If you happened to head to the Rosemont area last weekend, you would have been met by the sight of a full convention center with cosplayers and half-dressed people walking on the sidewalks. The Donald Stephens Convention center, near Chicago’s O’hare, was home to the Anime Midwest conference and Exxxotica 2016. While the conferences seem as different as can be, Exxxotica was welcoming of the anime lovers – even offering a sexy cosplay contest and discounted admission for anime guests.
Stepping into the exhibition hall for Exxxotica is a sight to behold as well. Once you make it through the age verification checks, you’ll be met with rows upon rows of sex-related information and stores. Are you interested in swinging? There are a couple informative booths around for some of the largest annual events out there. Are you more of a kinkster? Welcome to DNJToys’ kinky sex furniture or the Dungeon Experience area. Do you just want to purchase some sex toys with your partner? Check out the on-site Exxxotica store – or the large stores of many other retailers including RBoutique and more!
Of course, the crowning highlight of most Exxxotica events is the opportunity to meet your favorite adult stars face-to-face. Stars this year included Johnny Sins, Ron Jeremy, Stoya, Kissa Sins, Rubberdoll, Jesse Jane, Alexis Texas, Misty Stone, and more. I personally had the chance to meet and talk with Ron Jeremy, but it was really neat to see all of the stars around chatting with fans and whatnot. Most of the stars, for a small fee, allowed fans to take photos with the starlet.
Of course, Sexy Wrestling with Carmen Valentina and Its Cleo was one of the crowd-pleasers this year. At multiple times during each day of the event, these two adult starlets would wrestle each other in minimal clothing. After the show, they offered their own personalized “wrestling” experience to fans for a fee. Of course, that’s if your idea of “wrestling” includes two hot women grinding on top of you – as that’s what it was.
This year, Exxxotica also added a new tattoo area. Featuring some of the areas hottest tattoo artists, many of these artists were doing tattoos and taking orders right during the show. If you wanted to scope out a place to get your next tattoo done (or even do it right at the show!), there were quite a few tattoo artists at the event this year.
I’ll admit that I was a bit disappointed at the expo seems to have shrunk in size from last year. There seemed to be less interest in the kink and dungeon areas with a lot more focus on porn stars. For some people, that’s going to be fantastic! For myself, I was really into the shops and BDSM aspect of the sex conference. I’m hoping it is just a temporary thing for this year and that next year’s expo is even larger!
If Exxxotica is sounding pretty awesome to you (as it should!), don’t forget that 2016 still holds the Columbus, OH Exxxotica expo and the Edison, NJ expo this year. As Exxxotica has also had an annual expo here in Chicago since 2011, you can always wait until next year’s event as well!
