeechcoaltion.com/ContributeForm.htm .  Please earmark these monies for the 2257 DEFENSE FUND.  Your money will be well spent, and we all need to pull together.

I have shot a trailer pilot for Spanky’s Boys, and many of you have volunteered to do likewise to raise monies for Free Speech.  Scott Lowther is handling this at FSC. He can be reached at , or by phone at (818) 348-9373.

Gay people throw great parties, so why not have your own 2257 Legal Defense Benefit.  I am confident we could line up the talent in your community!  If you have any idea’s or would like to do something to support this very important litigation, please contact me personally at (877) 886-7688 or e-male me at .

GREGORY B. (SPANKY) SHEARER
Member, FSC Board of Directors
(877-886-7688)

 Fun in the Sun: My Florida Internext 2007 Experience in a Nutshell

About XXXWriterDude Ken Knox is an adult industry insider who has written for a number of industry publications, including Unzipped, Men, Freshmen, Honcho, In Touch for Men, and X-Factor. He is the associate editor at AVN Online magazine, and is the former associate editor of GAYVN.

For those of you who missed this year’s Internext convention in Hollywood Beach, Florida… well, I have no sympathy for you. Despite what you may have heard, Florida Internext was a blast. Honestly, where else can you do business while sipping margaritas with a beautiful view of the ocean not more than 30 feet away from you? What’s more, business actually got done this year! The dearth of gay companies meant that the gay companies who attended actually got work done for a change instead of spending all their time partying. It was this “back to basics” attitude that made Florida Internext ‘07 a hit in my eyes. Herewith, then, is my day-by-day account of my experience at one of the best* webmaster shows around. (OK, in the interest of full disclosure, I do work for the company who throws this whole shebang, so maybe I’m a little biased by the fact that my company put up the tab for me to spend six days and five nights on a beach in Florida… with porn people… going to parties… having drinks… meeting hot men… having a good time… You get the point.) Anyway…

Day One: Wednesday -- We arrive at the Fort Lauderdale airport on schedule at about 4:20 pm Florida time. The rock band Lit, who is performing at the AVN Online-sponsored opening night party, flew over on the plane with us. The guitarist sat next to me, and even asked to read a couple of my rock magazines. I spent a good deal of the time drooling over his tattoos. Anyway, it’s sweltering hot outside when we get to Florida, but I’m not complaining. Florida is one of my favorite places in the world. I’ve had a nostalgic love for the Sunshine State ever since my parents took me and my brother there when we were kids. We’d go back every year and hang at Disney World and Epcot, so I’m a sucker for the tropical. laid-back vibe and the Southern hospitality. Speaking of, the folks at the Westin are really nice when we check in. I spot a couple of webmaster folk, like PrideBucks‘ Rainey Stricklin and TopBucks‘ Juan, plus NakedSword’s Holly Ruprecht in the lobby, then make my way up to my room. I got a terrace! Woo hoo! Even cooler, Internet connection is only $1 for the whole stay. This means I can cruise Manhunt for men on my down time and not get charged. Life is good. I join a few of my co-workers for dinner in the hotel restaurant Hollywood Prime. We all get steak. Yummy. Then it’s off to The Boardwalk--the “local” gay bar over in Fort Lauderdale--with GAYVN’s Chad Beecher and Jeff Rosenberg to pick out strippers for Sunday’s GAYVN-sponsored closing night party. We pick out three of the hottest, one of whom liberally flirts with us. Again, life is good.

Day Two: Thursday -- My first full day in Hollywood, Fla. is great. Many other webmasters start arriving. I have room service in my room ($33 just for bacon and eggs!) AVN Online has a big editorial meeting that morning. I’m given my assigments (a few seminars and workshops, plus the 2much.com-sponsored booze cruise, and a couple parties), then have lunch with a few of my co-workers. Then I take a trip over to Miami to tour the Pink-TV studios. Talk about an impressive layout! I even get my photo snapped with a bunch of naked women! Why not? The rest of the day is mine to kind of chill around the hotel and get ready for our opening night party. I nap. Getting up yesterday at 4 a.m. to catch a 7:45 a.m. flight took the piss outta me, so I need my sleep. The party is great. The band sounds hot, and these cute little girls in full body paint keep jumping up on the stage and dancing while the band rocks on. I meet Derek, Joe and Scott from BukBuddies, and basically hang by them the whole time. Derek tells me that Joe and Scott are both straight, but both have done J.O. for his site. I wouldn’t mind doing some J.O. of my own with Scott. Yummy. After the party, I have drinks in the sushi bar with a few co-workers, then it’s back up to my room for some sleep so I can be all rested up for the first day of the show tomorrow.

Day Three: Friday -- I make way over to the show floor. Wow. Only one gay exhibitor in the whole place. Thank God for Maleflixxx. Where is everyone this year? I meet Robert from SilverCash and Mattieu from BrainCash as well, and am surprised to see that the AVN Online booth is so small. Oh well. I’m not really here to do any business, anyway. Just mix and mingle and write about it. It’s a no-lose situation for me. Then it’s on over to a networking event hosted by Epoch. They have reallllllly good hors d’ouevres. I finally get to meet Rand Pate. Wait--is he gay? I swear he is. Funny, it never came up in any of our chats before. Anyway, after I bum around there for a bit longer, I make my way down to the pool, where SilverCash is having a bikini contest. Derek and the boys from BukBuddies are there again, and afterwards we head over to Nikki Marina for dinner by the waterside. It’s very nice. They pay, bless their hearts. AdultRental was supposed to be having some kind of wet T-shirt contest, but I skipped out to join Chad and Jeff and a limo full of gay guys (plus Joe and Scott) to go to the Board Walk. I end up totally hitting if off with one of the gay guys along for the ride. He’s from San Francisco, and is in town to support several of his adult clients. After we get back from the bar, he and I head down to the beach, where we sit on the lifeguard lookout and talk for hours on end. Eventually, we take it back to my room. He spends the night. Life is DAMN good.

Day Four: Saturday -- The maid opens the door to discover my hot San Francisco guy standing nude by the window. She ducks out quickly. He gets dressed and heads out, but we’ll see each other later. I’ve got some seminars to attend. First up, it’s Joan Irvine’s workshop about Labeling. Barely anyone is in attendance. They must all be too hung over. Then it’s off to the Good vs. Evil seminar, which elicits a heated debate about extreme content vs. softcore. Club Jenna’s Jay Grdinia and Home Grown Video’s Spike Goldberg do their tired song and dance about how extreme content is bad for the business. Blah blah. Man, I tell ya. Sometimes I wish these porn people would suck it up and mind their own business. Anyway, after that I sit it on Joe Obenberger’s Legal Orientation workshop, which offers pretty practical advice for those of us concerned about staying within the law. It’s good stuff. Then it’s off to that booze cruise, where I hang out with my hot stud from the night before and enjoy the hors d’ouevres (LOVE these hors d’ouevres!) until the Coast Guard comes and tells us we have to turn the boat around and go back! You can read all about it here. After that, I hang out with my guy and his work associates by the Nikki Marina bar and have a few shots, then get ready to go into Miami to attend Epoch’s big blow-out at Nocturnal. It’s been rumored all week that Mariah Carey will be showing up. Hmmmmm… We hop onto a bus (no limo this time) and head on into the city. Hurricane Chris, which has threatened to invade us all week, is too tired by the time he reaches Miami to do much of anything besides drizzle on us, so we have a blast partying at the rooftop-bar. I dance my ass off. Mariah does show up after all-- but in the downstairs bar. Then it’s back to the hotel, where me and my stud enjoy another night of raunchy, debaucherous sex. Grrrrr!

Day Five: Sunday -- My guy has to fly back to San Fran today, which kind of sucks. Because he has a partner back in the city (they have one of those “kind of open relationships"), it’s unlikely that we’ll be able to pick this back up again. I knew that going into it, but still… it doesn’t make it any easier when he leaves. (Why do I have such rotten luck with timing when it comes to the the men I really seem to connect with? Sigh...) Anyway, a lot of webmasters have already begun skipping town to head back home, so my last day is basically spent winding down. Epoch has another networking party in a couple suites they’ve rented, but only about 20 people show up to it. Immediately after that, it’s off to GAYVN‘s Bon Voyage Bash, which is a blast. Lots of people in attendance, surprisingly. The strippers are a hit; one of them even flirts with me. I’m feeling a little empty since my SF guy took off, so it’s nice to get some attention. Everyone gets DVD box sets of Showgirls, and I interview a bunch of webmasters for my Gaydar column. Maleflixxx’s Warren dick-teases me yet again. Grrrrr. He knows I want him. Then a bunch of the left-over gay folk take two limos into Fort Lauderdale to go to some loud club. Maleflixxx’s Mary and Brent and I decide to go next door and have a late-night dinner. We bond. Then we head back to the hotel and collapse.

Day Six: Monday -- After one last lunch by the ocean with my co-worker Ericka, I finish up the last of my stories for the AVNOnline.com site just in time to catch the shuttle to the airport. But it turns out our flight is delayed. Oh well. We sit at Chili’s in the airport and toss back several drinks. Gotta love expense reports! Then it’s an uneventful flight back to LAX. I miss Florida already. I can’t wait for next year!

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