LAS VEGAS, Nevada - The first GFY Awards to be held at Internext Expo took place Monday evening in Vinyl at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Las Vegas. A crowd of adult online professionals gathered for the festivities on the last evening of the show, to enjoy not just the awards ceremony but also entertainment that included music by Ironic Maiden, an Iron Maiden cover band that includes a veteran member of the industry who was also inducted into the GFY Hall of Fame this evening.
With GFY “zookeeper” Eric Matis serving as emcee, the show moved briskly. Comedian Casey Balsham did her best to engage the admittedly distracted crowd, striking the appropriate tone by going straight for the sex jokes. Her two-part act plus a short program by dancers from XRocks and XBurlesque broke up the awards presentations nicely.
The first award of the evening—for Best Sex Toy Affiliate Program—went to a relative newcomer in the business: MyFreeSexStore.com. Jamie Horne and Billy came up to accept the award.
Though there were a few people not on hand to receive the round crystal trophies, most of the winning companies were present in force to accept. Sherry of Happy Studio, which was named Webcam Studio of the Year, traveled all the way from Romania to attend; she was accompanied on stage by Laurie, who served as her translator. Through Laurie, Sherry thanked the models, staff and designers, as well as AVN.
The team at CrakMedia scored three trophies, the first of which was Innovative Company of the Year (for the second year in a row). Nick of CrakMedia was named Businessman of the Year, and CrakRevenue was named Best Affiliate Program. (CrakMedia's Axel Vezina gave heartfelt thanks to CrakRevenue partners, rattling off a long list of companies that included Traffic Junky, MyFreeCams.com and CEcash, among many others.
Juicy Ads representatives also went up onto the dais more than once. First, a team of five came up to accept the award for Best Advertising Network. Later in the show, Wizzo of Juicy Ads was named Best Affiliate Manager. Wizzo also thanked his clients, and said of his fellow nominees, “It's a big list, a lot of hardworking people, so I'm proud to get this award.”
Ruth Blair of Paxum, named Businesswoman of the Year, came up on stage to pick up her trophy and say, "Thanks for nominating me and go fuck yourself."
In the always-competitive billing category, CCBill pulled out in front. Gary of CCBill came up on stage with four coworkers to accept the award for Best Billing Company, joking that “ever since we were bought by Manwin, it’s been a great year.”
One of the last awards of the night was for the Best New Site of the Year, which went to the latest offering from Mr. Skin: the gay-friendly Mr. Man. Mr. Skin's Sam Rakowski accepted the award, saying, “Thanks to everybody who’s given us feedback, sent us traffic—and if we haven't already, let’s talk.” As further enticement, he dropped his drawers, revealing a pair of civvies with the words Mr. Man. Eric of GFY said, “I've been waiting for that for years,” and then claimed that if all it took was a “piece of glass” to get Rakowski to disrobe, he'd have an awards show every month.
The last award given before the GFY Hall of Fame Inductee came up on stage was for Best Mobile Company. Bitter Strawberry's two principal players, Gian Carlo and Carmen, came up to accept the award. The two were visibly thrilled to be named and both took the mic to address the crowd.
The evening kicked off with the Hall of Fame induction, which this year saw the inclusion of The Hun (aka Patrick Terwee). The long-haired web veteran rocked out with his band, creating a segue from the awards show to the raucous after party, which took place in the penthouse suite of the HRH tower, looking over Sin City.
The GFY Awards were sponsored by CECash, PussyCash.com, SexGoesMobile.com, Sextronix, CrakRevenue and BitterStrawberry.
The 2014 GFY Awards winners are:
Best Sex Toy Affiliate Program
My Free Sex Store
Best Design Studio
Zuzana Design
Best Software Company
AdultCentro
Innovative Company of the Year
CrakMedia (two years in a row)
Best Transgender Affiliate Program
Nikki99
Best Advertising Network
JuicyAds
Most Entertaining GFY Member
Achmed
Businesswoman of the Year
Ruth Blair - Paxum
Best Webcam Studio
Happy Studio
Best Billing Company
CCBill
Best Content Production
MetArt
Best Content Provider
AdultCentro
Best Dating Company
AFF
Best Gay Affiliate Program
Buddy Profits
Best Affiliate Manager
Jimmy "Wizzo" Foreman
Businessman of the Year
Nick - CrakMedia
Best Hosting Company
MojoHost
Best Live Cam Company
Chaturbate
Best New Site of the Year
Mr Man
Best Payment Service
Paxum (third year in a row)
Best VOD Company
AEBN
Best Mobile Company
BitterStrawberry
Best Affiliate Program
CrakRevenue
GFY Hall of Fame Inductee
The Hun (Patrick Terwee)
