LAS VEGAS — The 2009 AVN Adult Entertainment Expo came to a close on Sunday, wrapping up four days of business at the Sands Expo Center.
"I think the show's been great," Erotique Entertainment owner Eric John told AVN during the show's final hours. "Fantastic, couldn't be better. Fundamentally, I could not be happier. We did everything we set out to do, the reaction was exactly what I wanted, everything was good."
AEE returned this year to holding day four on a Sunday. Following the AVN Awards night with another full day of exhibiting caused many to forecast tumbleweeds on the show floor Sunday, but attendance remained consistent and business was still in full swing on the last day of the show.
"The show for us has been good," said Adam & Eve general manager Bob Christian. "It's very obvious that attendance is down, [but] our lines were still long, and we still opened new accounts, and we still sold a bunch of stuff."
The adult expo began as an outgrowth of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) back in the 1980s, and this year's schedule brought the two trade shows back in synch for the first time in many years. But attendance for both shows was down; some adult exhibitors hoped to see more cross-traffic from CES this year, but that never seemed to happen.
"I expected chaos, pandemonium, and we were looking for enormous branding opportunities," Christian said. "So I'm very disappointed with the attendance drop-off." Nevertheless, he re-emphasized that "business-wise, we've done well. It's been a good show for us."
Jules Jordan said the 2009 expo was a good one for his company, considering the current state of the economy.
"Business-wise, we made a lot of connections with foreign people for licensing and stuff like that." Jordan said. "There's always room to do things different and diversify. Every show, there's someone coming out with something new that we're looking to explore."
All told, how was AEE for Jules Jordan Video? "It's another great year — we're just doing what we do, not changing anything, and looking forward to next year."
Click to see a gallery of Day Four at AEE