by Don Waitt
When I started in this industry more than 30 years ago, I was one of the young guns. My weight began with the number 1, not the number 2 (now fast approaching the number 3). I had a full head of black hair. I had no titanium hips or heart stents. I took, and needed, no daily prescription medications.
And, most importantly, I could sleep through the night without once having to get up to pee. Boy, those were the days.
But we all get old. Not much you can do about that.
I am of retirement age now, and though I’m not ready to fully retire, I am ready to take a step back and pass the reins for the day-to-day, in-the-trenches operation of ED Publications on to the next generation.
In this case, the next generation is Dave Manack, who is a perfect choice to continue steering the ship that is ED Publications. Manack has been with the company almost from the beginning. The magazine started with the annual directory in 1991 and Manack came on board in 1998 as Editor, and then Associate Publisher. He is well versed in all things ED, from publishing the magazine to running the EXPO to producing the annual EDI contests.
As of January 1, 2022 he has assumed the role of Publisher.
When I started ED Publications and the Gentlemen’s Club EXPO decades ago, there was no Internet, no smartphones, no social media, no Facebook or Google or Amazon. It’s a high-tech world out there today, and while the standard strip club formula of “boobs and beer” is still kicking ass, there is no question that the coming Metaverse and NFTs and cryptocurrency and Artificial Intelligence are going to eventually have an impact on adult nightclubs. – Waitt
Me, I’ll still be around for a while, but in more of an advisory role. I am happily moving from giving orders to giving advice. My new title is “Founder.” Makes me feel special. Founders smile a lot and shake hands a lot and tell stories from the past. I can do that.
The past 30 years have gone by much too quickly. Some of the people who were there back in the day have passed on. Some of them have sold their clubs and retired. And some of them, like me, have taken a step back in their organizations to allow younger, more energetic players an opportunity at the plate.
That’s only right.
Experience is important, but exuberance is what makes companies continue to grow.
This industry hasn’t really changed a whole lot over the last 30 years, but the world sure has.
When I started ED Publications and the Gentlemen’s Club EXPO decades ago, there was no Internet, no smartphones, no social media, no Facebook or Google or Amazon.
It’s a high-tech world out there today, and while the standard strip club formula of “boobs and beer” is still kicking ass, there is no question that the coming Metaverse and NFTs and cryptocurrency and Artificial Intelligence are going to eventually have an impact on adult nightclubs.
Or, at the very least, on your entertainers and your customers. You’ve already seen it with OnlyFans. That’s just the tip of the iceberg.
In this new arena you will need younger eyes and younger ideas to survive. Which brings us back to Dave Manack. You can rest assured that Manack and the ED staff will be bringing plenty of new ideas to the table in the coming months and years. They have to. Because change is coming. Big changes. What will this industry look like 10 years from now? Or 20 to 30 years from now?
In a world of self-driving cars and public space travel and 3D printed furniture, where do sexy women in skimpy outfits on stage fit in? That’s the question that ED Publications will be addressing in the pages of its magazine and on its websites and at its EXPO panel sessions in the new future.
But you can also rest assured that the ED team will continue to bring you the same level of professionalism that you have had for the past 30 years.
For me, being a young gun was fun. But that was then, and this is now. Now, I’m ready to give the senior statesman thing a shot. I just have to work on looking more distinguished.
