It begins when you walk into the dimly lit convention centre – pink and blue moodlights beaming off the walls. There's latex, lingerie and six-pack abs everywhere, with every fantasy imaginable on display.
Across the globe, there are countless sex conventions and adult awards nights. It's a realm that aims to satisfy curiosities and allow attendees to frolic with fetishes, kinks and tantalising exhibits – all through the prism of education and exploration.
But you best believe that the behind-the-scenes of sex conventions is a whole other world.
Because yes, it is someone's job to trial the sex toys before they go on the market. And it's another person's role to liaise with the biggest pornstars – and wrangle all of their obsessive fans.
So come with us as we take a peak behind the glittery curtain.
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For Shereen Kiddle, she has been in the PR communications and marketing events space for almost 20 years. As the Director of Milkk PR, one of her clients just happens to be Sexpo. And it's an area she has plenty of career experience with.
"In 2012, I was managing the PR for the American porn star Ron Jeremy. I picked him up in my kid-worn Honda CRV and I said 'Hi I'm Shereen Kiddle and we're doing your PR.'
"He then turned to me and asked 'What, you wanna make porn?' I was definitely not, and had to explain to him 'No, I do PR and make school lunches. Not porn'. He then laughed and said 'you wanna fiddle with the kiddle' and made up a song on the harmonica. I was taking him to the adult awards in Melbourne, run by Sexpo, where he was a guest. It was a tough night," Shereen said.
For reference, the story is made even more uncomfortable with context – Ron Jeremy remains in jail awaiting trial on 34 charges. They include 12 of rape, including of a 15-year-old girl in 2004, forcible oral sex, penetration with a foreign object and sodomy, the last allegedly taking place in 2020. Jeremy denies the charges.
The stories don't stop here from Shereen.
"Doing the PR for porn stars and Sexpo, it's a pretty wild job with plenty of great tales. You tend to forget that what you're doing isn't the norm. For example, I went to Brisbane for a Sexpo event and it was freezing in the airport on the way home. After two days of full-on work at the sex convention, I wasn't 100 per cent concentrating on every detail. I had bought a military-style jacket from Sexpo and hadn't thought much of it. On arrival at the Qantas lounge, I noticed I was getting lots of strange looks. Turns out my jacket said in giant letters on the back 'Mile High Club'."
One of the porn stars that Shereen now works directly with is Johnny Sins, who is one of the most renowned and respected figures in the industry.
He has even built a strong brand with his partner Kissa Sins, shooting and producing porn together.
Johnny said to Mamamia: "I love to film real-life videos, basically just setting up a camera and going at it with your partner. It's great basically having all my fantasies and then some fulfilled and getting paid for it."
As for the people who run the behind-the-scenes of Sexpo – it's a whole other world. A time when awkwardness is cast aside, plenty of laughs are had and zero f**ks are given.
For Belinda Gavin her work has always centred around the entertainment industry – both adult and mainstream.
"I lived in Los Angeles for 25 years working both behind and in front of the camera. I'm sure if you Google me you can find some fun stuff," she said to Mamamia. "When I came back to Australia, I was an events manager, working at a bunch of places including the Candyshop Mansion on the Gold Coast."
As the Event and Communications Manager at Sexpo, she loves where her career has landed her.
"I love seeing the faces of guests when they are at the show and their jaw is on the ground in awe! I love the magic that happens when all the hard work and late nights come together."
"It's hard to know where to start," Belinda said when asked about the nitty-gritty details of running a sex convention.
"We have had so many funny yet embarrassing moments at Sexpo. At one event I had the most fun shoving a chocolate-covered inanimate yet phallic-shaped object down my throat. I was trying to beat our beautiful Drag Queen Dixie at deep-throating. We both almost swallowed the whole thing, chocolate and tears running down our faces."
Even at the office when doing all the prep behind the events, things aren't exactly a 'normal' work environment.
"In the office, my computer always has something raunchy going on – for work purposes of course! Recently I was looking at some videos of the porn star Johnny Sins and it was a video of him banging an actress. Well, our new marketing manager walks in and scream-laughs, 'this is the first job where I am encouraged to watch my favourite porn'. I think they were a little shocked," Belinda said.
And the job doesn't stop there. Along with events management, there's also some sex toy testing too – because someone has to do it. And Belinda says it's a part of the job that she loves most.
"We are inundated with new products. The trialling of new toys is shared across the team because we can't keep up! Mr Waffle once brought his penis-shaped waffles into the office for a test run along with new sauce flavours. So of course we had a fun morning debating the best sauces to accompany the d**k waffles. Then another time we had a new vibe sex toy product sent to us but we couldn't figure out how to turn it off!
"Recently we were warming up a jar of chocolate body paint – to be used in sexual play encounters – and our colleague spread it on her toast thinking it was Nutella..."
When you work in the adult-related industry for so long, the taboo shifts and rightly so. And with that comes a greater appreciation for sex positivity and openness. Because when sex toys are landing on your desk constantly at work, it's a fabulous ice breaker among workmates.
"We are delivered pretty wild goodies most days," Belinda said to Mamamia. "Our delivery guy now always waits with us to open the package and see what's in the parcel. He's started to even guess before we open it which offers plenty of laughs."
All businesses have accountants and financial teams on hand. And when you run a sex convention, it's no different. Although the accountants that work for Sexpo probably have a lot more fun than their counterparts in other industries!
Linda Mirams used to be a sex worker herself and had encountered some negative experiences dealing with her accountant when doing her taxes.
And it was those experiences that inspired her to do a 180.
"I began studying accounting and wanted to build a business dedicated to working with other sex workers in the industry and that's led me to where I am today," Linda said to Mamamia.
As the Director and Tax Agent of Empire Industry Finance Services, Linda said that operating in this industry means she sees plenty of very different stuff to most accountants.
"A typical day for us might be discussing with clients the deductibility of items such as boob jobs or a labiaplasty. We also often sort shoe boxes of receipts for our clients covered in fake tan, glitter and eyelashes!"
One of Linda's most iconic jobs was working out the effective life of an asset such as a cowgirl premium riding sex machine.
And the stories don't stop there.
"Sometimes I visit clients on site which may include dungeon rooms full of whips or on the site of a porn set in between takes! And in those instances, I'm often conducting stock take for sex shops which have stockpiles of dildos and butt plugs," Linda said.
"Being named the 'Best Industry Supporting Business' at an adult awards night brings a lot of joy. Plus, having clients turn viral overnight and seeing increases to their monthly income of over $50,000 on an ongoing basis is rewarding."
All of these factors will be coming to life at Australia's Sexpo event, featuring sexologist Chantelle Otten to RuPaul's Drag Race stars Maxi Shield and Art Simone.
And it's here where the weird, wild and wonderful will emerge from the shadows once again.
Feature Image: Instagram @sexpoaustralia.
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