Not A Holiday: Jet Lag, Carnets, And Luminous Willies

Vegas is calling, but we’re not pretending it’s a holiday. We’re taking E-Stim Systems to Altitude Intimates in Las Vegas, and the timetable is as intense as it sounds: long-haul flights, jet lagged setup, three full show days, then a fast turnaround back to the UK with more work waiting immediately after we land.

We walk you through what Altitude Intimates actually is, who it’s for, and why adult industry trade shows still matter when most business happens online. For us, the big win is the face to face moment: retailers and distributors can pick up the kit, feel the quality, ask the awkward questions, and quickly understand why our approach to electrostimulation is different. We also get honest market signals by seeing competitors up close, spotting trends that are real versus trends that are just noise, and hearing what buyers are hunting for right now.

Then there’s the part nobody glamorises: trade show logistics. We talk carnets, customs paperwork, shipping an entire display stand, travelling with freebies, and why we bring demo stock rather than selling on the day. We also share why we’re bringing Ian and Rachel from Joanne’s Reviews, how the team back at HQ keeps orders moving, and how these trips create rare thinking time for product development and new ideas we’re not quite ready to reveal.

Follow our social channels for live updates from Las Vegas, then subscribe, share the episode with a mate, and leave us a review so more people can find the podcast. What’s the most chaotic work trip you’ve ever had?

"I Make Sex Toys" is the personal podcast of Wayne Allen, the Director of E-Stim Systems. We have been creating ElectroStimulation Technology since 2004, Find out what really happens behind the doors of a specialist sex toy company.

Please Note the content of these podcasts are not designed to be Explicit or Erotic but we may discuss adult topics and therefore these podcasts are not suitable for children or those of a nervous disposition. You have been warned.

If you are interested in E-Stim Systems the company, or any of our products, have a look at https://estim.store

Transcript

Vegas Trip Schedule Reality

Wayne 0:00

So we've made it to season two, episode two, and now we're on our way to Vegas. And before anyone starts and before anyone says anything, no, it is not a holiday. We're taking E-Stim Systems all the way across the world to Las Vegas, baby. And it's going to be fun, but it's most certainly not a holiday. What does it actually look like? Well, we travel to Heathrow on a Thursday. Friday we fly, 11 hours in a metal tube with crap Wi-Fi. Setup is on Saturday, which is going to be entertaining considering we're all going to be jet lagged. The show is Sunday, Monday, Tuesday. We pack up Tuesday afternoon, find a DHL shop to ship all of our stand back to the UK. Then we fly back ourselves on Wednesday night. We land in the UK on Thursday, have Friday off, yay! Back in the office Monday, having done a live stream on Sunday, and then we drive to Germany for event on Tuesday. Yes, it's a holiday. It's gonna be fun. . So what's the trade show? Well, the trade show is something called Altitude Intimates, and yes, there's going to be lots of intimates. But basically, it's a large trade show held for the adult industry annually in Las Vegas, and it's probably the largest in the US. From the stand plan, there's at least several hundred stands, and they're expecting thousands of visitors over the three days. Who attends? Retailers, distributors, manufacturers, press. It's generally not open to the public, but they do seem to sneak in these days. Anyone with a website seems to be able to call themselves a business. There used to be anyone who had a business card, but these days nobody seems to do business cards. This show is supposed to be trade only. It'll be good because there should be less wanky men walking around trying to get their rocks off, and otherwise looking for freebies and giveaways. Anyone who's been to Venus in Germany, you know what I mean. Why is E-Stim Systems there? Why not? It's probably the largest trade show in the US, and we are trying to be a growing business, so getting out there and showing ourselves to other people is what we need to do. We love the opportunity to speak to people face to face, as generally we spend most of our times hiding behind computers, reading and posting emails. So getting out and stretching the legs and chatting Eastim for three days is always going to be a fun activity. And it is Vegas. I've never been to Vegas, so it's going to be fun. It's so much easier to explain why we are different when we're talking to someone face to face. And they get to pick up the toys, they get to play with the toys, figuratively speaking. We might give the odd demo, but you can't really play with them at a show like that. But it gives them some experience of who we really are. You might think this is easy. The fact is, planning for this started back in October, so five or six months of prep. Not just booking the stand, that's the easy bit, apart from the fact they want reams of cash out of you to pay for the stand and you have to pay everything up front. Booking flights, wow, talk about expensive, and I'm putting four staff over there. Logistics, not just shipping product to the US, but we're shipping the entire display stand. We always have fun trying to get stuff through customs, especially since we're not actually shipping products, we're shipping a stand, and we're expecting to bring things back. So stuff has to go into a carnet, documentation has to be filled out, and it's generally a nightmare. In this case, we've actually had to send the stuff out two weeks beforehand because it then gives it enough time to filter through the system. Luckily, as I record this, the stuff is actually in Vegas as we speak. Booth design. We're running with material booze. They call them, I think, pole and curtain. So this time around we don't have any panels, which is great because I hate stand panels with a vengeance. Stand panels are expensive. The last time you did stand panels on the show, they were about 200 euros each. And when you eat eight of them, it soon mounts up. And these are panels that they last for the show. At the end of the show, they get thrown away. We can't reuse them. It's just a waste of money, and it adds to the costs. Over the past couple of months, we've been coordinating with Ian and Rachel from Joanne's Reviews. We already had them on the Amy's stand when we visited the States last year, so we have a little bit of history with them. They're great friends, they're great fun. So it's going to be good from that respect. And Ian's in charge of the transportation system and has managed to choose the largest vehicle possible, which in America is probably a tiny little car. But for us, they're big vehicles. Because we have to get stuff from hotels and to the show, etc. etc. The sheer amount of admin that we need to go through before we even pack a bag is astonishing. And then just before we go, we need to pack a bag because one, we have to carry all our clothing, except all the stuff you would normally take on the trip, but also we have to bring in the freebies, the bits and pieces that we're going to give away, because we can't put those through the normal process. Because if we put them through the normal process, customs then think that we're selling them and then want tax, import duty, etc. etc. etc. And if you're not selling stuff, it then has to come back to the UK. We have to have all the documentation for that. It's just a nightmare. Documentation is a nightmare shipping anywhere around the world. It's got worse going into Europe since Brexit, because we have to do it. We have to have carnays where we used to just stick the stuff in the van, turn up. No, can't do that anymore. It's all going to go through customs documentation. To the US, it's similar, but it's always been like that. So we just get used to it and we have a process. Back home, the lights are still going to be on in the workshops. Even though Caz and I are going to be in Las Vegas, the business doesn't stop. Kay and the team will be holding the fort, so orders are still going to go out and customers are still going to be supported. Hats off to them because without them manning the office, we wouldn't be able to run the shows in the way that we do. Now, we've already mentioned, if you listen to episode one, that we are not doing the show on our own. We are taking Ian and Rachel from Joanne's E-Stim Emporium, also known as Joanne's Reviews. They're friends of ours. They're also very knowledgeable about E-Stim . In fact, they actually started with our products when they were doing reviews. They contacted us out of the blue and said, Oh, is there any chance we can have a box to do a review? And they hadn't at the time had many reviews, but for some reason I was in a good mood that day, and I said yes. And they reviewed a box, and the rest is history. And now they're very good friends. We also do other trips with them. They know our products inside out. They're not just pretty faces, although they are very pretty, but everyone on our stands, everyone who answers the phone, everyone who deals with customers within the business, we all have personal experience using our kit. We don't have pretty people who might look good on a camera and then have absolutely no idea as to how the products work. We don't do that. We play with our kit, and if you follow some of Ian and Rachel's experiences, shall we say, on YouTube and the various places, they certainly know how to use the kit. So the days are going to be fun. It also allows us to disappear off and go to the loo, disappear off and have a coffee. It breaks things up. It makes it so much easier having more than one person on the stand. And sometimes, hopefully, we'll get busy, so we'll be talking to people. They also bring that extra level of experience to the stand. Yes, we use our kit, we know our kit inside out, but sometimes it's just nice having that extra person who's got a different viewpoint and a different level of experience. It just makes it work even better. So What are we taking to the show? Well, apart from the obvious, us and the stand, we're taking everything. You might sort of say, well, why are you taking everything? Not everyone wants to see everything. And that's the problem. You can guarantee if we don't take everything, a potential stockist is going to turn up and they're going to want to see the thing that you don't have. So we take everything. And I mean everything. It doesn't necessarily all come out on the stand, but we will have it somewhere. So if someone wants to see a cable, and bear in mind we recently launched the Coyote cable, which has been up hit. If someone wants to see the cable, then we can rummage in a box and bring it out and go, this is what we have for you. So we carry everything. Interesting enough, one thing we don't carry is stock. We're not there to sell the products on the day. We're there to demonstrate and take orders and build those relationships up. If we had to bring stock, we'd have to carry four or five times as much and spend three weeks just explaining to customs while we're bringing so much in and then justify all our sales, deal with all the paperwork because we would be selling in America. It's just a nightmare. So for a trade show, we're bringing demo stock. People can see what it looks like, they can feel it, but they can't buy it there and then on the spot. Which is always entertaining because you guarantee that somebody will turn up asking for a box. And the first thing you're starting to think about is you're supposed to be a trade show purchaser, but you want to buy one. Is this for your company or is it just for you personally? Always an interesting question. The other thing we bring to the stand is marketing materials. We love being different, so you're not going to find pamphlets, you're not going to find leaflets, and generally you're not going to find a price list. But you might find something rather different. We once did a trade show where we took an entire pick-a-mix stand full of sweets, and it became the most popular stand on the planet, especially for the Catwalk models who queued up for their lunch consisting of dolly mixtures and fudge. Sugar Rush, here we come. But we have a few interesting bits and pieces to give away. On the subject of giveaways and freebies, Caz and Rachel are already planning their campaign. Yes, they already have looked at the show floor and deemed it to be a target-rich environment. Now, most of trade shows give things away. A pen, a badge, a polo mint, all sorts of that boring stuff. But trade shows for adults, it tends to get a little bit more interesting. So you can guarantee at some point somebody's going to be giving away willy keyrings, luminous willies, packs of condoms, you name it. It's an adult show. They're going to be giving away things. And Caz and Rachel, they will be walking around with their big bags, targeting them. And uh yeah, they tend to come back with a haul, which then gets shared out amongst um them and the staff back at HQ. They love their little things for their desks. The number of luminous rubber willies we have stuck to machines is hilarious. The other fun thing that's going to be at the show is our competitors are going to be there. Well, at least some of them. The dedicated E-Stim world is quite small. There's what five or six manufacturers out there. And most of us know each other in some way, shape, or form. I have a love hate relationship with Andy from Electrastim. Basically, he hates me. But he's generally polite and professional. Secretly, he's very competitive. We have Christoph from MyStim, who's always a pleasure and generally friendly, and is always thinking that I'm trying to sell my business to them. DG Labs from China, yep, never met them. Products seem to be everywhere at the moment, but nobody has ever met them, so do they really exist? There's a possibility we might see of Eric from Erostech. He used to stock us, which I always found quite bizarre considering they stocked the 312. Actually, they make the 312, or somebody makes it for them. But that situation worked right up to the point he started stocking an electro design that had been ripped off from us. And we had a little bit of a falling out, shall we say. So yeah, Eric from Erostek doesn't stock our products anymore, which is a pity, because he did sell a few, and he allegedly quite liked them. But anyway, the reality of competing in a niche is you can still be rivals, but still be civil most of the time. It's a bit of fun. Another reason for going to a trade show is potentially it's a snapshot where everything is heading. Although with a number of Chinese companies making dildos and funny colours, it's like a catwalk. This year's dildo colour is pink, or is it green, or is it blue? Because you literally walk down corridors of Chinese manufacturers with all of the same design, but they all happen to be green this year. You also get to see some of the really weird ideas that people have, and the fact that some people just have no idea at all. The number of times I've seen a weird-shaped vibrator, including once the shape of a cloud, yes, a cloud, they spent a shitload of money on marketing and on big stand, and then in three months' time it all fell to pieces. It wasn't a great idea. Everyone does dildos these days. They might just have a weird colour or a weird shape, but fundamentally they're all the same, guys. Do something different for a change. Do E-Stim. No, don't do E-Stim, we're doing that. Now you might suggest that the reason we go to these shows is we can spy on our competitors and see what they're doing. Well, it's not as important as you think because the industry talks and competitors talk, and we generally get to hear about what people are doing way before it actually comes out. And then you look at it and go, why are you doing it that way? And then you carry on doing something completely different. One of the things the trade show allows me to do is think. I get three days, and that doesn't include the traveling, three days of doing nothing but thinking about Eastern. I don't have to deal with the fact the printer's run out of paper. I don't have to deal with the fact that a machine downstairs is doing funny things. All I've got to do for three days is think about Eastim. And it does allow me to think. I take my little black book, the infamous black book, with my ideas in it, and I'll be sketching ideas. It might be something that someone says at dinner, someone says on the floor, at the bar, a customer suggests something, so that's gonna go straight in the book and get written down. We also take a little bit of development kit with us. We are currently working on a number of projects, and it allows me to play around with those ideas. Development doesn't take a holiday. Some of our best ideas have come from trade show trips. Whilst we're on the subject of development, the obvious question is going to be, what is new? What do you have new at the show? And the answer is you're gonna have to wait to the show. We do have two things in the pipeline, but I'm not gonna tell you on this podcast. You'll have to come to the show and we'll show you. And they will then appear on sites and across social media. Coming soon, I think is the term. But at the moment they're in pre-production. One thing we don't do is we don't launch new products until we actually have them on the shelf. So we're in that process now of getting them on the shelf, and then we'll tell you about them and you'll be able to buy them as soon as you know about them. Much better idea than waiting three months. Now, Las Vegas is a long way away for most people, it's a long way to travel, and not everyone's going to travel to a trade show. The good news is we're going to let you know what's going on because we are going to be blasting it all of our social media. So please follow us on social media while we're there. Vegas is actually seven hours behind the UK, so please plan accordingly. If it goes quiet on the UK evening, it's probably because we're asleep or we're actually working on the show floor. How to find us? Well, just look out for E-Stim Systems on the usual platforms YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Threads, Blue Sky, LinkedIn, Google, the list is endless, but just do search for E-Stim Systems on socials and you'll find us. We're also going to be grabbing in Rachel at some point. They are going to be dragged in front of the microphone for episode three, whether they like it or not. What's it going to cover? Well, it's probably going to cover all the antics of whatever happened at the show. Because at the end of the day, that's why they're there. Trade shows have changed over the years. I mean, we've been doing shows since 2004, and that's actually how we started the business. Although the shows that we were doing weren't trade shows, they were retail shows. I think it was about 2006 when we did our first trade show. But fundamentally, the market has changed. More of the industry has moved to China. There are more niche creators. When we started, everything was dildos. Now you get everything right up to breath play, extremely spiky toys. And we're seeing much more new companies embracing modern manufacturing like 3D printing. We look for the long term. We don't look for the oh, look how many boxes I can sell. We want people to buy our products and continue to buy our products, which is why we're constantly developing new ideas. That's what we do. That's why we're different. We don't manufacture in China, we don't create pretty boxes that sit on a shelf. We want to be different. We want to be seen as the company that offers you experience and value. And hopefully that's what we do. Anyway, by the time you hear this, we hopefully are going to be on the floor in Vegas. Don't forget, follow the socials for live updates. Next episode, we should have Ian and Rachel in some form. Don't forget, second Tuesday of the month is our normal podcasting release schedule. Also, last Sunday of the month, which is actually the Sunday we come back from Vegas, is the live stream, which is going to be interesting because we are going to be jet lagged, but we're still going to do it. But whatever you do, please continue listening. Thanks for listening. Don't forget, be safe and have fun. Bye.