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Exxxotica Chicago 2022

The second show in Chicago after the pandemic, the attendance was almost overwhelming as people ventured out in full force compared to last year’s antsy group. I didn’t see any mask wearing, and people treated any other precaution like spacing as an afterthought. There was a good balance of the genders, especially on Ladies Free Friday. I saw numerous fangirls excited to meet their stars compared to the usual creepy awkward or entitled obnoxious male attendees that you see at any porn convention.

The talent must have been happy as I saw steady lines waiting patiently, sometimes even hours when it came to the most popular stars like Angela White, Abella Danger, and Violet Myers who signed on tirelessly. Brazzers had the busiest booth at the show, and it was actually cool to see the support staff actively greeting attractive attendees that may become future stars for the website.

The convention would stay busy deep into the late hours on Friday and Saturday, and that became somewhat of a problem with the availability of food options. Not only that, the after-parties started around that time. I was smart enough to choose food rather than drinks but would visit the parties in their closing hour, only to be dragged into the after-after parties by my friends (thanks, Lacy) and strangers that seemed to recognise me somehow.

I mingled quite a bit with cam models like Hime Marie, Ivy Minxxx, and Demi Hawks from the Chaturbate booth. From hosting the parties, their staff, and even the layout of their booth, I found the booth much more accessible to the fans than their main competitor at the convention.

Photos on Flickr

This might have been the busiest Chicago Exxxotica I’ve been to, and I am already dreading the crowd at the upcoming Exxxotica New Jersey in October.

Exxxotica Miami 2021

The second adult convention since the pandemic started, this year was the busiest Miami show I’ve attended. Not the crowded madhouse that Chicago was, but a steady stream of attendees kept the performers busy especially in the evening hours. There were very little mask-wearing attendees or wristbands denoting their vaccination status. Kenzie Reeves was the only performer I saw who consistently wore a mask.

The front of convention hall were dominated space-wise by the webcam companies, Chaturbate and MyFreeCams. I saw 3X AVN Favorite Cam Couple, 19Honeysuckle and Tom Christian, and popular performers like Hime Marie and Jade Baker webcamming. I even saw Sabina Rouge several times webcamming without recognising her. Being that this was Miami, there were a lot of beauties walking around, and I didn’t approach many of them because my reluctance to photograph non-industry people out of respect for their privacy. I missed out on meeting a lot of east coast talent as a result.

Even though there were many attendees, I couldn’t pinpoint which performer had the busiest lines between Kenzie Reeves and Violet Myers. I think the crowd love was just spread out, and I think they were most likely to be enjoying the stage shows. I was pleased to see my friends, Taylor Blake and Alex Coal, again and having a grand time. Taylor was bouncing around from booth to booth while Alex was doing the chicken dance in an appropriate onesie. Onward to New Jersey, the home of IAFD and the next Exxxotica.

Flickr for the rest of the photos

Ramblings from Exxxotica New Jersey 2017

So wow. This Jersey show was the first Exxxotica that reminded me of an AVN Adult Entertainment Expo with the crowds and lines to see the stars.Â Where the other locations, even while busy, allow you to have the time to talk to the performer, conversations will end up building a line behind you.

Riley Reid, who is notorious for spending quality time (5-10 minutes) with each attendee that sees her, matched her busy lines at AVNs and easily had the longest lines in the show running 15-20 deep. Abella Danger, Adriana Chechik, and Angela White also had eye-popping lines and waits. I was extremely lucky that Riley, Abella, and Angela each took the time to take a break from their respective lines for my camera that I tried not to keep them from their fans by taking only a couple of snaps.

My phone took a beating physically and electronically. AbellaÂ and Angela’s appreciatively tagging my photos during the convention had my phone buzzing constantly as their fans gave their worshipping feedback.Â My Instagram and Twitter followers increased by the hundreds while I fumbled trying to turn off push notification for both apps. Meanwhile unexpected displays of affection from girls like Lexi Belle, Gina Valentina, and others sent my phone a tumbling onto the floor. Damn, Gina!

With such strong demand for the traditional performers, the cam companies and their girls were almost an afterthought. Many camgirls seemed either intimidated by the crowds or annoyed at attendees distracting them from their cam rooms. I can understand why several withdrew deeper into their booths to devote to their camming, and I think they use the conventions to network with each other more than try to build their fan base. Exceptions to this were Hime Marie, who had shot with several companies, and Kawaii Serina, who I had previously met in Denver.

As for the parties, I refused to leave the host hotel and visited the on-site parties for a max of maybe an hour each. Long gone are the days of 36-hour Morbid. My nights were more focused on visiting with my friends in a more low-key manner aka the hotel bar and any real partying were in the hotel rooms upstairs.

For the rest of the photos:

Flickr – Somewhat SFW
Tumblr – NSFW