Porn Valley Dispatch: Erotica L.A. Preview

"It's ELA week and all my clients are yelling at me," said one Porn Valley publicist who deserved it.

June's Erotica L.A. is the Clippers to January's AVN Expo's Lakers, but the three-day convention, which will start on Friday, is the more accessible affair of the two, featuring parties that are more or less easy to get into, shorter lines to meet your favorite stars and, for the first time, a porn awards show that purports to be as short and legitimate as (think quickly) er, my blunts. Read more about what you can expect at this year's event after the gap.
- G. Ponante

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Since the event is held in the L.A. Convention Center, it's a lot easier for porn talent to make it to the show. In addition, booth space is less expensive than in Vegas, so performers often rent booths of their own to sign 8 x 10s or sell videos. Often enough, talent will buy videos featuring them for a small discount from the companies that produced them.

Seminars at Erotica LA are decidedly more consumer oriented, featuring talks on sensual massage and aphrodisiacs, doubtless accompanied by sales pitches a la The Learning Annex.

The fan contingent is similar to that of the Las Vegas convention, with a large showing of locals who come every year. Tickets $30 per day and include admission to the convention floor where Adam & Eve, ClubJenna, and Wicked, among others, will be pimping large amounts of swag with the help of megawatt pornistas like Carmen Luvana, Jenna Jameson, Taylor Wane, and Tyler Faith.

It is also an opportunity for fervid self-promoters like Lori Lust and Cleopatra of the Nile to get noticed by a glutted market.

The show will culminate with the F.A.M.E. Awards, hosted by Luvana and Tommy Gunn, and both weekend evenings will be capped with parties at various downtown venues like the Montmarte Lounge and the Rokbar, owned by the porn-friendly Tommy Lee and Dave Navarro.

The great thing about Erotica L.A. is that one needs little recovery from it. Next Monday morning will find me organizing business cards rather than wondering about the safety of my immortal soul, which took up most of my January 5th.

· Erotica L.A. (erotica-la.com)

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Previously: Erotica LA 2005 Photos, Erotica LA 2004 Report, Porn Valley Dispatch Archive