Page 36 - AVN March 2017

FEATURE
INTERNEXT 2017 | By Dan Miller
EARNING&
With a packed Meet Market and seminars,
LEARNING
Internext offered many valuable take-aways
The adult industry’s original adult digital conference went big this year with an
expanded exposition floor that doubled as Saturday’s main attraction—the Meet
Market.
finger costume each provided entertainment in the Artist Hall Foyer of Hard Rock
Hotel & Casino on January 14 as Internext 2017 cranked up the volume for the
T
Chow said ReviveAds president Mark Bauman “is the creative genius behind all
this,” including the silly Meet Market outfit.
“I wouldn’t purposely do it, my boss put me up to it,” Chow joked.
House music, crepes made to order, free tech swag and a man wearing a middle-
The CrakRevenue team came out in force for Internext, leaving nothing to
chance with its vibrant green booth that paid homage to the iconic “Welcome
to Las Vegas” sign while also sending a message to their prospective clients.
1,200-plus attendees.
Their artist’s rendering of the sign became the theme for their booth as their
The Meet Market, sponsored by Etology, did not disappoint as the centerpiece
“Whalecome to Fabulous Las Vegas” illustration commanded attention. “Follow
of the first full day. And what followed was a packed slate of educational seminars
the Whale” is Crak’s tagline.
and networking opportunities.
Arnaud Guilon, CrakRevenue’s business manager for cams, told AVN that by
ImLive/PussyCash executive Carole Wood called her booth concept a “team
early February Crak will be launching an all-new platform.
effort,” noting her colleague Shay Efron “was hungry one day” and inspired the
“And the biggest part about that is now we’re able to promote all kinds of
idea that led to a chef cooking crepes with fresh fruit toppings for all comers as
product,” Guilon said. “We are here to show to everybody we promote a lot of
they circulated the room.
product. … The whale for us is like all of the biggest affiliates. When we have a
“He went, ‘I’d really fancy crepes right now. And I said, ‘no problem, let me
new affiliate we send a bunch of good traffic and make a lot of money. We call that
make some calls,’” Wood told AVN. “We did fries in Amsterdam [at Webmaster
‘the whale.’ Everybody wants to follow the whale you know.”
Access]. But I think everyone enjoyed them. We sold out.”
Guilon said it was important to remind its existing clients and prospective ones
While Darcie Dolce, a porn star and professional DJ, threw down a sizzling mix
they can monetize “every kind of traffic, every kind of product.”
of house and hip-hop music in the front of the hall, Internext attendees enjoyed
“So we are able to monetize all kinds of traffic—for dating, for cams, for VODs,
cocktails and a lounge area in the back as they networked with some of the top
for whatever you want,” said Guilon, who is based in Quebec City with the
adult tech professionals in the world.
CrakRevenue team, which has grown to close to 100 employees.
More than 60 companies set up exhibits at the 17th annual webmaster show,
Speaking of things that are coming soon, Brian Shuster, president of
presented by BitterStrawberry, discussing their latest product launches and giving
HoloGirlsVR, told AVN his company was in the final stages of launching a virtual
out branded souvenirs such as portable phone chargers, lip balm, baseball caps
reality portal.
and T-shirts.
“We’re going to continue to run our own website, HoloGirlsVR, and all that.
Mat Chow, publisher, business development for ReviveAds, donned a goofy
But we’re starting to partner up with production studios big and small if they
costume. “It’s a big middle finger,” Chow explained. “We’re giving the middle
want to get into VR,” Shuster said. “We’re giving them access to our state-of-the-
finger to ad blockers. We have our own solution called ReviveAds. ReviveAds
art VR rig. So all year we’ve been developing and improving the way that our rigs
essentially unlocks these impressions that are lost to ad blockers. And we’re kind
work. And now we’re manufacturing them so we’re able to roll out as many rigs
of promoting it in this funny way.
as we need.”
“We have one way of dealing with it; other companies have their own way.
Shuster revealed “the first two are KinkVR and BurningAngelVR and we’re very
We’re one of the first to do it and it’s been doing really well for us in 2016. And in
shortly going to be rolling out other genres.”
2017 it will do even better.”
On other side of the Hall, Lernmond Khodaverdy, the VP of operations for
36 | AVN.com | 3.17