CHICAGO—Mike Dickinson, manager of The Admiral Theatre and regional manager of all Pony establishments, is seeking pre-nomination votes for the ED (Exotic Dancer) Awards in the categories of Industry Innovator of the Year and Progressive Leader (GM) of the Year.
Voting is open at TheEDAwards.com and closes midnight June 15.
The ED Awards are slated for Aug. 25 at the Penn & Teller Theater at the Rio Casino and Hotel in Las Vegas.
Dickinson won the ED Award for Progressive Leader of the Year in 2025. He has built his profile in the industry by incorporating social media personalities and entertainers into live club events, including appearances by cast members from Here Comes Honey Boo Boo and performer Alexis Texas.
Said Dickinson, "Over the last year, I have worked really hard to take this award and make it mean something in the industry. I've tried to make the industry better with it. I've tried to give more opportunities with it, and I've tried to make this the award that everybody wants to get. A trophy only means something if you make it mean something. And that's what I've done the last year with this award and why I want to repeat so I can open more doors and give more opportunity but also continue to build this award and make it the award that everybody wants to get because they see what you can do with it."
Dickinson continued, "Success, trophies, it all only means something if you can bring people with you and you can bring everybody on your team with you and give them success and recognition. I've tried to use this award over the last year to give everybody on the team recognition and put the spotlight on them. I always get the spotlight just because I'm good at talking to the media and getting attention, but I've tried to use this award to put the spotlight on so many other people and turn them into stars that they are."
He concluded, "I consider this award to be the world heavyweight championship of WWE, and like Paul Hammond says about Roman Reigns, 'You have to be a fighting champion and put it out there every single day to make it mean something.'"
