Clubs & Appearances

ED Awards Winners

August 18, 2016

Source: ED Publications

By: Company Press Release

(CLEARWATER, FL) — Held for the second straight year in the Big Easy, the Annual Gentlemen’s Club Expo (produced by ED Publications) once again celebrated the best-of-the-best with the adult nightclub industry’s only national awards show, the ED’s Awards. On August 9th, the Harrah’s Theatre inside Harrahs’ Casino played host to the 19th Annual ED’s Awards Show, where Lacey Rain was presented with the Overall Feature Entertainer of the Year Award for the second time in her career.

The two other major award winners of the night included Monroe’s of Palm Beach in West Palm Beach, FL, which took home the prestigious Overall Gentlemen’s Club of the Year Award, while Scores Holding was voted the industry’s Club Chain of the Year. The show was hosted by no-holds-barred comedian Colin Kane, who had the crowd roaring as they wondered, “Did he just say that?!”

“Our Entertainer of the Year nominees – Lacey Rain, RubberDoll and Angela Sommers – each put on mesmerizing live performances, showcasing exactly why each was a fitting nominee for Entertainer of the Year,” says ED Publications’ Associate Publisher and ED’s Awards Show co-producer, Dave Manack, noting that the fourth Entertainer of the Year nominee, Miss Mena, was unable to attend the Expo and thus did not perform.

“And out of our eight deserving Club of the Year nominees, Monroe’s of Palm Beach emerged as the industry’s top venue for 2015/2016, which is a testament to how hard owners Scott & Jennifer Lizza, GM Joe Bee and the rest of the staff at Monroe’s have worked to make this club one of the very best in the country in a very short period of time.”

In total, 22 ED’s Awards were presented to adult nightclubs, feature entertainers and club staff at Expo 2016. While the majority of these were handed out at Harrah’s Theatre, nine ED’s Awards were given away at the Opening Night Party and Pre-ED Awards at the elegantly rustic Republic Nola nightclub on Monday, August 8th. These included all of the staff awards (Employee, DJ and GM), as well as the first-ever “Urban Club of the Year” Award, which was presented to Black Diamonds in Jackson, Mississippi. (The complete list of ED’s Awards winners is listed below.)

ED Publications was also proud to induct longtime club owner and operator Dennis DeGori into its Hall of Fame for 2016. DeGori is currently the owner of the famed E11EVEN club in Miami as well as the Scores club in Chicago, and has been recognized as a top club owner/operator for three decades.

The 24th Annual Gentlemen’s Club Expo was held for the second straight year in New Orleans at the Hilton Riverside, and included four days of educational seminars, a two-day, 100-plus-booth tradeshow, networking events, the Ace National (Association of Club Executives) board meeting, and fun events such as the Opening Night Party, Bikini Bowl-a-Rama and Closing Night Bourbon Street Bash.

“We had some of the strongest seminar presentations we’ve ever had at this year’s Expo,” says Manack. “These included our first-ever seminar on urban adult nightclubs, featuring DC Glenn of Tag Team (‘Whoomp There it is’) fame, the ‘power of positive leadership’ presentation by motivational speaker Willard Barth, Robert Smith’s (Nightclub Security Consultants) seminar on how to prevent and/or handle active shooter situations, and that’s just a few of the seminars Expo attendees experienced.”

ED Publications also announced at this year’s Expo that next year’s convention, the 25th Anniversary Expo, will be moving back to Las Vegas and will be held at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, August 27-30, 2017.

For more information on this year’s Expo, or previous EXPOs, visit www.theEDexpo.com or call ED Publications at (727) 726-3592. For specific Expo photo requests, please email dave@edpublications.com.

Winners from the 2016 ED’s Awards Show:

Overall Feature Entertainer of the Year

Lacey Rain

Overall Gentlemen’s Club of the Year

Monroe’s of Palm Beach, West Palm Beach, FL

Club Chain of the Year

Scores Holding

EXOTIC DANCER Hall of Fame

Dennis DeGori

Club Favorite Entertainer of the Year

Natasha Nova

Newcomer Feature Entertainer of the Year