‘Twas the night before the Adult Entertainment Expo…

….and all through the Sands Expo and Convention Center was the quiet, yet somewhat frantic, murmur of vendors scrambling to set up their display booths before the doors of the Expo open for trade and members of the press tomorrow at 10 am. Packing foam littered the floor, large shipping crates framed the room and booths were in various stages of assemblage. Some vendors were almost done, hanging signage and unpacking products. For others, especially those who had yet to pry open a box, it was clear it would be long night with the reward of a Vegas cocktail likely not coming until close to midnight. Missed flights and travel delays had hampered the progress of some, while shipping snafus were a cause of stress for others. By tomorrow morning, though, this behind-the-scenes scrambling will be a distant memory. The Expo floor will be swept clean of debris and all signs of pre-Expo carnage will be gone. It’s an adrenaline rush that for even the most seasoned trade show participants is par for the course, nothing they haven’t experienced before. As for me, I had the chance to catch up with friends, was gifted a new sex toy — the Mimi by JeJoue, which is making its American debut at the Expo — and lost my favorite scarf somewhere between the press room and a pile of sex toys. As I said, par for the course.