January 14, 2004 02:14am
2004 AEE Show - First Man In Report
Source: Adult Industry News
by: Julian Patrick
Every January right after the holidays, Las Vegas hosts the largest Adult convention of the year. Attendees include fans, vendors, buyers, and of course porn stars.
This year I decide to go for the day on Friday due to another obligation on Saturday. Even though I will miss the AVN Awards show, I figure the convention will be fun.
8:00 am: I'm waiting for my flight to take off when I hear an announcement that the flight is overbooked and they need volunteers to give up their seat. A bit tired I don't think much of it until they mention a $300 flight voucher. With only a notepad I figure I can wait for the next flight at 9:00 am. Not only did I get the voucher but they put me in first class. So far it's a good start.
10:00 am: My first stop is the CES show where I get an autograph from Steve Garvey, some lunch, and then a concert by Leann Rimes.
3:00 pm: Walking through the Venetian hotel to the AEE show. It's at the end of the building past all the ballrooms. I know I'm going the right way since I see many scantily clad ladies in front of me. There is the entrance to the show coming up, but I don't see any signs for press Registration. I ask someone and they point me downstairs to room 104. Eventually, I find the room and it seemed pretty quite as I enter to register.
They find my credentials immediately and then they take a digital photo of me. I figure that they would put the photo on my badge, but they only captured it into the computer. Now, I am on my way back to the entrance with the laminate around my neck. At the third check point someone asks to see my badge and then scans it. On the display screen I see the photo that I just took. Amazing, I guess I can't pass this badge on to a friend tomorrow.
3:40 pm: This place is much bigger than last year! Jill Kelly has the same booth as last year right near the entrance with Cindy Crawford and Jenna Haze signing posters. Next to them is Wicked Pictures and Stephanie Swift taking a photo with a fan. Then we have the Vivid Pictures booth with their newest contract girl Tera Patrick signing. She's beautiful and I'm glad that she's back. Adam & Eve has the lovely Carmen Luvana and Legend Nina Hartley greeting the fans. Further down Video Team has Daisy and Kimmy Kahn signing posters while in the back of the booth Lil Jon is partying with his many fans. This booth has a lot of energy and people seem to just hang around to see what will happen next.
Digital Playground, less Tera Patrick, was very impressive. They had their two top stars Jesse Jane and Devon signing in the same cubicle and they took photos with fans together. I think that is a good idea; Double your pleasure. These girls are so hot and they know how to play off the crowd. Jesse Jane who is on the cover of the current Oui magazine signed them for her eager fans. I would love to visit the set of their next feature, so if you're reading this Adella, send me an invite.
Sineplex, a relatively new company had an impressive booth and having viewed some of their product last year, I think that they have a lot to offer the industry. At the back of the venue I noticed that the Gay companies had their booths. There were many contract performers signing and taking photos with their fans. I don't remember seeing this last year but it makes the show draw a larger more diverse audience. Another vendor that I don't remember seeing last year was Sheri's Brothel. They had a few of the ladies on site to remind the fans that sex is legal in Nevada and if the show was getting you horny then there was a remedy available for a fee. I sure needed the release and would have gone except that it's an hour's drive from town.
7:00 pm: The show is about to close and my feet are very tired. I grab a cab and head to the airport and call it a night.
To conclude, I would recommend that if you want to attend the show to stay at least one night. There were many parties tonight and then tomorrow you have the AVN Awards show plus many more parties. The show was bigger and more organized than last year in part to the hard work by Andrew C. Mun, "Assistant Manager Public Affairs", for the Video Software Dealers Association. Thank you and I look forward to AEE 2005. Book your flights and hotel early!
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