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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.
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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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