The AVN Show: The Good, the Bad and the Fugly

First B2B show to embrace all industry sectors ends inaugural run with mixed reviews

HOLLYWOOD, Fla.—The AVN Show, the first B2B expo to unite internet commerce, pleasure products, and content production in a single event, has ended its debut run with some participants singing its praises and others scratching their heads.

The ambitious effort, staged at the sprawling beachfront Westin Diplomat Resort in Hollywood, Fla., brought more than 1,200 participants from around the world for an intensive four-day “experience” designed to create new opportunities for industry sectors not accustomed to doing business with one another, and offered the most expansive seminar series of any adult trade show to date. An undertaking of this scale required a massive venue, and that may have been the first glitch in a weekend that was marked by as many similar snafus as well as stunning successes.

While webmasters and other representatives from the internet sector were already accustomed to the venue as the home of the traditional Internext Show every August, the sometimes confusing layout of the huge venue, combined with the extremely hot, humid weather, were less appreciated by newcomers who questioned the time and location choice of the event. “Who would pick Florida in August for a show?” was one of the more common sentences heard on the novelty show floor. And while many found the mix of participants to be a welcome change of pace that offered new connections, there were the expected complaints from novelty people that there were too many internet companies, while some of the internet people lamented that there were too many novelty people. But, for the most part, the answer to the question “Can’t we all just get along?” was a resounding yes!

Again the venue itself played a role in determining the success of the show.

“The caliber of attendees was terrific at this year’s AVN Show, but the smaller numbers in attendance, combined with such a large venue, made random encounters more difficult,” said Brad Estes, manager of operations for Video Secrets. “Going forward, the approach to holding industry gatherings needs to change to meet the needs of a changing industry.”

AK, vice president of sales and marketing for DatingGold, agreed that attendance seemed small compared to the size of the Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa.

“I thought the show was very small considering how big the venue is. We could have used more traffic in the cabana area,” he said. “But the people who attended the show are more business-minded now. We made a few good deals that will essentially pay for the show for us.”

Though most of the exhibit spaces were segregated to some extent, there was some crossover. PinPointsX set up shop on the novelty show floor, one of the few internet/mobile companies to do so. Company officials said the move was advantageous thanks to the foot traffic and one-on-one discussions that took place.

“We saw tremendous interest, as we felt would be the case,” said Rudy Dallal of PinPointsX. “This was the place for us to meet with companies that could find our platform and technology of great interest to their business.”

The crossover took place in everything from exhibit spaces to seminars to networking events such as the Meet Market and Speed Networking sessions was beneficial to several attendees.

“One of the interesting things about The AVN Show was the convergence of online, novelty and video companies under one ‘Big Tent,’” said Colin Rowntree, founder of Wasteland. “Although, at times, one needed a translator in conversations to clarify things, the result was a fresh breeze of opportunity that I saw a lot of people exploring.”

Though some pleasure product companies complained of a paucity of traffic on the show floor, other novelty companies saw major success at The AVN Show, including LELO, which launched new accessory items and sister brand ONO, and Laid, a company from Norway.

“We saw a lot of interest and had a lot of foot traffic,” said Karianne Ronning of Laid. “I know some people were complaining that there were not enough visitors, but that wasn’t the case for us.”

“As an owner of WOO LOVE!, I was pleased with the results,” said Sean Patrick Kennedy, a love director for the company. “We made excellent connections, made some friends, and took advantage of all The AVN Show had to offer. From what I witnessed, it was the effort of the people in the booths that dictated their success. Several of the booths were left unattended for days at a time and a small few complained about a ‘lack of turnout.’ The people who complained were either texting or reading during a large portion of the weekend at The AVN Show. As potential clients or merchants walked by, they were too busy describing a gray sky, instead of noticing the sunshine beaming on their faces.

“WOO LOVE! had a great weekend because we had fun and enjoyed the opportunities that were presented by you and the good people at AVN,” he continued. “There was business there. We found it. We will do business with AVN again. End of story.”

All the companies who enjoyed a successful show shared their secret for success: lining up appointments beforehand, and encouraging their clients to attend. This was particularly the case for Donna Faro of LELO, who was thrilled with the amount of traffic she had in her suite.

“The decision to showcase LELO in a business suite was the absolute right decision for our agenda,” Faro said. “Our customers were able to fully experience the intended retail environment that LELO has developed for the maximum and ultimate exposure of its products. The focus was centered on LELO’s growing relationships with existing customers and developing business with those interested in becoming successful carrying LELO brand products. Our traffic started the first hour of the first day of the show and ended the last hour on the last day. It was a great success!”

Like Faro, other companies who set up shop off the showroom floor and instead opted for other areas of the hotel saw success that was a little unexpected by them and even show organizers.

“Honestly, I did worry some that the companies who opted for suites would not see the traffic that a showroom floor normally does,” said Sara Harter, senior account executive for AVN. “I was pleasantly surprised to hear that all of the companies—including LELO, Nexus and Glow Industries—all had a wonderful experience and did more business than they might have had they been on the floor.”

Regardless, the light traffic in the novelty exhibit area was a valid concern to many who expected more from the show. Paul Fishbein, president of AVN, spoke to each of these parties personally and guaranteed that they would get their money’s worth at future events.

“AVN has not spent 28 successful years in this business by not delivering what we promise,” he said. “We all make mistakes, but the real question is how to correct them—and I think we have begun to address those issues as well.”

For more coverage of The AVN Show, visit AVN.com.