The XBIZ Awards and the surrounding conference have come and gone, and it couldn’t possibly have been more fun. This was my first big mainstream adult show/conference, and I think it was an excellent place to begin. The conference itself took place in the Sofitel in Beverly Hills and you couldn’t have asked for a swankier locale, which made talking openly about the adult industry in the elevator/lobby/hotel bar all the more amusing.
All of the seminars were really great and informative, with a lot of attention put towards the changing face of the business. Say what you will about porn, but these people know how to think on their feet and adapt. There are a lot of really amazing new innovations and directions for adult content that will be coming to the forefront in 2012, and it was honestly very exciting to be part of the discussion.
But you don’t want to hear about the synergy and the networking or any of that, do you? You want to hear about the parties, the awards and the stars. But of course. I’m going to skip right over the golf trip because men in whacky pants probably won’t do it for many of you, and go straight ahead to the Cybersocket Web Awards. These are the gay-only awards for hot men who like to get it on 
for our entertainment, with a gaggle of fabulous drag queen hosts, a stable of incredibly cut topless trophy boys and spinning courtesy of the inimitable Chi Chi Larue, this was more party than awards show.
It went down at The Factory in West Hollywood, a series of interconnected rooms packed with gorgeous industry types and muscular gyrating men. Needless to say, I was in heaven. The ceremony itself was short and sweet, whipping through the awards and getting to the after-party pretty quickly. Nods went out to companies like BadPuppy, Randy Blue, Fleshjack, Manhunt, Naked Sword, Bel Ami, and Brent Everett and Anthony Romero were honoured as best pornstar and best newcomer, respectively. Everyone was having a great time, the music was bumping and there was an undeniable buzz in the air. The giftbag featured porn deemed too hot to get past customs, so you know it was a good time. There are few things better than dancing the night away surrounded by gorgeous gentlemen.
The following night was the main attraction: The XBIZ Awards. Everyone was dressed to the nines, looking mad sexy and ready to take on the evening at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica. I got all dolled up in my finest and walked the red carpet with more stars than I care to mention. I was seated at a table with everyone from Max Hardcore, Layla Riviera, Nina Hartley’s wonderful partner Ira, to several higher-ups in the business side of the industry and folks involved in adult media. It was great getting to experience the awards with such a motley crew, but there was also plenty of time to mingle, stretch our legs and meet some very sexy porn stars.
Of course, there are about a billion awards presented, but I figured I’d share a few of the major wins. Asa Akira and Rocco Reed won Performer of the year. Jessie Andrews and Xander Corvus won for New Starlet and New Male Performer of the Year, respectively. Jessie Andrews snagged Acting Performance of the year for Portrait of a Call Girl along with Tommy Pistol for Taxi Driver XXX. Supporting Actor awards were presented to Raven Alexis for Top Guns and Xander Corvus for Horizon. Parody nods went to Top Guns and Beverly Hills XXX, for Drama and Comedy respectively.
Overall studio of the Year went to Elegant Angel, with New Sensations grabbing Feature Studio of the Year and Hustler Video taking Parody Studio of the Year. Graham Travis won awards for Director of the Year: Individual Project and Screenplay of the year, both for Portrait of a Call Girl, while Robby D won Director of the Year for his entire body of work. Sites like Kink.com, Wasteland.com, AbbyWinters.com, HotMovies.com, NaughtyAmerica.com and SunnyLeone.com 
came out on top as the best of the web. Toys like Fleshlight, Pipedream Products, Fun Factory and Stockroom proved their toys are tops, and I can’t say I disagree.
Finally, we were lucky to be in the presence of special honorees such as Steve Shubin of Fleshlight (Industry Innovator Award), Allison Vivas of Pink Visula (FSC Leadership Award), Diane Duke of Free Speech Coalition (Woman of the Year), Dan O’Connell of Girlfriend Films (Man of the Year) and the truly sensational Larry Flynt, who gave a rousing speech upon accepting his Industry Icon Award.
Phew! That’s a lot of names. If you can believe, there were dozens more where that came from. The awards were wonderful from start to finish, featuring excellent burlesque dance and arial routines, during which I got up to get a little face time with some of my ultimate porn crushes. Who did I bump into? The lovely Kelly Shibari was running the event’s Twitter account, looking stunning as ever, and somehow able to multi-task witty banter with social media excellence. I babbled incoherently about burritos with James Deen, who took it with grace and aplomb. The babbling was because this man is even 
sexier in person, if you can imagine it. I had an excellent and very long conversation with Dana Dearmond, who is probably the most genuine person I’ve ever met in the industry. Tanya Tate’s beautiful British accent framed a lovely conversation and showcased her pleasant personality. She was an absolute dear.
I managed to cozy up to porn legends Nina Hartley and Ron Jeremy for photos and a few bon mots. As luck would have it, Wolf Hudson is just about the nicest guy ever, with a smile that can absolutely melt you heart, and he was up for a chat all about straddling the line between mainstream and alternative porn. Such a smart guy! And of course, porn powerhouse Nica Noelle mistook me for talent, which made my night/life. If anyone could make you consider a career in porn performance, it would be that gorgeously tall drink of water. I was allowed to hold court with industry legend Mark Spiegler, who was surrounded by beautiful women such as Lily LaBeau, Skin Diamond, and Jessie Andrews among others. I even got to have a great substantial talk about envelope-pushing porn with director/performer Sean Michaels and spent time chatting about the European market with gorgeous Czech babe Carla Cox.
Getting to spend time with this many amazing porn folks truly blew my mind, and the aftermath was a party over at the Wilshire 
(sponsored by Fleshlight) only kept up the energy, playing great (primarily 80s) tracks and pouring stiff drinks. The whole thing wrapped up by about 2am, so it ended up being 8 hours of fancy hob-nobbing with the porn elite. There was more to the conference the following day and another great party at the Beverly (hosted by Lexi Belle, Allie Haze and Tasha Reign) but I think I may have blathered on enough about how much fun it is to be surrounded by such sexy people. Though it may have been exhausting, if you told me I could do it all again tomorrow, I’d be there in a heartbeat. My thanks to XBIZ and all of the sponsors for this incredible event.
—Sophie Delancey is the PR and Marketing Coordinator for
TheArtofBlowjob.com and PornographicLove.com. An interest in sexuality
as a tool for social change has lead her to work with porn focused on
beauty, sensuality, genuine connection, and a broader understanding of
consent, mutual pleasure and the dynamics of sex. She also blogs for
GirlzPorn.com, Peeperz.com and now at WhackMagazine.com, as well as at
her own blog – SophieDelancey.com. You can find her on Tumblr at
SophieDelancey.Tumblr.com, on Facebook at Facebook.com/SophieDelancey
or on Twitter as @SophieDelancey.