Page 38 - AVN March 2016

Story by DANMILLER • Photos by JFK/FUBARWebmasters
Talking Tech Industry leaders explore future of digital media at Internext
world converged on the Hard Rock Hotel
Digital media professionals from all over the
& Casino Las Vegas in January for the
Internext Expo.
The diverse group included a mix of seasoned
veterans and ambitious newcomers all ready for three
days of networking, education and deal-making in Sin
City.
The centerpiece of Day One on Jan. 16 was the
anticipated Meet Market, which occupied the entire
1
Festival Hall in the Paradise Tower and featured more
than 50 participating companies. The Meet Market’s
rectangular setup included rows of white couches
for attendees who wanted to kick back in the center
of the room and enjoy the fully stocked bar near the
entrance.
The team behind Etology brought a large
contingent to the Meet Market as it was officially
rolling out DatingTraffic.com, a premium ad network
focusing specifically on the lucrative dating vertical.
Etology VP Chris Poncabare said the network,
which is certified by “super affiliates,” has been in
development for more than a year.
Just around the corner TrafficJunky’s Michael
Scardochio, a senior account manager, revealed a
recent development was opening their platform to
new publishers.
FEATURE
“We’re accepting a lot of new publishers, which
means more traffic and new avenues and revenue
streams,” Scardochio said.
TrafficJunky on January 17 amped up the weekend’s
star power by hosting fan favorite performers Nikki
Benz and Monique Alexander for a special signing
appearance at the AVN Lounge.
Adriana, the marketing manager for Bitter
Strawberry, made the trip to Vegas for the third
straight year from her home in Romania. She said
Bitter Strawberry was proud to be the Presenting
Sponsor of this year’s Internext and that her team was
there to bring “added value” to the show in addition
to spreading the word about their unique mobile
traffic management platform.
The four-year-old company, which is headquartered
in Zurich, Switzerland, has an imprint in more than
180 countries on all six continents. Their imprint was
also all over the Paradise Tower, including on special-
edition posters placed on suite doors with messages
such as “Connecting Impressions to Performance” and
“Never Lose a User Again.”
On the other side of the Meet Market, Tapgerine
CEO Max Korolevich said he has been coming to
Internext since 2003. He didn’t have to go far this year
because he resides in Sin City.
“We’re looking for new traffic sources and new
partners to work with,” he said, noting the Expo has
become a great B2B destination for Tapgerine, the
global mobile apps advertising platform that is based
in Vegas with an additional office in Ukraine.
Internext’s international appeal was a common
theme. Jennie Wage made the trip from her home in
Berlin to the 15th edition of Internext, where the COO
was discussing the conversion options for Digital
Performance, TrafficPartner.com and Webbilling,
among other brands.
“This is my first time in Vegas,” Wage said as the
high-energy crowd continued to circulate.
Vanessa and Penelope came to Vegas from
Lichtenstein to preview Eurowebtainment, which is
coming May 25-28 to Hotel Melia de Mar in Majorca,
Spain.
With swag bags stuffed to the brim, attendees
set their sights on the annual Traffic Dinner before
preparing for some late-night hijinks at Affil4you’s
party in the Real World Suite aptly themed “Boobs,
Booze & Bowling—The Saga Continues.”
That gathering had a tough act to follow on the
heels of MojoHost’s Internext Warm-up Party Friday
night.
Some attendees found their footing in the early
afternoon, swinging by the Internext A to Z session,
which was designed to inform first-timers about how
to get the most out of their trade-show experience.
That session, run by AVN Account Executive Timothy
Ferencz, included an audience of content producers,
traffic brokers, affiliates, software entrepreneurs and
emerging webcam execs.
Leo Lee, a senior manager from urAd Co., traveled
all the way from Taiwan to the desert for his first show
in search of traffic partners for his site urAd.com.tw.
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