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September 2005: PAUL SMITH’S DEVIANT’S DIARY - There's no business like ETO Show Business.
Conventional wisdom says you can talk to Liverpool Trading Standards, but you cannot make them think, and you can't please all the people all the time. Apart from NEC sandwiches priced at £4 each and being too busy, it seems the ETO Show got close to the latter. I did a tour and stuck a digital voice recorder under folk's noses whenever they seemed quiet enough to spare me a minute or two. Without wanting to be too self-congratulatory, it seems everyone was having a decent day, even with the heads they'd inherited from the awards dinner the night before…
Relatively early on the day I spoke to George Yates at the Pays4 stand: "The show's going great and I'm sure it will for many successful years. We're here to launch our payment system which charges for access to any media content - specifically adult market today, obviously. There are examples of hardcore and gay product on our system to show evidence of broad exposure. We're very pleased with the initial response - just the first couple of hours so far. We've met plenty of interesting people and we feel that we've got a very novel payment system. Anyone with any sort of intellectual property on electronic media, be it audio, video or anything at all can use our system - within the bounds of legality of course. Most of our content is streamed rather than downloaded and our system is very convenient as it remembers the consumer has paid so they're free log into the service from home, work, wherever in the world on any web browser. There's an argument that says it's good publicity to have your product given away millions of times, and there may be an element of truth in that, but the reality is you want to put as tight a rein as possible on the consumption of your product. Essentially we're here to make sure you get paid for it."
I asked Mr W Burns of NMA & Book Exchange a.k.a. Adults Only, the first person in the queue (and one of the last visitors to leave) what he made of the show: "Great! I didn't expect there to be as many people here as what there is. It's a good show. I've been catching up with people and placing orders. I definitely hope you'll be back next year - I want to be here every year."
Nick Hilton of Millivres Prowler Group also had nice things to say: "The sheer volume of people here is an accolade as to how well respected and popular ETO is. There's a great buzz here - everyone who's anyone's turned up and it's a good show. It's a lot more concentrated than the likes of Erotica or Venus. There's a good buzzy atmosphere and there's a lot of business taking place - I've been really surprised today. It's been great to meet our customers. Plus a lot of people we haven't met before who've made the effort to come up - a huge volume of enquires. It's been a really valuable business tool. Our 25 DVDs for £75 deal has been a particular success story. And they're genuine overstock, not old clearance titles."
Andy Crawley on the ElectroStim stand seemed to have picked up a customer for life (or at least until they turned the power off): "It's a new trade show we've come up here armed with X amount of kit to give out to punters and it's flying out the door. Disappearing. We're going to run out of pricelists and catalogues if we're not careful. There's a lot more people here than I expected there to be. There's been a lot of interest for web sales and marketing -It's going really well. Our new product is the dual control ElectroStim box. There's a demo one on the go. Some people hate it, some people love it and some people, like this guy, won't let it go!"
Here's what Lyndsey Westcott of Bondage Tape ETL had to say about her day: "It's been good. We've got a load of new contacts and sold some rolls and boxes here and there. A lot of work when we get back, contacting new people, so it's been really good. This show's been very different for us as we've done others and because they're open to the public we've made more trade contacts here. So it's really good, but very different."
John Findlay on the RED (Retail Entertainment Displays) stand said: "Lovely and busy" Too busy to say much more, as it turned out. Towards the end of day he passed me this note: The ETO show has been an excellent opportunity for both new and existing customers to view and discuss our extensive new range of fixtures. The event's definitely raised our profile and created new business for us. I think exhibitors and visitors both appreciated RED's fresh approach to fixtures and shopfittings for adult orientated retailers."
Paul Mizon on the AMA Display stand had a twinkle in his eye: "We've been very very busy. I've been impressed with the number of people who've been coming round and some good quality enquires we've had. Excellent. We've had a lot of people keen to see us following the show who're looking for shop fittings for existing and new stores coming on. We think a lot of positives have come out of it. I'm new to the company so this is a new environment for me but I'm enjoying myself. Very much so!"
Crown Designs' Lee Taylor spoke about their funky foam products: "It's basically vinyl-coated foam - a completely new concept on the sex toy market. It's all soft, lightweight and very pleasing to the eye. Completely impervious to bodily fluids as well so it's easy to clean. We do a lot of hi-vis colours as well as baby pink, baby blue, red, black… All with a high gloss shine. Our biggest seller is our pussy pillow (which speaks for itself!). This is our first trade show and it's going really well. Excellent. Brilliant. General enquires, orders - Doing really well. It's excellent."
Simon Shepard was on the Marquis De Sade Furniture stand, which had been a last-minute addition to the show. He talked enthusiastically about the event: "Incredible. Very surprising. Far busier than we ever could have imagined. Compared to other trade shows this has definitely been very big for us. We've had more interest and we've probably done more business here in four hours than we've done so far this year. We launched earlier this year in Berlin where we had a huge stand -invested a lot of money. We had a lot of time to set it up- and we didn't have a fraction of the interest there that we've had today. Drawing the most crowds is our bright yellow Kenanal, which is the human version of a dog kennel. It's providing the most interest and really bringing people onto the stand."
Stephen Haynes of Blackwitch: "We're a sales and distributions company, currently looking after ten different labels, including one from Holland. Our biggest is probably Asphyxiation, a name I know you recognise. As for the show, there's no comparison with the others we've done. This one has been great for us here so far. We're very very happy with it, hoping you'll do another one next year and that we'll be attending that one as well."
Avril Thomas, looking glamorous on the VivThomas.com stand, said: "A really good show. Loads of passing people, loads of people who are interested and nice people to talk to and do business with. People with shops are looking at our range as a whole to carry. And there's Viv's book here, Triple-X-posed, where we put together some of the funny things which happen behind the scenes, so to speak, when he's doing picture sets. So we've put them with funny captions - It's just a fun thing. A tongue-in-cheek look at our industry."
Robert Miles, House of Nun: "It's been a very successful show as far as we're concerned. We've had a large number of enquires from people in all walks of life, and we're looking forward to doing further business with them. We're not really here to take firm orders on the day. People will go home with a catalogue, they'll look at what we've got, the prices, and then they'll order, depending on what they want for particular people. That said, we have taken some orders but generally speaking that's not what we're here for. We're here for future business and looking to form long-term relationships. Our cufflettes have been very popular today They're very high quality- The fur-lined ones there are beautifully soft leather. Both lined and unlined ones have been very very popular today, although they're probably our smallest item. People recognise the quality."
Jason Regler from VibraFun, happy with his new logo, had a lot to say: "We've got some new vibrating whips, and of course the existing mobile-like product which has basically been upgraded. We started off with the VibraExciter that works with your mobile phone- As seen on Jonathan Ross. We recently kicked ass in The Sun on their toy review so we were very happy about that as well. And it's on going. The beauty of what we've done conceptually is that the media and PR and all the rest of it has been simple because of the interest of people within the industry, with it being such a new concept. Our latest things are the whips that vibrate, adding a twist and new sensations to a conventional crop. They've been really popular. It was a rush for us to get them here because we saw this show as a window to get them seen and get some feedback. And the feedback's been really really really good. So we're happy! Very happy! We're thinking of pinks and purples as well as this black and red design because we think these will particularly appeal to a female audience. It's important for us to take that sort of response on-board. It helps us with our on-going development. Everything we do is based on what people say and the feedback we get. Ultimately it's the end users who count. We've got a new version of the Exciter coming out very shortly with a male sleeve. Again, I've never found a product yet, to my mind, which works that well for males. They're all 'geographically' sat at the wrong place. So we've done our homework and we've come up with this male-sleeve product that again is really good. Speaking from a testing basis! The notoriety we've got with our product, and as a company through press from around the world I think is phenomenal. And this show's been really good for us. I'm an advocate of what ETO has tried to do for the industry, and us. In light of the clone of the VibraExciter that someone thought they'd have a go at you ran a little article explaining how we felt about it. The industry needs an approach like that. Everyone's come together and it's working really well. I hope we're here next year. I'm not here aggressively selling. We're here to educate people that this is who we are, this is what we do, these are the products we've got and drop us a mail if you like what you see."
Thomas O'Brien, Sales Manager at Boxer, was trying to eat some lunch when I accosted him: "Very busy today. It's been unexpectedly busy actually. Quite reassuring that it's been so good. I think we're definitely be looking at a bigger stand next time. Lot of leads - plenty for us to do after the show. Give us a busy week next week, which we look forward to obviously! Stuff like the ball scratcher and Kama Sutra playing cards have gone really well for us. Then there's old favourites like the Kama Sutra game and even our new spoof ASBOs -although not specifically for the adult trade- have been working well for us. It's product like these that shops need to be carrying as an ideal add-on sale. Folks might come in for a DVD, but everyone knows someone with a birthday coming up who they could send a 'Bad Haircut' ASBO to." At this point Editor Dale's name came up, but I would be a fool to mention it. Oops.
The award winning Mike McCann, wearing a hangover defying bright yellow shirt on the CloneZone stand, spoke about the advantages of an all-trade show: "It's very good actually. Everyone who comes onto the stand is interested in the product and that's important for us, as we don't want timewasters. I'm very impressed with the way the show is. It could have started a bit later on Sunday morning after the party on Saturday evening! We've taken orders and people have wanted catalogues. Our Colt Leather range has drawn a lot of interest. It's been phenomenal."
By 1pm 620 people had been through the door. A serene Charlotte Wreaves of UK Distribution Ltd spoke calmly above the hubbub: "We've had a positive show today. We've seen lots of people and I think we should get something out of it. A new range of R18 DVDs from the Swank group have been showcased here and they've gone down very well. Lots of interest."
It took a while to get to speak to Amelia James on the very busy GotLingerie Ltd stand: "It's been really really good. I've really enjoyed it. A fantastic day. We've been much busier than we'd perceived but we're on a bit of a high after receiving an award last night. So that's helped us get through the day. We've done really well, promoting that we're offering a special 10% show discount. So we've secured quite a few orders. Our Dreamgirl range is as popular as always. We've launched the new Dreamgirl-Full today - that's gone down really well because we've got samples here for people to look at and also the catalogues have been flying out. Tony Shoes and the Dreamgirl Red Diamond stand have also had a lot of interest."
Blue Moon Lingerie's Richard Harris was quaffing Redbull to get through the day. Between gulps he said: "It's been very very busy indeed. I think we've been caught out a little bit -when we came in first thing this morning there were huge queue outside and we've been pretty much rushed off our feet. The only negative thing I've got to say about the show is we've seen people saying their going to start Internet companies. A lot of them will start companies, but a lot of them won't, or won't be around for very long. But over all we've been really pleased. A very good response to Foreplay, which is a big brand in the states. It's a new product for us that we're releasing today at the show. Really good feedback for it. We weren't looking to write a lot of business today because it takes up a lot of time. We'd rather do that afterwards and I think most people are doing their research today. We've had a lot of existing customers coming to see us as well which is great. Ten out of ten!"
Charlotte Cotton on the ID Lubricants & Creative Conceptions stand kindly gave me a cold coke and sat me down. I asked her how she'd found the event: "Very busy. Lots of new customers. I think people are enjoying seeing us because we have freebies and it's all very colourful. It's been really good. This has been a lot busier than I expected it to be. A lot of people have come to have a good look round. We have a big customer database anyway but we've had new people approach us, wanting information from us. It's been good all round. Some nice orders as well." I asked if any particular product had caught folk's imaginations, and she replied with a giggle, "The Peekaboo pole has drawn a lot of interest. We've had a few people swing around that."
Ash Sheth of Bella International told me about their lingerie: "We've been trading in the UK for over 15 years. All of our lingerie is manufactured in the Far East so if we like a design, we have it made, bring it back to the UK and stock it here. Hence we're able to offer next day delivery on 99.5% of our stock. Toys are another area we ventured into two years ago. Repackaged to our kind of look and feel, they've been quite successful. But it's the lingerie that is our bread-and-butter line and we've got some exciting new products coming, which I'm looking forward to showing. The ETO Show itself, I think has been a fantastic success. Well-organised, well run, and the kind of clientele you've had haven't been timewasters - as we've seen at other shows. I won't mention names. But this has been a very positive show from our point of view. Firm orders as well as genuine enquiries, absolutely. Especially with the BOGOF promotion that we're running from today until the end of August, it's given us that extra push. That's on selected lines of lingerie and the Wild Designs range. The savings you can derive from that are amazing and we've been selling two toys for £5.25 too. I don't think you can beat that. Generally we've had a good response to our existing range and that ongoing BOGOF offer."
Monique Carty, freshly deflowered Trade Show Virgin, on the Net1on1 stand: "The show's actually exceeded expectations. We didn't expect so many visitors. A lot of people we've spoken to say this is the best trade show they've been to. It's been great for us to have this chance to touch base with existing customers. A lot of our wholesale customers are actually Internet companies so it's not always easy for us to meet them face-to-face. This show has given us a chance to do that as well as meet potential customers. People have been pleased to see the new lines we have available, impressed with the quality of the products. We had a great time last night too. We were up for three awards but we won the one we really wanted to get so that's good!"
Bubble Distribution's Chris Hazelwood took a moment out to speak to me: "We've been busy. We've seen a lot of new customers. All in all it's been very well organised - ETO have done a good job. Jonathan (Kirk - Organiser) has done a superb effort for the first year. Hopefully same again for next year. We've been promoting our Sounds Erotic audio book CDs which come in three different degrees of explicitness; Spice, Sugar and Spank. A Lover's Choice product is our Amazing Hot Heart Massager. It's a reusable product and we supply the massage oil to go with it, plus various other Lover's Choice products as well. Our new range of Oh My lubricants have been very popular. Everybody's very impressed with the discreet packaging. It's something that could go on a dressing table without the potential for embarrassment. That's been very good and we're expecting big sales of that in the coming months. For a first show it's been very good. Hopefully we'll be really pleased with it - we'll find out when we go back and follow up the leads. But overall, as the day goes, more than pleased."
David Girow of Harmony was showing off his goods, shamelessly: "It's been a great opportunity to just meet people, to put names to faces and also to fill some orders, which we've done as well. Very happy - very satisfied. Meeting different retailers who we've not reached before. Brand building for us. Everyone's been commenting on the quality of our packaging and the films themselves. The slipcases we do are outstanding. I think the show should go from strength to strength. So it's been a good day."
Marino of Spanking Tomato Productions was on the Ben Dover stand and he had a specific request for the future: "I've had an absolutely wonderful day. I didn't expect it to be anywhere near as good as it has been. Pleasantly surprised with the number of new customers I've picked up. Sales today have been quite good; they've covered the cost of the day for me. It's been really good, really pleased - don't have any complaints. Thought I would as I like to moan and I haven't got any complaints! Special discount trade price to everyone today, and I've probably given away as many as I've sold. I've just had a really good response all the way through. I've not had a chance to get off my stall and look at anyone else's, which has been a bit of a bummer. I tell you what, I've thought of a problem. My only complaint is there's not enough loose totty walking about. Three cheap brassy girls who don't mind their bottoms being groped would just be that finishing touch. We don't mind chipping in!"
Susie Hamilton on the Pumpkin Interactive stand spoke about their new Hardcore Control interactive DVD product: "This is been our first opportunity to show off our interactive product in its full length, which is great. The feedback we've had has been very very encouraging today, so we're very pleased with that. Some firm orders too. This show's been absolutely right for us. It's nice to be in an environment where you can actually do some serious business - where it's trade-only. The size is great as well- not too big, not too small. We've found the manageable pace has worked really well for us."
Star of Hardcore Control and many playful films Cathy Barry joined us, adding: "The event's been absolutely brilliant today. We've got a lot more contacts for the new DVD game and a lot more people wanting to buy our DVDs. It's done really well today. Lots of people wanting their photo taken with me too… Especially you!"
On the Top Cat Toys stand Gary Ayckbourn spoke with real passion about the industry, the show and Top Cat's place in it. I cockily asked him why this was the best trade show he'd ever been to. After laughing he replied: "To be honest with you, I actually genuinely think it is. I think it's about time something like this happened. ETO has been talking about doing something for the industry, and they've done it. I think it's superb. The number of times we've done shows with consumers around and we're mixed in, trying to sell stuff and there's been nothing purely for trade. It's nice for everybody to get together, without having to guess who everyone is. We can sit and talk to them about business without punters trying to get toys cheap or for free. It's proper trade business and it's been really worth doing. We've just opened a new factory and there are a number of new toys but interest hasn't just been on those, it's been on what we can do as a manufacturer. It's just been seeing people who already trade with us as well as meeting new people. We're not here to take money on the day and as an exercise for the industry, this is exactly what it should be like. We've had orders, but I wasn't expecting to take any. Today was about getting our message over, people coming up and getting information - being able to follow everything up afterwards. Meeting people, building relationships by having the time to actually talk to them which you don't at other venues. As exhibitors, if you've all been busy all day, you learn for next time. But you've seemingly had the right kind of people through the door. Last night's Awards dinner set a different standard, where people were impressed, and it was nice to see everybody all dressed up - didn't recognise half of them! And I heard comments last night from people saying that for the first time they felt a part of an industry because they've never really got together in those numbers before. I think on the back of that, coming here today, it's just added to it. The show's been great. I went over to your stand and congratulated you guys because it's definitely been worth doing."
John Addy of Liquid Gold wasn't at the show to raise the firm's already high profile: "We've not met anybody here who's not heard of Liquid Gold Aromas - the advantage of having been around for 30 years. But it's been the first time we've done anything like this and it's been good. We've come here really from a PR point of view and to explain to people about the law - the legality of our products - as there's been so many mixed ideas about whether it's legal and what is and what isn't. We were challenged in court four years ago and there are strict guidelines, which we're advising people of today. Simply so they keep within the law. People shouldn't use the product if they've got a pacemaker or are using Viagra - Anything like that. As this is the first time we've done an event like this I think we're very very pleased. We've had a great buzz from people on our stand, continually, all day so that's really really good from our point of view. Sales-wise we could have sold out if we had been selling direct - but we don't want to. We're just here to advise people and it's been a great show for that. We've really loved it. We've directed people to our wholesalers and they've taken orders, so from everyone's point of view it's been a winner. We'll be back again."
Sam Maristani of Not Taboo had this to say: "I think it's been absolutely wonderful, just a bit too busy. Maybe it would be better over two days next time. Although we've had over 80 inquires we've just not had the time to take any orders. We've just been too busy to spend that much time with anyone- but it would be impolite to ignore people. And customers want to meet everyone so they don't have that much time to spend with you either. That's why I think a two-day show would be better. It's been much much better than I thought it would be. We'll have a busy week next week as we're showing in Knightsbridge with our mother-company as well as following up leads from today. Very pleased."
David Turner of Sintillation said the show was complete rubbish, but soon changed his tune when asked to explain himself: "Only joking! Actually, it's been a very good show. We've seen many many people. We've met some existing customers and a good range of possible new customers so we're quite pleased. It's a good show, nice and compact, and being just the one day you don't get too tired. The customer concentration is excellent. Not an order-taking event as such, but many enquiries and like various other shows, we'll no doubt convert those into business after the show. I'm sure we will. I'm expecting a busy week next week."
Karen McDonald had made a special journey from Australia to be on the Pussy Shaver stand: "I've had an absolutely brilliant event. I think it's been very worthwhile. It's been good to see the people you deal with on a daily basis. And it's more of a personal experience so that they can get to know more about you and your product for themselves. We've sold some stock off of the stand, including some that compliment the pussy shaver - like the Glamour Puss Dusting Powder, which is scented with the fragrance of Paris. And we also do a range of men's face shavers. I've come all the way from Australia to be here today. It's my first time in the UK and I've thoroughly enjoyed it. Absolutely!"
Direct Entry Ltd's softly-spoken Lisa Bradshaw told me a bit about their Latex Heaven product: "It's a fun new product -paint on, peel off- that you can wear out clubbing. It's been a very enjoyable day, much busier than we expected. Especially around lunchtime. We've got a lot of good contacts and leads and we look forward to coming back next year."
I asked Sophie Walters on the Sh! Women's Store stand how their wares had gone: "We've had a great time. It's been fascinating and we've got lots of contacts - lots of interest. Specifically for us, as we're the manufacturers now offering our designs for wholesale for the first time, an incredible response. We're very very pleased. There's been a fantastic reaction to our Thrill Dil products. Especially the strapless strap-on, which comes in either vibrating or inert forms and is made of surgical grade silicon rubber -handmade by us- and it actually works. I can absolutely verify that! It's ergonomically designed and balanced specifically to be worn inside and the shaft is based on our popular Cupid 3 dildo, which is one of our best sellers. We've been going 13 years so we really do know what we're talking about. We decided that having manufactured for ourselves, we really should open things wider. We're a proven brand with absolute confidence in our products, which are now sold in Tokyo, Berlin, Barcelona, Paris and Madrid and we felt it was time that the UK should get the benefit of it, so here we are!"
Bill Matharu spoke to me on the product-packed 2 CD Designs stand: "We've taken no major orders but we've spoken to a lot of people - a lot of leads. We're expecting a busy time following this. Our big draw has been products like the Wench's outfit in our Classified range for £5 and we've been promoting our web site, www.2cddesigns.co.uk, where you can register to see our trade price list and the vast size of our range. Did I mention that we're cheap? Cheaper than everyone else? Very cheap!"
I asked what David McGee of DVM Enterprises had got from the event: "Seeing as it's the first one it's been really good - really good it has. We've got a lot of business from it. We've gained a lot of people who didn't know us who now know us as we've only been going 13 months. Everyone can see what we're about and what we've got in terms of real home made DVDs. Can't fault it. It's been really good for us. There's been a lot of interest on the Sweet Pictures titles (I recognised Kneel!) too as we're the sole distributor for those in the UK for them."
Flame-haired Anna Kieran on the bold Hot Rod stand is an old hand at trade events and she spoke very positively about her day in Birmingham: "It's been fantastic! It's been really really great actually. It's nice to have a show where you don't have to worry about consumers and just to have business people rather than people who want to be business people but are end users. We've had loads of orders because of our special show discount for customers. Also, the other good thing is I get to meet the people I speak to all year on the phone and I had no idea what they look like, and they never look like what I think they look like. So it's been really good and I'm really happy. The Magma stuff has been getting a lot of attention, as have our own Dogging Diaries releases. I think it helps having such an eye-catching stand. When you have such big displays people are drawn onto the stand. We've also brought a new catalogue with us for the show, which has given us a chance to sit down with our customers and go through it. Jogging their memory of all our stock. We've got over 250 titles, which is a heck of a lot. Launching a catalogue at a show is the best time to do it. Everyone's saying should next years show be over two days. I like it like this, a single day. Mainly because I'm not very good at being polite to people over two days, and you have to be quite nice! I thought having the awards show last night was a bit of a rubbish idea because I thought it should be business first and pleasure later but I've changed my mind today. I think it quite good to have everyone hung-over and bleary-eyed because they've spent more money. So I think yes, we'll definitely do it next year. And hopefully it'll get bigger and bigger, but just keep it as a dedicated trade show. That's been the key thing today. There's Rob (director of Dogging Diaries) now. This man has the filthiest mind of any person I've ever met in my life! It's true though! If he wasn't a porn director I'd be frightened!"
We were joined by Rob Stone of 7th Heaven Productions: "We're working on a new series now called Party Animals - We've just shot the first one. For all intents and purposes it's as good as Dogging Diaries, with a more glamorous approach though. Where 'Diaries was in a lot of sleazy, kinda scuzy locations, Party Animals is in a lot more clubby, up-beat environments. But it's still as filthy. As for the show, I've not done that many but this is brilliant. This is definitely the best one I've been to - and I'm not saying that because you're pointing an electric razor at me. I'll tell you what's good about this one; it's so much friendlier- really well set up. Great fun. It's been a success for you lot. Well done."
Queensway's Paul Shepstone had this view of the event: "It's been very successful. Obviously it's nice to come to our hometown and everyone in the industry has enjoyed coming to Birmingham. We'll definitely do it again and support ETO all along. Very happy. Our new range of titles from Nectar Entertainment is a reality-based series, which has gone fairly well. And there's our first release on 18 certificate as well. It's a new market for us and potentially it could out sell our R18 product as the number of outlets available to us is unbelievable."
I caught Kate Ball on the Davillion Accessories Ltd stand before she dashed off. "We've been promoting our Pleasuring range of micro-vibes. That's the pleasure-ring, pleasure-me, pleasure-up plug, pleasure-power and our brand new small massager product, which is going to be called the pleasure-touch. We thought the show has been great. I've really enjoyed it. We've had a lot of very positive people come through. Quite interesting that we've had people from all around the country - we thought that was very good. Particularly south Wales, Bristol, a couple from Scotland- It would have been nice to have seen some European visitors over. I think that would have been quite nice. We'll be back next year and perhaps the success of this show will bring them across."
Valerie Norton of BlueHeaven Products Ltd was up from Essex with rubbery goodies to show off: "I'm very happy with the results of today. And we shall be coming back next year with a bigger stand. We're really pleased - It's gone very well and I'm more than happy with the way things have worked out - The people we've met, the contacts we've made and the orders we've taken. Our big seller's been the contact-activated vibrating cock-ring and clitoral stimulator. The beauty of this is you don't have a battery switch to turn on and forget to turn off; it's contact sensitive so it's only running when it's needed. It'll run for 55 minutes solid. This is what we've been taking a lot of orders for today."
They'd had such a busy day on the Scala stand it was being taken apart before I was able to catch Clive Gore to chat to him. Ever tactful, I started by asking him if he felt as tired as he looked: "Yes! It's been absolutely non-stop. It's been great- a much bigger success than I'd anticipated, quite frankly. This is certainly the best event in the UK and it's more relevant to me than Venus because there's a lot of product there we can't sell here. So as a trade show it's the best. No doubt about it. We've a very special offer from Wex (Sorry, I'm guessing at that spelling) over from America. Where they offered to double everyone's order free of charge. They've given away a lot of stuff, which is going to do a lot of good for the future anyway. We've got a new range of high-class porn. There's rapper Ice-T doing a video of his pimpin' days, before he was famous- The whole DVD market has been very good for us. Plus ToyJoy, our new range of toys. It's been brought out without the sort of offensive pictures of penises and vaginas on the packaging to make it customer friendly to women. It's only been out four months and it's succeeded. In the first two months we sold 80,000 units in Europe. Looking forward, we'd like to be back here for a bigger show next year. With wider aisles because it got pretty crowded. But count me in so long as the price is right."
I spoke to Faith Attwell of TSX Toys after the event: "It was busy, which was good. We met a lot of new customers we'd not seen previously. We took more orders than we'd expected to, which was great, and we're hoping to gain many new customers from it over the coming months. It helps that all our toys are unique, which most people in the industry realise. They never fail to surprise retailers how well they sell, even some of the more outrageous designs. 'We didn't think that product would sell', they say, 'but it's flying out the door'. We had an incredible response to our giant dildos, which people were raising their eyebrows at! We didn't know what reaction to expect to them, but we now know those toys will be in production for us in the US, thanks to the feedback we got at the show. Everybody visiting our stand to browse and chat was so relaxed and made to feel welcome, which made it a stress-free day for us too, which you wouldn't really expect, given how busy we were. The show was a rare opportunity- It was great for visitors to see our products, ask any questions and for us to be able to talk about our custom manufacturing services - which is the hardest thing about our business to get across on the phone, in magazines, on the web or through brochures. With our range of 400 products you have the option of six different components, like suction cup, vibrator options or harness mount and 26 different colours and finishes. So most of our orders are made to customer specifications. We do a stock-list as well, but most shops love something unique to their business. Our products aren't mass-produced; they're made-to-order with loving care! I don't think there are many people who do what we do either when it comes to packaging, which is all about showing the product off. Our white card backings show people that they're only paying for the product, not the throw-away packaging, and that leaves them feeling it's better value for money. It's nice to have a show that's all about the UK trade. We do the European shows and others overseas and to see British customers here makes a nice change because not everyone can attend those other shows. We'd like to come back next year."
Apollo's Rachel Meares was similarly unavailable for comment on the day (a victim of her own success!) so I caught up with her by phone afterwards: "My feet were killing me! But it was all worth it. We actually had a lot of positive feedback when we were launching the Oh! Cherié range and expanding our Dark Desires brand. We had a lot of product on the stand, which meant it took a long time to put up and take down, but it was worth the effort. Everyone had a different kind of attitude- very business focused on the day. Everybody was there for a reason. Good all in all. Definitely interested in returning in 2006. It was all crammed into a very short space of time. The atmosphere was very different from the retail show I've been to, so I don't have a like-for-like comparison in all fairness, but there was a very positive attitude over all. We saw faces at the NEC we wouldn't have seen elsewhere because the show was condensed, meaning people could make the effort to go around and see everyone else, and their products."
Mike Wallace from Interfact, elatedly basking in the glow of 'just the three or four' ETO Awards from the night before: "I thought it was a great success. Being a dedicated show cut out a lot of time wasting. In terms of visitors, we didn't see many foreign customers, but I'm sure that will come in time. They were mainly British, which is the biggest part of our business anyway. It was far better than I think most people imagined it would be. We'd certainly do it again - it was great. Easy access to the site, the NEC people were very helpful, it was ideal. We brought a wide selection of DVDs, toys and novelties and visitors seemed to spend equal time with all of them, looking at our range as a one-stop-shop. I was at the show in my buying capacity while Ron Yates was selling. I had a good shopping trip- another thing; the stands were more or less equal. Usually you expect 'little' stands and perhaps one or two massive ones dominating. At this exhibition everyone was on a more even footing, which I think is a good idea. Equal opportunity for everybody. I managed to stay fairly sober on the Saturday night, but there were several people who made it to the show late because they'd had such a good time the night before."
I've saved the last words about the weekend for a bombastic Dominic Hawes of Mantric: "The ETO Awards dinner was great fun! Of course, an awards dinner is always brighter when you're picking up awards. It was great to be able to relax and talk to other people in the industry in a friendly and informal environment. It was a brilliant way of setting the scene for today's event. We had a sneaking suspicion that we were quite well placed for the marketing award because we spend a lot of money and a lot of time creating our ads. They've always worked very well for us. So, when we won that award - while it was nice vindication for the work and the effort that we put in - it wasn't entirely a surprise. But, to pick up an award for the best manufacturer when one is up against the world's biggest, oldest and best-known manufacturers… well we still haven't quite got over the surprise! It took a little while to sink in that this was also an award that was being presented as a result of votes cast by the industry. This is recognition in its purest form. We were also nominated for adult products distributor of the year. Although we didn't win that one, even getting nominated is great proof of the service that the ops team delivers. Our sights are clearly set on this category for next year. Thanks to everyone who voted for us."
I pressed him for his thoughts on the show: "The ETO show is without a doubt one of the best shows that any of our team has attended. To have so much good quality work packed into such a short space of time gives us all a real buzz. We've met many existing customers and had a chance to speak to them about the market, our products, and our service in a professional and relaxed environment. We've also met many potential customers that we've been speaking to for a while but hadn't yet placed an order, as well as people that we didn't know existed. Most importantly, we've seeing all of these people while we're standing in front of our product. There's no better environment in which to sell.
We're very well priced in the market and our toys are different. Having all of our main competition in the same room gives visitors the opportunity to compare us like-for-like with all of the other suppliers on the market. I'm happy to say we're taking numerous orders and opening accounts for at least ten new customers."
At the moment, spurred on by the runaway success of this year's award dinner and show, talks are going on about the format for next year's event. As soon as there are firm plans, you'll read about them here. See more comment and photos from the first ETO Show, as well as the awards night before, at www.ETOshow.com. Speaking personally as a freelance writer, and as a veteran of a dozen or more trade shows, I have to say this was the standout event. A great selection and mix of exhibitors, several hundreds of the right sort of visitor and slick organisation resulted in an amazing atmosphere. You could smell the business being done! Who'd have thought I'm flexible enough to blow ETO's trumpet?
Paul Smith is still free to a good home. Kinky Job offers to info@snapsandbytes.co.uk please.
7,500ish words on the Joy of Shows Dale. You did say write as much as I like! Remember me when it's Christmas bonus time. I've left the article a bit short to leave room for photos. :-P
Paul.