In the early 2000s, the internet was still a wild west of dial-up tones and GeoCities pages. Before the polished algorithms of Instagram and the curated anonymity of OnlyFans, there was a different kind of gathering for the alternative romance and erotica community: ErotiCon .
The highlight (or lowlight, depending on your perspective) was hosted by a man named "Master K." He wore a velvet cape and used a laser pointer. The room had 200 people crammed into seats meant for 80. The Q&A session devolved into a 20-minute argument about whether The Lord of the Rings extended edition was a good date movie. eroticon 2002
Before the internet made every niche instantly accessible, ErotiCon was a pilgrimage. It was where the goths, the gamers, the burlesque dancers, and the curious couples went to find their tribe. It was a place where you could be weird, horny, and socially awkward out loud without an algorithm judging you. In the early 2000s, the internet was still
Here is what it was like to step behind the velvet rope twenty-two years ago. Forget the streamlined, hyper-professional look of today’s sex-positive expos. ErotiCon 2002 was all about crushed velvet, vinyl, frosted tips, and frosted lipstick. The fashion was a chaotic mash-up of The Matrix , Blade , and a late-night Cinemax movie. The room had 200 people crammed into seats meant for 80
For the uninitiated, ErotiCon was a traveling adult convention that peaked in the late 90s and early 2000s. While the Las Vegas event later became the flagship, the iteration—held in a sprawling, slightly rundown hotel convention center in the Midwest—remains a fascinating time capsule.