Source: Adult Industry News
By: Myles Shaffer
Myles’ Weekend Adventures: 11Th Anniversary Column – New Orleans, Gentlemen’s Club Owners Expo
Bonjour mon amis! Comment ca va? Myles Shaffer here. Yes folks, the day I started my long drive to New Orleans to attend the Owners Expo was the eleventh anniversary of this column. My first ever column written for AINews.xxx was published on August 18, 2004. Okay, that will be enough about that. Let us now move on to all the things experienced during a total of thirteen consecutive days of fun and travel.
This column will be about what in my opinion is the greatest convention dedicated to the gentlemen’s club industry and feature entertainers in the world. And this year, it was held in my favorite city! What could be better than hanging out with wonderful people and beautiful women in New Orleans, Louisiana? Is anybody curious enough to read on for the details? Good! Then please do!
I pulled out of my driveway at 10:30, three hours behind schedule, on the morning of August 18. After five fuel stops (Do I ever love the fuel mileage I get with my new Honda accord Lx.), two meals at different Golden Corral Buffets, three nights spend in motels, a good meal and conversation with an Internet friend, eating great Cajun food at Poche’s Market and Restaurant in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, and a visit to the grave of a young Louisiana country recording artist, I arrived at my timeshare hotel in New Orleans around 5:40 something, Friday evening, August 21.
The afternoon of Thursday, August 20, I stopped in Jennings, Louisiana, to meet an Internet friend in person for the first time and to have lunch and some great conversation with her.
Once we finished our lunch and said goodbye, my friend went back to work and I continued on to Lafayette, Louisiana, and checked into a motel there.
Once I had checked in, I went to the Pilot in Breaux Bridge to fill up my tank. Then I drove up to my Cajun musicians’ home in the Carencro area. Unfortunately, Sheryl and Russell Cormier were not home, so I went back to the motel to relax and get a good night’s sleep.
The morning of August 21, I checked out and made another trip to Sheryl and Russell’s place. This time they were home, and we ended up going to Poche’s Market and Restaurant for lunch.
After lunch, and another stop at the Breaux Bridge Pilot to top off my tank, I continued on my way to New Orleans with a short detour.
Just before I reached the bridge over the Mississippi River into Baton Rouge, I detoured down to Grace Memorial Park Cemetery to find and visit the grave of Amie Comeaux. (No, I never met the young lady; I will always wish that I had. Amie was a lovely young woman, she had a great singing voice, and she was very talented.)
Once I had spent several minutes at Amie’s grave, I drove the rest of the way to New Orleans.
2015 Exotic Dancer Gentlemen’s Club Owners Expo
Now we shall get to the events of the Expo.
Sunday, August 23, after eating at the Praline Connection, my Editor-in-Chief, Steve Nelson, and I rode the Riverfront Street Car Line up river to the Hilton New Orleans Riverside Hotel for the early registration and to do some socializing with whomever we ran into.
After arriving at the Hilton, we located the Expo registration booths on the third floor. Once we had found our way to the registration area, we signed in and picked up our press credentials.
Once we had taken care of business, Steve and I began to wander around to see who might be there and to say hello.
During this period of time, we ran into Christina Aguchi, Angel Beau, whom I officially met for the first time, Artemis Moon, photographer/journalist Misha More, Gia Nova, Phoenix Phires, Reagan Reilly, photographer Ricky Rich, Rio Rivers, Trinity St. Clair, and Destiny B. Wilde.
A few minutes after 5PM, I caught a cab to the original Tipitina’s to say hello to Bruce Daigrepont and the members of his band, the Bruce Daigrepont Cajun Band, listen to their music, and to watch some of the local people dance for a couple of hours.
About a quarter to nine that evening, I took a cab back to my timeshare hotel.
Miss Exotic International Pageant
Once I arrived back at my place of residence for the week, Steve Nelson and I walked to Lucky Pierre’s on Bourbon Street to observe the latest installment of the, “Miss Exotic International Pageant Series.”
Before going any further, I would like to join Rio Rivers in thanking Minx Showpalace not only for being the pageant’s title sponsor but for also hosting this installment of the pageant. (Minx Showpalace will also be hosting this year’s Miss Nude World coming up November 9 through 14.)
I believe this installment of the contest may have set a record for the number of performers who competed. There were a total of twenty-two competitors and one veteran guest performer.
And was the competition ever tough this time around. I am glad that I didn’t have to do any judging. All the competitors were good-looking, their costumes were beautiful, and their performances were spectacular!
I am going to leave the details of the pageant, who the performers were, and who won what for my next column. (That is one good way to ensure that everybody will read my next writing endeavor.)
Expo Tradeshow First Day
Monday, August 24, it was out the front door and across the street to the Riverfront Street Car Line to return to the Hilton for the first day of the Expo tradeshow.
While wandering around during the hours of the tradeshow, I ran into Jayden Cole, Jaded Dawn, Prinzzess Felicity Jade, Naomi Knight, Gia Nova, Reagan Reilly, Don Waitt, and Teri Weigel.
During the afternoon, I met Asia (Since Asia was sitting in a booth with Maggie, I think she may have been an employee of, or a dancer at, the Baton Rouge Penthouse Club.), Isabelle Deltore, Danielle Diamond, a Hugh Hefner impersonator, Kenna James, Nadia Knoxx, Liza Mae Lust, Maggie who is the director of marketing for the Baton Rouge, Louisiana Penthouse Club, and Abby Rhodes for the first time.
Once the tradeshow was finished for the day, Steve and I went to Mulate’s Cajun Restaurant for an early dinner.
After we had finished eating, we returned to the Hilton. Once there, Steve hung around the hotel until time to go on the pub crawl. I on the other hand went to the Snug Harbor Jazz Bistro to say hello to the Charmaine Neville Band and to enjoy their first performance of the evening. (I would have liked to stay for both shows, but I was getting very tired and a bit sleepy; therefore, I begged off and walked back to my hotel.)
Expo Tradeshow Second Day
Tuesday, August 25, Steve and I hopped onto the, you guessed it, Riverfront Street Car and returned to the Hilton for the last day of the Expo tradeshow.
During the day, I ran into Little Sassy Cassee, Jaded Dawn, Prinzzess Felicity Jade, Lisa Luscious, Abby Rhodes, Rachelle Ryan, Katie Sutra, and Destiny B. Wilde.
On this day I met Krystal Dawn, JayCee Lane, Miss Mena, Hayli Paige, and Jenny Wolf for the First time. (Yes, I finally had the good fortune to meet Miss Mena.)
Exotic Dancer Awards Show
That Tuesday evening, Steve and I had the good fortune to be able to attend the Exotic Dancer Awards Show.
This year’s award show was held at the Civic Theatre in downtown New Orleans and was hosted by the well known comedian Thea Vidale. This was the first time the event was hosted by a woman and the first time it was hosted by an African-American all at the same time so-to-speak.
Ms. Vidale did a great job, and she was extremely funny!
And the 2015 award winners were: Overall Gentlemen’s Club of the Year went to Tootsie’s Cabaret, Miami, Florida Club Chain of the Year was taken by the Spearmint Rhino Corporation Club of the Year East went to Scores, New York City Small Club of the Year East was won by Little Darlings, Baltimore, Maryland Club of the Year South went to Thee Dollhouse, Tampa, Florida Small Club of the Year South was taken home by Vegas Cabaret, Lauderhill, Florida Club of the Year Central was won by Hustler Club, E. St. Louis, Illinois Small Club of the Year Central was taken by Temptations, Beaumont, Texas Club of the Year West went to Spearmint Rhino, Las Vegas, Nevada Small Club of the Year West was taken home by LA Boheme, Denver, Colorado “Feature Club,” of the Year went to Monroe’s of Palm Beach, West Palm Beach, Florida International Club of the Year was won by Penthouse Club, Perth, Australia General Manager of the Year went to Bryant Emiliani, Penthouse Club, Baton Rouge, Louisiana Club Employee of the Year was taken home by Ashley Sponsler, Hustler Club, San Francisco, California DJ of the Year was won by Jay Crowley, Gold Club, San Francisco, California Overall Feature Entertainer of the Year was won by Roxi D’Lite Newcomer Entertainer of the Year went to Angel Beau Club Favorite Entertainer of the year was taken home by Jayden Cole Adult Movie Entertainer of the Year was won by Richelle Ryan Miss Exoticdancer.com of the Year was Isabelle Deltore Joe Carouba was inducted into the Exotic Dancer Hall of Fame
Canadian Explosion
After the awards show had ended, Steve and I took advantage of the free bus back to the Hilton. Once we had arrived back at the Hilton, we walked to the Penthouse Club to observe the, “Canadian Explosion.”
The, “Canadian Explosion,” was a performance of Canadian feature performers with the exception of two Australian features and a Brazilian feature that all now live in Canada.
The ladies who performed in the, “Canadian Explosion,” in the order of their performances were: Madison Cue, Kelsey Wilde, Nadia Knoxx, Holly Hart, Arabella Allure, Isabelle Deltore, Adrianne Spring, Andrea Brazil, and Janine Jericho.
A lot of people attended this event including the legendary Ron Jeremy.
Creole Queen River Cruise
Wednesday afternoon, August 26, Steve and I rode the Riverfront Street Car upriver to the Hilton, but we did not go into the hotel. We instead walked to the Creole Queen which was docked across the tracks from the hotel and waited until time to board.
Once aboard the Creole Queen, we went on a Mississippi River cruise, saw the sights, and pigged out on the all you could eat Cajun and Creole food buffet.
Now get this. So long as we were wearing our Expo badges, the cruise plus the food was all free thanks to Exotic Dancer Publications!
Closing Night Party
After the cruise had ended, Steve and I walked around the Riverwalk Mall until time to walk over to Harrah’s Casino for the closing night party held in the Masquerade Night Club.
During the party, the attendees were treated to a second helping of the, “Canadian Explosion.”
During the, “Canadian Explosion,” I had the extreme pleasure of being seated between JayCee Lane and Abby Rhodes.
Thursday, August 27, was a day to relax and enjoy not having anything pressing to do. Steve and I walked to Port of Call for some of their great half-pound cheeseburgers, baked potatoes, and glasses of iced tea.
Once we had eaten, I showed Steve around some more of the French Quarter.
We then returned to the hotel to do some laundry and prepare to check out and hit the road the next morning.
Steve and I checked out and hit the road at 8:30 Friday morning, August 28. He headed out to visit friends and relatives around the country before returning to California. I on the other hand drove to the Breaux Bridge Pilot Travel Center to fill up my gasoline tank.
Once I had topped off my tank, I made a detour down to Erath, Louisiana, to visit with the legendary Cajun recording artist D. L. Menard at his house for about forty-five minutes.
After saying goodbye to D. L., I headed home, and after two nights in motels and having meals at three more Golden Corral Buffets, I arrived home at about 10:15, Sunday night, August 30. (I have now eaten in twenty-seven Golden Corrals scattered across six states.)
Okay people that will just about be enough for now. We should all meet back here the next time and continue the discussion of gorgeous women, fun times, and to learn the details of the feature dancer pageant. Until then, everybody stay safe, have a great week, and live life as if there were no tomorrow!
Bonsoir et au revoir,
Myles Shaffer
