The annual ETO (Erotic Trade Only) Awards are always a fancy affair and no less so this year.
Taking place in Birmingham in June each year, the ETO Trade Show & Awards are highlighted on every adult retailer's calendar - preferably with a gold star so it can't be missed!
On the day, we left London slightly later than planned after an impromptu rouge-bra hunt around East London (it happens), and promptly got stuck in a traffic jam on the M1 as there'd been an accident in the heavy rain.
Feeling a little worried that we'd miss the 7.30pm dinner call, we fetched make up and other paraphernalia from the boot of the car and set about beautifying ourselves whilst waiting for traffic to move. As we arrived at our hotel, half-made up with partial strips of fake eyelashes glued on, we were glowing with foundation and stress...
Slipping into our finery, complete with sparkly heels & clutches, we made our way to the venue, Resorts World. Confusingly located inside a shopping mall, the venue is nontheless very glamourous and overlooks the Pendigo Lake.
We had lovely company around the table, and both conversation and wine were flowing freely. A scrumptious 3-course dinner was enjoyed, and then - finally time for the Awards!
As much as everyone pretends winning doesn't matter, it is always exciting to see whether your name/business will be called up. Practically rushing the stage in our excitement to collect the award for Best Individual Store, our brains froze (still thinking about that rouge bra) and our Thank You speech was less than eloquent. The stresses of the afternoon (and, let's be honest, the wine) got to us, and we were a bit giggly...
We'll let Ky (founder & MD) speak instead: To receive a similar amount of nominations as the big boys in the industry is a huge honour for our small (but perfectly formed!) company and to actually recieve ETO Awards which we've done year on year thanks to everybody's wonderful support is the cherry on top. So thank you to everybody who nominated and voted for Sh! - it's such an uplifting endorsement from our peers that thrills us to bits!
We were delighted when our friend Tabitha Rayne won the award for Best Erotic Author 2016. This year is definitely Tabitha's year, what with the fantastic Ruby Glow vibrator receiving a nomination for most innovatie toy. Tabitha is the brains behind this awesome vibe, which incidentally scored an impressive 2nd place in Good Housekeeping Magazine a couple of weeks ago.
Along with her fellow Brit Babes (Kay Jaybee, KD Grace, Victoria Blisse and Lexie Bay), Tabitha took the dancefloor with storm, and celebrated with some very sharp moves.
The after-Awards parties are legendary; everyone finally relaxes and hair gets let down. This year, a pair of panties were flung across the room, two merry men were energetically tonguing each other on the stage until security removed them (booo - we were enjoying that!) and champagne corks were popping in every direction.
The Morning After
Visting the ETO Trade Show is a lot of fun. This year we got to try a new arousal drink for women (yep, it works - lady bits were twitching!) which will be ready for shoppers in about 2 months. We were given tiny Doxy Massager keyrings (always useful!) and a bottle of...ahem... ManCunt...lube. It's "white, creamy and fun to play with".
We spotted a number of products we think you'll love, such as the new rabbit vibrator with a moving nubbin, or the flickering tongue toy. We'll order the Doxy Massagers in sparkly cover (perfect for Christmas!) and we found some deliciously-scented massage creams.
So all in all a very successful trip!
Thanks so much to everyone who voted for us.