Down economy? Forget about it!

19th Annual Gentlemen’s Club Owners EXPO sees increased attendance in 2011

Held August 21-24 at The Mirage in Las Vegas, the only national convention for the multi-billion-dollar adult nightclub industry boasted a thriving attendance, including packed seminars, lively evening events and a sold-out Tradeshow

Exotic Dancer (ED) Publications, producers of the ED Club Bulletin magazine and the Annual Adult Nightclub & Exotic Dancer Awards Show, is pleased to announce that, despite a struggling economy, their recent 19th Annual Gentlemen’s Club Owners EXPO enjoyed one of its strongest attendances in recent memory. With a focus on the future of the adult nightclub industry in general and the next wave of club ownership and management in particular, “Generation Next” was the theme of this year’s EXPO, a theme which carried throughout the convention.

“This year, 2011, marks the 20-Year Anniversary of ED Publications as the industry’s trade magazine, and over the past two decades, we have seen a lot of changes in our industry,” says ED Publisher Don Waitt. “These aren’t the Charlie’s Angels big-hair days anymore; we’re in the Facebook and Twitter world today, so it made sense for this year’s EXPO to focus on what the future holds for our industry.”

Tying in with the “Generation Next” theme, the EXPO’s popular series of industry workshops for club general managers and other club personnel followed an “Old School Versus New School” format to compare the best styles of management and marketing from then and now. Author and professional speaker Tim Kirkland of the Renegade Hospitality Group delivered a dynamic Keynote Address on how to hire, train and motivate the next generation of club staff and entertainers, while the convention’s team of top-ranked First Amendment attorneys forecasted upcoming legal trends for the industry with the “Club Owner on Trial: 2017” panel.

“As more of our industry’s founders and leaders approach retirement age and their sons, daughters and most valued employees start to take over club operations, it will also be interesting to see how this ‘next generation’ of club operators run the business compared to how their predecessors did it,” says Waitt. With that in mind, a highlight of EXPO 2011 was the “Changing of the Guard” panel session, where current club owners and their children who are also in the business—including industry legend Harry Mohney, founder of the Déjà Vu club chain and his son Jason, Joe and daughter Jenn Shamy of Delilah’s in Philadelphia and Dick and son Ron Shappy of the Cadillac Lounge in Rhode Island—debated management styles and philosophies. PT’s Showclub chain owner Troy Lowrie, whose father, the late Hal Lowrie, is also considered one of the adult club industry’s forerunners, moderated the panel.

Even with three days of workshops and panel sessions and two days of a 250-booth tradeshow, it certainly wasn’t all business at EXPO 2011. They don’t call Las Vegas “Sin City” for nothing, and the EXPO’s lively group of adult club executives and entertainers are treated to two nights of private, industry parties, and also to ED Publications’ 2011 Awards Show. The Opening Night Pool Party at The Mirage featured a bikini contest with $1,000 in cash prizes, and was hosted by “Ronnie the Limo Driver” from the Howard Stern Show. The Closing Night “Rooftop” Party at the new Larry Flynt’s Hustler Club showcased the First Annual “Hot Seat” Awards, where club executives and industry pros were put on the “hot seat” with three “gag” awards: “Club Executive with the (wink, wink) smallest ego”; “Club Executive who’s better looking than his entertainers”; and “Industry Pro who is most in need of a valium with his morning coffee.”

The 14th Annual Awards Show & Reception—“A Black & White Bash”—was hosted by popular comedian Nick Di Paolo and was held inside the Grand Ballroom at The Mirage Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas on Tuesday, August 23rd. The ED’s Awards Show is held each year during the Annual Gentlemen’s Club Owners EXPO.

For 19 years, ED Publications, the adult nightclub industry’s trade magazine, has produced the Annual Gentlemen’s Club Owners EXPO, the only national convention and tradeshow for the multi-billion-dollar gentlemen’s club industry. The EXPO draws more than 3,000 attendees, including over 1,700 club owners, general managers, and club personnel from individual clubs and club chains. Other EXPO attendees include liquor, beer and wine distributors; food and beverage companies; club furnishings and bar products companies; attorneys, architects, club brokers and insurance specialists; and sound, lighting and staging companies.

For more information on the 19th Annual Gentlemen’s Club Owners EXPO, please visit www.EDpublications.com or www.ExoticDancer.com today, email dave@edpublications.com or call (727) 726-3592.

All photos by Tim Hubbard

www.BigTitsRoundAsses.com