#interNEXT21 Opens With a Virtual Smorgasbord of Content

LOS ANGELES—If content is king, #interNEXT21 has royal ambitions in terms of the sheer amount of subject matter it is delivering to a global audience. Day one of the two-day extravaganza presented by ClickDealer offered approximately 15 hours of continuous content starting in the wee hours of the morning (if you happen to live on the West Coast of the United States), and much of it was compelling. Subject-matter covering the gamut of online industry subjects was divided into five tracks on the #interNEXT21 streaming platform powered by Brella, a malleable construct that allowed users to engage in networking activities as well as switch seamlessly between a bevy of live content offered on five stages, each sponsored by an industry leader. Highly trafficked at times, the platform held up superbly throughout the day with only occasional glitches. Video quality varied from fuzzy to sharp, but that is to be expected at an eventful digital trade show, and for much of the time both video and sound quality were excellent. In a sense, the platform is itself the star of the show, the glue keeping everything together. It also works to the strengths of many of the participants, particularly adult performers who are all now quite comfortable in digital environments. In that sense, however, the online adult business should always feel most at home…online. The sessions themselves included a mix of presentational offerings, from one-on-one interviews to full Zoom-like panels to individual sessions. There even was a morning Breathwork and Yoga Nidra hour to get the blood flowing, held on the Wellness Stage by yoga and meditation teacher Jess Birks. Other like-minded sessions scattered throughout the day on that stage included Goal Orientated Emotion Focused Techniques, A Holistic Approach to Mental Health, and Empowering the Self, certainly useful skills for this and many other businesses. Perhaps the busiest place of the show is the Marketing Stage, where most of the seminars seem to be held, and for good reason. Content may be king, and traffic may be the life blood of the industry, but marketing is its continuously running engine. If you’re not a performer or a techie in this industry, you’re in marketing. Sessions ranged in size and focus, from half-hour deep dives into the dating vertical and how to launch a dating affiliate program, hosted by experts in the field, to full-hour seminars on how to get more traffic and ROI, how Pornhub is impacting the industry, the leading edge of tech, and an odd session that combined Covid and OnlyFans into as single conversation point.  The Pornhub panel was of obvious interest to many people, with some anticipating a wild, mud-slinging session, but it was not to be, thanks to moderator Sam Rakowski. With cooler, more technically minded heads prevailing, the true fallout of the recent Pornhub comeuppance was made all the clearer by way of a calm discussion that, in the end, concluded that the sky is not falling, even if the world may look a little different post-reckoning. To this observer, one of the more interesting comments made was the assertion that organic adult traffic patterns are now different in the wake of the changes Pornhub has made to its platform. Whether healthier traffic flow will ensue as a result of the new normal was not addressed directly, but it was inferred. In terms of industry sectors, dating got plenty of attention during the first day as a consistent and obvious generator of copious amounts of traffic and conversions. The vertical got three individual sessions yesterday and will get three more today, including focuses on fetish, how to create a dating affiliate program in all geos, and the state of online dating during the pandemic. After sitting through a few sessions, it seems apparent that as competitive as the dating sector and its various subcomponents may be, it is cemented as a dynamic source of traffic and sales for as far as the eye can see. The reason is simple. Dating is porn’s kissing cousin. Session topics did not always fall into the usual broad categories, which is a good thing. With lots of time to play with, show organizers were able to dig down into subject-matter, often in shorter 30-minute presentations put on by experts in the field. These included talks on Facebook in 2021, lead generation after Covid, insight into influencers, how and why to black label a site, and a short-but-sweet session on branding conducted by veteran marketer Brian Gross, whose humility was only overshadowed by his exemplary chops on a subject that is part of his DNA. A similar level of expertise was evident throughout the day in most of the speakers chosen to participate. From marketing to traffic generation to production, the adult online industry has reached a state of maturity that serves itself well, embodied not just in the veterans but also in its newer, younger participants, many of whom are building their careers on the knowledge of those who came before. Finally, we have the generational ability to build those lasting bridges to the future. That sense of attained knowledge was on display in several of Wednesday’s sessions, including ones on billing, pay sites, advances in technology, and the later seminar on Covid and OnlyFans. Many of the speakers have 20 or more years of industry experience under their belt, and the calm with which they addressed the issues of the day demonstrated the true value of that experience. The billing community seems to be particularly impervious to alarm, no matter the crisis at hand. The reason for that is that they have literally seen it all. It is nothing short of amazing to see the threat of a Visa/Mastercard shutdown met with a shrug of the shoulders, as it was yesterday, but it reminds this writer that the enduring strength of this industry is found in the people who populate it, and not in the technologies that undergird it. The business vets brought invaluable hands-on insight to the table, but it was the performers who added an otherwise missing element of fun to the day. Unselfconscious and playful, they provided a sharp contrast to the sometimes-stuffy business types, even when discussing boring topics. For example, what could be more snore-worthy than Bitcoin, but it was all but impossible not to delight in the presentation by Allie Eve Knox on the topic of Crypto for Performers. The same goes for influencer MelRose Michaels and porn stars Casey Kisses and Natassia Dreams. The unforced enthusiasm and authenticity of not just these performers, but every performer who spoke yesterday, was infectious in the best way.  With chat enabled in each session, one was also able to get a sense of how the day was playing, and in that regard the organizers should be pleased. No one in this industry publicly proclaims, “Great panel!” if they do not mean it. Griping comes most naturally to this crowd. But in fact the “Great panel” acclaim was professed several times for many panels throughout the day, and for good reason. Day 1 of #interNEXT21 offered more content, more information, more insight and expertise into often arcane and difficult subject matter, than many shows provide in their entirety. Perhaps it is so impressive because it was compressed so efficiently into the one day, and there is a high expenditure of energy that comes with that compression, but there is no denying the dynamism of the experience and the fun had during it. That said, yesterday’s inestimable loss of Hustler founder and publisher Larry Flynt cast a palpable pall over the event, with several speakers extending their shock and condolences upon hearing the news, which AVN Senior Editor Peter Warren announced live during an afternoon seminar he was moderating. The show went on, of course.