This years AVN Expo was different. While only my second one, it was also the last one at the Hard Rock Hotel as it will be renovated and rebranded as Virgin Hotels towards the end of 2020. AVN will return in the same place next year but under a whole different hotel banner. Maybe it’s because of this, companies such as Brazzers and Vixen who had a major presence last year chose to sit this one out. That made the whole experience a wildly different one but gave some of the other companies more of a bigger presence in the main areas. For some of the first timers I was with, they loved it because they didn’t have anything to compare it to. For me I was a fan as well but it was noticeable the differences from one year to the next but a fun experience overall just because it is AVN and that’s what we’re all here for.
As I’ve become more involved in the adult industry AVN starts for me earlier than a regular attendee. I had photos shoots and things to film days before the event even started. The night before, I attended The BBW Awards at Larry Flynt’s Hustler Club and that was my first time attending that event. It was a fun show but I left before the event ended to get back home and charge batteries for the first day of AVN. I was on the show floor when it opened but quickly had to leave to film some more content and returned around 3pm for the rest of the show. The event was just like I remembered it with adjoining rooms connecting everything but with a slightly different layout because of the companies that didn’t attend. Because of this Evil Angel and ManyVids had a presence in the main room and a raised stage which didn’t seem to be too popular amongst the girls working the event. For myself it made it harder to get photos with some of the models especially the ones at ManyVids as the aisle in-between both companies is very small and not big enough to allow both foot traffic and places for people the stop and take photos. Plus the girls generally had to step down from the stage in order to do so. Hopefully this is something that will be addressed the next year.
AVN Stars had a huge presence in the main room this year and you could catch many of the bigger stars there such as Nicolette Shea, Joanna Angel, Sophie Dee and Nikki Delano. Over in one of the other halls was Clips4Sale featuring a ton of stars and the ever popular Abella Danger and Vina Sky over at the Rock Candy booth. One of the things I noticed about the event was that some of the more popular stars were only signing 1 day or for 1 hour a day so you had to plan accordingly to make sure you didn’t miss them. I imagine a number of stars had to make their own plans as to where to sign due to the absence of some of the bigger companies where a lot of these girls are contracted. In fact because of the absence of a company like Vixen, Riley Reid had her own space where Riley along with Lena The Plug, Lana Rhodes, Izzy Lush and more were signing and for 4 days straight had fans waiting on line to meet all the stars. Besides the main halls there was also the auditorium which is easy to miss but shouldn’t be because there are over 70 stars inside with companies like OC Modeling and East Coast Talent providing a large amount of talent in a space many fans may not known about as it’s off the main path.
The show as a whole was still a great experience despite some of the companies that didn’t attend. There were a long list of new stars I hadn’t met before such as Ella Knox, Gabbie Carter, Emori Pleezer, and Rharri Rhound that benefited from the no shows as some of these stars were attending for the first time. I have no doubt that next year things will probably be back to normal even if it’s for the reason that it’s the first event in a newly named and renovated space. AVN is a huge brand and fans will continue to come from all over as it’s the biggest adult expo and most known adult expo in the world in a city perfect for it like Las Vegas. It’s worth the travel to come out every year and certainly worth the 4 days to spend a little time getting to meet all your favorite adult stars and I look forward to my third AVN Expo in 2021.
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