April 26, 2002
Consolidated Management Associates to Host First National Gay Erotic Expo

The first national Gay Erotic Expo takes place November 10-11, 2002 at New York City's Webster Hall. Hosted by Consolidated Management Associates (CMA), the Gay Erotic Expo will fill a niche within gay marketing events. Those individuals interested in specialty items, books, videos, and personal products often have to search for them through a variety of websites, direct mail pieces, and catalogs. The expo will provide one-stop shopping for these very special consumers.

The CMA staff includes Steve Levenberg, dubbed the "Master of gay and lesbian marketing" by Crains New York Business, with over eight years of experience producing trade and consumer shows, and Matthew Bank, publisher of HX and Empire magazines, and president of the Stonewall Community Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to strengthening the gay and lesbian community.

"For the past three years, I have been producing the Gay Life Expo," said Levenberg. "Because that show is family-oriented with children present, is located at the Jacob Javits Center, and has many corporate giants attending, we have not been able to allow vendors with materials of an adult nature to be present. Instead of turning away these companies, we have created a totally new event to focus on erotic gay exhibitors. Niche marketing is an expensive and complicated endeavor. We will make it easy for the gay erotic industry to reach this very, very specialized consumer group," Levenberg added.

Major Sponsors of the Gay Erotic Expo include Specialty Publications, Chi Chi LaRue's LiveandRaw.com, and Cybersocket.

Specialty Publications‚ Caryn Goldberg, publisher of Men, Freshmen, [2], and Unzipped Monthly magazines, is very optimistic and excited. "I think it's a great idea. Our official sponsoring brands are Unzipped Monthly, Club Freshmen, and BuyGay.com, but we will be showcasing all of our magazines and websites. We may even have some of our models signing magazines there!" she said. For a complete list of their products, visit specpub.com.

"The whole idea is hot!" exclaimed Karl Edwards of Bedfellow.com. "It'll be interesting in the sense that we'll be able to develop new ways of attracting customers by actually meeting them and finding out exactly what they want. Traditional ways of online marketing are beginning to fail because the Internet is so saturated with pop-up consoles and ads. It's also interesting that it's an "erotica" expo. There's so much more out there than just porn sites," he added.

"We are excited to be a part of this integrated consumer-oriented event where eroticism is celebrated," said Morgan Sommer, president of Cybersocket. Cybersocket is publisher of the search engine Cybersocket.com, Cybersocket The Gay Net Directory, Cybersocket Web Magazine, and Cybersocket Web Surfers and Professionals e-Newsletters.

For more information, to become a sponsor, or to become an exhibitor, please call Steve Levenberg at 212-352-3535, or email him at slevenberg@hx.com.