XBIZ LA is billed as a three day business-to-business event for the adult entertainment industry. To me, this was more of a two day show in that the only thing scheduled for the last day was an FSC membership meeting. I am not sure if it is because this is an XBIZ event or because of the location, but it seemed to me that there was a good mix of people from both the online and video sectors in attendance. Either way, I thought this was one of the better shows I have attended since the Barcelona Summit last June.
The Venue
XBIZ LA was held at the Sofitel Hotel in Hollywood. Since I live locally, I did not stay at the hotel, so I will not bother addressing the quality of the rooms and the hotel staff since I never saw the inside of a room and my interaction with the hotel staff was limited to the valets and the guy that told me I could not take pictures in the lobby. I will say that the $10 a day to park was a fair price and the valets did not seem to mind too much when I would have them fetch my car so I could retrieve items from the trunk, or get my jacket when the cold finally got to me.
The Food
I go to a lot of mainstream as well as adult shows and if there is one thing (other than the parties and scantily clad women) that adult wins hands down, it is the food. At a mainstream show, if they are kind enough to feed you, it is probably going to be a sandwich and a soda or water. At XBIZ LA, we had a sponsored lunch at Simon LA, which is conveniently located in the Sofitel. Simon LA is listed as one of the best restaurants in Beverly Hills, and I can not really argue with them. I particularly enjoyed their salads and fish; and the desserts were amazing. It seemed that even the most waistline conscious of us were enjoying the dessert offerings.
Simon LA Dessert Sample
The Seminars
I attended two seminars from beginning to end, Porn Delivered: The Key Distribution Channels of Today & Tomorrow and Fast Forward: The Future of the Porn Industry. Both panels consisted of knowledgeable people and both rooms were literally standing room only. I also looked in on a couple others and judging by the attendance level of each it was safe to say that people came to this conference with the attitude of conducting business and education.
Standing Room Only
Show & Mix
It is nice to see that Mr. Helmy listens to input to others as was evidenced by the addition of the Show& Mix event. I had discussed the old “Corridor Cruising” that was introduced at Cybernet Expo several years ago. I mentioned that I thought it was a great way for people to be able to find all the sponsors in one spot. Apparently, he decided it was worth trying.
Essentially, all the sponsors set up tables around the room and were able to showcase their latest products or answer questions for those that had them. The only problem was scheduling. It was scheduled for 30 minutes after the Future of the Porn Industry seminar and in the same room. Since the seminar ran over a little, it caused a significant delay in the beginning of the Show & Mix. There was still good attendance, but it may have been higher if it started on time. Especially since many had to leave to get ready for the awards show later that evening.
Feeling up the Real Touch
Summary
The main problem I have with local shows is that I never stay at the hotel, so I inevitably end up missing the early events. The Speed Networking was held at 10:00 AM of both Tuesday and Wednesday; and while that may not seem early, it was too early for me to get to Hollywood, try as I may. I really wanted to attend at least one of them because it was obvious to me that this conference was more for business than pleasure.
It has been several months since I attended a show that put me in a business mode or mood, but XBIZ LA definitely did both for me. Congratulations to the XBIZ crew for an outstanding event.
