Sasha Grey keynote speaker at AVN show
 

I dont get that one.

Re: Sasha Grey keynote speaker at AVN show
 

No one "gets" Sasha Grey, we arent supposed to....

Re: Sasha Grey keynote speaker at AVN show
 

Just a big name for AVN to use in their promos.

Re: Sasha Grey keynote speaker at AVN show
 

Who the fuck is Sasha Grey?

Re: Sasha Grey keynote speaker at AVN show
 

Re: Sasha Grey keynote speaker at AVN show
 

are they changing the focus of the show to the fans?

Re: Sasha Grey keynote speaker at AVN show
 

Who knows wtf AVN is thinking, they've never really had a firm grasp of anything beyond the video/dvd part of the biz.

Re: Sasha Grey keynote speaker at AVN show
 

furniture in front of the camera

Re: Sasha Grey keynote speaker at AVN show
 

Well, when you look at the new newsletters that AVN is sending out, it sure looks like they've giving up on the Internet and on novelty. It's all Video and even the websites they promote are mainly "Porn Star". Just another nail in the coffin for AVN industry support.

Re: Sasha Grey keynote speaker at AVN show
 

I can almost see that focus more on that part of the market. its smaller but its still a pretty big place and its not as wild as the net.

Re: Sasha Grey keynote speaker at AVN show
 

Buckwheat had it right.

Why the hell would I want to listen to a porn star TALK?

Re: Sasha Grey keynote speaker at AVN show
 

Why wouldn't you?

Different perspectives are good, and while Sasha may not be everyone's cuppa, she is fairly intelligent.

I respect the hell out of you, but I think we do ourselves and our industry a disservice when we presume that because someone fucks on film they are incapable of having anything to contribute.

Re: Sasha Grey keynote speaker at AVN show
 

No argument there, she's definitely one of the more articulate performers in the industry.

But... I'm still having a hard time figuring out how her experience is going to translate to anything relevant to a group of online business people. She doesn't even have an Official Sasha Grey website.

Re: Sasha Grey keynote speaker at AVN show
 

Thank you especially in these hardtimes. I have no doubt she is a very smart girl that has done well for herself. But as a business person her opinion really means nothing to me. Also she isnt even a real web presence. They arent learning the web is adult not dvds or maybe they have dont want to bother with us anymore. Having her as the keynote is a good start. lol

Re: Sasha Grey keynote speaker at AVN show
 

To be the keynote for a business convention sorry no.

Re: Sasha Grey keynote speaker at AVN show
 

Eye Candy

Re: Sasha Grey keynote speaker at AVN show
 

Frankly, I think because she's not got her own agenda, I am a helluva lot more likely to listen to her than I am to someone flogging his own shit and swinging his dick 'cos he got lucky, once, and rode it.

Hello, box. I think I will step outside of you for a bit.

Re: Sasha Grey keynote speaker at AVN show
 

Yeah, there's been more than one Keynote address I've skipped over the years 'cuz it was some swingin' dick whose drivel I didn't care to hear again.

If I were going to be at Internext I probably would attend just to hear WTF she had to say about the biz. Curiosty getting the better of the cat. :)

Re: Sasha Grey keynote speaker at AVN show
 

Is this a "girl power" thing?

I'd rather hear from an industry leader.

Re: Sasha Grey keynote speaker at AVN show
 

That depends entirely on which "industry leader". A great many of them got to where they are simply by being there first years ago and becoming an 800 lb. gorilla.

Re: Sasha Grey keynote speaker at AVN show
 

Uh, no, it's not.

I mean, clearly, that would be the only motivation I would have for wanting to hear what someone who has some pretty solid mainstream recognition under her belt just for being exactly who she is, without trying to sanitise herself, and has been featured in more non-porn outlets than anyone in years. Obviously. But, no, EJ, this time, it's not about "girl power."

'Cos I am not a Spice Girl.

*ding*

Re: Sasha Grey keynote speaker at AVN show
 

I kinda found myself agreeing with you Lizz until this

Re: Sasha Grey keynote speaker at AVN show
 

She does, whether we like it or not.

Re: Sasha Grey keynote speaker at AVN show
 

Not what I would call mainstream. Interviews don't qualify....tittilating movies don't qualify.... Fringy maybe. Mainstream.....hmmmmm

Let me put it this way. Before I was in the porn racket, I would never have said this girl was anything but a porn queen. Mainstream is a term used only by porn people.

Re: Sasha Grey keynote speaker at AVN show
 

I can see that.

She may be a porn queen - I'm ok with that.

But she's the most recognisable porn queen in non-adult media since Little Miss Underage, bar none.

I've never seen any other porn personality get as much attention in m/s ad campaigns, movies, or press. Sure, it's all due to porn, but that's kinda an interesting tell in and of itself, I think.

I'm not saying she is mainstream - I'm saying that she's had more wide-spread (heh, pun not actually intended) exposure in non-porn media than any starlet I can think of. And yes, I include Jenna Jameson and Stormy here.

Re: Sasha Grey keynote speaker at AVN show
 

Fair enough, but how does this qualify her as a keynote speaker? Attention in the straight world, other than drive some curious traffic, is not exactly something to aspire to.
We work in a "entrance at the rear" (no pun intended) kind of business. Murky is what we strive for. I am not quit sure why so many porn guys seem to need validation from the square world. And that would be the only reason to make her a keynote speaker and even that is a stretch. Sure I would like to hear her story but more out of curiosity if I happened to be at the show. It wouldn't attract me. She is surfer bait as far as I can see.

Re: Sasha Grey keynote speaker at AVN show
 

I think the pendulum is swinging (HA! There I go again!) away from it being a "separate entrance for the filthy smut folk. " And I don't think it's a bad thing. I've mentioned before that the sexual revolution has made a lot of things come out of the shadows - as has the internet. While I don't think we'll ever be a topic that dads 'n grads bond over a beer on, I do think that the stigma of being in touch with one's sexuality is going away.

The part for me that makes this make sense is that she is an intelligent woman in this business (if a bit pretentious in her "I'm 21 and know everything and am VERY SMART LOOK AT ME" kinda way), on a side we don't usually look at, with avenues open to her that have been unexplored.

It feels like a way to break out of our shuttered world with blinders - and I think we must be honest, that as an industry, we very much are that way. We have a corner, and we like to stay there. Perhaps the shake up is a way to show us that won't work anymore. Perhaps because she isn't what we've looked to in the past as a key note is precisely what will make her valuable.

Re: Sasha Grey keynote speaker at AVN show
 

The very acceptance that you are talking about is what devalues our product. As far as the sexual revolution goes, which sexual revolution is that? I am tired of living through revolutions. It seems every generation thinks it is revolutionary and I don't really see one at the moment.

Re: Sasha Grey keynote speaker at AVN show
 

Keep in mind that "mainstream" industry use celebrities all the time as keynote speakers. It's all too common at large conventions to get the people out. But it has always been something I have been against in business. Used properly, a keynote speaker should start off the seminar and guide it in the selected direction, including acting as moderator. Of course, to do that, you should actually know something about the industry you are speaking too.

My problem is that while she may be articulate, Sasha Grey is no genius by any stretch of the imagination. For one thing, and as Liz pointed out, she is much too young and inexperienced to be taken the least bit seriously. For another, she doesn't know or understand a thing about what any of us actually do. May as well just hired a D list celebrity (which would actually be a step up!).

I really believes it does belittle our industry to have her give the keynote address. This has nothing to do with her being a Porn Star and spreading her legs to make a living. My wife has been doing that since Sasha was 4 years old! It has to do with the perception within and without the industry. I would hope by now we could show professionalism at shows and keep the eye candy in the background. We want to show the world that we are a legitimate and real industry, but every time we do something as ridiculous as this, we just backslide in everyone's eyes.

This is just another example on how AVN has lost touch with everything!

Re: Sasha Grey keynote speaker at AVN show
 

And I guess the parent company that owns AEE declairing bankruptcy is just a further indication of that....

And you know if AEE is having it tough ... Internext is got to be hurting.

Re: Sasha Grey keynote speaker at AVN show
 

And in reality, you know I actually am pretty open minded and will listen to just about anyone and see what I can learn. At least until they prove themselves to be complete idiots, in which case I'm more likely just to make sure I'm not in their presence....ever... That's a fairly short but distinguished list. ;)

But I think you'll see the overall perception is WTF is up with choosing her as keynote.

She's 21. She's been in the business 3 years. I had to look her up to see who she was, apparently her mainstream celebrity is one of the bands included their favorite porn chick to spank it to in a video. Oh, and a couple of shots on talk shows sensationalizing "teens in porn" when she was still 18-19. I guess she could talk about what it takes to win the AVN award for best 3 way.

Maybe she really is smart and we're all really underestimating her. It's still yet another highly questionable decision by AVN. The keynote doesn't target the fans, it targets business. Whether it be video, web or whatever, none of us are typically awestruck by talent.

Re: Sasha Grey keynote speaker at AVN show
 

I will turn around and argue the other side here and say AVN has no good choices for keynote.

We have NO true industry leaders. This industry doesn't work as an industry. We work as a collection of businesses all selling the same thing. We're cut throat though, there's NO cooperation even when it would be in everyone's best interest.

Many of our "successful" business people as has already been pointed out just were in right place at right time. Others just want to "big dick" tell you how much they've made and that it cant be done now. And the ones who actually know a little something and have some really good ideas are damned sure not going to get up in front of a room and tell you about them. See above, there's NO benefit for them to do so and a zillion reasons NOT to.

Re: Sasha Grey keynote speaker at AVN show
 

I'm actually talking about the sexual revolution as it is recognised - from the late 60s/ early 70s.

The ripple effect is still being felt, is all I was getting at - not that there is anything fresh in that realm.

Re: Sasha Grey keynote speaker at AVN show
 

if anyone should be the keynote it should be your wife she is a pioneer or if they really wanted a pornstar pick joanna angel she has her own little business empire. Sasha grey played a hooker in a movie no one saw and she has no business of her own. The girl could be a brillant speaker but it doesnt fit a business convention.Also until a porn star plays a mom or a nun in a movie, porn really hasnt been accepted by mainstream when they play porn stars, strippers and hookers in mainstream films.

Re: Sasha Grey keynote speaker at AVN show
 

actually we are more puritan now than we were then. Mainstream movies that were made then could never be made now.

Re: Sasha Grey keynote speaker at AVN show
 

Imagine making the first Death Wish movie today! (there is a remake in production BTW) The graphic rape scene at the beginning would get nixed right off the top! Many of the movies made in the 1960's and 1970's couldn't be done today. They would offend our sensibilities and political correctness! ;)

Let's not even get into the Academy Award Winning "The Tin Drum"...

Re: Sasha Grey keynote speaker at AVN show
 

I've seen Joanna in action on a panel at a show (Cybernet '06, Tampa). She's not a good choice for a keynote speaker, trust me on this one.

Re: Sasha Grey keynote speaker at AVN show
 

you're right about that. It also makes me think about another video series that was very popular, back in my "video store days," "Faces of Death." That would freak them out for sure.

Re: Sasha Grey keynote speaker at AVN show
 

or pretty baby with a very very young brooke shields or cruisin with Al Pacino

Re: Sasha Grey keynote speaker at AVN show
 

I have said it a million times

If you play a hooker, a stripper or a porn star it isnt mainstream, its just type casting.

That said this is the most retarded thing I have heard in a long time but oddly it doesn't surprise me. Sasha is a bit like Forest Gump, say a bunch of pseudo intellectual claptrap and people think you have some sort of intelligence....says a lot more about people than it does Sash and Forest

carry on