A dispatch from the world’s premier adult-entertainment conference
|Las Vegas|3 min read
In many ways the annual AVN Expo is like any other conference. Attendees collect lanyards, pile into a brightly lit hotel and queue at coffee stations for tepid drinks. But in other ways it is very different. The dress code specifies not whether blazers and ties are required but which body parts must be concealed. The acronyms thrown around on stage include AI, but also BDSM. The closing night involves an awards ceremony that David Foster Wallace, a writer who attended in 1998, described as the porn industry’s Oscars.
This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline “Fleshed out”
From the January 31st 2026 edition
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