Porn stars stay connected – but at what cost?

One of the most interesting panels at the XBiz Conference this week found porn performers discussing the evolution of the term “porn star” and the things performers needed to do to stay connected, famous, and relevant. I’ll provide a breakdown shortly, but something that happened during this particular panel demonstrated how the porn world responds to crises.

Above are (clockwise from left) web model Alyssah Simone, Joanna Angel, jessica drake, gay-for-pay performer Jeremy Bilding, Lisa Ann, and Nina Hartley keeping in touch with their constituencies.

Among the many entertaining and informative exchanges between the panelists was after moderator Lisa Ann asked Hartley how the perception of the porn star has changed in Hartley’s 25-year career.

“I think socially it’s OK to be an adult performer,” Hartley said, “but in the political realm there’s still a fascination/revulsion. We’re still a bunch of Hos.”

“I like being a Ho,” Joanna Angel said.

Nina will turn 50 this year, Angel is 28, Lisa Ann is 36, and Sasha Grey (who was spirited away by a handler during an episode in the audience) will be 21 next month. Like their Hollywood counterparts, each represents a different generation of performer, an age distinction that is much more specific than, say, the generational considerations of plumbers, butchers, mail carriers, and waitresses.

But while Hartley confessed to being a technological Luddite (though her legal battle with a shoe company over the right to Nina.com firmly establishes Hartley as a digital pioneer) and Lisa Ann remembered a time when dealing with fans involved sitting on her apartment floor, stuffing envelopes, answering letters, and mailing autographed 8 x 10s, all are active on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, or all three. Angel and drake texted each other during a break in the proceedings.

One thing that each of the performers shared was a willingness to interact with fans, but within limits.

It seemed like Angel and drake were the digital cuspers in the group, embracing the new technology wholeheartedly as a marketing tool.

“I always liked it when people in high school would find out my secrets,” Angel said.

Grey, on the other hand, seemed wary of too much contact.

“Being a porn star, people think they know you,” she said. “Somebody hacked into my site the other day and ‘relaunched’ it. They thought they were doing me a favor.”

“The best way to interact with fans is one on one,” Lisa Ann said. “But I remember being in Quakersville, PA, with all my ones from stripping, and the bank teller wouldn’t take my dirty stripper money. Now I can tell my real estate agent I’m a porn star.”

So here’s what happened in the middle of the panel.

While Angel was talking about “Girls Girls Girls 2,” (find out how to get a copy of the movie signed by Motley Crue’s Vince Neil), a man in the audience made a sound not unlike the kind one hears in comedy clubs in which someone wants other people to know he gets the joke.

“Aaaaah Haaaaaa! Aaaah ha ha HA!” he said. Most people didn’t turn around to look at him, thinking he really appreciated Motley Crue, but he was having a seizure, and landed on the floor.

RN-turned-pornstar Persia ran to his aid while hotel staff and seminar attendees clustered around him. Persia reported that the man had been in a car accident a month ago and may have had a similar seizure in between then and now. He was brought to the hospital and is, as of this writing, still there.

On stage Nina Hartley announced that someone should call 911, Joanna Angel Tweeted the news (“Am I not supposed to do that?” she said. Good point) and, within a few minutes, various audience members began to approach the panelists with their business cards while the paramedics dealt with the unfortunate man.

Sasha Grey, late for another appearance, was hustled out of the room in the interim. It is unclear if Steven Soderbergh made Grey sign the Seizure Proximity clause in her “Girlfriend Experience” contract.

The panel was one of my favorites of a compelling series, and Lisa Ann was an excellent moderator. It was the sole panel that featured only performers, and as such would have been very interesting to consumers, too.

Later in the evening, I ingested a substance that didn’t agree with me (though I thought it would). I hope no one with a Twitter account was anywhere nearby me in that Woodland Hills bathroom, that’s for sure.

See also: XBiz Conference