Internext and the Adult Entertainment Expo are the two main trade shows of the adult industry. Like last year and the year before, Eros Zine was there. Let's just acknowledge the big pink elephant in the room right off: the shows just weren't up to their usual standards. I'm not the only reporter you've likely heard this from, nor would I be the last one, and it's a tragedy, in my personal opinion. These are some of the most important trade shows for the adult industry all year for many companies, and this year was a disappointment. The main problem, according to most people who attended that I spoke to and others who've expressed opinions already on the web, was this year's decision to hold Internext and AEE at the same time. This upset a lot of people, annoyed a lot of others, and alienated a whole host more. While both shows were still held at the Venetian in past years, they were held at different times. Internext, the online and digital media adult trade show would start off the long weekend with a more B2B focus. People could attend the seminars, which were good, solid informative sources of important updates and legal info for webmasters and others. Later in the week, AEE would start, with last year's inclusion (and a wise one, in my opinion) of a trade-only day, where reporters and others in the business could get on the floor and do business before the fans hit the floor. This year, sadly, the decision was made to hold the shows concurrently. If one wanted to attend a seminar at Internext that conflicted with a seminar being held by AEE, one was just S-O-L. Pick one. That had to cut down on attendance for both events. Also, I spoke with one gent who focused mainly on the Internext seminars, and he had this to say: "I thought the quality of overall panelists was good. However, I thought it relied too much on open forums - they should have mixed in some more informational seminars as opposed to all panels. The legal seminar was best attended; others were pretty sparse. Part of that was that the room (or roped-off area to be more accurate) was terrible -- the acoustics sucked. Having it on a different floor from the show was also a downside, but it was nice to be around the corner for the AVN seminars. In short, panelist quality gets a B (lifted by Rob Black, who rocked), panel content gets a B-, and the venue gets an F." Yes, let's discuss venues/location. In the past, Internext was held downstairs at the Sands Convention Hall at the Venetian while the whole of AEE, including GAYVN booths and the B2B portion of that show was in the same room as the rest of the show -- though in a different segregated section. This year, Internext was upstairs. Kind of. Shoved off into a corner room, the pitifully attended exhibition hall -- at least while I was there -- seemed to have only a third of the booths that once filled the floor. Many weren't even staffed while I made my rounds. Most of the action on that floor seemed to be focused around the poker tables in the back. Nice. Even with the show's mainstay -- gorgeous gals helping to hype product and services -- attendance seemed dismal. I felt like I could hear a funeral dirge playing in my head as I walked the barren aisles. Internext's seminars were on the lower level. This, incidentally, was also where the AEE B2B booths were now housed. Confusing, again -- why not have all of AEE on the same floor as before? We were actually terribly confused because you had to go to the lower level to pick up your tickets and passes. You ended up walking through the AEE B2B section and were honestly freaked out because we didn't realize the other half of the show was located elsewhere. Nice. Once we discovered that mistake, we headed upstairs and found that while the upstairs had more booths than Internext, you could tell there was a definite downward trend in attendance. All this is to say nothing that the main section of AEE was right next to -- and I mean directly adjacent -- to the huge and totally unrelated Consumer Electronics Show. In previous years, CES has been spread elsewhere throughout the Venetian and the Sands. After all, CES takes place all over town all week. They have to pull space from AEE, the important event in the adult industry, to showcase more Blackberry innovations and the newest 103-inch plasma TV? Come on! But there were some bright spots. If you're not familiar with AEE, it's an exhibition of the adult video industry and other business aspects of adult entertainment, hosting, and sexual products. It's mainly the place where the big mainstream production houses pump their wares and starlets. Around the periphery of the show are the smaller video houses, the more "mom & pop" production companies who tend to fill the more quirky niches and fetish interests. Sometimes, these little companies are more interesting than the larger companies. That is, quite simply, because these seem to be folks who are really dedicated and into what they're doing, as opposed to the larger houses -- who can sometimes overwhelm you with what can seem like a lot of the same-old same-old. The mainstream houses seem to be heading toward the bigger is better concepts: hi-definition releases, use of CGI-effects (as with the multiple award-winning Pirates release this year from Digital Playground and Adam & Eve). While this has a brand new appeal and may signal a more conventional movie look to adult videos than we're used to seeing, we also have to realize that almost every angle has been covered - Jenna Does Anal, Tera Does Anal, etc. There is a new trend that could also signify that these larger houses are recognizing they may be missing out on a large segment of the market: there is of late a tendency for stars to be pushed more and more to the extreme in their shoots. It's getting a little more hard-core out there - we've noticed, and I'll be covering that in a much more in-depth article soon. The smaller production companies do seem to have their niches well-covered, though. Their titles are more unique, with more special focuses, particular fetishes. They have to work much harder than the larger studios to find audiences, but when someone finds what they're looking for in the flavor that gets to them, they become very loyal and word of mouth is doing these smaller companies a world of good. And, typically, these smaller companies like to use lesser known names and amateurs. Speaking of which, the amateur market is booming these days, as evidenced by the GOTI (Girls of the Internet) party that I attended. I saw hundreds and hundreds of girls there who market, promote, create and deliver all by themselves. Most of these ladies don't have the backing of any production company. So why is the amateur market so hot? I learned a lot when I was at the party, and was even interviewed in a podcast with Lisa Sparxxx, record holder for the world's largest gangbang. Look for a scorching insider expose of what I learned on that in the very near future. Sex sells -- and the Adult industry sells BIG! The business of erotica cannot be taken lightly. As with any big business, industry conventions are of critical importance. The event organizers have announced that next year's Internext will be in March, 2007, rather than being tied to AEE. Maybe that move will help Internext regain its core strength, become better attended and attract some fantastic speakers who can help put some punch back into the online industry. As in past years, Internext is held twice a year - once in January in Vegas tied to AEE and once in the summer in Hollywood, Florida. This year's summer conference is being held from August 4-6 and you can already find information on the Internext Summer site about registration and show news -- perhaps the diversification of shows will make Internext back into the solid punch it once was. Traffic at Internext being what it was, I have to admit that even AEE wasn't as well attended as it had been in the past - even on fan days. It used to be that you couldn't even move down an aisle without feeling like a cow in a slaughterhouse line, but this year there was room to moooo-ve around, although the usual die-hards were there with cameras and in line for their pics and autographs from the favorites, like Jenna Jameson, Jesse Jane, Tera Patrick, Taylor Wayne and tons more. The well-known powerhouses like Digital Playground, Hustler, Playgirl, Playboy, Adam & Eve and the like were still doing a brisk business, and of course there was the obligatory Ron Jeremy sighting. Skimpy clothes were the order of the day, per usual, and it's nice to always get a good full-on gawk of a halfway-naked woman who has a tight body and some great tits and ass. You can never get enough of that -- well, I certainly can't. I don't think I was alone. The gay male marketplace was well represented and I saw some yummy little morsels whooping it up and flashing their cute little booties at everyone. I may have missed it, but the lesbian erotic scene seemed woefully under-represented. Only one company held the torch, and I felt like I was being deprived. Toys -- oh yes, there were toys, and candy, and collectibles, and clothes, and jewelry and shoes -- everything you need to expand your own sex life and make you feel like a porn star. Books and publishing companies were there to show their non-mainstream market titles, which we will be covering for you this year. And gossip galore: we heard that Mary Carey, infamous adult star and former California gubernatorial candidate, was booted from the Venetian for a little raucousness and some smart-assed words to security when they showed up. This is almost tame compared to last year's big story when a certain starlet collapsed on the floor of the casino, was rushed to the hospital for a drug overdose and returned to the AEE show floor and the award show the next day to pick up her award. Dedication? Huh. You decide. I was able to steal ten minutes with Aria Giovanni for a quick interview -- look for her Sexy Spread in an upcoming issue as well. I saw friends Christina Noir and new pal Raven Black, and many more who will be helping me explain a few new insights into the many different worlds of sexuality in the coming weeks. Also, I was lucky enough to meet upcoming starlet Silky Thumper of UrgeXotica. They are a new niche company, and we'll be taking a look at some of their DVDs in future issues. On top of that, I will probably be shooting a porn film later this year with Silky herself. You heard it here first! Was I glad I went? Yes. Would I like to see both shows return to their former grandeur and perhaps realize even more of the potential I see in them? Without doubt. Will I go again? I am sure I will -- I need to learn the latest trends to keep you folks informed. Let's hope this next year is a better one for the industry as a whole and the political atmosphere aids us in celebrating one of our most basic rights -- our sexuality.

Click the images to enlarge. AEE GOTI Internext

Adult Entertainment Expo & Internext, 2006 - by Alexia O'Neil

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