When Jennifer Ringley first turned on her webcam in 1996, she had no idea she would be spawning a $1 billion industry. Although the 20-year-old's show wasn't explicitly pornographic, the genre of entertainment she spawned now makes up roughly 1/5 of adult content. Livecamming is easily the fastest growing segment of porn.
But until very recently, there's never been a convention for models and behind-the-scenes professionals to discuss where business is headed. In Nevada, fans and insiders gather each year for the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo, and South Florida already has Exxxotica, but in the past two months camming has seen its very own trade shows pop up in Colombia and Romania.
And starting Thursday, CammingCon will take over the Eden Roc Hotel in Miami Beach, making it the first such convention in North America.
"The cam side of the industry has always been an afterthought or an add-on in the corner of these other conventions," says Dade Sokoloff, one of CammingCon's producers. "But [camming] has just been exploding. More and more people are becoming models and customers, so it just seemed like good timing."
More and more people indeed. Sokoloff claims there are 400,000 cam models working in America and up to 20 million people have tried it at least once.
Starting Thursday, there will be a series of introductory talks like "What are Live Cams? How Do I Start Making Money?" and ones for veterans about the legal ins and outs of the business. A full schedule can be viewed online at cammingcon.com.
But what sets CammingCon apart from its foreign counterparts is that it's open to fans. On Saturday, anyone who drops $150 will be able to schmooze with the hundreds of models in attendance. Although that might seem like a lot for someone with only a passing interest in cams, for certain fans this is small peanuts. It means they'll be able to take a relationship that they've cultivated for years from on-screen to IRL.
"This is unlike any other convention where it's awkward because they know you and you don't know them," says Stacey Havoc, a longtime cam model and organizer. "When they meet its going be less awkward. These are people who have been talking for a long time."
Send your story tips to the author, Allie Conti.
Follow Allie Conti on Twitter: @allie_conti
Follow @NewTimesBroward
