avns

The AVN expo and awards took place in Las Vegas over the past week. anniebear and I had the pleasure of attending for the first time.

Hosted at the Hard Rock Hotel, the event is at it’s heart a porn industry event, but it does have some BDSM elements as well, which is of course what we were most interested in checking out.

The expo is big enough that it sprawls across three large halls. Porn producers and stars filled many of the booth spaces, with opportunities for attendees to meet and take pictures with their favorite performers. Virtual Reality (VR) porn was heavily featured, suggesting that goggle wearing 3D video may be the future of the industry.

Upstairs, “The Lair” offered a section of the exhibition dedicated to fetish and BDSM. Coordinated by Sanctuary’s Mistress Cyan, vendors and kinksters from Vegas and across America came to offer their wares. With play spaces at either end, there were scheduled performances and workshops throughout the expo, including rope and whip displays. There was even time for anniebear to get a quick demo from Leather by Danny and Scott at Flogger Knows best. She’s never one to turn down some “funishment.”

On the main stage, we were treated to a stage show by Stockroom’s cabaret crew, led by the fabulous Hudsy Hawn. My personal favorite involved some advanced pet-play, with Skin Diamond playing the part of a very sexy kitty who got the cream… and then poured it all over herself (bottles and bottles of the stuff) before splashing around in it and making a great big creamy mess all over the stage.

Back in the exhibit hall, we came across some cool booths. One vendor, Rubber Nipple catering to age play on a whole new level, with adult sized pacifiers, cute adult sized diapers, and a giant inflatable crib. anniebear couldn’t resist jumping in a for a little nap.

Just across the way, a leather craft store visiting from New York, Touch of Fur offered high quality floggers and live demonstrations. The owner was kind enough to give anniebear a good old flogging (was that her second or third for the day?), before teaching me some new tricks. I was finally able to get the hang of the double Florentine, something I intend to keep practicing with anniebear… regularly.

As we walked past the Clips4Sale booth, performer Ashley Fires spotted us and beckoned anniebear over to offer her a public spanking in front of the watching crowd. Well, it’s not every day that you get offered a spanking by a hot porn star, so we of course obliged her and anniebear enjoyed a wonderful little play scene with Ashley and her friends.

There were many parties on throughout the week, all with wonderful themes and all sorts of interesting folks. The one we were most interested in was of course The Lair Fetish party at Club Vinyl hosted by House Ravynblood. This was where all the kinky crowd were to be found, and it featured stage performances including the hilarious Sir Gear, and the captivating Emily Marilyn. There was a who’s who of notable kinksters in attendance, including Ken Marcus, Mistress Cyan and Master Eragon.

On Saturday evening, we met up with Playboy Radio who were kind enough to do a live on air interview with anniebear and myself about Kink Weekly. They were very interested to learn more about the BDSM community, and we hope that some of their listeners will make 2016 the year that they decide to more fully explore their kinky side.

Saturday night brought the culmination of the show and the main event – the AVN Awards themselves.

Fans and press flocked to the Hard Rock hotel to catch glimpses of their favorite stars – for once dressed up to the nines in fabulous outfits. Everyone was so beautiful and well dressed, one observer noted that it would be difficult to tell the difference between the AVN red carpet and that of the Oscars.

The awards ceremony was hosted by well known adult actresses Annika Albright and Joanna Angel. The pair did not fail to disappoint, even performing a song and dance number “That’s what porn’s all about”.

When it came to the awards themselves, kink had a good night. BDSM flick “The Submission of Emma Marx: Boundaries” cleaned up with four awards, including Best Actress (Penny Pax) and Best Screenplay. Meanwhile, Kink.com took the award for “best alternative website”.

Performer James Deen took a diminished role compared with previous years. Nominated for 33 awards, he was all charm and smiles on the red carpet. However, Deen has been mired in accusations of rape and abuse – first by ex-girlfriend and fellow performer Stoya in November of 2015, and then by a series of other female co-stars. In the end, in taking only two minor groups awards, he did not appear on stage – the award committee no doubt keen to avoid being overtly associated with him amidst the storm of allegations.

Myself and anniebear are now back in Los Angeles, recuperating from a most eventful weekend in Las Vegas. I think it’s safe to say it was one for the books.

Writer, photographer, hedonist, Dom. After years of at-home BDSM, Dexx finally embraced the kink community and met many fantastic fellow kinksters in the scene. Along the way, it occurred to him that it would be just super if there was a magazine-style web site which catered to people interested in BDSM, and he recruited some of his friends to help create it.