This was my fourth time attending Webmaster Access in Amsterdam. The first couple of times I attended, I have to admit, it was all about the party. After all, it is Amsterdam, right? After last year’s show, there were so many rumors going around about the future of Webmaster Access, I honestly was not sure that there would be a show in 2010. I was pleasantly surprised to see that attendance seemed to be higher this year than my prior visits. We arrived in Amsterdam late Friday evening. By the time we got to the hotel, it appeared rather deserted. Since Webmaster Access directly followed the Barcelona Summit, I began to wonder if having the two shows so close to each other time-wise was not a great idea. I learned that there was an off-premises party that most people were at. Since the party was on a boat and it was raining, we opted to going to our hotel, then finding something to eat.

Webmaster Access was held at the Park Hotel from Friday afternoon, September 24 through Sunday, September 26. There were three seminars a day, as well as speed networking, workshops and the obligatory cocktail parties. There were a couple boat parties on the canals, but I did not make it to either of them. I did stop by a party at Little Buddha that went on long into the early morning hours of Sunday.

The Venue

They moved this years show from the Radisson to the Park Hotel. I was not initially happy to hear this since I always get lost walking around Amsterdam, and I had just gotten comfortable with the old location. Luckily, there was plenty to do in the new neighborhood. Truth be told, there was so much going on at the show, I did not really have time to be a tourist, so getting lost was not an issue.

Park Hotel Amsterdam

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This was my second time attending The Barcelona Summit and I will be returning for future events. I have to give much credit to Andreas, for not only organizing a very business orientated event, but for his willingness to listen to his sponsors and those that are making the journey to Spain to attend. When he first announced the dates of this show, there was a lot of noise on the boards because the dates conflicted with Webmaster Access Amsterdam, even though the dates had not been formally announced at the time. After careful consideration, he decided to change the dates so that people could attend both events. Personally, I thought this was a great concession and I did not have to make a decision between the two events and I was able to make one flight across the Atlantic.

The Barcelona Summit was held September 21-24, 2010 at the Le Meridien Ra Beach Hotel & Spa in El Vendrell, which is about 40 minutes outside of Barcelona, on the coast of the Mediterranean. This B2B adult webmaster event was loaded with many activities including go-kart racing, a Paella cook off, a wine tasting and tour, speed networking and probably a dozen seminars covering many topics of concern in today’s marketplace.

The Venue

Since Le Meridien was full the night I arrived, I spent the first night about a mile down the strand from the host hotel. Since I did not arrive until after midnight, it did not really matter to me that the room was small and the guy at the desk spoke zero English. The next morning we packed up our stuff and walked up to the Le Meridien. When I walked into my room, my immediate response was, “wow.” This hotel is probably the nicest I have ever stayed at, even though the rates were about half of what it would cost to stay at The W or the Hilton in New York City. I am afraid that future hotels I stay at have their work cut out for them as far as elegance is concerned.

View From Our Room

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I know this is a little late, but better late than never, right? I have attended every XBIZ Summer Forum since their first one in 2006. When I look back at the photos I took at that first show compared with this one, there are a couple of things that stand out. In 2006, it seems like it was more about the party. In 2010, things seem more focused on business and education. In today’s business environment, that is a good thing.

The XBIZ Summer Forum is billed as a three day online business event, but in reality, it is more like two and a half. The last day only had two events scheduled and they were both over by noon. On the other hand, they did schedule the XFANZ show to begin when the XSF ended, so if you stayed for that, you could easily get three or four days of networking and business done.

The Venue

As always, The XBIZ Summer Forum was held at the Hard Rock Hotel. I have a condo in Las Vegas, so most of the time when I have a trade show to attend there, I will use the condo. The exception to the rule is when the event is at the Hard Rock. My girlfriend really likes the pillows there, so I will opt to stay at the show hotel when it is held there. The rooms were a reasonable $100 a night, so no complaints with pricing.

The Hard Rock opened a new section to the hotel and the thing that surprised me the most was that the music was no longer rock. The Hard Rock might be changing their name to The Hip Hop Hotel in the near future. Additionally, I accidentally left some clothes there. They said they found them, but only returned some of my items. When I mentioned this on Facebook I discovered that several people had credit card issues with them, so I may have to rethink staying there in the future. We shall see.

The Food

Daily lunch buffets were held at Simon’s and sponsored by Dating Gold. I was not feeling well, so passed on the buffet the first day. I later found out that the meal on Tuesday was better than the one on Wednesday, but Wednesday was not bad. Both days were well attended, and the plates seemed to empty quickly.

The Networking Never Ends

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