Pay-Site Executive Roundtable Kicks Off Internext 2019

LAS VEGAS—Several leaders representing the top pay-sites in adult entertainment met Tuesday for a world-class Executive Roundtable that set the tone for the 2019 Internext Expo. Sponsored by Mr. Skin, the exclusive gathering gave seasoned veterans of the web-tech industry an opportunity to discuss common challenges they face, swap stories and learn from each other’s experiences. Sam Rakowski, the president of MrSkin.com’s parent company SKintertainment, led the wide-ranging discussion that unfolded in four 1 hour, 15 minute segments inside the luxurious Penthouse Suite on the 18th floor of the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino’s Paradise Tower. “I think it went exactly how I hoped it would go,” Rakowski told AVN. “We’re going to take feedback from everyone and I want to keep this kind of series going. It won’t always be pay-site specific. I want to do some that are more cross-verticals.” Twenty-something company owners and C-level executives reclined on couches with coffee in hand in the super-sized living room that features amenities such as a Jacuzzi, pool table, three flat-screen TVs and two stripper polls—not to mention breathtaking views of the city. The group focused on topics such as tube sites, piracy, secondary revenue optimization, customer service, up-selling, member retention, testing, gamification strategies and VIP packages. TrafficPimps and PaperStreet sponsored the refreshments that included a complete lunch buffet, while Gian Carlo's LetsDoeIt and Mr. Skin sponsored the cocktail hour after the Roundtable at Culinary Dropout on the lobby level. “At the end everybody was profusely thankful, saying it was one of the best things they’ve done at the show in years,” Rakowski said. “I had to turn some people away, which I didn’t like to do, but I was worried about space and size. “The main thing for something like this to work is that everybody has to be engaged and let their guard down a bit and be willing to share. And pretty much everybody did.” Rakowski added, “We didn’t all agree on everything, especially later on with some of the topics.” The final session of what was a full day of meaningful exchanges was a “lightning round,” when each person suggested a subject and the group dissected it during a tight, 10-minute window. “We were able to fit in a lot of little things that way, so we ended up covering a good range,” Rakowski reasoned. “We were there for six hours and we broke 30 minutes for lunch. We took a five-minute break a couple times. Almost everyone stayed the whole time. A couple people had meetings. I wasn’t being completely strict about that, but I wanted people to make their best effort to be there. So it was really good. We had like 20 people and 90 percent of them were owners, CEOs, COOs—a C-level exec or an actual product owner. I was really happy with it.” Rakowski decided he wanted to produce an Executive Roundtable a couple months ago, making an initial list of peers to invite. “And I just started asking people, ‘If I do this, will you come?’ Pretty much everyone was like, ‘yes,’ ‘yes,’ ‘yes,’” he recalled. “So that was like the initial 14 or 15 people. And then the other eight came via requests. Some people started suggesting people to me.” He created group chats on Facebook and Skype to get everyone thinking about the Roundtable. “I required everyone to at least give a potential topic or two to discuss and almost everybody did,” Rakowski said. “All the topics kind of fit into 10 broader categories and then I posted that like a week ago. Everyone voted on their Top 2, so then I picked the Top 3 vote-getters.” Aside from being a high-level executive at a company, the only rule Tuesday was “no selling" during the Roundtable. “Everyone really stepped it up,” Rakowski concluded. Among the participants were: Life Selector CEO Mickey Bojcsik; Bang CTO Thomas Picquet; Letsdoeit CEO Gian Carlo; MetArt co-owner Niko; PaperStreet COO Salima Sawani; TrafficPimps owner Jack Avalanche; Kink CEO Alison Boden; Gamma co-owner Claude Hyppolite; YourPaysitePartner owner Kenny B; JamesDeenCash owner James Deen; Spizoo CEO Nadir Drums; Vixen Media Group co-founder and CEO Steve Matthyssen; DDF Network Director of Marketing Paul Acevedo; WatchMyFeed owner Shap; ARLCash/SwankDollars owner Laurel Hertz; Pornstar Platinum owner JC Baumgartner; Jules Jordan Video CTO Ezra; Adult Empire Director of Affiliates Daniel Chura; Jesse from Alt-Erotic; and Andrew Youngman, co-founder of LoveHerFeet.com. Internext 2019 continues Wednesday with a full schedule of activities that includes the signature Meet Market at 6 p.m. in Festival Hall, while the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo begins in earnest.