Internext vegas 2011

[xanadu]

Hi everybody!

We have been working hard to present a new format for the Internext Vegas 2011 and we are finally finished

I believe the events in the business need a radical change, the decline has been obvious the last years all over the board, making the events less and less attractive for people to attend. I think the main reasons for this were:

1.Prices.

With the current economy less and less people could afford the higher and higher costs of attending an event. Especially for webmasters and small companies this has been a serious issue.

2.Not so many fresh people to network with.

If you go and there are the same people every time, that you have on icq/skype etc already, what is really the point of keep going?

3.Less and less networking acitivities.

Shows had the bad habit of trying to make $ from parties,dinners and other networking activities instead of seeing that those are porbably the most important elements of a successfull event. Bringing people together and helping them network, its the key. With sponsor money becoming less the last years, events/opportunities for networking started to disappear, affecting the experience of the shows more and more....

So the format of the event will be totally different that last year, in order to adress the above issues.

- Internext goes back to the Venecian/Palazzo hotel. I think Palms was not an ideal place for doing business and the Venecian is just in front of the AEE expo and right next to the Wynn(Aff.Summit), so its much easier for people to move around. Time is money, especially during an event.

-Entrance will be FREE for all business people that will register online. There will be a fee for the ones that choose to register onsite to cover the logistics(under 100$ though), so I suggest you register online fast! We will screen the participants and make sure that only business people will be accepted.

I think this is a huge step. We have been visiting many mainstream shows lately, where this is more and more the standard of the big successfull events and given the situation of our industry,where small webmasters and companies have it much more difficult now, is something that shows have to consider and adapt. Its the minimum we can do to support the industry.


-We made a deal with Aff.summit and the ones registered in Internext will get a 10% discount on the price of their Aff.Summit badge. I know many people of our business attend this event, so I think its a nice plus. Having the 2 events next to each other makes it also easier for mainstream people to come and network with us as well. New people means new business.

-Attendees of the B2B section of AEE, will have free entrance into Internext. Has been a complaint for years that people had to register 2 times, pay double etc. I agree that was something that didnt make sense. Now will be much easier.

-Main focus will be on networking. We plan a lot of speed networking and ice breaker sessions during the event, not just a 2 hours event but more as a constant happening. I think this is the most important element during any show and the primary reason for someone to attend. I will personally force people to network

-New business opportunities will be also on the forefront. Seminars and workshops will be targeted on this and having the Aff. Summit next door helps us bring some really good mainstream speakers as well. There is more and more crossover and many ways to make more $ online. Monetizing european traffic and the mobile market will also be well presented.

-Regarding sponsorships, there will be much less available, in order to give back real value to the sponsors. I used to run an aff.program in the past and sponsor heavily most of the events of the industry and I think that its a fair statement that many sponsorship packages in the events were a rip off... Its much better to keep them limited than offering stupid things nobody remembers afterwards. This way sponsors will be much happier and will get much more value for their $.

-We also want to make it affordable to all companies to have a presense during the event without spending a fortune. Thats why in the Meet Market the tables will be just 500$ making it easy for most companies to participate and brand themselves.
Many people of the aff.summit will attend the meet market and this year will be much bigger in size and duration, will free lunch and a lot fo freebies. As said above, networking is the main focus.


From our side we will do our best, but it always takes 2 to tango. Wish all participants had business cards on them and come wearing a branded t-shirt, making networking even easier for everybody.

We cannot change the past, but for sure we can change the present and try to affect the future. I will be happy to hear suggestions and ideas on how make the event even better. I think we are on a good way to make it a much more productive and a more fair activity for all the participants from now on.

Sorry for the huge post, I can talk hours for it lol. I am sure I have forgotten many things so feel free to to ask or contact me.

[bigpappa17934]

I think this is an AWESOME post. Can you provide links to registration?

[Amputate Your Head]

i still won't attend.

[CIVMatt]

Very nice, good to see some proactive action being taken against lame shows!

[MaDalton]

finally...

[Barefootsies]

It sounds delicious.

[xanadu]

Originally Posted by bigpappa17934

I think this is an AWESOME post. Can you provide links to registration?

Thanks man

Full website with registration will go up this week on www.internext-expo.com

[Evil Chris]

Panos, did any of my post-Palms 2010 recommendations have any influence on this decision? (I'd like to think they did)

[ShellyCrash]

The approach AVN is taking with this is refreshing. Last year trying to force feed everyone that the shows were great and it was just our perception that was off was some rough stuff. Good to see you guys step up to the plate, admit the format was no longer working and try to make some changes to get things turned around. Kudos and best of luck, sounds good so far.

[famous]

what was charged for the sponsor to have a booth = highway robbery
what was charged to get into the show = highway robbery

thats why internext went down. Greedy ass people way over charging. You get more done at the circle bar then you ever did inside internext and the price to be at the circle bar is much much less

[xanadu]

Chris for sure did man


Famous I dont disagree, I wrote it in my post as well...As Shelly said, format has to change and I think this way is more fair and accesible for everyone now.

[Evil Chris]

I think I'm not alone in saying I'm very happy Internext is returning to The Venetian.

[Marie]

These plans look good Panos.

[Thomas007]

This sounds like a much better formula. I will consider going.
Thank you for changing the format.

[Roald]

Panos!!!! Waiting on your email ;)))

[Rebel D]

Sounds like something i am definatley Interested in going

[xanadu]

uffff, persistent Dutch is my nightmare, I will call you now

Thanks for the good feedback everybody. If there is something you would like to see happening feel free to suggest. Will do my best!

Especially on the seminars I am all ears!

I have almost closed the panel for the "Life after epassporte" seminar, Payoneer,AlertPay,Webmoney,OkPay will be there and hopefully 1-2 more of the companies(will try for paxum and emc2payoutts) that offer related services.

Looking for a known webmaster to ask them the questions. Roald is a coward(here you go lol) and said he will just attend. So please step up!

[Roald]

Originally Posted by xanadu

uffff, persistent Dutch is my nightmare, I will call you now
!

NO email me, about to run ;)

[AdultEUhost]

good stuff panos !

[fuzebox]

That Venetian circle bar is gonna be a zoo with CES, AEE, and Internext in the same place...

[dready]

Glad you guys are finally taking all the criticism seriously. Best of luck.

[SZNY]

great stuff Panos

[JFK]

Originally Posted by Roald

NO email me, about to run ;)

RUN Roald................ RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN..........

Good stuff Panos, looking foirward to it

[AsianDivaGirlsWebDude]

Will the Anal Hobbit be hosting his annual InterNext Bukkake Party again this year (I mean, after "you know what" happened at the Palms last year)?



If so...count me in!

ADG

[EZRhino]

I hope the logistics work out better then the last time the AEE, Internext and CES were in the same location and time. I remember that year and there were a lot of pissed off sponsors at Internext. And a lot of confusion for networking since there were more places to be at the same time. Some people will have passes to one show but not the other, due to budget, and it will make it tough to network with anyone new.

[96ukssob]

Originally Posted by fuzebox

That Venetian circle bar is gonna be a zoo with CES, AEE, and Internext in the same place...

great news

ive never attended aff summit before, but actually considered going for some of the seminars. however, I'm not sure how well adult plus this crowd would mix.

it would be great to have some affiliate show for adult. years ago there would be a few seminars targeted towards affiliates, but I havent seen anything in a while. I personally would be one of the first to signup if there was, and with some seminars around software and technology, and even having some of the bigger programs talk about their tools and what they do to drive traffic and sales

[MaDalton]

Originally Posted by fuzebox

That Venetian circle bar is gonna be a zoo with CES, AEE, and Internext in the same place...

i was there the last time and i can only say: choose your return flight wisely and rather spend 1 or 2 more days in vegas. the check in line was about 2 miles long and dozens of people missed their flights - lol

[Lukke]

Definitely will be there.

[xanadu]

thanks for the positive words everybody.

EZRhino and bossku69 this is the feedback we need to make it better.

For sure having too many things happening has its positive side and its negative as well.

I dont think it will be so confusing regarding AEE and CES. Internext core days will be 9th and 10th, with the 8th being more a warm up day, so the overlap is not so heavy. On the 9th the B2B sections of CES and AEE are not so busy anymore during the day and even of someone preffer/has to be there the whole 3 days(7,8,9), will still has the night of the 9th and all 10th to attend Internext. Trust me on this, we spent a lot of time choosing the best days/hours to make it less complicated for everyone. But I take your comment on this seriously. I liked the last show in Amsterdam mainly because there were not so many things happening on the same time, so in each thing you could find almost everybody and network hard.

As for affliates, I agree with you bossku69. Shows need more really valuable seminars. Except from the one for epassporte(that is a nobrainer as we are all interested to see what are the real alternatives), we plan to have at least another 3 mostly for affiliates:

-International SEO: Optimisation and strategies for Different Search Engines & Territories
-The latest Google update(Caffeine/Instant)
-Social Marketing Campaigns and tools: The Affiliate Perspective

Aff.Summit has some very interesting ones. We are trying to get some people over as well to do them during Internext. What you said for the tools is really cool. We plan to have one for mobile tools.

In general I think its better to have more specific seminars. Most of the people are not newbies in our business anymore and deserve more advanced seminars. Its good to have a balance.

[tony286]

I dont understand why does a webmaster show has to be during CES? When I went last year the room I paid $150 a night for if I went a week later it would of been $35.

[fuzebox]

Originally Posted by MaDalton

i was there the last time and i can only say: choose your return flight wisely and rather spend 1 or 2 more days in vegas. the check in line was about 2 miles long and dozens of people missed their flights - lol

Yeah it's an expensive few days to book a hotel room.

[xanadu]

Tony, its not really during CES which is from the 6th till the 9th.

We had this concern about hotel price thats why we didnt do it the same dates. As I said above the core dates of the event will be the 9th and the 10th that prices are back to normal and CES crowd has gone away. If someone though comes earlier(some always do for CES,others for AEE) there will be prereg and a couple of networking activities on the 8th in the afternoon. Hope this makes it more clear.

[Tasty1]

This is great news!

[Chris]

Very good location - located next to some cheaper hotels aswell if people have an issue with room prices

[xanadu]

Originally Posted by Chris

Very good location - located next to some cheaper hotels aswell if people have an issue with room prices

thanks

I posted this elsewhere but I think its usefull info:

Nobody will be obligated to stay in the Venecian either. We negotiated a price under 200$ with them for the 9th and 10th,which I think its a very good price given the hotel, but if someone wants to stay elsewhere its up to him/her. Always better to be in the hotel of the conference for many reasons but I also hate it when its obligatory.

[Robbie]

This is great news!

I'm so ready to see the Internext show back where it's "happening".
The Palms was like a graveyard, especially after coming from AEE the day before.

This will be very refreshing and I'm sure that those people coming from out of town will feel much more like they are attending an "event". Especially when you have already walked the "floor" of Internext and are wondering what to do.

I know last year, that took me 5 minutes and then there was nothing to do.

Now, I'm gonna walk right over to AEE...that's an all day fun thing to do when you walk that floor. And if I get bored there, I'll jump over to Wynn (it's just a couple of blocks down the street) and check out the Affiliate Summit.

I'm really looking forward to this show now. Hell, I wouldn't have minded having the Internext show IN the AEE convention room in a corner somewhere to make it even more convenient.

[JFK]

Originally Posted by xanadu

thanks

I posted this elsewhere but I think its usefull info:

Nobody will be obligated to stay in the Venecian either. We negotiated a price under 200$ with them for the 9th and 10th,which I think its a very good price given the hotel, but if someone wants to stay elsewhere its up to him/her. Always better to be in the hotel of the conference for many reasons but I also hate it when its obligatory.

Good thinking about the hotels

[fogfever]

Sounds like it will be a good show.

[Vegas Ken]

Good stuff Panos! I look forward to seeing you in Jan!!!

Good idea!

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by xanadu

-Regarding sponsorships, there will be much less available, in order to give back real value to the sponsors. I used to run an aff.program in the past and sponsor heavily most of the events of the industry and I think that its a fair statement that many sponsorship packages in the events were a rip off... Its much better to keep them limited than offering stupid things nobody remembers afterwards. This way sponsors will be much happier and will get much more value for their $.

This is excellent news, and I'm glad someone from AVN has the balls to come and say they ripped programs off. Whom do I contact to recoup the money I got ripped off?

[xanadu]

Anthony, I sure you understand how and why I wrote this

Feel free to msg me in icq to talk this over, I added you already.

[96ukssob]

Originally Posted by xanadu

thanks for the positive words everybody.

EZRhino and bossku69 this is the feedback we need to make it better.

For sure having too many things happening has its positive side and its negative as well.

I dont think it will be so confusing regarding AEE and CES. Internext core days will be 9th and 10th, with the 8th being more a warm up day, so the overlap is not so heavy. On the 9th the B2B sections of CES and AEE are not so busy anymore during the day and even of someone preffer/has to be there the whole 3 days(7,8,9), will still has the night of the 9th and all 10th to attend Internext. Trust me on this, we spent a lot of time choosing the best days/hours to make it less complicated for everyone. But I take your comment on this seriously. I liked the last show in Amsterdam mainly because there were not so many things happening on the same time, so in each thing you could find almost everybody and network hard.

As for affliates, I agree with you bossku69. Shows need more really valuable seminars. Except from the one for epassporte(that is a nobrainer as we are all interested to see what are the real alternatives), we plan to have at least another 3 mostly for affiliates:

-International SEO: Optimisation and strategies for Different Search Engines & Territories
-The latest Google update(Caffeine/Instant)
-Social Marketing Campaigns and tools: The Affiliate Perspective

Aff.Summit has some very interesting ones. We are trying to get some people over as well to do them during Internext. What you said for the tools is really cool. We plan to have one for mobile tools.

In general I think its better to have more specific seminars. Most of the people are not newbies in our business anymore and deserve more advanced seminars. Its good to have a balance.

thanks

IMO, to bring this business back the program owners really need the support of the affiliates. it would be nice to have an open session to tell them their shitty TGP style galleries don't work anymore and tools we, as affiliates, would like to see.

would also be great for some of these other vendors, like tube software, traffic scripts, etc., to get a chance to demo their products. Offer them booths for not a lot of $$ or give them an allotted time to demo their software openly.

frankly, ive been to a bunch of other mainstream events as I do a lot of work in the SEM field. I get to see a lot of technology, and one particular with the dealer conference in vegas last week. they did a lot of demos on new software for dealerships and even for lead gen services (i.e. that would be to program owners and affiliates in adult).

anyway, just my but i could go on for a while about things from an affiliate side, but adult really needs to pick it up

[EZRhino]

Thanks for the response to my comments. I really get a lot of business done at the shows and I am gald to see that effort has been put forth. Goodluck, I'll see you in Vegas. I hope this Internext is a blast for everyone.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by xanadu

Anthony, I sure you understand how and why I wrote this

Feel free to msg me in icq to talk this over, I added you already.

I forgot to put in a Smiley face. We support AVN in every way, and looking forward to the new format. I've been going since IA2000 in Miami back in the day, and will continue when time permits. With all the changes in the past year, online and IRL, the landscape has changed, and AVN provides an excellent convention to get players from both sides in one place.

Kudos and hope to see you there.

[WebairGerard]

excited about the changes and new format! looking forward to it!

[D Ghost]

When does the site open for registrations?

[Renzo]

great news, count me in!

[Connor]

Happy to see Internext back at the Venetian... and I'm looking forward to see what specific networking activities you guys come up with for the show. As always, YNOT will be there. See you in Vegas!

[JenniDahling]

A definite step in the right direction Panos! Good job.