Back by popular demand, ED Publications and the Gentlemen’s Club EXPO will once again present the ED University Certification Series. This series will include training/certification programs on very specific areas of club operation, where all of those who attend will receive a certificate of completion.
“We call it the ‘ED University’ Certification Series because by using the word ‘university’ we send the message that these are educational classes where attendees will actually be students in a sense,” says ED Publisher Dave Manack. “Attendees will leave those classes educated about the latest developments in club operations and they will receive a certificate of completion—a diploma if you will—for having attended those classes.”
This concept was met with a very favorable response from industry leaders, who suggested that, after nearly 30 years in operation, the EXPO add a new component to the show to encourage club owners to send their key personnel to the convention.
“If you want to stay in business and be successful, you have to be knowledgeable on all the key issues surrounding the industry,” says industry veteran Jim St. John of the Spearmint Rhino club chain. “ The EXPO puts the industry’s experts on that seminar stage every year to help this industry. What is that worth? It’s worth a hell of a lot! You should be sending as much of your staff as you can to learn, because you won’t get this information anywhere else.”
At EXPO 2023, there will be Certification Seminars offered on: Security (conflict de-escalation, as well as cyber-security), Bar Theft and Loss (bartender theft, overpouring, inventory control), Modern Marketing (a nuts-and-bolts tutorial on the do’s and don’ts of social media management) and Team Training and Motivation, featuring guest speaker Willard Barth.
Monday
30th Retrospective: ‘Where we’ve been, where we’re going’
Monday, Aug 21, 11:00 am – 11:45 am
To kick off the 30th Anniversary EXPO’s slate of seminars, we’ll present a Q&A with some of the adult nightclub industry’s “founders” to get their thoughts on where the industry has been, but even more importantly, where they believe it’s headed. Participating panelists include: ED Founder Don Waitt, Deja Vu Founder Harry Mohney, industry legend Michael J. Peter (Founder of Thee Dollhouse, Pure Platinum and Solid Gold), Spearmint Rhino Founder John Gray, MAL Entertainment Founder David “Slim” Baucom, & attorney and First Amendment crusader Luke Lirot.
Renovation/Reinvention: New-school club operators take existing clubs to the next level
Monday, Aug 21, Noon – 12:45 pm
As we move further into the 21st century, new faces are emerging as the industry’s innovators. Peppermint Hippo club chain owner Alan Chang and Expose San Diego owner Dino Palmiotto will discuss the strategies behind their “renovation/reinventions,” as they both have taken existing clubs and transformed them with very specific strategies in mind.
Legal Panel: Your questions, their answers
Monday, Aug 21, 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm
The EXPO Legal Panel has always been one of the convention’s most popular sessions, and the ability to ask the industry’s leading attorneys questions about topics that are important to YOU in an open-forum environment is invaluable. That’s why we’re delivering just that in 2023: A panel of leading First Amendment attorneys will answer YOUR questions for an entire hour! The EXPO 2023 Legal Panel is sponsored by Pole Position and will feature four industry attorneys, including Ben Allen, Devon Lyon, Zack Youngsma and Will King. Read more here!
Break-out seminars for dancers only:
Social Media Management: How to effectively manage and promote yourself on your socials, Monday, August 21, 12:15 pm – 1 pm
Social media can be an entertainer’s best marketing tool, or a constant aggravation — or both! Our social media experts — Sammy Shayne and Bryan of Couch Fame, who work regularly with adult entertainers — will help all entertainers better manage their social media and avoid typical pitfalls that frequently plague adult entertainers.
For Dancers Only: Addressing your financial and mental health
Monday, Aug 21, 1:15 pm – 2:00 pm
This seminar will focus on your health — mental and financial. Speakers will include Dr. Monique Martinez-Quiros, a dual-licensed mental health therapist in Nevada and Arizona. She is also the Vice Chair of The Cupcake Girls, a group that provides confidential mental health support to those involved in the adult industry including advocacy, holistic resources, and referral service. Additionally, Katherine Studley of The Only Consultant will address areas critical to every entertainer’s career, including both touring “features” and house entertainers. Specifically, how to save and invest your earnings to protect your future.
Tuesday
ED University Security Seminar: Legal Search and Seizure with Robert Smith
Tuesday, Aug 22, 10:00 – 11:00 am
You may think you know the 4th Amendment of the US Constitution (regarding illegal search and seizure), but do you know that it does not apply to your security team? This security seminar, helmed by Robert Smith of Nightclub Security Consultants, will explain why clubs need to search every guest detained for any violence on the property. Smith will demonstrate multiple “post detention” searching techniques for attendees and will remind and show all attendees that the second-most common club shooting occurs after a guest is not searched when they were detained after fighting.
ED University Seminar on Event Promotions: Great ideas are just the beginning!
Tuesday, Aug 22, 11:00 am – 11:45 am
Having a successful club party or promotion starts with a great idea — but there’s so much more to it! Our party & promotion experts — The Pony Clubs’ Jerry Westlund, Sapphire Las Vegas’ George Wilson and GoBest’s Jason Mohney — will not only offer examples of some of their best out-of-the-box event ideas, but will also present a specific checklist of what needs to be done to take that great idea from planning to promotion to execution.
Keynote Address Guest Speaker and World Renown Memory Expert, Ron White
Tuesday, Aug 22, Noon – 1:00 pm
Have you ever wished you could be better at remembering people’s names and other key information about them? Let’s be honest — haven’t we all?! In the hospitality industry, remembering guests’ names and preferences is a crucial component to great customer service, and at EXPO 2023 we’re bringing in world-renown memory expert Ron White to provide our Keynote Address and help owners, GMs, servers, bartenders and support staff take their customer service ability to the next level. Ron is a two-time national memory champion; he won the USA Memory Championship in 2009 and 2010. Ron also held the record for the fastest to memorize a deck of shuffled cards in only 1 minute and 27 seconds.
Wednesday
Tactical and Practical Business Succession and Estate Planning with Lee Resnick
(for club owners)
Wednesday, Aug 23, 10:30 am – 11:30 am
In understandable language, club owners will learn about proposed tax law changes that could have a direct impact on their overall wealth. In addition, there will be a discussion surrounding vital strategies in the areas of business succession and wealth preservation as well as the eventual transition of assets with a special focus on your club. Among the areas of focus will be why profitable businesses ultimately fail, the importance of club owners coordinating business succession plans with estate plans, addressing active vs. inactive children within a family business, liquidity issues, valuation methodologies that will satisfy the IRS while lowering the tax bill, the proper type of buy-sell agreement that allows for maximum tax savings/cost efficiency and frequent insurance funding mistakes that oftentimes result in massive tax liabilities that could have been legally avoided. The session concludes by tying in many of the areas of the seminar discussion into a compelling real-life family business case!
“Can you hear me now?!” How to get entertainers, DJs and managers on the same page
Wednesday, Aug 23, 10:30 am – 11:30 am
“What is the best music to play in a club?” That question has been debated for years, and rarely do people agree on what the “correct” answer is. Still, one thing is clear: The key to a successful music format starts with ensuring that everyone in the club understands what music is going to be played and why. This seminar will feature club GM Jimmy Edwards of Bucks Wild in Dallas, veteran club DJ Danny Meyers, and feature entertainer Bambi Wilde (also a former club manager), and each will discuss how to implement a music strategy that everyone in the club can support.
COAST Training Seminar presented by ACE National
Wednesday, Aug 23, 11:30 am – 1:00 pm
Sex trafficking is a modern-day form of slavery, widespread throughout the United States. It is the second largest and fastest-growing criminal industry in the world after drug dealing. ACE National, through its COAST campaign, works with local and federal law enforcement to combat human trafficking. This anti-trafficking training program teaches club operators about the problem of human trafficking in all industries and the action steps a COAST cast member can take to recognize, report and rescue suspected victims. Since its 2010 inception, COAST has educated hundreds of industry professionals to go out into the world as vigilant ‘eyes & ears’ against human trafficking.
