The Gay Erotic Expo National Tour "played" the Los Angeles Convention Center over the weekend and will open next in New York City in October. Produced by Consolidated Management Associates, the two day event, held September 20 and 21, was the first of its kind hosted by the downtown Los Angeles venue. The tour's major sponsors include HX Magazine, AVN/GAYVN, Cybersocket, TLAvideo.com, Unzipped, Men, [2], buygay.com, Freshmen, Xodus Magazine, HairyStudsVideo.com, and BionicPixels.com.
More than 50 exhibitors, from video companies to sex-novelty manufacturers, gathered and set up shop in the convention center's West Hall to bring their products directly to consumers. Unlike trade shows that generally prohibit over-the-counter sales, the Gay Erotic Expo is like a giant gay-sex flea market that encourages direct sales to consumers. Video companies in attendance included All Worlds, Blue Pictures, Control T, Hot House, Jet Set, Oh Man!, and U.S. Male, as well Atomic and discounter xxxMountain.com.
In addition to DVDs and videos, Expo-goers could commission portraits and artwork, subscribe to magazines, buy sexy underwear, art-glass dildos, body jewelry, erotic oils, adult toys, devices to reverse circumcision, a lifelike adult sex-doll, and the Jeff Stryker Action Figure – from superstar Stryker himself!
Jeff Stryker wasn't the only porn star in attendance. Many of the video companies brought porn stars along to sign autographs, pose for photos, and chat with visitors at their booths. (They are easy to find. Hint: Look for the biggest knot of people and you can be 99% certain a porn star will be in the middle of it.) Tag Eriksson and Lorenzo Vargas attracted huge crowds to the Jet Set booth, Cameron Fox, likewise, for All Worlds. New exclusive Dick Wolf was busy signing for Hot House. Falcon exclusive Brad Patton made a surprise visit to the Cybersocket booth where fans swarmed for his autograph. Damian Ford and muscular Zeb Atlas worked the Unzipped/Men/[2]/Freshmen booth. And "Dean, the Straight Guy" was a major attraction for new company StraightCollegeMen.com which is just starting to market its internet product on DVD and video.
Most exhibitors had samples and merchandise to give away, as evidenced by bags bulging with freebies carried by most of the visitors. "I think we gave away eight hundred of our sample DVDs," remarked Brett Drysdale, Director of Marketing at Jet Set Productions. Entertainment every hour on the hour was hosted by Will Clark who interviewed all of the stars mentioned above (and muscle-daddy Dillon Press, Sam Tyson, Adam Wild, and Conor Banks), as well as many of the exhibitors. The famous and notorious Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence worked the floor and put on a brief skit, and prizes were awarded periodically to gents brash enough to flash their buns, or demonstrate deep throat technique on an art-glass penis.
Although attendance figures were not available at press time, estimates place the crowd at upwards of 2000. The Gay Erotic Expo National Tour's next stop is the Copacabana nightclub in New York City, October 12 and 13.
For more info: http://www.gayeroticexpo.com/
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