As We See It

Freaks without geeks: The parting of AVN & CES

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The guess-what-show-I-am-here-for game gets really easy this year.
Robert Ullman

Maybe it’s for the best. Maybe transplanting the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo eight days and a few blocks from the Consumer Electronics Show will help the porn industry’s annual gathering regain its old swagger. Maybe housed in the Hard Rock, a casino that would seem to embrace AVN’s naughtiness as well as anywhere, the show will feel more exciting and more accessible. Maybe the move isn’t a sign of the XXX apocalypse; maybe it will work.

But even if Gaga still hocks Polaroids with the tech geeks and Jenna Haze still struts the Strip in child-sized clothing, something will be lost from the two not happening in such close proximity. For years there’s been a hybrid culture in Vegas for the weekend CES and AVN share. Not only do some attendees convention-hop, they also socialize and mingle. They crowd around the Venetian’s “circle bar,” where they play guess-which-show-I’m-here-for and ogle each other over cocktails and cigarettes. This year, though, the techies will have to flirt with each other come January, and the porny people will have to find new crowds to gape at the length of their skirts and the height of their breasts. Both shows will feel just a little less shiny. Breaking up is hard to do.

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