REVIEWS

Eurowebtainment (http://www.eurowebtainment.com) was born in October 2001. For the second year running it was held at the Hotel Berlin right in the heart of Berlin, Germany.REVIEWS

Eurowebtainment (http://www.eurowebtainment.com) was born in October 2001. For the second year running it was held at the Hotel Berlin right in the heart of Berlin, Germany. Show dates ran from October 25th –26th, 2002. Eurowebtainment is planned to coincide with the Venus Tradeshow, which has more than 300 international exhibitors and over 5,000 professional visitors – one the biggest international tradeshows targeting the adult “offline” industry worldwide. The price for the Eurowebtainment entrance ticket was 79 Euros (about $77 USD). The price included entrance, lectures, food and drinks, and parties for both days.

In only its second year, Eurowebtainment is quickly becoming one of the premier European online Webmaster events, targeting new business, networking, and market education. Eurowebtainment is probably by now the largest adult Webmaster meeting in Europe. This year there where over 600 Webmasters on the registration list, of which probably only about half showed up. Attendees and exhibitors covered every facet of our business from A to Z. For the attendee looking for targeted info or for those who just wanted to get a pulse on what is happening in Europe adult online they found it here.

One of the single most interesting factors about this show compared to last year was the make up of the attendees. At last year’s show there were a few token non-German attendees, but they were lost in the crowd of hardcore networking German Webmasters. At this year’s show the trade show floor was hustling and bustling with attendees from Austria, Czech Republic, Israel, Liechtenstein, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States and of course Germany.

From the U.S. visitors, you got the feeling that something is up. In the past and present, Europe has always been seen as the next target spot for U.S. Webmasters and adult online companies, but of this growing interest little physical activity has been seen up until now. Eurowebtainment seemed to be a coming out party for a lot of American-based companies. Not only did they come for a little Octoberfest action, but they also came to grip, grin and network. We saw AVN Magazine, Babenet, Epoch, iBill, Klixxx, Lightspeed, MatrixContent, Sex.com, Sex.tv, Mr. Skin, VideoSecrets, Website Billing, etc., all mixing it up with their local hosts. This definitely appeared to be a first wave of probably greater things to come.

The show kicked off on Friday, October 25th at 1:00 pm with the official welcome in the lecture theatre and later moved into the round table discussions. Some of this year’s round table discussions targeted local German Webmasters presented in German while others were open to all attendees and presented in English. One of the first discussions covered Internet Law in Germany. It was very interesting to see how Germany shares many of the same problems we are facing today in the USA: age verification and how youth protection could limit the scope of e-commerce in the future.

Later in the day the first English spoken round table took place. It covered one of today’s hotter topics: “Billing Solutions in Europe”. The main topics discussed were:

· The differences between billing solutions in Europe and the U.S.
· Billing via SMS (mobile phone)
· The new VISA USA regulations with regards to third party billing companies

For anybody who thought they would have a few days away from the Visa saga they were mistaken. The European market is actively and anxiously following this story and its outcome, and proof of this point was the fact that this specific round table discussion was offered immediately afterwards in German.

As the evening moved on, the official part of the show was over as people moved more into partying and networking mode. Cocktails and a buffet were offered with a variety of live shows to keep everybody entertained.

The next day, Saturday the 26th, the show opened at 10am. For those of you who have never been to Berlin before it’s a city where nightlife and good times are easy to come by, so you can imagine after a night of open-ended parties only a few early birds warming up over coffee were found on the show floor. The few attendees milling around at this early hour did not look physically in the best of conditions. I am sure the show organizers took note and will no doubt program a less aggressive schedule for next year.

At 1:00 pm there was another panel discussion in English. This time the topic was “Marketing and Sales”. The discussion mainly concentrated on how to make money in countries like France, Spain, the U.S. and Scandinavia. After that discussion the Webmasters had a chance to recover with some soup, chili con carne, and some snacks. They love their chili con carne in Germany. At 02:00 pm there was a panel discussion in German focusing on German Internet law, prosecution, and rights of Webmasters. At 4:00 pm there was a panel discussion in English especially for non-German Webmasters on how to set up an adult business in Germany. At 5:00 pm there was a panel discussion about software and technology held in German.

Like the day before the exhibition ended at 6:00 pm, and at 8:00 pm the parties started with the opening of a warm buffet and some live shows offered by some German content providers. Also on hand to meet and greet the attendees were some famous German porn stars, as well as Max Hardcore and Catalina from the U.S.

The official program of the Eurowebtainment ended with the crowning of “Miss Eurowebtainment 2002”, which was won by a really cute girl from the Czech Republic. Then the night switched gear as the parties began and the business ended.

Myself and a few others, including Hank from Mr.Skin, decided to take a stab at Berlin’s most famous Fetish Club, the Kit Kat Club. Much to our dismay we were refused at the door because we didn’t meet the dress code. So if you are into Fetish and Leather be forewarned… don’t leave home without it.

In closing, Eurowebtaiment was an excellent opportunity to meet people for the first time, make contacts, bridge the gap between U.S. and Europe, and to have a great time. If it keeps growing at its current pace this tradeshow could easily become the place to be in Europe for 2003. For those of you interested in exhibiting or renting VIP lounges please contact show management. Hey… and don’t forget about those tall blonde German girls! They are definitely worth the trip!

Andreas Bischoff manages the German office for Electronic Group Interactive / Nocreditcard.com and can be reached at andreas@electronic-group.com.