Well, the ETO Show at Birmingham’s NEC Pavilion was this weekend, and was as ever, a fabulous event! For those who don’t know, the ETO is the UK’s only dedicated trade event for anyone in the pleasure product retail sector. The exhibitors consist of leading brands and distributors, and anyone in the trade can visit to see everything from lingerie, fetish gear, sex toys, and all manner of sexual health products. It’s a chance to catch up with contacts, see new product launches and innovations, and to generally mingle with like minded-people interested in adult products, from every category imaginable!
It was by far the largest ETO that I’ve been to, each year it seems to just gather momentum and become something even better than the previous year. This year was the first time I’d attended the show since the conception of Carnal Queen, and it was certainly very interesting viewing the show from a different perspective. CK had never been with me before, he enjoyed the show immensely and certainly had his eyes opened to some of the things out there – maybe I can quit introducing him gently to anything new now? Haha! I’d planned to take lots of photo’s, but we kind of just got wrapped up in the day and I ended up not taking any – sorry, I’ll try harder next year!
It was great to meet up with other bloggers and enjoy some R&R at the BlogSpot, hosted by Cara Sutra and Melissa from Voluptasse (great job ladies!) and we spent an hour putting the world to rights with Dave from The Big Gay Review and his lovely Husband. The adult product community is just amazing, everyone is so friendly and welcoming, it truly was a joy to be a part of it. The BlogSpot goody bags were fantastic, and just bursting with goodies for us to try, things to read, contact info for companies of interest and PENS! I have a massive pen fetish, so this delighted me far more than it probably should. I fucking love sex toys, but give me an exclusive pen and I’ll love you forever! I’ve also got sperm keyrings (yes, you did read that correctly!), who doesn’t want to carry sperm around with their keys?!
We had some amazing talks with companies and made some fantastic contacts. Exciting times for Carnal Queen, definitely keep your eyes peeled for new friendships and new companies that we’ll be working with in the coming months. Life has been, and still is, crazily hectic on a personal level, but as things begin to settle down (which I’m hoping will be soon!) I’m striving to be able to bring you more content, more reviews, and generally just more of me … Can you handle that?
Seeing what’s new in the Industry is hella exciting, and keeps my passion for the adult product industry well and truly thriving. I’m not going to spoil anything for anyone, but I think my favourite product yet to launch is an offering from Doxy, the “Skittle” … keep your eyes open for it’s launch in a few weeks time, it’s unlike anything out there and feels wonderful during hand exploration, my vagina will wait patiently for confirmation of it’s brilliance!
I got to have a chat with companies and have a play with things that had already caught my attention on the market. The Onyx and Pearl from Kiiroo are truly magnificent, and the demonstration from Toon Timmermans, the CEO blew me away – I knew it would be good, but it seems remarkable to me. The LoveArc, which I knew I’d really like, is a stunning piece of engineering, it’s beauty lies in it’s simplicity and I really hope the company continue to thrive and grow, because they deserve it.
The very beautiful Hella Walkington spent time with us, showing us the spine tingling awesomeness of ElectraStim. I’m not new to the world of electro stimulation, but I absolutely fell in love with that system and am really looking forward to exploring it more. Don’t worry, you’ll be the first to know when I do!
I’m sad it’s over for another year, and I’m already looking forward to what the ETO 2016 will bring us. I’m off now to mooch through all my freebies, I’ve enough lube to sink a ship and CK needs to grow a few more dicks to accommodate all these cock rings! Bye for now!
CQ x