I know it is only January, but the month is almost over and February is a short month, so it is not too early to start making plans for the upcoming Phoenix Forum and Gay Phoenix Forum. This year, the event has been moved up a little and will be held on March 31 through April 2, 2011. The primary reason you will want to register early is because rooms will go on sale tomorrow, Tuesday, January 25, 2011. You can not reserve a room unless you are already registered for the show. This is one of the premiere adult B-to-B trade shows, and should not be missed.

This will be the 12th annual Phoenix Forum and the seventh year that the Tempe Palms has been blocked off for the show. A quick glance at the schedule shows that the days will be packed with networking and educational opportunities. Of course, the ever popular snack shack is back, as well as the barbecue and hosted buffet lunches. For the golfers, the seventh annual golf tournament is scheduled for March 30.

Registration rates are currently $195 per person, until February 4. On February 5, the rates go up to $275 per person. Onsite registration is $325 per person. Since TPF realizes the importance of having eye candy around the pool, sponsors will be given an allotment of free talent badges and will be given a code to pre-register their models online. Non-sponsors can get discounted tickets onsite for models and talent at $50/day or $75 for a three day pass. Please visit the Phoenix Forum registration page for more details.

You can see the photos, videos and reviews from past shows in my archive.

I will be photographing this show for PimpsPromo.com. For anyone interested in purchasing banner spots on the galleries or watermarks on the pictures I have great deals available. Banner spots above and below the photos as well as watermarking the actual photos are available. A quick check of Google will confirm that any show I shoot and post here ranks in the top five almost every time. No one gets their photos up quicker, so take advantage of the first eyes as well as the everlasting search engine traffic. You can contact me for rates at Lloyd@spp-productions.com

Do not forget, rooms become available tomorrow, January 25, 2011 at 9:00 AM MST. I only ask that you call after I get my room. See you there.

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I have been attending The Phoenix Forum since 2004. It immediately became one of my favorite shows, due in large part to the hospitality shown by the CCBill staff. In 2010, Got Web Host was a Platinum sponsor so my take on the show was a little different than before. The one constant that has remained over the years is how much CCBill bends over backwards to ensure everyone has fun, while able to conduct business at the same time.

The Phoenix Forum 2010 was held April 8-10, 2010 and was a true three day, B2B adult webmaster event in that there were activities that lasted from the beginning of the 8th until late night of the 10th. It seemed that there was not any time that something was not scheduled.

The Venue

This was the sixth year in a row that the form was held at the Tempe Mission Palms. The hotel is closed off to the general public which is nice as we do not have to worry about wedding receptions, little kids and religious groups being there at the same time as our event. This allows people to let their guard down a little and makes for a more pleasant atmosphere. While my interaction with the hotel staff is usually minimal, it seemed that I was always greeted with a smile by those I did encounter. The only negative comment I ever hear is that the hotel is not big enough to accommodate all the attendees, and I suppose this is true. However, I do not know that there is a hotel around Tempe that is as nice as the Mission Palms, so I suppose there is a good reason they keep using it as the TPF location.

The Food

As always, the catered meals provided at the show were excellent. The buffet style lunches and the closing barbecue provide plenty of tasty foods, with tables loaded down as far as the eye could see. For a few years now, JBM has been sponsoring a Hooter’s Happy Hour across the street from the venue with all you can eat chicken wings and beer. This event is always popular and when you notice the hotel grounds being sparsely populated, you can usually attribute that to a couple hundred forum attendees being across the street. Of course, I would be remiss if I neglected to mention the ever present snack shacks. I only wish they were open later, but I am sure my waistline appreciates the fact that I can not hit it up at 2:00 AM.

Getting in while the getting is good

The Seminars

One thing I have noticed over the past few shows is that the attendance level of the seminars seems to have risen significantly. I remember when I would walk into a seminar and there would be very few in the audience, and those on the panel would use it as an opportunity to spam whatever services they happened to provide. One might suggest that the seminars were targeting newbies more than anyone else. I suppose it has something to do with the fact that the business-to-business shows are attracting more decision makers than before, but the seminars seem more informative these days and many are standing room only. I had an opportunity to sit on my first panel, Business 101, and it was an enjoyable experience. I would definitely do it again.

Attentive Seminar Audience

Sponsor Meet Market

Early Friday evening they had the Sponsor Meet Market. This event gave all the attendees an opportunity to see all the show sponsors in one place. It also gave the sponsors an opportunity to make themselves available for any questions and to hand out the remaining swag they had brought with them. As a sponsor, I appreciated the opportunity to sit for a while and let people come to me. A tip for sponsors of future shows, get there early and pick a table that will be shaded once the sun begins its descent.

Got Web Host swag at Sponsor Meet Market

As stated above, I have been attending this show for the last seven years. It is a great mix of business and pleasure. They always have interesting seminars and plenty of activities to keep one busy. The late night party suites last longer than I can hold on, and the ever popular Webmaster Dodgeball, sponsored by Lightspeed Cash is pretty hard to beat. As a sponsor, I found CCBill to be quite accommodating and Sherri must be singled out as being a great help. I hope she got a well-deserved vacation after the show ended. We will consider being sponsors again, and will definitely be attending future Phoenix Forums. Thank you to CCBill and all the sponsors for making The Phoenix Forum 2010 a pleasant and successful event.

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Rise To the Top appears to be a Canadian drinking game for those long cold evenings on the frozen tundra. This game was videoed at The Phoenix Forum and sponsored by CCBTools.

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