Business was booming at the second day of the Adult Novelty Manufacturers Expo, with buyers and other industry types packing into the sprawling maze of booths and product displays piled with dildos, butt plugs, oils, condoms, figurines, sex pills, blow-up dolls, fake vaginas, anal beads and just about any other product you can think of that's assistive to, associated with or used during sex.
To the right of the main showroom doors, Paradise Marketing Services, which distributes Vivid condoms and herbal supplements, had a mini putting green set up, which Paradise rep Ken Eckert explained was simply meant to provide a brief diversion for convention-goers.
"Customers go by, they see all the stuff, they need a little break," Eckert told AVN.com. When asked if there was any prize for making the shot, he replied, "No. It's just for fun."
Nasstoys of New York had a sizeable booth near the front of the hall, where they were heavily promoting their Frixion lubricant. Demonstrating the lube on one of their assorted vibrators, spokesperson Kathryn Hartman explained, "When I put this Frixion lube, which is aloe vera-based, on this toy and rub it across the clitoris, it's like playing a violin with a bow. This is such a great lube with toys."
Hartman said that as one of the companies which started ANME, Nasstoys has enjoyed a growth rate parallel with the convention's.
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"Nasstoys is one of the five ANME founders, who actually founded the ANME event, and from the little table and drape, we've grown to these beautiful custom booths, and our lines of course have grown along with the show, which I think at this point looks like it's kind of outgrowing the Sheraton Universal, and we're ready for the huge Vegas convention center. It's getting bigger and bigger. Like the penis gets bigger and bigger!"
From 12 to 2 o'clock, attendees enjoyed create-your-own Mexican cuisine beneath a blazing sun at large banquet tables set up on the front lawn.
Meanwhile, milling around in the east hall was porn vet and Nightcalls hostess Juli Ashton, there to hunt down attendees for the Hedonism III getaway she'll be leading Oct. 10-16.
"We're finding people we want to join us," Ashton said. "It's kind of exclusive, because there is only a limited amount of rooms, and we want to sell those to fans, obviously, and have those kind of people come. But we also want to invite specific people to show their product — you can sell, you can do workshops. So we're being a little picky about who we invite. Not just anyone gets to put their silly underwear in our gift basket.
"Kama Sutra is a line that would go perfectly at a resort like Hedo III. Sportsheets — another great [product] to explore the darker side."
Ashton said she usually attends ANME with Doc Johnson to promote her toy line with them, but was new to the hobnobbing aspect of the show. "I hardly ever work ANME," she laughed. "This is more … entertainment for me."
AVN's very own Sales Associate Kimberly Wilber, manning our booth in the main corridor, said that Day Two was going very well. "Business seems to be picking up today, much better day than yesterday" she reported. "Lots of foot traffic, exhibitors seem to be really happy."
Well why shouldn't they be, really? As Nasstoys' Hartman put it, "We work in the porn business — who's better off than us?"
