Oprano In Action

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Adult Industry Forums at Dragon*Con a Success

Scott McGowan, editor of adult news and commentary website EyeOnAdult.com, now knows first hand that working adult industry content into a mainstream entertainment event isn’t easy, but the rewards make the work worthwhile.

Over Labor Day weekend, McGowan and adult industry luminaries Mike South and Jim “GonZo” McAnally took the stage at the mainstream pop culture convention Dragon*Con for two separate discussion panels sponsored by xPeeps.com and NetWinner.com. The subjects of panels included ethical and legal concerns facing the adult industry along with the guiding hand of the adult industry and its effects on entertainment technologies past and present. Though many of the audience members for these panels were curious adult entertainment consumers, the bulk of attendees came in the form of amateur and professional webmasters, photographers, and fetish enthusiasts.

Mike South, a two-time AVN award winner and avid fisherman, said of the panels, “Next to a boatload of red snapper, it was the most fun I’ve had all year!” On a more serious note, he gave credit to the panel’s audience for making the venture so successful. “We had some really intelligent folks in the room with us who asked some great questions. We really allowed them to dictate the discussion and by doing that everyone got a little more out of it.”

According to McGowan, the organizer and moderator of the panels, the idea was met with skepticism and concern by many of Dragon*Con’s establishment. “They really weren’t sure what to make of us when word got out that we were involved with the convention’s programming. Our industry doesn’t always carry the best reputation so it’s to be expected,” McGowan says with a laugh. “But by putting on a professional and informative piece of programming, I believe we were able to change some minds, a few F-bombs notwithstanding.”

McAnally, the noted webmaster behind several free and pay adult sites including the adult webmaster information resource Oprano.com, continued that line of thought saying, “I was grateful for the chance to speak at Dragon*Con as the attendees personify freedom of expression. It was important to speak with them and show that the industry is represented by ethical businessmen rather than pedophiles and wife beaters as it’s commonly believed.”

Quite a bit of time was spent in a dialogue about self-publishing on the web, easily one of the fastest growing aspects of online use. McAnally, who felt this was a particularly relevant topic to the convention’s audience, said, “The legal issues and ethics we discussed are important for anyone interested in self-publishing on the web. People were made aware that posting a risqué picture taken with a phone cam requires responsibility in a legal and ethical sense.”

He continues to say, “If we have educated one person to avoid any of these issues then it was time well spent. I hope Dragon*Con continues to make these types of forums available to its attendees.”

Given the success of this initial offering, the trio is planning to take these discussions to other mainstream and fetish conventions in the Southeast in order to bring interested people into the fold. Most notably on the horizon is an over 21 fetish and lifestyle themed convention known as Frolicon held April 5-8, 2007, in Atlanta, GA.