Yes, I know I am a little late with this review, but there is a reason for that. Prior to this review, every one I have done has been slanted on the positive side. I am sure I mentioned the bad with the good, but for the most part, every review has been positive. I guess the only way to ensure that people realize my reviews are based on my real feelings rather than sucking up to the event’s sponsors. This will be the review that shows I may be honest, to a fault.

I have attended several Cybersocket events, and in fact, last year’s Cybersocket Web Awards was the first event that I added a review on. While last year’s event was well organized, and in a great venue, this year I was not as impressed. I am not going to point fingers of blame, because I do not know if issues were caused by the owners of the venue or something else, but I most certainly would not recommend using it again.

The problems began with just getting into the place. I had requested a press pass so I could cover the event thoroughly. I was given the impression that all was well, until I arrived at the venue. It did not matter what kind of pass I had, I was going to the back of the line. It made trying to shoot the red carpet futile as there were about 200 people stuffed into a 10 square foot area. I gave it a shot, but it soon became apparent that this was not going to work.

There was an advertised “hosted vodka bar” that was supposed to last until 10. I am not a big drinker, but after fighting the crowd and being to told to go in and get a free drink, I was dismayed when told by the bar up front that the free drinks were in the back bar, only to discover that you had to have a special wristband to get to that particular bar. So I stuck with my $10 Heineken. No big deal.

The awards show got a late start which I will attribute to the poor setup of the venue. When you entered the venue you were in a large crowded room, with one bar to serve everyone. Unfortunately, the awards show stage was in the back room, where the bar that required special wristbands was located. It was of little surprise that there was significant difficulty getting everyone moved from the front to the back. Eventually, it happened.

In the stage room there was a raised platform for photographers. This was greatly appreciated by those of us using it. It would have been nice if they had put the microphone on the side opposite the platform. I guess no one thought about that. I got some great shots of the mics and cables though.

The entertainment was pretty good. A group known as Chico’s Angels provided lots of laughs, and their makeup was great. To be honest, they were probably my favorite part of the show. Ashley Roberts, formerly of the Pussycat Dolls also performed as did an aerial acrobat that was at last years show.

Chico’s Angels

While the show got a late start, to their credit, once the awards started being given out, they moved right along with assembly line precision. Henry Ford would have been proud. I do not know if it was because of the setup, but there seemed to be relatively few adult industry people in attendance. While I understand that the awards had both Webmasters Choice and Surfers Choice categories, it seemed like there were a lot more surfers than webmasters. That may have been by design. I do not know. The surfers seemed to be bored by the industry awards, and it made the acceptance speeches seem a little off since the target audience seemed to be missing. Several award recipients also seemed to be missing. I would say that helped speed things up a little.

Anyway, it was an entertaining show. Not every event can be hit out of the park, and I guess this was one of those. Since criticizing without offering positive suggestions seems pointless, I would suggest next year bringing it back to the Eleven. It seemed to be set up better for this kind of event.

Some of the 2011 winners were:
Industry Choice Awards

Best Webmaster Community – Just Us Webmasters
Best Affiliate Program – My Gay Cash
Best Billing Company – Epoch
Businessperson Of The Year – Gary Jackson
Best Industry Magazine – Fubar Times
Company Of The Year – Buddy Profits

Surfer’s Choice Awards

Best Mobile Site – Grindr
Best Porn Blog – Jason Curious
Best Fetish Site – Active Duty
Best Live Cam – Flirt4Free
Best Personality – Chi Chi Larue

Special Awards

Cybersocket Wall Of Fame Award Of Excellence – Michael Brandon

For a full list of the 2011 Cybersocket Web Awards winners please visit CybersocketWebAwards.com.

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