EXXXOTICA New Jersey Ends the 2010 Convention Season with a Successful Bang

EDISON, NJ - With 2010 drawing to a close, the EXXXOTICA organizers had an unenviable task ahead of them. In an exceptionally-crowded year for adult erotica trade shows, how can the 3rd annual New Jersey event avoid a significant drop in attendance? When Erotica L.A. cancelled its 2010 show, the summer void was quickly filled by three brand new events, including one in the L.A. Convention Center by the EXXXOTICA team itself. With all of these new options available, would XNJ (as it's referred to on the nj.exxxoticaexpo.com website) be able to draw fans and media from outside of the East Coast area? There was also the concern of disappointing booth sales that befell other events earlier in the year. If there was no guarantee of decent product saes, how many performers would bother to make the trip?

Less than a few hours into the start of EXXXOTICA New Jersey 2010, it became clear that none of these concerns would come to fruition. Friday was busier than last year's Saturday show. In turn, this year's Saturday show saw an unprecedented level of traffic and congestion that remained steady up to and through the evening's final hours. Only Sunday suffered from disappointing ticket sales. That hardly seemed to matter to the performers, who also showed up in record numbers. By Sunday afternoon, product sales were unanimously praised by all in attendance. At past shows, it was not uncommon to overhear fans grumbling about the charges for photos and DVD's. Although they'll never completely become a thing of the past, such complaints appeared to be kept to a minimum this time around.

The show was not without its problems, of course. New this year was the inclusion of the Xotic Autoshow on the show floor. Admission was included in the main ticket price, and there was a fair amount of people checking out the cars and motorcycles on display. However, the blending of these two shows was far from seamless. Other than a few cars placed besides the signing tables, there was a clear and definite line separating EXXXOTICA from the autoshow. One couldn't help but wonder if the congestion around the Fantasy Island booth and other popular areas may have been alleviated by using the floor space reserved for the autoshow. In past years, this same space was mostly vacant, which makes this year's use of it for the Xotic Autoshow feel like a missed opportunity. Also putting a dampener on things was the continuing inability to provide an adequate listening environment for the seminar rooms. More often than not, the seminar hosts and speakers found their voices drowned out by the music blasting from various areas of the convention, particularly the main stage on the opposite end of the hall. This could easily be rectified with a louder speaker system for the seminar room, plus soundproof walls to replace the thin curtains that just aren't cutting it.

Having attended my fair share of porn conventions over the years, I've come to face every new show with concerns that it'll just be more of the same. Living in Chicago, this became an even bigger issue after the suprising success of the new Exxxtacy convention back in July. Was another trip to New Jersey really worth my time and money? By the end of the show on Sunday evening, my answer was a resounding YES. The performers were happier than ever to be there, which generally leads to more memorable encounters. A significant number of the stars there were first-time attendees, which allowed me to finally meet some longtime faves. I must say a special THANK YOU to Brian Gross and his PR team, as well as Alex "Monstar" Raymond, for their help in making my media registration as quick and painless as possible. I'm already looking forward to EXXXOTICA New Jersey 2011, now more than ever.