Yesterday XBiz, a leading adult industry news service, published an article about the Free Speech Coalition filing an appeal with the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.  As of this writing, there is no mention of it on the FSC’s web site.

In typical fashion the FSC has once again gone to the press with important news, before notifying its members.  Its not like the FSC didn’t know they were going to file the appeal.  They had plenty of time to draft an official statement in advance, so it would be ready and available for publishing on Monday.

A couple of days ago I was reading one of Marie’s articles over at pornresource.com. I really like her, because she’s always so bang on with things. This time it was a new twist on one of her familiar rants - quality of the membership experience, or lack there of. The gist of her message being, how many affiliates actually check the quality of the products they promote? She warns that every time you make a quick buck on a crappy site, you are adding to the growing numbers of jaded consumers. Her point, one I happen to agree with, is that by selling consumers a bad experience you make it harder for everyone in this industry to make future sales, including yourself.

Marie got me to thinking about how I select programs to promote. What I had to admit was, with some exceptions, my selection criteria are based largely on how easy the sponsor makes it for me to promote their properties. After all, who has time to stop and review all the sites in a program they are about to promote? That’s assuming you can even get permission. Then I thought, maybe we can rely on the review sites for guidance? If we can trust these review sites are legitimate, I should be able to visit a few and get a general consensus. I selected three popular review sites, one straight and gay, the other two all gay. Then I looked for sites that had been reviewed by all three.

What I found was anything but consensus. The evaluations, from one review site to the next, were all over the map. The first “reviewed” site I chose to compare is one I have been inside of. One review site ranked this site’s navigation as 10 out of 10, while another gives it 3 out of 7, and even comments on how difficult it is to navigate. The third review site starts right off praising the site’s ease of navigation. All very interesting, considering I found the site’s navigation to be nothing short of a complete cluster fuck.

One review site had published reviews on two different sites, that I happen to know are clones. The tours are different, but the member areas are identical. So you can imagine my surprise when the two sites got opposing reviews.

I noticed a lot of gay and fetish site reviews being done by individuals that have little or no understanding of, or experience with, the content. Its one thing to judge technical items, like photo/video quality, or ease of navigation, but the reviewer should also know and understand the content being evaluated. All to often this results in reviewers accepting, and giving validation to, claims being made by the site.

This was evidenced in one set of reviews I compared. The first reviewer gave praise to the site for all its exclusive models. She even published a screen capture of the so-called exclusives. A different reviewer said the opposite, criticizing the site for falsely claiming exclusive models. He went on to say those models are all over the place, an observation I know to be true. Some of the foot fetish site reviews I looked at were humorous, in a pathetic sort of way. The reviewers admitted having no interest in the fetish, so they concentrated on other things, like how cute the boys were. Or they would conclude it must be a good foot fetish site, because there are a lot of pictures of feet.

Mine was not a comprehensive study of all review sites, but of those I looked at, none offered an evaluation on quality of customer service. In my opinion, this is an important component of the membership experience.

At the end of the day, my conclusion is you can’t get a consensus by reading the evaluations of several review sites. I have concluded its better to pick one review site that delivers, in your opinion, authoritative and unbiased evaluations. Spot check a few of the reviews to see if the site is in agreement with your observations. You should also consider the date of reviews. After the 2257 shake up last June, many sites became a shell of their original self. I know of one site that got more than one rave review for its vast (mega site) collection of Miami Studios content. Today most, if not all, of that content has been pulled, yet the reviews go unchanged.

I’m not going to name the review sites I looked at, because it’s not fair to single them out in a field filled with others. I will say that out of those three, the site using multiple reviewers for each site was least impressive. I mention this, because I don’t think anyone should use multiple reviewers as criteria in evaluating review sites. In my opinion, this site is using multiple reviewers to cleverly disguise their self-serving motives. By my observation, they drop a high scoring review into the mix for sites that are converting well, and the reverse if they want to push a poor performer out of view. On the other hand, they probably are a good resource for determining which sites convert best.

If you can’t find a trusted review, at least try and pop in for a few minutes to determine if the site even comes close to their claims made on the outside. Like Marie pointed out, when you get inside a black twink site, and most of the models are white, you know it’s a stinker.

Earlier this week I was reading through all the comments on AVN’s blog about the recent article “Mr. Cambria Goes to Washington“, By Christian Mann. In his article, Mann is critical of the Free Speech Coalition’s spin on Cambria’s testimony. Referring to the FSC’s newsletter (Free Speech X-Press) Mann said, [the article] “took a thinly veiled shot” at one of Cambria’s answers to Senator Ted Stevens. The FSC article called Cambria’s answer about the lack of a self-rating system among adult sites as “an unfortunate response in the eyes of some observers.”

Layne Winklebleck, author of the Free Speech X-Press article mentioned by Mann, posted a defensive comment saying, “The X-Press editors take no sides in the matter, in line with our policy of evenhandedness in reporting, and also in line with our acknowledged lack of sophistication when it comes to the complexities of the Internet.” He went on to say that one of the “observers” referred to in his article was Connor Young, of YNOT.com. Winklebleck explained that Conner is an Internet savvy observer that [Free Speech X-Press] frequently references when news events involve technical issues. The suggestion being that this journalist took the independent and unbiased opinions of a qualified third party. What Winklebleck glossed over is the fact that Connor Young is also an FSC Board member.

The Free Speech X-Press is many things, but evenhandedness in reporting is not one that comes to my mind. There is no shame in that. One expects an organization’s public relations tool to be wrapped in its own agenda. The X-Press is a publication of the FSC, and as such the voice of the FSC. If anyone doubts the newsletter’s agenda, just take a closer look at its authors. Layne Winklebleck is Legislative Affairs Associate for the Free Speech Coalition and co-editor with Kat Sunlove, FSC’s Director of Legislative Affairs.

I do not appreciate the FSC’s critical comments on Cambria’s performance. The FSC’s Legislative Affairs office can start pointing fingers once they, and their lobbyists, get their foot in the door. Until then, the FSC should be humbled by the fact that one man is doing their job!

IntenseCash announce today they have added 9 new hosted galleries for their popular HSBoys.com.

In addition, US and Canadian webmasters can now receive payments directly into their bank account for free using direct deposit.

IntenseCash.com offers webmasters 13 gay sites that pay $30 per signup or 60% recurring, and 15% for all webmaster referrals. Their affiliate program is powered by NATS, and support is available 24/7, including holidays.

This is one of many articles I’ll post for those of you interested in producing your own content. My focus will be more on working with the models and equipment, than dealing with the legal (2257) stuff.

What constitutes a good model? Good looks are easy to spot, but you can’t go by looks alone. Dependability, responsibility, and the ability to follow instructions are important considerations. I don’t care how good looking the guy is. If he can’t show up on time he’s worthless.

Nelly does not sell, so if he can’t butch it up, you won’t want to use him in solo videos. He’ll work fine in still photos, because you can hide the feminine mannerisms. But keep in mind a lot of bottoms can’t get hard or shoot a load without something shoved up their ass.

How someone looks to the naked eye rarely translates in the camera’s eye. Some can look better while others will look worse. The camera puts 20 pounds on a person, so what looks good in person can look a little plump in photos. This is one reason why fashion models are so skinny. Sun light ages a person, so if you have a guy that’s a little older than you prefer, expect disappointing results when shooting him outdoors.

Models that take good care of them selves show better on camera. If a model goes out for some heavy partying the night before it will have an impact on his looks. Each time a guy shoots his load its equivalent to donating a pint of blood. So, if a model has a lot of sex within three days of a shoot it may give him a run down look. It can also impact his ability to deliver a good cum shot. I always instruct models to abstain from sex a few days prior to a shoot.

How you shoot the model will have a huge impact on his looks. The photographer can improve on or completely ruin the looks of a model. Camera angles, body positions, and lighting can make all the difference between hot and dorky. This is why a test shoot is important. You need to know how the camera sees him. You want to quickly discover what is, and is not, flattering for that particular individual. Every guy is different, so there is no one formula that fits all.

The sample photos a model sends you are rarely flattering or representative of his true looks. A friend that has no clue took the photos, so you have to look past that to find the jewels out there.

BigCashSociety announced yesterday the launch of their latest web site Ryanlebar.com. Ryan Le Bar is a popular mainstream Canadian model. The site offers its members a collection of photos, videos, articles, and live cam shows.

While the site has an erotic appeal, indications are there’s not going to be any “porn” on the site. The videos and articles appear to focus on working out and fitness. Photo sets are mostly mainstream modeling shots with a few hints at some nudity.

This new site follows the recent trend by BigCashSociety of releasing erotic, or soft porn, single model sites including; Magnum Boulder, Manuel Torres, and Zeb Atlas.

For more information, visit BigCashSociety.

EnvisionextAdult.com, a leading provider of adult web design and development solutions, celebrated the end of 2005 with the release of a new web design service portal - AdultDesignContest.com (ADC).

ADC is a virtual marketplace where contest creators and designers can convene and collaborate. It enables designers to display their previous work and solicit design jobs outside of the ADC system. Beginning designers can build their portfolios and use their free time efficiently. And for a small fee, contest clients can get maximum exposure for their contests, ensuring optimal results. ADC incorporates a notification system that allows designers to be informed when a contest of their interest is started. There is thus no need for designers to monitor multiple forums to locate contests to participate in, and the client benefits from the highest degree of contest exposure. Instant notification via ICQ and email enables more immediate participation in the contest by designers, resulting in faster design solutions for the client. Both open and private contests are supported.

The system operates in a simple three-step process. A deposit is made into an ADC escrow account, specifications are posted on the website, and entries are reviewed and accepted by the client. Because ADC serves as an escrow, the winning designer is compensated in a timely manner and the client is relieved of having to pay multiple parties.

Adult industry B2B resource and media company XBiz announced plans Wednesday for XBiz Summer ‘06 Forum, an annual summit designed to bring together adult professionals from around the world and offer attendees the chance to expand their contacts, ink deals and discuss new avenues for profit with their peers, as well as attend a host of educational seminars and exciting events.

To be held July 12-14 at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, XBiz Summer ‘06 Forum will mark the latest enterprise by a company that has seen considerable expansion in the past year. “We knew the time had come to host an event like this, when industry colleagues kept asking if we were planning one,” XBiz President Alec Helmy said. “From the initial conversations I have had with company owners and individual webmasters, I am thrilled to say that the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. It was about time for XBiz.”

Technology experts in the adult industry are scheduled to conduct several seminars throughout the event, during which they will highlight best practices in the industry, detail case studies and describe practical solutions for common issues in the adult world.

“The seminar program will not be the typical blend of familiar faces and newbie-centric information,” Stephen Yagielowicz, XBiz senior editor, said. “Rather, we’ll seek to provide fresh, cutting-edge ideas targeting a more advanced audience, and in doing so reach out to attendees that might otherwise eschew the seminar program.”

“Attendees will learn about new technologies and up-and-coming power players in the adult industry while basking in the stylish rock and roll atmosphere of the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino,” said Lake Denmann, vice president of corporate development for XBiz. “Coupled with lively, thought-provoking breakout sessions, XBiz Summer ‘06 Forum will explore marketplace conditions, cutting-edge innovations and everything in between.”

Denmann said XBiz had locked in an initial room-rate agreement with the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino for $159 per night for a standard room - plasma screen TV included - during the event. Deluxe and celebrity suites also are available. Registrants must mention group code “XBIZ” when making reservations, he said.

Companies interested in sponsorship opportunities can request information on the event website or by emailing Events@Xbiz.com.