Pretty bad, it seems. According to the San Jose Mercury News, even pornography isn’t selling at the moment.
That’s the glum assessment of those in the adult entertainment industry, hundreds of whom gathered last week for the annual Cybernet Expo conference in San Francisco. The industry, now a multibillion-dollar online business, has discovered that people just aren’t willing to click-to-pay for vice the way they once did.
“Times are tough,” Jay Kopita, director of operations for the expo, said with a sigh. “You’d think this would be recession-proof.”
Turns out pay-per-view sex is just another sector struggling in the downturn.
In many ways, the three-day gathering that ended Saturday was like any other Silicon Valley conference. It was held at the Holiday Inn and featured sessions on contracts and social media, speed networking and lots of late-afternoon schmoozing over drinks. “Sometimes these can be boring,” admitted Ella Black, a performer with girl-next-door looks who just launched her own ‘solo girl’ site.
On the other hand, shoptalk overheard in a hallway included the challenges of performing certain sex scenes. One popular seminar on shooting adult film featured a disrobing model. An after-hours party was held at fetish company Kink.com.
During day hours, at least, the focus was clearly on business. Indeed, attendees said the mood was more somber than the go-go pre-recession days.
