From the myspace blog:
January 18, 2009As the title says, bigger does not always mean better. The 2009 AVN Adult Entertainment Expo shrunk in size this year as a reflection of the nation's economy. It shows that pornography is not recession-proof. There were less exhibitors booths this year taking up less space and I haven't seen the walking area this small since the 2004 expo. As for the fan turnout, I would say it was about the same as last year even though there was a complete overlap with the next door Consumer Electronics Show in terms of dates which theoretically would bring in people tired of looking just at electronics. Instead of having a Wednesday through Saturday show culminating in the AVN Awards, this year's convention went back to the traditional Thursday exclusive to the adult industry to the post-awards Sunday hangover.
During the trade-only Thursday, I heard plenty of grumblings about the economy and the lack of business that was being conducted on the floor. This neuroticism transferred over to the rest of the days as exhibitors tried hard to attract and retain their fans. While the masses were waiting in line for a girl, booth people were handing out free items to people in line and asking for their feedback about what they liked and didn't like to see. I noticed that most of the girls signing were happy to meet and greet their fans. Even the fans seem a bit more civil this year although I could attribute this phenomenon to the higher ticket prices this year weeding out the less savory members of the public.
As for the individual booths, this year debuted the first stage show booth in the form of Fyre TV. Fyre TV had girls signing from multiple companies and I thought they were easily the best booth of the show. Some of the stage shows featuring fan contests and rap shows seemed hokey, but I enjoyed the fact that if you were to hang out in that booth only for the entire show, there was always something to watch and do. Standout girls that put on shows on the couches and benches included McKenzee Pierce, Ashley Jensen, Jaelyn Fox, and Phoenix Marie. Fans also were treated to a new look Jenny Hendrix who kept flashing her goods and a gorgeous web newbie in glasses, Tenaya, who allowed the fans to grope her ass and boobs. I was also mesmerised by the eyes and charisma of the new contract girl of New Sensations, Sadie West.
Eric John's booth, Erotique Entertainment, always had something interesting going on whether it was an impromptu show by Tanner Mays or Jana Jordan or the "accidental" flashing by girls with loose tops. I appreciated the professional scheduling of Digital Playground's crew and I took advantage by blocking off fifteen minutes to gab with my girls from Berlin, Stoya and Angelina Armani.
One thing I noticed this year was that several booths were selling dvds indirectly to the fan. For example Evil Angel was selling shirts for 15 dollars and you get a free dvd with that. You could even pick the director you wanted, and they were happy to swap out a dvd if you already had it. I bought several shirts for my friends and bartenders. By Sunday, the price of the shirts dropped to 10 dollars, which is a bargain for EA! When I asked if I could buy some dvds individually, I was scolded by the little saleswoman. Jules Jordan Video had a similar deal with their shirts and dvds except that it was 40 dollars and the price didn't go down on Sunday.
About the only inaccessible booth I found photographing was Brianna Bank's new company. In order to meet the girls signing there, you had climb up a flight of stairs and it was impossible to get a clean shot of the girls between the safety railings of the booth. Overall though, I had a positive impression of the show compared to years past.
Socialisation and by that I mean mostly drinking!As for the AdultDVDTalk turnout, I knew there were several convention regulars that didn't make it to the convention; but to be frank, I didn't really miss any except for our favourite Dutchman, Jacco. Again, several long-time lurkers who knew me from old-school photos re-introduced themselves. I didn't make an effort to meet new board members unless they were drinkers and the nightly activities took me out of the running for any notion of breakfast at Denny's. ADT members I hung out with included the IAFD boys, Malte, Bauer24, LouBoyle, and of course the Skronk. The annual ADT dinner at the Grand Lux Cafe turned out to be a fun chaotic fare.
SpieglergirlsThanks to the Shylock, every night I went out on the town I managed to have a harem with me. The first night, I was minding my own business drinking my bottomless Grey Goose and tonic when Penny Flame jumped onto my lap and sat there. Unfortunately for me, my drink was still in my lap under her and within one minute, I was scheming in my drunk mind on how to pry that drink out since I was getting might thirsty. When I fumbled my hands through, Penny jumped up, turned around, and slapped me and all I could do was stammer, "I wanted my drink!"
Second night found Skronk, the Bono, and my escorting the Spieglergirls to supposedly a recreation of Studio 54. After the previous night's assault on the liver, I stayed dry and had a lengthy conversation with Stevie Hart on varied topics such as music, art, and the evil that men do. I spotted an older Asian guy, who I see at every convention, in a corner staring at the girls but not socialising and whispered to Stevie, "Crap. I'm probably going to end up like this guy in ten years; except maybe better looking". I introduced myself to him and offered to introduce him to some of the girls but he was too shy to meet anyone except for Lexi Love.
The rest of the nights found me at the Circle Bar where I caroused with the short bus that never stops, Kristina Rose, and her passenger Evie Delatosso. Kristina has a motor that keeps on going and when you get some blue hawaiians in her, she'd let you know it. Every twenty minutes, she'd on cue ramble about how "the bus never stops" or "the bus keeps on going" that I started calling her short bus. The bus stranded Evie with me for long periods of time and I clung close while many men tried to play the game with her. All in all, I had a great time with those two girls along with Alexis Texas and Mr. Pete. At one point the bus became a train when they picked up Manuel Ferrara. When Kristina declared it was a blowjob train going upstairs, I jumped off the train with a "I'm not giving them a blowjob!" By the end of the night, Kristina Rose's voice had become hoarse from yelling that Pete remarked she sounded like a tranny. An eavesdropping Phoenix Marie deadpanned, "Let me call Christian over so he can check."
The AwardsI debated about shooting the red carpet for several days. Previous years had my face elbowed in several times while trying to jump up and down behind the rows of photographers. To be honest I seriously thought about just going to the taxi line at the Venetian to take photos of the suits and dresses getting into their limos. But a Saturday full of guerilla photography inspired me to hit the red carpet running. I had my best year shooting the Awards although my obsessive compulsiveness found me disassembling my camera to clean out a speck of dirt inside it even though it didn't affect the pictures. The other photographers thought I had gone bonkers for doing this while the carpet was running. I had fun listening to the photographers trying to get the girls' attention with the wrong names while I squealed when seeing some of my friends on the red carpet.
I didn't actually watch the show this year although I heard Pirates II swept almost everything similar to Pirates I a couple of years ago. I was happy to hear that Jenna Haze won Female Performer of the Year and Stoya won Best New Starlet. I also learned that the winner of the Bono Bowl, aka Best Interactive DVD, .was Ashlynn Brooke over Bree Olson. I heard Ms. Olson was disappointed, but hey; there's no such thing as second place in Bono's world.
What did I do instead? I ran off to the Circle Bar.
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