The organizers behind The Phoenix Forum have issued the following announcement. You may also read it here.
As with any healthy industry, the needs of the community evolve.
CCBill started producing The Phoenix Forum in 2001, not as a money maker for our business but as a way to connect with our merchants and future merchants in the industry.
Even though CCBill is not a tradeshow production company, we produced the Forum as our commitment to the diverse members of the business community – merchants, consumers, affiliates, paysites, camsites, whitelabels, programs, talent, creative, service providers — whether they were straight, gay, trans, newbie, icon or up-and-comer. We hope you also saw that in the Gay Phoenix Forum our commitment to providing a safe, inclusive environment for the various segments in our business.
We designed and evolved The Phoenix Forum over the years as a way to connect with those people that we love and care about in this crazy business we all support – those people that we call our “family.” Our focus has always remained on one goal: to promote business and connections for our family — our business community.
So, it is with mixed emotions that CCBill announces that we will not be producing The Phoenix Forum for 2020. The needs of the industry have changed and, with that, so must change the trade conferences which support the business.
Just as the spirit of JoAnn and Frank Cadwell’s hospitality has flourished with our Forum, the spirit of The Phoenix Forum will continue to live on within the people at CCBill and within those friends in the industry that we are honored to call our family.
But don’t be too sad (unless you missed this year’s show). Perhaps the ideas which have fueled TPF over the years will return in a different format for new times. Who knows?
Thank You to Our Supporters
We are grateful to all of our supporters over the past 19 years of The Phoenix Forum. First off, we are indebted to our many Premium, Platinum, Pride, and Gold Sponsors over the past years, and their commitment to backing an environment that provided direct connections, knowledge expansion, and VIP events – along with some amazing business.
We thank our Media Sponsors who have selflessly supported this event over the years, even alongside their own business initiatives, and we are grateful for their longtime support.
And of course, we want to thank the thousands of attendees over the past years for bringing their hearts and minds to the Arizona desert, to help inspire their peers in the industry with new business and fantastic friendships.
Thank You to Our Team
We have been fortunate to have countless team members over the years who have committed their time and vision to the production of The Phoenix Forum. In this past year and in all the previous years, we extend our thanks to some amazing people who dedicated many hours and sweat to The Phoenix Forum.
Special thanks for The Phoenix Forum 2019 goes to those CCBill folk who contributed to this year’s exceptional event: Ron Cadwell, Stephanie Cadwell, Laurie Biviano, Gary Jackson, Kathi Stout, Raymond Kelsey, Eric Kramer, Charles Schwartzmeyer, Irma Deihl, Kendra Jacobsen, Nikola Pajcic, Marina Aleksic, Rob Bast, Michelle Ramey, Kate Lane, Tyler Gorman, Colin Powell, Jorge Espinoza, Charlie Knox, Claire Ogesen, Carlos Fuentes, Joe Gentile, Kevin Small, James Bond, Rita Gutierrez, Carlo Coats, Joe Veverka, Frank Eickenhorst, Hayley Powell, Ryan Fissinger, Casey Malek, Anthony Simuel, Jeff Adams and many more…
And we also want to mention some key folks from previous years, who helped drive the legacy of TPF: Sherri Dosen, Paul Kluzak, Steve Scalzo, Scott Rieland, Vince Enlund, Jeff Neis, Doug Wicks, Sean Eggert, Andy Keifer, Mili Torres and Renee Fuentes to name a few.
And of course, we want to thank the team and supporters at our host hotel — Jan, Ruth, Jack and the staff at Tempe Mission Palms.
Thank you to everyone for a fantastic 19 years of The Phoenix Forum.
