LAS VEGAS—For the past several years the BBW porn market has gained ground, moving from specialty niche to full-fledged genre—as evidenced particularly by the release of mainstream adult studio films with BBW themes. In addition, more women with curvaceous thick bodies are entering the industry as performers. As these big beautiful women strive to build their careers, they look to do what all adult stars do: connect with fans. This month, many are heading to Las Vegas for BBWCon, taking place at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort and Casino July 10.
“We have had a huge response from the BBW porn community,” said organizer Desiree Devine. “Everyone is looking forward to the event and has had nothing but positive things to say. As always, there will be things that we can improve upon for future events, but for now we are looking forward to having a great time!”
This isn’t the first expo dedicated to BBWs—the BBW FanFest, defunct since 2013, also took place in Vegas—but Devine is hoping to exceed expectations by many leaps and bounds.
As part of the weekend long expo, the Biggie Awards (held July 11) will honor BBW porn in more than 30 categories (entirely through online fan voting), including some uniquely suited for the genre. BBW of the Year, Best Belly and SSBBW of the Year are just a few of the categories in which fans will submit their votes for performers, studios, directors, scenes and series.
Among those planning to attend is AVN BBW Performer of the Year nominee Eliza Allure, who welcomes an event where BBW performers and their admirers can interact with one another in a supportive, body-positive environment. “I am attending to support the BBW community. We are at a very exciting time in our niche. Mainstream media is producing movies and TV shows with real plus-size women, and Tess Holiday is blowing up the modeling world. Naturally when something is socially acceptable it transfers to the adult industry. More and more guys are willing to admit they enjoy bigger women and are just now discovering the BBW porn niche. So I feel as though I am a pioneer. The things I create now and places I go will be my legacy and will lay a path for future BBWs in porn.”
Allure says she’ll also be an active participant. “I love working so it’s always fun to me. I will be doing seminars on marketing and promotion for models every day. I am also partnered with PlumperPass.com to throw a BBW strip contest the night before to kick off BBWCon. It will feature a lot of PlumperPass models such as Mazzaratie Monica, Phoenixxx BBW, Lady Lynn, Lyla Everwettt, Nikky Wilder, Karla Lane, Sinful Celeste among other really sexy BBW stars and fetish models.”
BBWCon spokesmodel Julia Sands, a beloved personality within the BBW community, hopes BBWCon will enable girls interested in entering the adult industry to receive valuable tips from veteran performers. “The reason why I am attending BBWCon is to get the opportunity to meet new girls in the industry who would love good quality advice from a professional sex worker rights activist. I think BBWCon is a great place to network with other experienced models. So if you are curious about becoming a successful BBW model, you should attend BBWCon and reach out to your favorite stars. We are all gathering here so that way the plus-size community can become a place of solidarity.”
Sands’ goal by the end of BBWCon is to make new friends and build a stronger support system with fellow sex workers, and spread the word about the Sex Workers Outreach Project by promoting its site, swopUSA.org, during the event.
The following are excerpts from an interview with Desiree Devine:
Where did the idea for BBWCon come from? How long has this been in the works?
The idea for BBWCon has been long in the works. It all started back in 2009 when a lawsuit transpired due to an adult convention not allowing BBWs to rent booth space. In 2012 I co-organized BBW FanFest, the first-ever BBW-specific convention. In 2014, I founded BBWCon.
How long does it take to put together an event like this?
An event of this magnitude takes an entire year to organize. There is so much planning and organizing that goes into making sure every person who attends has the time of their life and will want to return annually.
Has the Westgate been receptive having what is essentially an adult convention taking place on their property?
The Westgate has been especially pleasant to work with. Though, as many venues, they have some concerns about the nature of our expo, they are welcoming us with open arms and we are thrilled to be having the first annual BBWCon there.
Why is an expo like this necessary?
Though other award shows and expos are more open to allowing BBWs to participate and even adding categories, BBWs are still pushed to the side when it comes to recognition. The BBW niche is a rapidly growing genre and we, just as much as anyone else, deserve to be recognized for our hard work and dedication.
What are your goals with BBWCon?
After attending BBWCon and the Biggie Awards we want the BBW community to walk away feeling proud and motivated to work even harder. We want ladies to get excited about having an award show just for them and work 10 times harder to make sure they’re on that nominee list or the winner of an award. We want the models to really make this their event and support its growth for many years to come.
Besides BBWs and their admirers, are all women regardless of size encouraged to attend?
Yes, we have seminars for the general public ranging from makeup tips to how to dress for your body type. We are very much into helping women of all sizes feel good about themselves.
Does this extend to the LGBT community, especially the transgender community?
Absolutely! We even have a Biggie Award category “XXX Crossover Co-Performer of the Year” that includes trans performers that work with BBWs. We would love to have enough trans BBWs to make an all-trans category.
Has BBWCon received generally good word of mouth?
The word has definitely gotten out! We are so grateful to have had such an amazing response from the whole BBW and mainstream adult communities. Word of mouth promotions have been great especially with all of the girls promoting so hard.
How many attendees are you expecting? How many tickets, VIP Passes and booths have you sold thus far?
We are hoping to have about 300-plus attendees this year. We have sold a good amount of VIP and general admission packages. Plus, with 62 models paid so far (as of this writing), we should have a great turnout.
In terms of sponsorships, what companies have signed up to have their brand associated with BBWCon?
Sponsorships are still rolling in the 11th hour, but so far our title sponsor for the Biggie Awards is PlumperPass Live Cams, and for the BBWCon trade show we have Boleyn Models, Sinfully Divine Entertainment, X Tax Pros, and our ladies being pampered by the Cupcake Girls.
Has sponsorship acquisition been a problem or have companies mostly been receptive about this event?
We are finding with this being the first BBWCon event that sponsorships have been a bit difficult; however, we know that with the success of BBWCon 2015 that finding sponsorships for next year should not be an issue.
What BBW models will be appearing at the expo?
We have a huge list of performers that can be found on our website (bbwcon.com) but in attendance will be Mandy Majestic, SuzyQ, Eliza Allure, Julia Sands, Cotton Candi, Farrah Foxx, SSBBW Kellie Kay and many other who have not yet been listed.
Have they expressed lots of enthusiasm regarding this expo?
We have been very fortunate that there has been an outpour of excitement for BBWCon 2015. The girls are excited, the fans are excited and everyone helping organize the event is excited. We could not be more thrilled.
As for the Biggie Awards, were there any surprises after the fans submitted their nominations? Which categories did fans really respond to when nominating their favorite performers?
The only surprise with the Biggie Awards was the overwhelming number of nominations. We received thousands of nominations, so sorting through them was quite a challenge. Of course the most nominated category was the Fan Favorite, but we were surprised to see the number of MILF submissions this year.
For more info on BBWCon and the Biggie Awards, visit BBWCon.com and TheBiggieAwards.com. Follow BBWCon on Twitter @BBWCon.
This article originally ran in the July 2015 issue of AVN magazine.
